THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES TRADE UNIONISM AND BRITISH INDUSTRY TRADE UNIONISM AND BRITISH INDUSTRY A REPRINT OF "THE TIMES" ARTICLES ON " THE CRISIS IN BRITISH INDUSTRY " WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY EDWIN A. PRATT LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W. 1904 ,.0.1920 PRINTED AND BOUND BY HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD. LONDON A2JD AYLESBURY. Pg£t CONTENTS Introduction . «Ca' Canny" The Building Trades . Effect on House Property The Engineering Trades Boilekmaktng and Shipbuilding Ironfounding .... The South Metropolitan Gas Company Boot and Shoe Trades Railway Workers The Training of Boys. Plate-Glass Bevellers . Plate-Glass and Sheet-Glass The Yorkshire Glass Bottle Trade The Black Bottle Trade . PAOE 1 21 28 40 43 50 59 62 65 71 76 79 83 84 88 m .; a - m \ uoU vi CONTENTS PAGE The Flint-Glass Trade 94 The Birmingham Brass Trades . . . .109 The Birmingham Tinplate Trade . . .114 gljnmakers and technical instruction . .121 Sheffield Trades . . . . . . .126 Britannia-metal Smiths . . . .131 Silversmiths . . . . . . .134 The Cutlery Trades . . . . .135 The Razor Trade 137 The Saw Trade 138 Edge Tools 139 File-Making 140 The Future of the Sheffield Trades . .142 The Printing Trades . . . . . .148 The Furniture Trades . . . . .162 The Gold-beating Industry and German Com- petition . . . . . . . .167 Some Miscellaneous Examples .... 172 An Ironmaster's Experiences .... 181 CONTENTS vii PAGE American Methods ... 185 Whither " Go Easy " is Leading . . .192 A British Seaport under Trade Union Rule . 195 Aggressive Trade Unionism out of Date . .198 Employers 1 Benefit Funds ..... 201 A Trade Union Reform Movement . . . 203 The Employers 1 Policy of Self-Defence . . 208 Industrial Training . . . . . .212 Employers 1 Combinations . . . . .214 Trade Union Provident Funds . ... 218 The Board of Trade and its Labour Depart- ment 221 Index 239 INTRODUCTION Three letters recently published in The Times have suggested to me the desirability of re- printing, at the present juncture, the series of articles which I contributed to the columns of that journal between November 18, 1901, and January 16, 1902, under the title of "The Crisis in British Industry." The letters in question (the first of which appeared on October 13, and the two others on October 21, 1903) are as follows : — TO THE EDITOR OF. THE TIMES. Sir, — The whole country is ringing with proposed changes in our fiscal policy designed to stimulate and increase our trade. These objects cannot be attained except by means of successful competition with our foreign rivals. How can we compete with them success- fully ? By modifying or abandoning our system of free imports and by preferential tariff's, so it is said. This is a political answer, and is based upon theory only as yet. But it has a worse fault. It ignores a more formidable obstacle to the maintenance and improvement of British trade than our own and foreign tariff systems combined. This obstacle does not depend upon fiscal policy at all. 1 1 2 INTRODUCTION It exists now and will still exist, whatever alterations be made in that policy. What is the obstacle ? It is the fact that the cost of production in many of our great industries is higher than the cost of production in the same industries abroad. Why is this the case ? There are at least three causes. First, the cost of living is more for working men here than it is abroad. Secondly, foreigners work more days a year and more hours a day than we do. Thirdly, the English working man's working hours are too often more nominal than real. So long as these three causes remain unremedied it is idle to hope to be able to hold our own with foreign trade. Even if we assume that fiscal changes would slightly increase the cost of living to foreign workmen, they could not possibly have any effect upon the second and third of these causes. But we have remedies at hand if we would only use them. In the first place, our working men must make up their minds to have the common honesty to do a fair day's work for their daily wage. At present, in spite of all the indignant denials and hysterical disclaimers of trade union officials, restriction of output is widely practised. Restriction of output is pure protection, and yet our trade unions are all for free trade. Beautiful consistency ! Restriction is not only a dishonest commercial policy which converts labour into a band of organised thieves, but it is suicidal to the working man, because it drives trade from the country. This practice is well known to all familiar with our great industries, and even to some politicians, but they, of course, dare not refer to the evil. In the second place, when the trade unions have abandoned restriction of output and the engineering of Labour disputes at home, they must employ their energies EFFECT ON THE COUNTRY'S TRADE 3 and funds in improving the organisation of foreign labour. By adopting this course they will encourage their trade rivals in their demands for shorter hours and better wages. These demands will succeed as they did here. Then the foreign manufacturer's cost of production must, and will, rise, which means that his competitive power will decrease. British trade would reap the benefit. The remedies here advocated are simple and practical, and can be tried without inquiry, political campaign, or Act of Parliament. They would be tried to-morrow but for the crass stupidity of the British workman, who is content to follow the blind leading of his unions. The effects of his folly are becoming so serious to the country generally that they cannot be allowed to continue. We have arrived at a point where we must not only recognise this truth, but fearlessly state it, however disagreeable it may be to the wire-pullers of party politics. The working classes have no monopoly either of political or commercial wisdom, and they are making use of their power in a way so detrimental to their country's trade that a period must be put to their harmful tactics, and that right soon. A class which works nine hours a day at the outside, and thinks it can compete with its foreign rivals who work at least ten hours a day, is committing a gross error. The outcry for aid to our commerce shows that we feel the result of our labour policy ; but instead of blaming the working men we blame foreign tariffs, and our own free import system. What typical insular logic ! Yours truly, An Honest Laholtuek. Newcastle-! in-Tyne, October 9. INTRODUCTION TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir, — May I call attention to an aspect of the fiscal question which seems to me to have been more or less overlooked in the heat of the controversy ? There are, I suppose, two aims or motives, with one or both of which we all enter upon the inquiry ; they are by no means identical, nor do they run on parallel lines. One is the consolidation of the Empire, the other the im- provement of our industrial trade. As regards the first, many of us are awaiting the state- ment of some scheme which shall be mutually advan- tageous to the mother country and all the colonies alike, and which will be accepted by all. Hitherto not even the outline of a scheme fulfilling all these conditions has been put forth. The aspect to which I refer, however, has to do with the second aim — viz. the improvement or revival of our trade. Assuming that trade is in a languishing condition, can legislation, or protection, or any fiscal enactment, alone restore it to prosperity ? I fear not ; the antecedent necessity is persistent industry, and there is reason to fear that the industry of the United Kingdom is " sore let and hindered " by the restrictive policy of the trade unions. The essential corollary of free trade is free labour, whereas we have free imports and protected labour. The two trades with which I may claim some personal acquaintance are the printing and building trades, and it is matter of common knowledge that in them too fre- quently the best and the quickest worker is not allowed to reap the faults of his skill and industry. Tariffs act like a handicap in a game, which may equalise two players of known skill who may be relied upon to do their best, but is powerless to make a shirker " play up and play the game. 1 "' NEED FOR GENUINE INDUSTRY 5 Were true industry, with its concomitants of thrift, sobriety, and freedom from gambling, to prevail, I for one believe that the British workman could hold his own, and more than hold his own, against the world — protec- tion or no protection. I do not presume to say that pro- tection is ineffectual ; I only say that protection without genuine industry is like a besieged fortress without a garrison. I yield to no one in appreciation of the great work accomplished by trade unions, but I submit that their policy of restriction of output and of individual effort is doing more injury to the industrial trade of this country than foreign tariffs. Trade unionism in America and in Germany, so far as I can ascertain, enforces no such restrictions as prevail over here. I hope that some of our leading men will deal with this question ; combined with the efforts which are now being made for amended education, a genuine effort to free the individual worker from the shackles in which he now works cannot fail to have most important results. I know that from a political point of view the subject is a thorny one to touch ; but if the true facts of the case could be dispassionately laid before the mass of English workmen, it is impossible to believe that they could fail to see in which direction their interests lie. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, John Murray. 50, Albemarle Street, W. } October 20. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. Sir, — The successful endeavour to make our fiscal system a matter of party politics has prevented the direct discussion of some of the aspects of the question by politicians. They are unwilling to attribute the 6 INTRODUCTION diminution of our foreign trade to the action of trade unions, and so a large part of the cause of the diminution remains unmentioned and unattended to. I refer to the practice of restriction of output, which I think is largely responsible for our inability to compete with the harder- working foreigner. Under these circumstances protection has been determined on as a means of keeping off com- petition. The Times' investigation proved that our workmen are content to do just enough work to keep a factory in a position to carry on its business, and that, though denied by prominent trade unionists, there exists a tacit but clearly understood intention on the workmen's part to turn out no more than that amount. This policy has been represented to the men as altruistic as well as advantageous ; it is also welcome to all who are idle by nature. Now of all other trade union questions this one is at any rate answered in a totally different spirit by Con- tinental and American people. There we find piecework, and systems designed to make hard work and increased output profitable to the individual workman are allowed ; and hence it tends at any rate, to come about that the foreigners have surplus goods to sell at a profit outside their home market. This is not overproduction by any means. Their unrestricted output gives a surplus of goods which is used to turn the balance against ns, and, reacting, to discourage our manufacturers and make them unwilling to put down new plant or sink capital in factories. So protection is the cure pressed on us ; but is there no danger that this also will be turned to account to further restrict output, and will only leave us with higher prices to the home consumer and no foreign markets invaded ? Our workmen, enjoying i'wv cheap imports and THE CAUSE OF THE FISCAL CRISIS 7 the advantage of cheap capital, ought as it is to be able to undersell the taxed foreigner, and I believe they could but for the bad advice of their leaders. A member of the present Cabinet was asked if a little elementary political economy might be taught in our schools ; but his answer was that the whole body of trade unionists would be up in arms against it. I suggest education on the fallacy of the doctrine of re- striction of output as a cure for the state of affairs which has brought about the fiscal crisis. Yours faithfully, E. Baynes Badcock. 7, Pejibridge ChESCENT, W., October 15. At the time my articles were written there was, of course, no suggestion that Mr. Chamberlain would raise a " crisis " in the country in regard to the fiscal question — a question which, as Mr. John Murray points out in the letter quoted above, involves the twofold aspect of the con- solidation of the Empire and the improvement of our industrial trade. It is with the latter that we are here specially concerned, and, looking back to the tour of inquiry which I made in the autumn of 1901 with the view of collecting materials for the articles in question, I am struck by the fact that although manufacturers great and small, representing a large variety of different trades in various parts of the country, discussed their grievances with me, it was only on very 8 INTRODUCTION rare occasions that reference was made by them to fiscal difficulties and the need for protection, and then only incidentally. It will be seen that, in giving an account of the " Sheffield Trades," I remarked, " One hears the same story of a steady decadence and a transfer of more or less of the trade into the hands of foreign competitors " ; and I went on to say, " For this result hostile tariffs are undoubtedly re- sponsible to a certain extent, but there are various characteristics and peculiarities of the trades in question that render them especially deserving of study." This was the key-note in regard not only to the Sheffield trades but to many others as well, and the general impression then undoubtedly seemed to be that if British manufacturers were not so hampered by labour conditions they would, as a rule — though ex- ceptions were freely admitted — be able to hold their own in spite of foreign competition. It may be that in 1901, before Mr. Chamberlain had brought forward his array of facts, figures, and arguments, the country had not sufficiently realised the effects of hostile tariffs ^ and it may also be thought in some quarters that my articles erred in not giving greater emphasis to this aspect of the question. If so, I can only plead that I presented the aforesaid grievances as I DIFFICULTIES OF MANUFACTURERS 9 found them. To-day the tendency is to go to the other extreme, and to attribute the troubles that have overtaken British industry and British commerce to fiscal causes alone. In regard to the glass trades, for instance, speeches have been made, leaflets have been issued, and numberless letters have been written to the newspapers (especially those in the Midlands), tracing to hostile tariffs and foreign competition the closing of so many glass-works in this country, and the depression that has come over the British glass industries in general. But if the reader will turn to the sections dealing with the glass trades, and see what I relate as to the difficulties manufacturers have had to face in dealing with their workpeople, he will cease to wonder that so many of them have come to grief, and he will understand the more readily how the prevalence of such conditions as those described must have facilitated the operations of the foreigner in gaining the position on our markets he has now secured. If further evidence on this aspect of the ques- tion be needed, I would commend for considera- tion the following paragraph from The Times of November 19, 1903, in regard to the Penrhyn Quarry strike— a dispute in which the main point at issue was whether the real control of 10 INTRODUCTION the quarry should be in the hands of Lord Penrhyn or in those of the trade union leaders : A correspondent writes : — " It is estimated that the Penrhyn Quarry strike, which ended last week after lasting three years, although all the men were not out during that period, cost the district the sum of oP364,000 in wages alone. An alarming fact has come to light in connection with the dispute. Before the strike, which began in October, 1900, the amount of slates imported into this country might almost be regarded as a negligible quantity. For the quarter ended March, 1901, the quantity of slates imported into this country amounted to 15,702 tons, and for the quarter ended September 30, the figures reached a total of 31,581 tons. The figures show a steady and alarming increase, and it is feared that the slate trade of North Wales has been permanently injured by the strike." The facts here narrated represent only one of many instances that might be given showing the way in which trade has left the country as the direct result of industrial warfare, and no possible policy of tariff reform could by itself have prevented such grave injury to the trades concerned. There is, indeed, abundant food for reflection in the problem as to whether the imposition of tariffs on foreign commodities in the interests of British industries would or would not add to the complications of any labour dispute arising in such industries. Presumably the purchasers THE POLITICAL POINT OF VIEW 11 of slates in this country did not themselves suffer from the stoppage of the Penrhyn supplies, be- cause their wants were readily met from abroad ; but, taking this Penrhyn dispute as an illustra- tion, I would invite the reader to ask himself this question : Assuming for the sake of argu- ment that there had been a tariff on foreign slates, what effect would the existence of such a tariff have had on the position of (a) the strikers, (b) Lord Penrhyn, and (c) the pur- chasers of slates, respectively ? And what effect, also, would similar conditions and circumstances be likely to have on other industries if we are to think only of tariff reform, and ignore the equally important factor of labour reform ? As Mr. John Murray truly enough says in his letter, " from a political point of view the subject is a thorny one to touch." Each party to the present controversy wants, as an ordinary matter of tactics, the support of the working- classes, and it is only natural that neither should care to press home too closely considera- tions which might in any way alienate from it the sympathies and support of the trade unionists. There is, consequently, the danger that if the country is to be influenced exclusively by the views of political leaders and lieutenants, it may not get at the whole of the truths it ought to 12 INTRODUCTION have if " the inquest of the nation " is to result in a sufficiently comprehensive verdict. The time seems, therefore, to be especially opportune for the re-publication, in collected form, of a series of articles in which there was brought together so large an array of facts bearing on the questions of the restriction of output, the increased cost of production, the resort to picketing, intimidation, and coercion, and the general effect of the more militant and unreasonable phases of trade union rules or practices in handicapping British industries. No one can deny the bearing of all these things on the present controversy, and if they are to remain unchecked the most thorough-going system of fiscal changes that even Mr. Chamberlain could bring about would not suffice to re-establish our industries and our commerce on so healthy and so prosperous a basis as they ought to occupy. The articles in question were originally pub- lished at a time when a good deal of attention was already being paid to the questions dealt with therein. Between October 7, 1901, and November 18, when the first article appeared, Professor Case, Mr. W. Bramwell Booth, Mr. T. V. S. Angier, Mr. Henry AYilson, Mr. George T. Hartley, Mr. C. R. Ashbee, and others, had taken part in a discussion in the columns DEFENDERS OF TRADE UNIONISM 13 of The Times on labour problems in general, the said discussion being started by a letter headed " The Crisis in Labour " from Pro- fessor Case, in which he showed, among other things, how the effect on capital of the ex- isting labour conditions was " partly its gradual destruction and diversion from this country, but still more the less-noticed decrease in its pro- ductiveness. We reckon," he said, " our national capital by millions, and often congratulate our- selves on its increase, but forget that a million now means much less in the way of interest. For example, the problem of railway directors at the present moment is how to save out of a maximum of wages a minimum of dividend." A still more vigorous discussion followed the publi- cation of the articles. The defence of trade unionism " as an institution " was taken up by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb in a letter published in The Times on December 6, 1901 ; though the object of the articles was, in point of fact, not to attack trade unionism " as an institution," but to deal, rather, with the abuses that had crept into an organisation which, in the opinion of many employers, should occupy a legitimate and even useful place in the scheme of industrial progress, so long as it is directed along reason- able lines. Mr. and Mrs. Webb admitted that, 14 INTRODUCTION " so far as they relate to the instinctive senti- ment of a manual working class, employed at time wages, we believe that your correspondent's charges contain much truth " ; but they held it wrong to think that the evil of " go-easy " and kindred practices was increasing, or was due to trade unionism. " So far," they wrote, " from the aggregate product being less per head and decreasing, we are convinced, on the evidence of employers themselves, that greater sobriety, greater regularity, increased intelligence, and im- proved methods of remuneration make the manual labour of this country (irrespective of the results of machinery) far more productive to-day than it ever was before." They further declared that " at the present time the influence of trade unionism, considered as a whole, is more efficacious in increasing than in reducing the productivity of the labour of its members." On December 20, 1901, a further statement for the defence, signed by the Management Committee (sixteen in number) of the General Federation of Trade Unions, was published in The Times. It set forth, mainly, " the legitimate objects of trade unionism, and their achievements on behalf of labour and in the interests of the community generally," and, without going into details, it made the general statement that the Manage- A QUESTION OF " ABNORMAL EXERTION " 15 ment Committee " emphatically denied that the practices alleged by The Times writer form any part of trade unionism." On the question of restriction of output it said that " the unions oppose sweating of labour by unscrupulous employers, and resent their members being goaded into abnormal exertion beyond their strength and inconsistent with health and per- manent efficiency " ; and it was added, " The statement that the unions have prevented the introduction of labour-saving machinery or appliances is not only not true, but absolutely the reverse of truth." The former of these two last-mentioned assertions — as to the unions re- senting their men being goaded into abnormal exertion beyond their strength — was distinctly entertaining, in view, for example, of the remarks I had made concerning the alleged number of bricks laid by London County Council brick- layers — remarks which a committee of the London County Council took four months to investigate, and then, but for a mere quibble as to the actual figure (the addition to which of another score or so would not have altered the main argument) practically admitted to be true. As regards the question of labour-saving machinery, a denial of any suggestion that the unions have prevented the introduction of such machinery does not 16 INTRODUCTION meet the whole of the case, because it was part of my argument that, even when labour-saving machinery had been introduced, there was too often a disposition either not to work it to its full capacity, or, alternatively, to allow one man to look after one machine only, or a strictly limited number of machines (some of which, being really automatic, required practically no minding at all) ; with the result that the em- ployers got less return for their outlay than they ought to have, and the cost of production, even with the use of American machinery, was greater in this country than it would be in America itself. Other criticisms to which the articles were subjected related chiefly to matters of detail in regard to which particular statements were challenged ; though it seems to me that a much more effective reply on the general question might have been made if the critics had carried the war into the camp of the employers, by showing from the abundant evidence procurable from consular reports that, whatever the parti- cular faults and short-comings of the men and their leaders, the depression which had overtaken British industry was due in no small degree to a lack both of enterprise and of efficient methods in the pushing of business in THE EXPANSION OF TRADE. 17 foreign countries. What is now wanted, how- ever, is not an exchange of recriminations, but a recognition of the fact that the trade and commerce of the United Kingdom must hence- forward be conducted on lines that will allow of their fullest possible development if the general progress of the country is to be secured in the face of so much foreign competition. Whether the conditions described in the following pages are due directly, indirectly, or not at all to trade union rules or practices becomes itself a matter of detail from the standpoint of the total volume of our national trade, on which, however, as everybodj' must see, they cannot fail to have a prejudicial effect ; and trade union leaders who disown all responsibility for such conditions ought to be the first to do all they can to get rid of them, if for no other reason than to ensure a greater demand for the labour of those they lead. Yet the adverse conditions which, from one cause or another, have overtaken so many of our industries are such that it would be un- wise to expect any immediate substantial expan- sion in the amount of available employment, whatever the nature of the changes it may still be possible to effect. In any case, however, it is now especially desirable that employers and employed should 2 18 INTRODUCTION recognise more clearly their community of interest, and seek to promote both their own and the national welfare by freeing the in- dustries and the commerce of the land as far as possible from every restraint or difficulty that may in any way retard their proper development. This need will remain, what- ever view may be taken of Mr. Chamberlain's proposals ; and it will still remain whether those proposals are carried out or not. On this point one cannot insist too strongly. Whatever political leaders may or may not be able to do, there is much that employers and employed can and should accomplish, on their own initiative, in the way of putting their mutual relations on a better footing, and no more favourable opportunity for bringing about such a result could be found than the present moment, when the whole of our economic conditions are sup- posed to be under review. Considering that, on the one hand, the most prudent of the trade unionists of the country are opposed to the more intolerant, coercive, and restrictive tactics which have been resorted to from time to time in their name ; and that, on the other hand, the great bulk of the employers are either willing to work in harmony with the trade unions — so long as they are not operated on aggressive lines, — SCOPE FOR AN UNDERSTANDING 19 or, while not giving " official " recognition to the unions, make no distinction between trade unionists and others, there ought to be full scope for arriving at some understanding which would so far improve the general industrial position as either to decrease the need for tariff reform, if no fiscal changes are to be made, or else to clear the way for greater and more successful efforts, on the part alike of manufacturers and work- men, if the proposed revolution in our economic position be really effected. EDWIN A. PRATT. London, November, 1903. TRADE UNIONISM AND BRITISH INDUSTRY «CA' CANNY" The injurious effect that trade unionism of the more aggressive or of the more insidious type may exercise on the trade of the country is a question of very grave importance at a time when there seem to be so many difficulties in the conduct of our industries, especially in regard to the cost of production and to foreign com- petition. There may have been a falling off recently in the number of labour conflicts of the more violent type, once comparatively common. But against this apparent improve- ment must be set the further considerations that there are industries still suffering from a loss of trade transferred to other countries as the result of trade union action in the past ; that there are employers of labour who, weary of stoppages of work, submit to the exactions of trade unions rather than fight against them, and pass the financial consequences on to the 21 22 "CA 1 CANNY" British public ; and, most serious of all, perhaps, that the " new " unionism, with its resort to violence and intimidation, has in turn been succeeded by a " newer " unionism, which, al- though working along much quieter lines, is doing even more serious injury — by reason of the greater difficulty of coping with it — alike to trade, to industry, and to the individual worker. This " newer " unionism would pass among economists under the courtesy title of " re- stricting the output." Among trade unionists of the Socialist type, who have no regard for courtesy titles, it is better known as "Ca' canny." It got this nickname during the shipping troubles of a few years ago, and an exposition of its principles was given in an illustrated article pub- lished in the Seamen s Chronicle of October 24, 1896: What (asked the article) is Ca 1 canny ? It is a simple and handy phrase which is used to describe a new in- strument or policy which may be used by the workers in place of a strike. If two Scotsmen are walking together, and one walks too quickly for the other, he says to him, " Ca' canny, mon, ca 1 canny," which means, " Go easy, man, go easy." Then the article, in a series of arguments, went on to show how, when a person buys a hat, a shirt, or a piece of beef, he gets an inferior article or a less quantity for a lower price, and PASSIVE RESISTERS 23 it argued that the same principle should apply in regard to work and wages. It concluded : If the employers persist in their refusal to meet the workmen's representatives in order to discuss the demands sent in, the workmen ean retort by marking the ballot paper in favour of adopting the " Ca 1 canny," or " Go easy," policy until such times as the employers decide to meet and confer with the men's representatives. The illustrations accompanying the article are four in number, and are given under the heading " Ca canny. How to work for — " the different rates of pay specified. " £5 a Month " shows a seaman putting all his energy into pulling a rope ; with " £4 a Month " a second man has to be called in ; with " £3 10s. a Month " there are three men at the rope, two of them smoking their pipes and looking the picture of indiffer- ence ; while " £3 a Month " shows four men, all asleep on deck, with the rope dangling loose between them. Such is the principle of " Ca' canny," or otherwise of "restricting the output," which is the fundamental principle of the " newer " unionism. But the use of it " in place of a strike " is only one phase of the application of the principle. For quite a different reason, "Go easy" is to become the policy of the British working man in general. That, at least, is the 24 "CA 1 CANNY 1 ' aspiration of the Socialist labour leaders of to- day. Men are not to put forth their best powers. They must work in such a way that it will be necessary for others to be called in to help on the work they would otherwise get through themselves, employment being thus found for the largest possible number of hands. The idea has found favour with a vast number of British workers, partly out of consideration for non-workers, and partly because it may suit their natural disposition. But in its original inception there was much more in it than this. It was hoped to " absorb " all the unemployed in the course of time, not by the laudable and much-to-be-desired means of increasing the volume of trade, and hence, also, the amount of work to be done, but simply by obtaining employment for a larger number of persons on such work as there was already. The motive of this aspiration, however, was not one of philanthropy pure and simple. When all the unemployed had been absorbed, the workers would have the employers entirely at their mercy, and would be able to command such wages and such terms as they might think fit. The general adoption of the eight hours system was to bring in a certain proportion of the unemployed ; if there were still too many left THE TRAIL OF THE SOCIALISTS 25 the eight hours system was to be followed by a six hours system ; while if, within the six, or eight, or any other term of hours, every one took things easy and did as little work as he conveniently could, still more openings would be found for the remaining unemployed, and still better would be the chances for the Socialist propaganda. That such a " restriction " of individual output as was involved in all this would send up the cost of production to an extent that would endanger industries, and drive trade out of the country, was a matter of secondary importance, in comparison with the result that the Socialists would eventually become masters of the situation, and be able to nationalise or municipalise whatever they thought fit. There is only too much reason to fear that, without seeing the full significance of the move- ment, the working men of this country are adopting the " ca' canny," or " go easy," principle so generally, that this mischief, aided by the more aggressive forms of trade unionism, is eating the very heart out of British industry. It is not a question whether or not a man is working full time — -whatever the precise limit of that time may be — but, " Is he working with his full energy ? " and the answer is that, though 26 "CA 1 CANNY" there is a universal desire for a fair day's pay (and more, if it can be got), there is an almost universal unwillingness, among those who are subject to trade union influence, to do a fair day's work. A man may be employed and paid for ten hours, but there is a steadily growing disposition to put into those ten hours only eight hours' real effort, while those engaged for eight hours will give only six hours of their energy, and so on. From trades of the most varied description the same story comes. Not that all who adopt the principle do so willingly. There are innumerable instances of men anxious to do their best who are compelled by their fellows to do as little as they, being so treated that they are forced to abandon any idea of doing their duty to their employer, and of obeying the dictates of their own conscience. Neither is it of much use to search among union rules for evidence in black and white of the formal adoption and enforcement of a principle which has thus become the bane of our industrial system. The average trade unionist is much too 'cute a person to offer evidence against himself in this way, even though the SeamerCs Chronicle did, in popular parlance, "give away the show." The more prominent leaders woidd, of course, disavow the principle ; but, though they may WHAT THE SYSTEM MEANS. Ti not encourage it openly, they do so tacitly, and their subordinates, " shop delegates," and others, do so directly. The whole system, as now being worked, is, in fact, the direct outcome of trade unionism coupled with advanced Socialism. In its mildest phase it takes the form of keeping the strong, efficient, and willing worker down to the productive level of the weakest and most inefficient ; and in its worst aspect it amounts to deliberate cheating— that is to say, a man accepts wages as the price of his whole capacity and energy, and gives only a half or two-thirds of them in return. THE BUILDING TRADES In no branch of industry, perhaps, has this principle of restricting the output been more generally adopted than in that represented by the building trades. There are other conditions existing in those trades which demand attention as well, but the " go easy " policy calls for first consideration. Not that the rules of the men's societies prescribe any such policy. It is a question of unwritten law, discussed by the men when their lodge meetings are over, rather than of formal rules drawn up at those meetings themselves. The actual rules may, indeed, look as innocent as the multiplication table ; but when one comes to the question of practices that is quite a different matter. For instance, there is no rule as to the precise number of bricks a man shall lay in the course of his day's labour ; but there is a well-recognised unwritten law on the subject which a bricklayer will disregard at his peril. Twenty years ago a bricklayer would lay his 1,000 bricks a day when on 28 THE ETHICS OF BRICKLAYING 29 straightforward work. Thirty years ago the bricklayers employed on railway tunnel work in London laid even 1,200 a day. But the unwritten law now in force declares that a bricklayer engaged even on plain work must " go easy," and not lay more than 400 in the day. He will thus not only avoid compelling those who do not wish to do more to go faster, but he will " give another man a chance," by helping to render it necessary for more hands to be engaged. What happens if he should exceed this quantity is shown by a story which is given on the authority of a master builder. At one of his jobs a new hand who possessed all the energy of youth was one day put on, and he showed himself so devoted to his work that the other bricklayers were dissatisfied, and counted up how many bricks he had laid in the course of the day. They found he was responsible for 724. Such zeal as that could not be tolerated, and they gave him to understand that he need not turn up on the morrow, as they would not have him working with them. The young man com- plained to the foreman, who replied that he was absolutely helpless in the matter, but would put him on another job. This was done, but as the young man started afresh at the same pace as before he had a repetition of his previous 30 THE BUILDING TRADES experience, and had then to go away altogether. Such interference as this must be extremely galling to the large number of workmen who desire to do a good day's work for their wage, but for a bricklayer to attempt to fight against the unwritten law in question means that he will be subjected to constant annoyances, that his mates will be " chipping " at him all the time, that complaints will be trumped up against him and carried to the foreman, and that things generally will be made so unpleasant for him that he will be forced either to work no harder than the others do, or to go elsewhere. To show how difficult the position of a foreman may be in such matters, the case may here be mentioned of a foreman in the north of London who, not very long ago, for having insisted on the bricklayers under him doing a fair day's work for their money, was repeatedly summoned before the lodge of his society, and fined 5s. on each occasion, for so-called " sweating." The maacimurn of 400 bricks per day is the " recognised " limit for dwelling-houses, shops, and business premises built by a private con- tractor. In the case of public buildings, and especially London County Council and London School Board work, the limit is considerably less. It is to be feared that the London County THE L.C.C. "LIMIT" 31 Council, especially, with its direct employment of labour and its strong trade union sympathies, must be held responsible in no small degree for the development of the "go easy" practices in the building trades generally, the standard set by its own employes being regarded as one which should be followed, not only on other public work, but to a certain extent on private work also. Thus a firm of contractors had a job on hand in the East End of London, and complaint was made to certain of the bricklayers — who were engaged on some straightforward work on which they could easily have laid from GOO to 700 bricks a day — that they were not doing enough. The reply they gave was : " The London County Council limit is 330 bricks the day. That is what they consider a fair day's work, and we are not going to do more for you or any one else." But this 330 limit was somewhat generous for public work, if it be true, as affirmed by one authority, that in the case of a certain Board school in London the average number of bricks laid was only 200 per day. Even this figure, too, represents activity itself compared with still another school built for the London School Board. The builder thought he was paying an unconscionable amount for labour, and he had his men watched for some days. He 32 THE BUILDING TRADES found that the work they did represented — an average of 70 bricks per man per day ! This particular builder could very well have followed the example of the contractor who, going to see how his job was progressing, remarked to the foreman, " I don't think we need measure up the work. We'll count the bricks." Had there been any decrease of wages in the building trades there might have been some excuse for the adoption of "go easy " principles. But the contrary is the fact. The wages have gone up substantially of late years, but, as already shown, instead of more work being done for the extra money, there is less. The com- bined effect on the cost of labour has been such that, whereas a plain wall could have been put up ten years ago for from £12 to £14 per rod (272 feet), such a wall would now cost from £20 to £22 per rod. Allowance must, of course, be made for the increased cost of bricks, though 10 per cent, of this increase is due to the fact that the brickmakers adopt similar tactics to the bricklayers ; but the average cost of labour alone in brickwork (exclusive of pointing) has increased from £3 to £6 per rod in the last ten years, and even this figure is sometimes ex- ceeded. One master builder in London, noticing how slowly the work on a particular job was HOW THE BUILDER'S MONEY GOES 33 proceeding, spoke about it to the foreman, and said he would like to find out how much the bricklaying was costing him per rod. The men had seen the two conversing, but had not actually heard what was said. They concluded, however, as they told the foreman, that "the guvnor wasn't satisfied," and not one of them came back to work next day. The desired calculation was made, and it was found that the actual work of bricklaying was costing £9 per rod, or one half- penny per brick. As a combined illustration of lazy working, excessive cost of labour, and a resort to in- timidation on the part of the men when the employer seeks to protect his own interests, no better, or, rather, no worse, example could well be given than that represented by an incident which occurred in connection with a certain East- end job so recently as the middle of October. During the course of one particular week there were engaged on the job in question 24 brick- layers and 24 labourers each day. The wages paid to the bricklayers for their week's work amounted to £61 9s. 4f/., and those to the labourers £36 14s. 10d., making a total of £98 4>s. 2d. The amount of work done for this sum was 43 cubic yards, representing a cost of nearly £20 per rod for bricklaying alone. Some 3 34 THE BUILDING TRADES of the men were discharged, but six or seven of them returned the following day, and, finding that other men had been engaged in their place, they committed a savage assault on the new- comers, one of whom was seriously injured. Two of the assailants were taken into custody by the police, and later in the day were convicted by a magistrate and committed to prison, one of them for seven days and the other for one month. Up to the present the contractors in question have shown no partiality in the employ- ment of non-union men, but they have caused it to be understood that, if the state of things suggested by the above incident should continue, they will take measures to protect themselves against such tyranny. It is not against the bricklayers alone that complaints of "go easy " practices are brought. From the navvy who digs the foundations, to the painter who puts on the last coat of varnish, all the men engaged in the building trades are declared to be " tarred with the same brush " in regard to doing less work for more money, especially where there is any lack of proper supervision. And unfortunately, unless he makes up his mind to resort to exclusively non- union labour, the average master builder is practically at the mercy of his men. How they DOORS FROM SWEDEN 35 will leave a job if they even suspect him of complaining has already been shown, and other instances might be added. If he himself should turn off one man for " going easy " and put on another in his place, the chances are that the second man will be no better than the first. His opportunities, too, of finding relief in foreign competition are limited, though he makes use of those that present themselves. Thus, an enormous trade has developed in ready-made doors from Sweden, for the simple reason that they can be brought here and sold at 9s. 6d., while the same class of door made in England with similar machinery to that employed in Sweden would cost 13,9. 6d, When the Asso- ciated Society of Carpenters and Joiners found, some years ago, that the masters were availing themselves of foreign help to overcome the tactics of that union, it called a strike in order to compel the builders not to use Swedish doors, but the attempt failed. A substantial trade has also sprung up of late years in Swedish window sashes and frames, to the further detriment of our own carpentering trade, while architrave mouldings for doors and window frames are brought from Sweden and exten- sively sold here at one-third the cost of English mouldings. 36 THE BUILDING TRADES In these directions the builder who is not engaged on really first-class work can obtain a certain set-off against English rates of labour, but his general position is that of being handi- capped all round. Thus, he has not only direct troubles in dealing with his own men, but in- direct worries owing to disputes and rivalries among the different unions. The disputes more especially take the form of counter-claims to particular classes of work, in which case it is not uncommon for each union to tell the em- ployer that if he gives way to the other all its members will be called out on all the jobs he has on hand. Some of the disputes take place over work which might fairly be claimed by either party ; but others show an evident desire on the part of a powerful union to crush a weaker one out of existence, and secure additional advantages for its own members thereby. Here is an interesting story, in three chapters, told in the " Minutes of Proceedings " of the Annual Movable General Council of the Opera- tive Bricklayers' Society, the name of the firm in question being, however, omitted. These Minutes of Proceedings are not supposed to meet the eye of an outsider, but that is a matter of detail : MORAL SUASION 37 Meeting, Saturday, October 7, 1899. Camberwell Branch reported they have struck Messrs. -'s job, in , as they persisted in employing other than bricklayers pointing there. They desire council's sanction to pay the pickets the current rate, and as the job in is nearly finished, and consequently the pres- sure will not be very heavy on the firm unless their other jobs are struck, therefore they desire council's sanction to do so. Moved by Bros. Stock and Skipp : " That the Camberwell Branch be instructed to strike the whole of Messrs. 's jobs in the metropolitan dis- trict, and the pickets engaged in this dispute be paid the current rate, the amount beyond strike and picket pay to be defrayed from London district levy fund. 11 Carried. Meeting, Monday, October 9, 1899. Messrs. informed council that the L.M.B.A. (London Master Builders 1 Association) are of opinion that the action taken with that firm is distinctly unfair and unwarranted under the circumstances ; they have, however, decided to discharge the men complained of, and they left the work on the 5th hist. ; they therefore desire the removal of the pickets from their works. Moved by Bros. Skipp and Newlove : " That a conference with Messrs. be arranged for Thursday next, and Bros. Purdy and Lovatt be appointed delegates to meet them. 11 Carried. Meeting, Thursday, October 12, 1899. Bros. Lovatt and Purdy reported as deputed, — We attended Messrs. "s office this morning re others than bricklayers doing pointing at . Mr. stated that the men complained of had been removed, and that he 38 THE BUILDING TRADES was prepared to conform to the metropolitan working rules on all his jobs in future, and wished the pickets to be withdrawn as soon as possible. Moved by Bros. Richards and Newlove : " That the delegates' 1 report of their mission to be received, and Bro. Lovatfs expenses, 13*., be paid."" Carried. Moved by Bros. Mason and Stock : " That Messrs. having given satisfactory assur- ance as to the conduct of their works in future, the strike against that firm be closed forthwith, and the pickets withdrawn." Carried. There is, on the whole, more toleration of non-union labour in the building trades than was formerly the case, but in many instances the non-unionist is still subjected to systematic annoyance, and even to persecution at the hands of the unionists when they can resort to such practices without danger to themselves. It is, however, not only the non-unionist who suffers. There are hundreds of men who have joined their union, partly under compulsion, but also because of the benefits that seemed to be assured to them. Many of these men are known to have paid in their subscriptions for a period of twenty years or so, and such men may be looking forward to benefits which amount practically to old-age pensions. One can imagine, therefore, the position of a man when told that he must THE FORFEITING OF BENEFITS 39 either obey some order of the union — such as one to leave the service of a respected employer — or else be driven out of the union, and thereby forfeit the whole of the benefits for which he has been subscribing for twenty years, and all the provision he has been making for old age. Whether or not a trade union has any right to do this sort of thing is a question that must be left to those who are learned in the law ; but one thing certain is that a working man cannot be expected to fight out the matter with his union, and in some very shameful cases that have occurred the men have seen no alternative but to surrender to the despotic commands of the union officials. Still another class of troubles is represented by an incident that occurred at Bath, where 100 masons and bricklayers left a job rather than work with five society men who had not paid certain penalties imposed on them, the strikers insisting that either the men should pay up or the firm should discharge them. The five would not pay, the firm would not discharge them, and so the 100 struck work, and remained out until the local officials ordered them to return. EFFECT ON HOUSE FROPERTY As the outcome of all these disputes, rivalries, and squabbles among the men themselves, a further augmentation in the cost of production takes place, the figure eventually reached being far above that for which the building ought to have been erected. When possible, the builder naturally seeks to recover the increased expenses from his patrons, or from what the operatives evidently regard as the bottomless purse of the British ratepayer ; so that eventually it is the public who pay. Sometimes, however, a builder will find his calculations quite upset by the vagaries of the labour world, as in the case of one who had reckoned on a good profit from building a bank in London, his contract standing at a substantial figure, but who eventually found himself £1,500 to the bad. When the specu- lative builder feels that lie must not exceed a certain outlay he is under a strong inducement to guard against loss by building in the jerry- built style of which so much is heard ; and here, again, it is the public who suffer. They suffer, 40 WHY RENTS ARE GOING UP 41 too, in common with the building-trade operatives themselves, through the increase of rents, and this increase affects not only new buildings which have cost more to erect than they should have done, but others which, owing to the increase in wages and the " go easy " system of working, cost more for repairs. A landlord who has twice raised the rents of his small house property by one shilling during the past ten years, and has increased those of middle class property from, say, £45 to £48, declares that the extra charge is swallowed up by what it costs him more to keep the houses in proper con- dition ; so here, again, it is the public who pay. The building trade mechanic who has secured another 5s. a week wages for doing less work grumbles if he is called on to give a shilling a week more for rent ; but he is not so heavily hit as the labourer who earns only 3s. a week more and must also pay the extra shilling ; while neither has so much right to complain as the average professional man, who works as hard as ever for a stationary salary, and must meet the additional expenses which mechanic and labourer have com- bined to bring upon him, without his having the chance of gaining any benefit whatever in return. An effective remedy for the present state of things in the building trade will not be easy to 42 EFFECT ON HOUSE PROPERTY find. That trade includes so many small masters, represents so many different branches, each with its separate union among the men, and is so much subject to local influences, that the oppor- tunities for the occurrence of troubles are ex- ceptionally numerous. If the whole of the masters could show as much backbone as certain individuals among them do, and if, improving still further on their present combinations, they formed a solid and compact body, through which individual losses sustained in the interests of the whole trade would be met out of a common fund, there would be a better chance of over- coming trade union tactics, and the arbitrary powers of the unions would, as one man has put it, " tumble to pieces like a house of cards." On the other hand, it is feared that as long as municipal bodies like the London County Council remain what they are — their labour members, returned by extremely active labour organisa- tions, getting the controlling voice on labour questions, and playing into the hands of the trade union workers, who fix a standard, as it were, which the employes of other public bodies, and of private contractors as well, are becoming more and more disposed to accept, — so long will it be practically impossible to place the trade on a satisfactory footing. THE ENGINEERING TRADES The position in the engineering trades has greatly improved since the dispute of four years ago, the effects of the famous agreement then arrived at having been most beneficial to the employers, while they have also conferred advantages on the employed, and have exercised a good in- fluence on other trades in the country as well. The conditions laid down by the agreement were at the time regarded as the harsh terms of a remorseless conqueror ; yet since then the men's society has prospered more than it ever did be- fore, and the men individually have been getting better returns. The agreement established the great principle of freedom alike for the employer and for the employed. The employer was to be free in the making of such arrangements as might be suitable for the management and efficiency of his shops ; he was to be free to appoint what men he chose to take charge of the machines, and to engage trade unionists or non-unionists as he thought fit. The employed, in his turn, 43 44 THE ENGINEERING TRADES was to exercise his own discretion whether he joined a trade union or not. Altogether, as the direct result of this agreement, there has not been a single cessation of work of any moment during four years of unexampled prosperity. Differences of opinion, more or less serious, have certainly arisen, but these have been settled by representatives of both sides without mediation. As an illustration of the spirit that now prevails, it may be mentioned that, while the old rule of " one man, one machine " is still maintained, there are shops where the subterfuge is accepted by the men of putting two machines on one bed, or of grouping a set of tools together, and in each case regarding them as one machine. Such, indeed, is the improvement that, when one em- ployer was asked what was the position now, as compared with the state of things at the time of the dispute, he replied, " Oh, it's just like heaven." Without assuming any responsibility for the accuracy of this comparison, one may, at least, declare that the engineering employers are better able to meet competition now than they were before. Thus, one of them who, when the old restrictions were in full force, found lie was being undersold by Germans, who were dis- posing of their goods in the next county, can now not only hold his own at home, but is even THE ADVENT OF NEW IDEAS 45 able to compete with the Germans in their own country ; and this, too, though he is em- ploying no larger number of hands, and is paying no more for wages in proportion to the work done. Thus far all is satisfactory, and it is gratifying to be able to throw a little light into a narrative of industrial conditions that contains so much shade. Yet truth compels the statement that, while the leaders of the men employed in the engineering trades are beginning to see more clearly how the interests of the employed are bound up with those of the employers, and to understand the real nature of the conditions which the latter have to face, these newer ideas and this broader knowledge have not yet per- meated the general mass of the men. Thus it has been found necessary, for example, in engin- eering shops where non-unionists are engaged on certain portions of the work, to locate them in parts of the premises where they are practically shut off, and are so guarded that no trade unionist can get to them. This is especially the case where new methods have been introduced, re- quiring new tools or the alteration of existing ones. The old hands belonging to the " skilled " class took so unkindly to these new methods that complete failure was experienced, until unskilled 46 THE ENGINEERING TRADES men were brought in from the street, put where the old hands could not get to them, and taught what to do. The resort to this expedient has been a marked success, better work being turned out without either harassing conditions on the one side or sweating on the other. But direct encouragement is thus being given to engineering employers to rely more and more on non-unionists in regard to certain classes of work, of which the unionists at one time exclusively engaged on them were undoubtedly restricting the output. Although, in fact, there have been the im- provements already spoken of in the relations of employers and employed in the engineering trade, there is still too great a prejudice on the part of the workers against labour-saving machinery, still too great a reluctance to work with full energy (in each case owing to the desire of the workman either not to over-exert oneself or to "leave something for others "), and still too great a need for hearty co-operation and for a recognition of a community of interests between masters and men. Competition from abroad is becoming more and more active. The Canadian Pittsburg which is springing up at Sydney, Cape Breton, is already sending pig-iron into this country at the rate of 5,000 tons a A CANADIAN OBJECT LESSON 47 week, most of it going to Glasgow and under- selling home makers ; the extensive plant for steel works at Sydney is now ready ; and the rail works there were to be finished by the middle, or towards the end, of 1902. By that time the companies concerned were expected to be in a fair way to effect something like a revolution in the iron and steel industry, — thanks to the advantages they possess in the co-existence of almost illi- mitable coal, ironstone, and limestone supplies on navigable ocean harbours ; the lower cost at which they can " assemble " materials at Sydney for iron and steel, as compared with Pittsburg and other centres ; the possession by them of new works replete with all the inventions and labour-saving appliances that the ingenuity of man has yet devised for these particular trades ; the comparative nearness of Sydney to the world's markets ; and the bonuses granted by the Dominion Government (in addition to other advantages) to allow of those markets being reached at less cost. Then, again, steel castings can be bought here from German makers for less than they cost when made not twenty miles from the place where they are wanted, and the same is true of German steel ship- plates. In the opinion of some, at least, of the practical 48 THE ENGINEERING TRADES men who have had to face the whole problem, foreign competition such as this can be met only by improved systems of working, and especially by a system which will get rid of lingering re- strictions, allow of the introduction of every possible mechanical improvement, and encourage the men to co-operate loyally with their em- ployers, working with their full energy and producing the best results — a system which will, in effect, allow two tons to be produced at the same cost as is now required to produce one. This is the conviction, too, not only of engineer- ing employers, but of a prominent trade unionist who recently visited some Continental ironworks, and returned full of astonishment at what he had seen, declaring that, unless some such lines as those here indicated were followed, we were bound to fall behind. And the first step to be taken towards securing the improved system in question is to convince the workers of the folly of their opposition to labour-saving appliances, and to show them that such appliances, though they may necessitate a certain rearrangment of labour, never fail to increase the total volume of work, and hence, also, the total number of workers. When the whole range of " go easy " fallacies has been swept away, and a greater recognition of the community of interest between THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE 49 employer and employed is brought about, the engineering trades will follow up with a still more pronounced progress the improvements which the last four years have already secured to them. BOILERMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING From the engineering trades to boilermaking is a natural transition, but the lighter shades to be found in the former are absent from the latter, which must be painted in dark, if not gloomy, colours. With boilermaking is asso- ciated iron and steel shipbuilding, and in neither branch of industry does freedom of employment exist, while restrictions of all kinds are the order of the day. It is, for example, no unusual thing for foremen who seek to promote the interests of their employers to receive letters telling them that, if they persist in doing certain things, they will have to render an account to the union, to which they are compelled to belong ; and there are numerous instances in which foremen who have given orders to the workmen during the day have had to appear before those very same workmen at a meeting of the society in the evening, and receive judgment at their hands for something or other of which the men have dis- approved. How in these conditions discipline 50 CONTROLLING THE MACHINES 51 can be maintained it is difficult to imagine. At present the men are practically supreme. They are the most highly paid, and they are the most irregular workers, of any in the whole trade. Riveters could make £l a day if they really tried, but they are content to earn from 12.v. to 15s., and, as the effect of their high pay, at least one-third of their time is wilfully lost. On the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, especially, after each pay-day, the streets and the public- houses in the shipbuilding centres will be filled with idle men, and the monthly report of their society is most persistent in exhorting the men to give up their dissolute habits and respect their employers' interests by keeping to work. Even when they are at work the amount of their output is less than it should be, for the boilermakers control the machines, 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 shipbuilding yards at the rate of 1,200 per month ; but, when it is sought to establish them here, objections will be raised either to their being used at all, or to their being worked by the same class of men as on the other side of the Atlantic ; while, if it is agreed to use 52 BOILERMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING the machines, the output will be restricted to the same amount as Avould be done by hand, and the demand will be made, not only that the same rate of pay shall be given, but that the same number of men shall be put on as if the work were being done by hand, the result being that one man in three will have nothing to do but watch two others do the work. In the United States the use of these very machines enables the shipbuilders to effect a saving of from 30 to 60 per cent, in the cost of labour. Here, owing to the restrictions imposed, there will be no saving on them at all. What with the waste of time by these autocrats of the British shipbuilding yards, and what with the restrictions imposed on their out- put when they are at work, it is not surprising to find that long delays sometimes occur in the execution of orders. There are vessels which have had to wait periods of nine months or more for their riveting, and shipbuilders lose orders because of the difficulties in the way of guaranteeing delivery. An immense industry, which has been growing by leaps and bounds during the last twenty years, is seriously hampered, partly because there are not enough men to do the work, and partly because the men there are do not turn out the work they could. WHERE THE MEN ARE MASTERS 53 The unsophisticated outsider would naturally ask, " Why not put on more, or others ? " Such a solution would seem to be the natural one, but the rule of the men's union is that no one shall become a boilermaker until he has served his apprenticeship, and the general policy is to restrict the number of apprentices to the lowest possible limit. This particular evil is declared to be growing worse every day. The boiler- makers have got a good trade, and they want to keep it in a few hands. They want, especially, so to curtail the proportions of the labour supply in their particular industry that they can depend on work being obtained by every man on their books. In this way employers are bound to give jobs to profligate or almost worthless men, who would speedily find their level if there were freedom of labour ; and they are bound, also, to keep on paying a high rate of wages to one and all, owing to the artificial scarcity of the supply. All this time there will be strong, vigorous men at the yard gates or within call, longing to have the chance of doing an honest day's work in order to support their families, and the ship- builders may be filled with anxiety because those who should be at work are walking about the streets ; but, though the men at the gates could readily be taught the business, they must 54 BOILERMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING not be called in because it would be contrary to trade union rules. The employment of a single man who had not served his apprenticeship, or was not a recognised member of the union, would bring all the unionists out on strike. So the work in British shipbuilding yards may wait for month after month, and a state of things is brought about which contrasts most strongly with what can be done, say, in Germany. A German shipbuilder was asked what he did when the work grew heavy and there were not enough men for it. He replied that the course he pursued was to get in touch, through the proper channels, with men who were on the point of leaving the army, to engage them for his yard, and then to put them through a short course of training. He found that in a month or two they were able to do excellent work, and they made most desirable employes. Of men of this type he had already had 700. It is for such freedom of employment as this that the British shipbuilder longs. Apart, too, from the grievous harm which is being done to an important industry, he regards it as little short of a scandal that one man, in want of bread, should be prevented from doing work which he could easily learn to do, and of which there is abundance to be done ; while another RESTRICTING APPRENTICES 55 man, who keeps him out, gets so much pay that he is able to spend a good part of his time in the streets or the publichouse, and will not himself give his harassed employer more than two-thirds of his energy. When a shipbuilder is told that this is " a free country," he is in- clined to doubt the statement ; and so, too, is the would-be worker who stands in enforced idleness at the shipyard gates. After these remarks, the following extracts from the " Boilermakers' Society's New Rules (1901)" may be left to speak for themselves. The passages printed in italics are " additions to the previous rules (1896)," and they show that the tendency in this particular trade is to increase the restrictions rather than to diminish them : Rule 22. — Admission of Apprentices. Section 2. — . . . No one shall be acknowledged by this society as having any claim on the trade who does not commence working at the same at the age of 16 years, and continue at it for the space of five years, so as to enable him to become an efficient workman ; and unless he is such he shall not be admitted a member of this society. Section 5. — . . . The number of apprentices must not exceed one to every five journeymen working in any shop or yard. This to apply in slack times as well as busy times. The average number of journeymen working at the trade for any employer during five years shall be a guide for regulating the number of apprentices employed. 56 BOILERMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING Section 6. — . . . It shall be the duty of the District Committee to examine their Registration Book of Appren- tices each quarter, and should it be found that the number of lads entered in any branch Registration Booh exceed the number allowed in ride, they shall have power to call upon that branch or branches to call a Meeting of their members with the object of reducing the number of appren- tices to the before-going limit. Rule 26. — Donation Benefits. Section 14. — When there are more than 10 per cent, of the members signing the Home Donation and Vacant Booh, the Executive Council shall issue orders that no member shall be allowed to worh overtime except when sanctioned by the District Committee and approved by the Executive Council. Members "violating this shall be Jiiied Is. for each hour they may worh in excess of that so granted. Rule 43. — Members Acting Contrary to Trade Interests. Section 1. — Any member of this society, either angle- iron smith, plater, riveter, caulker, holder-up, or sheet- iron worker, instructing any one not connected with our society (except legal apprentices) by allowing him to practise with his tools, or otherwise instructing him in other branches of the trade, shall, on proof thereof, be fined for the first offence 10.?. ; for the second, X'l ; and the third, to be expelled the society. Section 2. — All riveting machines used in shipbuilding where pieceworh is done must be worked by a full set of riveters, who must be members of our society. Any member zvorhing shorthanded, or any member working on such with a non-member, shall be fined 5s. for each offence. All riveting machines used in boiler shops or bridge yards must be worked by our members at riveters'' rates. FINES AND PENALTIES 57 Caulking; cutting, and other machines, whether hy- draulic, electrical, or pneumatic, etc., to be worked by our members at recognised rates. All light holes, manholes, and all holes appertaining to riveting and caulking must be cut out by our members, whether by machinery or hand. Members refusing to do such work when requested shall be fined for the first offence 4().v., second offence £4>. Section 3. — All work done at punching machines, hydraulic presses, and rolls must be done by our mem- bers, but platers' wages must be paid. Members re- fusing to do such work when requested shall be fined for the first offence 40.s\, second offence ^4. Or if amy members are working piecework and employ any other than our members on such machines, they shall each be fined 40.v. for the first offence and £4> for the second offence; and any member working at any shop or yard where such is being done, and does not report the same to his branch, shall befned 10s. for such neglect. Section 4. — It is not in the interest of this society that piecework should be done, but when members are com- pelled to do it, members of one branch of the trade shall not take piecework from another. Any member or members being proved to have violated the above, both the contracting members shall be fined £5 for each offence. Any member taking work below the usual price shall be fined £1 for the first offence, £5 for the second, and be suspended from all benefits for twelve months if detected a third time. Any member taking piecework must consult the other members of that branch of the trade working in the shop or yard before taking the same, or be fined as above. This only applies to work not mentioned in the recognised Price Lists. Any meml)er taking work by the piece and not sharing equally, in proportion to his wages, any surplus made over and 58 BOILERMAKING AND SHIPBUILDING above the weekly wages paid to members working on such job, shall be summoned before his branch or com- mittee of his branch, and, if he do not comply with the above regulation, he shall be fined, in the first instance, £5 ; second, i?10 ; and, in the third instance, be ex- cluded, subject to the approval of the Executive Council. Any member working piecework, or causing it to be in- troduced into any shop or yard where it is not already in existence, without first laying the matter before his branch and obtaining the consent of the District Com- mittee, shall be fined £5 for the first offence, and ex- pelled for the second. Branches where there is no District Committee must obtain the consent of the Executive Council. IRONFOUNDING Of the state of things existing in the iron- founding industry it must suffice to give the following extracts from a set of district by-laws of the Friendly Society of Ironfounders of England, Ireland, and Wales. These by-laws are for a district only, but they have been approved by the Executive Council of the society, whose sanction gives the approval of the society as a whole : Rule V. It shall be a recognised rule to limit the number of boys to the rate of one boy to three men, and should a dispute arise with regard to the number in any shop, the average shall be taken from the number of men having worked in the shop during the five previous years. Rule VII. Should any member of these branches consider that any of their shopmates are doing work in less time than it has taken formerly to do, whether set work or day work, or, if piecework, doing for less money than the amount previously paid for the same work from the same pattern, it shall be the duty of each and every member in the shop to warn such member or members of the consequences attending the same, or be fined 2.v. 6d. ; and 59 60 IRONFOUNDING should the offenders after this notice still persist in the same course, it shall be the duty of the shop steward to acquaint the president of the same, so that a committee meeting may be called to inquire into the case ; and should the said meeting, after hearing both sides, consider that the law has been violated, they shall enforce the fine of £1 against each of the offenders. Any shop steward neglecting his duty in warning the officers of his branch shall subject himself to a fine of %s. 6cL for each neglect. Rule XII. In order to promote the interests of the trade, each and every member in these branches shall discourage the present system of core-making, so that this important branch of our trade may not be taken out of our hands by those not connected with the trade. In order to do this members in these branches shall not be allowed to work with, or be assisted by, any labourer or other man who may be introduced to core-making after this date, but shall not interfere with those who have served a legal time, or who are serving their time, or men who are at present working at core-making ; and in future all boys coming into the foundry to learn the trade of moulding shall work two years at core-making, and shall then come on the floor as vacancies occur. Any member being discharged through compliance with or through defending this rule shall be recommended to the Executive for the Auxiliary Benefit, and any member violating this rule shall be fined £1, subject to the decision of the Executive Committee. The excuse has been made that workmen object to the introduction of new machinery because it means that less skilled labour will be put on at a lower wage, to the detriment of DIFFICULTIES WITH MACHINERY 61 themselves. That this is a sufficient reason for not using machinery, and refusing to bring a factory up to date, will hardly be admitted by those who have any real regard for industrial progress ; but an incident which occurred at Hull early in 1901 shows that machinery may be objected to even when the employers are careful to guard against any injury to individual interests. A local firm introduced into their works a " Tabor " moulding machine, of which there are said to be sixty in use in the country, all worked by labourers. The firm offered to allow their moulders to work the machines, instead of engaging fresh unskilled labourers for them, as they would have been warranted in doing ; but the moulders refused unless they were allowed to have labourers, thus involving another set of wages. To this the firm objected, and outside help was brought in to do the work the moulders would not take up. The moulders were then called out on strike by their society, the works were closely picketed, acts of violence were committed, and the dispute went on until a settlement was effected by the stipendiary magistrate. Here we have an instance of a strike against machinery even where the utmost consideration had been shown by the employers for the interests of their men, THE SOUTH METROPOLITAN GAS COMPANY The story of the South Metropolitan Gas Com- pany and their men is well worth recalling at the present moment, because it shows alike how aggressive trade unionism may become, how great is the aversion of trade union officials to any scheme that tends to bind masters and men together, and how successfully trade union tactics can be defeated when the employers represent a compact and determined body. In 1889, on the suggestion of the Gas Workers' Union, the Company granted to their men (to whom they had themselves offered it on two previous occa- sions) a three-shift instead of a two-shift system, and the concession was made so readily that the officials of the union thought they had only to ask for more and they would get it. Finding that the stokers were filling up some of their leisure moments by oiling the retort lids, carried on levers, they insisted that this was not stokers' work — although the stokers themselves raised no objection to it — and that special men should 62 AN INTOLERABLE POSITION 63 be put on for this trivial bit of work. In this and in other matters the object seemed to be to find all sorts of little jobs which would afford an excuse for getting more men put on the wages list. Having secured all the stokers as members, the union next tried to get the yard men and the mechanics, while the policy of interference carried on rendered the position of affairs alto- gether intolerable. Thereupon the company introduced their profit-sharing scheme, hoping thereby to create a closer bond between them- selves and their men. This was so little to the taste of the union that it withdrew all its members at a week's notice, thus causing a difficulty which involved the company in ex- penditure and losses amounting to £100,000. When the strike was at last over the company took back the union men, but their secretary threatened that the next time there would be no week's notice given. The company then decided that they would employ no more union men for the future, and to this resolve they have adhered, with the result that, since then, employers and employed at the South Metropolitan Gas Works have been quite a happy family. The business, too, is conducted more cheaply there than at other London gas works which are still under trade union domination. Thus in the early days 64 SOUTH METROPOLITAN GAS COMPANY at the South Metropolitan the wages represented 26'. Id. per ton of coal used ; the amount went up to 3*. Id. when trade union influence became supreme in the works, and it still remains at about that figure in the case of London com- panies which have not thrown off the trade union yoke; whereas the South Metropolitan Company have reduced the amount to 2s. 2d., although the wages they pay are somewhat higher than those of the other companies. The reason is that the non-unionists at the South Metropolitan work better than the unionists elsewhere do, and that, since the strike, machinery has been extensively substituted at the works for hand labour, whereas, though machinery is used in works where trade unionism is an active force, the output is so restricted by the men that not much more is actually done than could be accomplished by hand. While the non-union stokers will draw fifty retorts an hour, the unionists, using similar machinery, keep to forty an hour at the outside. Then in regard to wages, it is worth mentioning that in 1898 the South Metropolitan and the Crystal Palace District Companies both decided voluntarily to increase the stokers' wages 7 J per cent., an example which the other companies refrained from following until they were practi- cally obliged so to do. BOOT AND SHOE TRADES There are very few trade unions connected with boot and shoe manufacture in which any attempt is made to specify the amount of work a man shall do in a given period, whether hour, or day, or week. At the same time, there is a clear understanding that a man shall not do more than a certain quantity, and if he should do more his life may be made intolerable. That this expression is not too strong is shown by a re- markable case which occurred at Leicester during the course of 1900. It was found that a certain sober, steady, frugal sort of man was moving about from one factory to another, although at each of them he had earned the respect of his employer as a person who seemed really to take an interest in his work. But he had become unpopular with the other men because they thought he was doing too much. At last he got to a factory where his shopmates not only grumbled at the amount of energy he was showing, but lodged a formal complaint against 65 5 66 BOOT AND SHOE TRADES him with the officials of their society. The officials took the matter up, and sent a summons to the man to attend at the union office and give an explanation. Thereupon he went just outside the town, and committed suicide by cutting his throat. He left a pathetic note behind, stating that his life had been made a burden to him, and that the fact of his having had a summons to appear before the officials of the union had caused him to commit the act. In the opinion of one large employer of labour to whom this story was related, if the records of the coroners' courts were searched many another such case would be found in them. In the shoe trade, as in various others, the idea at the back of the check put on individual energy is that the less work each man does the greater will be the number employed. There is, it is argued, only a certain amount of work to be done, and if every one tries to do as much as he can there will not be enough to go round. So they "go easy," more or less, and there is no doubt that the output of the English worker is a good deal less than that of the American. It may be that this fact is not entirely due to the former. The American factories are better organised, and the work is " got ready " in such a way that it can be taken THE LIMITATION OF OUTPUT 67 in hand without loss of time. Fault is there- fore found with the English manufacturers for not adopting a similar course. It is feared, however, that even if the English workers had precisely the same conditions as their American rivals, they would not be likely to turn out the same quantity of work unless they greatly changed their present ideas and disposition. In any case we have the remarkable fact that while the American manufacturers have to pay their men £3 a week, against the 28s., 30,s-., or 35,v. paid here, they could at one time send certain classes of boots from Chicago to London and beat the English makers in their own markets. It might, of course, be suggested that if the English workers were paid £3 a week they would pro- duce more ; but in present conditions it is hardly probable that any English manufacturer would care to make the experiment, while it is believed that even if he did the men's unions would take care that nothing like the same amount of work was done for the money as is the case in America. The whole question of the limitation of output is regarded by the employers as one of grave concern to the welfare of the trade, especially when coupled with the theory of the minimum wage — a theory which they consider altogether ^3m*~hM. <^ 68 BOOT AND SHOE TRADES unsound in principle---and the frequent demands for increased wages. The result, they declare, has been to bring about a large increase in the cost of production, adding to the difficulties which manufacturers experience in obtaining remunerative prices for their goods, and in meeting foreign competition. Dealing with these subjects in their annual report for 1900, the executive committee of the Incorporated Federated Associations of Boot and Shoe Manu- facturers of Great Britain and Ireland say : There is naturally a general desire on the part of the workmen to obtain higher wages, but the advance of wages need not necessarily involve an increase in the cost of production, and might be accompanied by a considerable decrease in such cost if the workmen were free to apply their ability and capacity to a reasonable and proper extent. The contention of manufacturers that the majority of workmen could easily do more work is supported by very strong evidence. Complaints of the limitation and reduction of output are very general in the trade, and come from manufacturers in all centres. It is apparently the policy of the union to get the mhiimum rate of wages fixed as high as possible and to stifle the production. The restriction of output is a very serious matter, and the art of measuring up to a nicety the quantity of work to be done is universally practised by the operatives in all the departments of the factories, and is a grave menace to the future progress of the trade. The circumstances surrounding the recent suicide of a Leicester operative, who was summoned before the local union executive to A POLICY OF INTERFERENCE 69 answer a charge of doing too much work, indicate the persecution and terrorism to which a workman who desires to do an honest day's work is subjected by the system of espionage, to which the union lends the support of its organisation. The adoption of this short-sighted and retrogressive policy by the union, and the consequent check to the development of industry in the trade, were the chief causes of the lock-out in 1895, and it was anticipated that the provisions of the terms of settlement, which place this question beyond the scope of arbitration and declare that it shall not be made a matter of dispute by the union, would be sufficient to ensure the discontinuance of the practice, but the hope has not been realised. Referring to the introduction (in accordance with these terms of settlement) of the "piece- work statement," by means of which, it was hoped, an improved condition of working would be brought about, the executive committee further say : The statement has been used by the union for the purpose of regulating and limiting the amount of work to be done by workmen on weekly wages, and to supply a pretext for interference by the union officials in the management generally of lasting departments. Such action on the part of the union is not a fair and proper use of the piecework statement, and it was never intended that the statement should be applied to day workers. Under such a system of limitation and interference the workmen are not encouraged to work to the best of their ability, and the employers derive none of the advantages of piecework, but are subjected to all its disadvantages, with the result that the cost of production is materially 70 BOOT AND SHOE TRADES increased. If the present policy of the union in regard to these matters is continued, it will become necessary for the federation to find some speedy and effective remedy. Ill the course of their report for 1901, the executive committee, in referring to the ob- jection of the manufacturers to a minimum wage, say that objection is not based upon any desire to keep down wages which the workmen are capable of earning, and they add : In effect, the minimum wage system encourages slowness, the standard of efficiency being regulated by the capacity of the slower and less competent men. Since the present minimums were fixed, the union, through its officials, has persistently influenced the workmen to do less work, and brought continual pressure to bear upon them to check any disposition upon their part to work quickly, with the result that the product of labour at the present time of all classes of operatives, whether employed at or above the minimums, is considerably less than it was formerly. The manufacturers contend that if a workman wishes to increase his wage he must increase the value of the service he renders. In view of the existence of such conditions as these, it is not surprising to find that the present position of the English boot and shoe trade is far from satisfactory, and has given rise to much anxiety and trouble. RAILWAY WORKERS In the railway world trade unionism has not become so powerful a force as in certain other branches of labour, and this is not surprising considering that, whereas the total number of railway servants in Great Britain is about 550,000, the membership of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants in December, 1900, was only 62,000. The attempts made to compel the companies to recognise the society and sub- mit more or less to its dictation have been un- successful except in one instance, and the officers of the society are now wisely content to accept the principle that railway servants who have grievances should approach their superior officers direct, and not through a third party. Yet, al- though the wings of the trade union officials have thus been clipped, and although the rules of the A.S.R.S. may be quite harmless in them- selves, the teaching of trade unionism in regard to the " go easy " policy is having its effect on the actual working of British railways. Apart 71 72 RAILWAY WORKERS from their own inclinations, a large body of railwaymen (though by no means all) accept the axiom that if they refrain from working too hard it may lead to another man, who might other- wise be unemployed, being put on as well. There are the further considerations that the individual who " puts his back into " his work stands a chance of promotion over his fellows, which in itself is distasteful to them, while he renders it necessary for them to work all the harder in order to escape complaints from the foreman. One railwayman, described as " a very smart chap," who was loading coal, and putting into his work all the energy he possessed, was told by his mates that " he mustn't work like that," and when he still kept on at the same rate they struck him in the face and blackened his eye. The enforcement of the unwritten law on the good workers who want to do their best may not always take so vigorous a form as this, but " Ca' canny " is undoubtedly spreading on railways as in many other branches of industry. A few weeks ago a certain station-master applied to his chiefs in London for more porters. "Why," he was told, " you have got (so many), and your traffic hasn't grown." " Yes," lie replied, " but the men won't work as they used to." And that particular station-master is not the only SHORTER HOURS AND EXTRA WORK 73 one connected with railways who says the same thing. The question of not working too hard is, of course, quite distinct from the question of not working too long. In regard to the latter the trade unions boast that they have been able to secure for the men increased facilities for leisure, repose, and mental improvement. Yet railway- men who have been given their Sunday willingly surrender it if they see a chance of making extra money, while from country districts there come strong complaints to head officials in London that signal-box men and other railway servants, who already have a certain wage, devote their increased leisure to shoe-making, gardening, plastering, and other employments, thus taking the bread out of the mouths of those in the place who depend on these occupations for their livelihood. This is a phase of the " shorter hours " movement which was probably not fore- seen. Then in regard to wages, there is an increasing- disposition on the part of railwaymen to become permeated with the essentially trade union prin- ciple that all those who are engaged in the same kind of employment should receive the same rate of pay, irrespective of any question of merit. This tendency is adding to the complications of 74 RAILWAY WORKERS the situation, and is not working to the advan- tage of the employes. There are instances where a railway company may wish to recognise the services of a certain signalman, for instance, by giving him an increase in his pay ; but when this is done, all his mates in neighbouring cabins— who previously may have been quite content with their wages— become dissatisfied. A com- pany might also be disposed to raise the wages of a hundred signalmen in a particular district, but this would at once lead to a demand for a similar increase for all the signalmen, thousands in number, throughout the system. In the cir- cumstances, therefore, a railway company now has to think twice before it grants an increase either to a particular individual or to a particular group among its employes. While, however, trade union influence may thus hamper the con- cession of increased advantages to the men, the fact that railway companies have made con- cessions without any trade union intervention at all is regarded as showing that such intervention is by no means necessary to the securing of higher pay. Although trade unionism may not adopt a systematically aggressive attitude towards the railway companies, the latter would not care to see any increase even in such strength as it may THE QUESTION OF BENEFIT FUNDS 75 be able to exercise, and it is an open secret that the benefit funds which they form in the interests of their employes are due, not alone to philan- thropic motives, but to a desire to make their servants contented and give them less reason for joining trade unions in order to provide for sick- ness, old age, and death. It is also frankly avowed by trade union leaders that their oppo- sition to such benefit fund schemes is due less to any real objection to the schemes themselves than to the possibilities they foresee of the unions losing their hold over the men. THE TRAINING OF BOYS How the shipowners rose in revolt against trade union interference, and eventually estab- lished their authority by means of the Shipping Federation, is too well known a story to need repeating ; but their latest development, in the organisation of a scheme, now being successfully carried out, for building up a new type of British seaman by getting boys from country districts and training them either as " boy apprentices " or as " boy sailors," opens up a question which is of much wider application than to the shipping trade alone. There is another important industry where the employers are keen on making some arrangement with their men's union, under which exceptional facilities will be offered to intelligent and promising boys to enter the trade and under- go a special course of training, for the purpose of becoming qualified either to some day take the post of foreman or manager, or at least to turn out the very best class of work. The em- ployers are willing to go to practically any 76 THE TRADE UNION LAD 77 expense in the carrying out of this scheme in the best interests of the trade ; but the average trade union official is more interested in mem- bers who pay than in the training of foremen and managers who may eventually regard him with no very kindly feeling ; nor is he desirous of seeing workmen put under greater personal obligation to the employer to the detriment of trade union influence. It may be for some such reason as this that the union in question has not yet seen its way to accept the employers' pro- posals, though one may hope that it will yet do so. Here we have a case where both employers and employed have a powerful combination, so that the former are not able to carry out a beneficent scheme of this kind without the consent of the latter, whereas the shipowners are able to act entirely on their own initiative. In other directions, too, this question of train- ing the young, and of securing a greater hold on the workers, is coming to the front, because it is found that lads in shops where trade union- ism of the more active type is supreme are losing all sense of discipline and all sense of respect towards the employer, as the result of listening to the talk that goes on, and of themselves being led to adopt the ideas and follow the example of the more dissatisfied spirits among the men. 78 THE TRAINING OF BOYS One extensive employer of labour feels the matter so keenly that he has drawn up an elaborate scheme for subjecting all boys to a regular drill — and girls, too, up to a certain age — with the idea, among other things, of teaching them dis- cipline and respect for their superiors. Whether or not this would be a feasible plan need not be discussed here ; but owners of factories are certainly feeling not alone the decadence of the (trade union) working man, but also a distinct degeneration on the part of the working boy. PLATE-GLASS BEVELLERS One of the most compact illustrations of the working of militant trade unionism, and of the results it may bring about in causing trade to leave the country, is afforded by the story of the bevelled plate-glass industry. In 1891 the employers formed themselves into the London Plate-Glass Trades Association, and agreed to give official recognition to the National Plate- Glass Bevellers' Union, which, it was thought, would discharge a useful function in fixing a standard rate of wages, instead of leaving each manufacturer in uncertainty as to what his competitors were paying. But as time went on the officials of the union resolved, as it seemed, to acquire practical domination over the whole industry, and things reached such a pass that the employers were at last expected to take on no man who could not produce a certificate showing that he had been approved by the union. Rather than have trouble several em- ployers accepted the requirement, and engaged 79 80 PLATE-GLASS BEVELLERS men only through the union ; but others firmly resisted the innovation, and it looked as if opportunity were being watched to compel them to surrender. In 1894 a union official complained of having been insulted in the shop of one of the associated masters, and a demand was then made on the other masters that they should not allow the owner of this shop to remain in their combination. The refusal of the demand led to a strike, which, though it lasted only a fortnight and ended in the defeat of the men, was a most eventful one for the trade. When the continued supply of bevelled glass in this country was endangered, inquiries were made for it in Belgium. At that time, it is said, bevelled glass was not being produced there ; but the Belgians had their eyes opened to the possibilities of a new industry. They investigated the subject and speedily undertook the business, with such success that, thanks to their system of lower wages and longer hours, they produced at a less price than was done here, and worked up a substantial trade, sup- plying not only London but the provinces. This trade they have practically kept ever since. In 1895 further trouble arose in London because the men's union disapproved of certain generous terms which one of the firms that had A RESORT TO COERCION 81 stood out the most vigorously against the union demands proposed to make with an apprentice. Here, again, there was a deliberate attempt to get control of the business. The firm in question, Messrs. J. & W. O. Bailey, refused to yield, and thereupon the union men were withdrawn from the shop, the place was closely picketed, scenes of violence and disorder occurred, the men who remained at work, or were smuggled into the place, slept on the premises armed with revolvers, several of them were brutally assaulted (their assailants being afterwards con- victed at the Clerkenwell Sessions), and there was an evident intention on the part of the union to make it impossible for the firm to continue their business at all. The state of terrorism was stopped, however, when Messrs. Bailey obtained an interim injunction, while not only was this interim injunction afterwards made perpetual, but, as the result of the now well-known action of " J. & W. O. Bailey v. Pye and others," tried before Mr. Baron Pollock and a special jury in the Queen's Bench Division in 1897, the firm were awarded £674 damages, and costs taxed at £543. Here, however, comes the irony of the situation. The National Glass Bevellers' Union had had the financial support of ninety-nine other unions in these legal 6 82 PLATE-GLASS BEVELLERS proceedings, but the writs of execution against the secretary and the principal defendants resulted in the plaintiffs getting just £5 of the £1,200 that was awarded them. Yet in the meantime the men's society had voted to the defendants in the action a substantial sum of money for the trouble, expense, and inconvenience to which they had been put. The final outcome of the dislocation the trade has suffered is that the Belgian makers get almost the whole of the orders for stock sizes which can be made in large quantities, while the English makers have to content themselves chiefly with orders for special sizes, or for comparatively small quantities which it would be too much trouble to get executed abroad. But the loss sustained has not been all on the side of our manufacturers, for the foreign competition, brought about under the circumstances described, has had the effect of reducing the wages of the men 25 per cent, below what they were when trade unionism first became an active force among them. PLATE-GLASS AND SHEET-GLASS In the plate-glass and sheet-glass industry trade unionism is not now of much account, inasmuch as the majority of the firms formerly engaged in it have disappeared, mainly under the pressure of foreign competition, and the business has been left in the hands of two firms, so far as this country is concerned, so that the workmen, though they have their union, cannot take the same liberties as might be taken in a trade with a larger numbers of employers. Then, too, the men who can really influence the manu- facture are paid piecework, and have no reason for " going easy." But the trade is especially worth referring to because it has had the rare experience of profiting by foreign troubles, a strike among the workers of Belgium, which ended in August 1901, having increased business here and enabled the English manufacturers to obtain better prices during the twelve months the strike lasted, while even when it ended the prices did not go back to the level at which they stood before the strike began. 83 THE YORKSHIRE GLASS BOTTLE TRADE In the glass bottle trade, however, trade unionism has been a much more active force. There are two branches of this trade, one deal- ing with flint-glass bottles, chiefly used for medicine, and the other dealing with ordinary- bottles. The union of the latter section, with which it is proposed here specially to deal, is an exceptionally powerful body, but the masters also have a strong association, and the general relations are fairly harmonious, as is shown by the fact that the two organisations meet once a year and mutually arrange terms for the next twelve months. On the other hand, the re- strictions imposed by the men's union have always been very onerous, and they are now proving seriously detrimental to the well-being of the trade. These remarks apply more par- ticularly to the question of apprentices. The employers do not seek to increase the proportion of apprentices to the number of journeymen, but 84 THE LIMITATION OF LABOUR 85 they do complain most strongly that under the operation of trade union law, understood rather than written, it is practically impossible for apprentices to learn the trade. Even a manu- facturer, it is declared, would not be allowed to teach it to his own sons. An apprentice must wait until he is out of his time before he can hope to pass through the three grades into which the trade is divided, and he starts learning important parts of the business at an age when he should be quite proficient. The object of these restrictions is to enable the men to keep a good thing in their own hands. They, at any rate, make no profession of philanthropy in the way of leaving some- thing for others. They work five days a week (representing 46 hours) for a wage of from 45*. to 47s., and they have no desire to see too many people brought in. The result of this policy is that if any great expansion were to take place in the trade there would not be enough glass bottle makers in the country to meet it. It is even declared that, if a manu- facturer wanted to start a new furnace next year, he would not be able to do it for lack of labour. Nor is this all, for a further effect of the action of the men in regard to appren- tices, and of the other restrictions imposed, is 86 THE YORKSHIRE GLASS BOTTLE TRADE to be seen in a marked deterioration in the skill of the workers — a deterioration that is likely to become even worse in the future than it is already unless something is done to check it. It seems strange to hear that the masters are now asking the men's union to " allow them " to make such modifications in the system of working as will permit of the apprentices being better taught. It is further alleged against the men that they will not work other- wise than according to stereotyped Yorkshire customs. They will not, for instance, work where there are machines, and the machines have therefore to be kept to special houses. So an opening has been afforded for the intro- duction into this country of a large number of German bottles, made on lines which the Yorkshire workers will not adopt. Still another direction in which trade unionism is exercising a pernicious influence in the glass bottle trade is in the rule that there is to be no difference in the rate of pay among men in the same department. Not only are the masters prevented from encouraging the steady and com- petent worker, but . the latter, in turn, has no incentive to keep above the level of the indi- vidual who has little skill and less energy — who spoils an enormous amount of glass while he is DETERIORATION OF THE WORKERS 87 at work, and whose thoughts during the week are fixed less on his duties than on the football match which is to take place on the Saturday. In this way there is being brought about a still further deterioration in the skill of the Yorkshire glass bottle makers, compared with what it was twenty or thirty years ago. THE BLACK BOTTLE TRADE Some developments which are remarkable, if not altogether unique, in their way, have recently arisen as the outcome of difficulties experienced in the carrying on of that distinct branch of the glass industry which deals with the making of " black " bottles, used mainly for wine. The branch in question was introduced into this country 150 years ago by Lord Delavel, who brought over from Germany a number of Hanoverian bottle-blowers, and started some works adjacent to his mansion at Seaton Sluice, Northumberland, for the manufacture of black glass bottles, his main idea being to utilise some inferior qualities of coal which he had mined on his estate. At that time, it may be remarked in passing, the black colour of the bottles was the natural result of the materials used. Since then other materials have been adopted, and these, by themselves, would produce a glass which is transparent ; but wine drinkers are so accustomed to having their wine in dark 88 STRANGLING AN INDUSTRY 89 bottles that the black colour has been kept to, and is now produced by artificial means. Lord Delavel's enterprise was so successful that other factories were started, and at one time there were a dozen places in the North of England where black glass bottles were made, some of them being Aery important concerns indeed. The employes at these different works were among the first in the country to form a trade union, and it became the distinct policy of this union to adhere, with as little change as possible, to the original method of making black bottles, as introduced by Lord Delavel. This method was hard to acquire, and it involved a severe tax on the energies of the workers as compared with an improved and much simpler process adopted in Germany since the introduction of the industry here. It was extremely difficult to teach the English trade to apprentices, and it was difficult, also, to find men with constitutions sufficiently strong to endure the strain involved by the old-fashioned methods. But the men's union would sanction none but the old style of working, so that the members might have the greater chance of retaining the industry in a limited number of hands, which result they further ensured by keeping down the number of apprentices to the lowest possible level. In 90 THE BLACK BOTTLE TRADE this way, too, they thought there would be no danger of any surplus of labour, and no possi- bility that the employers would pick and choose among the men, taking on only the most com- petent. So the trade became a sort of close corporation, and the men's union acquired such absolute control that it was able to dictate to the employers all the terms and conditions under which the industry was to be carried on. Owing to the attitude of the trade union and the increase of foreign competition, one after another of the original firms retired from the business rather than attempt to carry it on further under such almost impossible conditions, until at last only three of the dozen remained ; and the Germans, with their improved methods and cheaper production, practically captured the market. A few years ago, however, there was begun at North Woolwich a bold and valiant attempt alike to circumvent the tactics of the men's union and to re-establish on a sounder footing a once flourishing trade, then so steadily dwindling away. Finding the English workers still opposed to the improved German methods, Messrs. Moore & Nettlefold hit upon the expedient of bringing over skilled glass-blowers from Germany, and con- ducting an English factory on English soil with RESORTING TO FOREIGN LABOUR 91 the help of German workmen following German methods. This line of policy was followed up by them with every prospect of distinct success. At the time that these lines are being written they employ at their North Woolwich works no fewer than 150 foreign workpeople, mostly Germans, although there is a certain proportion of Austrians, Italians, French, Poles, and Russians as well ; and as those who are married have brought their wives and children with them, and even, in some cases, various other relatives in addition, a foreign colony of about 800 souls has sprung up around the works. Each glass-blower works six shifts of eight hours each per week, against the trade union system of five shifts of ten hours each, the former arrangement allowing of the furnaces being worked continuously day and night. The men are paid by the piece, getting from 10 to 15 per cent, more than the union rate of wages, and some of them earn from £2 to £3 a week ; whereas, although they are skilled workmen, it was a struggle for most of them to get 30*. a week in their own country. They are steady workers, amenable to discipline, and, though they have formed a trade union among themselves, they show a disposition both to allow the employers to manage the works, and also to 92 THE BLACK BOTTLE TRADE establish any claim they may advance to further "rights" by first acquitting themselves well of their own obligations towards their masters. There is no doubt that a large proportion of the newcomers will remain in this country, and already the colony is so well established that the local registrar of births and deaths has issued notices printed in German and French explaining the requirements of the English registration laws, while certain local shopkeepers are sending out bills in these languages calling attention to their wares. The effect of the importation of these foreign workers into the district was that a sum of £350 was distributed among them in wages every week which would otherwise represent money going to Germany for glass bottles made in that country. The works which constitute this very practical revolt against English trade union methods compete with German importations rather than with the few British survivors who still carry on the industry in the North of England. The output there is nearly all for local consumption, while those survivors are still subject more or less to trade union law. But the expedient of resorting to German workers, who are to manu- facture in this country according to German methods, is affording a far better opportunity of THE WORKING-BOY OF TO-DAY 93 meeting German competition, and the results of the enterprise will probably be watched with no little interest, more especially as the principle may be found capable of much wider application than to the black bottle trade alone. It should be added, however, that the works in question have not been run entirely with foreign labour. There has been an equal number of Englishmen employed in various departments, the foreigners being put on only where they are specially needed, on account either of their skill or of their willingness to adopt the improved methods which British trade unionists would not sanction. Even in these latter directions it is hoped, should an expansion of the works become necessary at some future time, to avoid bring- ing in still more foreigners by having a number of English apprentices trained by the German hands. Here, however, the great difficulty is to get steady, desirable lads, who possess alike a sense of discipline and a willingness to keep to the work they take up. THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE Reference has yet to be made to a branch of the British glass trades which is the most highly skilled of them all, and is also the one in which trade union action is the most despotic. In the words of one employer, who has spent his life in the trade : " Take the worst features of every union in existence, make of them one repressive code, and then you will get some idea of what the National Flint- Glass Makers' Society of Great Britain and Ireland is like." This has the appearance of being the language of prejudice and exaggeration. Whether it is so or not may be judged from the following statement of facts. The flint-glass industry is that branch of the glass trades which deals with the manufacture of table-glass of all kinds, fancy vases, epergnes, and decorated coloured glass in general, as well as glass shades and globes for gas lighting, electric lighting, and lamps. The chief centre of the industry is Stourbridge, Worcestershire, 94 RUINED BY HIS EMPLOYES 95 but there are a few flint-glass houses also in Scotland, London, Manchester, and elsewhere. With, probably, only one exception, the whole of the houses making flint-glass employ union men, and the union is one of the most powerful of labour societies, as well as one of the most domineering in its general policy. To its action in the restriction of output, in imposing ob- noxious and oppressive rules, and in other ways, is mainly attributed the fact that a once-thriving British industry has been brought within measur- able distance of extinction. Every year sees the closing of more and more flint-glass houses, and this has been going on for many years. An old manufacturer near Stourbridge came to a disastrous end in the early part of 1901, and it was openly declared by some of the men in the trade that the manufacturer in question had been " entirely ruined by his own employes." Since then a well-known glass house in North Staffordshire has closed its gates, and two houses at Birmingham, which at one time employed a large number of hands on flint-glass manufacture, have abandoned the industry. These are merely a few recent examples. Twenty-five years ago there were probably fifty flint-glass manufactories in full work in this country. To-day it would be difficult to count twenty, and in a number 96 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE of these the output is not more than half what it formerly was. All this time the importation of foreign-made flint-glass has been advancing by leaps and bounds. It has been estimated that nine-tenths of the flint-glass now sold in this country comes from abroad, while in some departments of the trade the foreign makers have also captured the whole of the markets in our British possessions, in South America, in Russia, in Spain, and in other countries. The troubles of the British manufacturers have been the opportunity of the foreigners, so that, while the flint-glass factories of the United Kingdom have been steadily reduced to a score, those of Germany and Austria may now be counted by the hundred. To make it clear how the action of a trade union can have helped to bring about con- sequences so deplorable as those here described, it is necessary, in the first place, to explain the somewhat complicated conditions under which the trade is carried on. A flint-glass house employing forty glass-blowers, or " workmen," would divide the men into two different sets, each taking six-hour turns. In the making of every article produced there are five workers — the " boy," the " apprentice," the " footmaker," the " servitor," and the " workman " — and these WHERE MEN FIX THE WORK 97 five constitute, in the order of precedence named, what is technically known as a " chair " of men. One of the peculiarities of the trade, and one of the greatest grievances of the employers, is that the men themselves fix the precise amount of work that shall be done in the six-hour turn. In the case of an established design the " number " is given by the union officials in the district, and becomes a " district number." In the case of a new design the master is allowed to ask his own men how many they will consent to produce in a turn, and a half-hour's discussion may follow, in which the men will show a tendency to get as low a number arranged as possible, while the employer will try to get as s high a number as he can. But the employer is practically in the hands of his men, and, as a rule, the outcome of the discussion will be the fixing of an amount of work which can be got through in about four hours, the men going home when they have done it, although they are paid for six hours' labour. This affects the employer more than may appear on the surface, inasmuch as in few, if any, industries are the working charges so great in proportion to the nature of the industry. The furnace must be kept at full heat, there are men employed about the glass house who 7 98 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE are unproductive, and the expenses have to be borne entirely by the amount of work produced. By way of illustration reference may be made to a typical case. A certain glass article, largely in use, had been made by the men at the " number " of 80 per turn. At one time English flint-glass manufacturers held their own all over the world in regard to this particular article ; but the making of it was taken up by various Continental firms, who managed to capture the market. It so happened that the 80 in question, though regarded by the men as six hours' work, were really done by them in about three hours and three-quarters, and could have been pro- duced in even less time. At last one employer called his men together, told them how the trade in the said article was being lost to the country, and begged them to increase the " num- ber." They agreed to make 100 in their six- hour turn instead of the previous 80 — a concession which allowed of much of the trade being re- covered. But the friendly and decidedly wise arrangement thus arrived at between the em- ployer and his men led to an incident which even those who are best informed in the ways of trade unionism will think incredible. A promi- nent official of the men's national union wrote to the employer to the effect that, inasmuch UNIONS CHOOSE THE EMPLOYES 99 as he had not been consulted with respect to the arrangement made with the men, the old number would have to be adhered to, and unless that were done all the men in the works would be withdrawn at the end of fourteen days. The firm replied, through their solicitor, resenting the official's interference, and threatening him with legal proceedings if any loss or injury should be sustained by reason of his action. Thereupon the official intimated that he " with- drew " the notices. Almost, if not quite, as incredible is the fact that in the flint-glass trade an employer is not allowed to choose his own employes. If he did so the whole body of men would be withdrawn, and his works stopped. When a flint-glass employer wants an additional hand he must write to the district secretary of the men's union and ask him to send him one. He may suggest the person he would like to have, but the pro- bability is that the district secretary will ignore his suggestion, and send him either the in- dividual who stands first on the unemployed list, or else somebody he wants to get off the books. District secretary and employer alike may be perfectly aware that the person in ques- tion is absolutely incompetent, but the employer is bound to take him for at least fourteen days ; 100 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE and it has often happened that, when there has been friction between the district secretary and an employer, a man has been sent to whom wages are duly paid for the fortnight, though it is deemed prudent not to allow him to do a stroke of work, lest he should waste good material. On one occasion a firm who had dismissed a dangerously incompetent workman sent to the local secretary as usual, and received the very man they had just discharged, being bound to put him on for another fourteen days before they could get rid of him again. The same arbitrary powers are exercised by the union officials in regard to apprentices. Everything possible has been done by them to prevent new blood from being brought into the trade, their motive being, apparently, to strengthen their own position, and to make sure of work being found for the unemployed, however in-efficient the latter may be. More than this, they take away the reward to which smart and capable young fellows are entitled. When a youth has served his apprenticeship he naturally looks forward to being promoted to the next higher position in the " chair " — that of "footmaker." But the employer is not allowed to grant such promotion without the consent of the trade union officials, and, THE TRADE UNION "BOSS" 101 however great may be his desire to do justice to the youth, it may happen that every impedi- ment is put in his way. The usual course of procedure is for the trade union secretary to reply to the employer that, inasmuch as there are so many footmakers out of employment, the society " does not see its way " to consent to the promotion of the apprentice, and if the employer really wants another footmaker the society will send him one. So it may come about that a young man of twenty-three is still receiving practically the same wages as he had when he was serving his time. The claim is even made that an apprentice shall not be taken on in the first instance without the consent, not only of the men in the works, but also of the union officials. A short time ago an employer who had the right to one more apprentice, according to the rules of the society, accepted a lad of whom his own men had formally approved, and the boy was duly indentured. The next day the district official went to the works, called the boy to him, and said, " Clear out, and go home." Then, turn- ing to the men, he told them he could not allow the boy to work, the reason being that the master and the lad's father had not first consulted him. The employer stood his ground, 102 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE but the union punished the father — himself a member — by fining him £5. Another illustration of the truculent tactics of the union officials is shown by an incident which occurred at Brierley Hill a few years ago. A local firm was asked by the society to re-employ a man discharged by them fourteen months previously, on account of conduct which even the society could not uphold. An appeal was made to the feelings of the firm because of the man's family, and after some hesitation they agreed to reinstate him ; but the man refused to accept the lower position to which they were willing to appoint him, though this would still have brought him in 56s. per week. Not only did the society support him in his claim to be put in his former position, but they gave the employers notice that, if they refused this claim, the whole of the men in their employ would be brought out ! A still further insight into the working of the union is given by the following extracts from the official organ, The Flint-Glass Makers Magazine, under the heading " Names of Members in Arrears " : owes c£ } 2 fine for leaving a place of work without consent of the district, which caused an apprentice to be put on. SLAVES OF THE OFFICIALS 103 - owes dP2 to the trade for leaving one district and going to another, after warning and without consent. Now working in It may be wondered why the men themselves should be willing to become practically the slaves of their union officials, responding to their every beck and call, though one would suppose that some of the things that are done must be re- pugnant to every one possessed of any sense of justice or a single spark of manliness. It is known, indeed, that some of the men are far from satisfied ; but the great hold which the union officials possess over them is to be found in that part of the organisation which deals with infirm and aged workmen. From the time he joins the society each member must pay a subscription ranging from 6d. to 2s., or even 3s., a week. For this the members receive in their old age a small weekly payment, which is out of all proportion to the total amount they have paid in, but is, nevertheless, the one thing to which they look forward to keep them out of the workhouse. Some of the men have been practically paying into the society all their working life, and they now feel that, whatever they are called upon by the union officials to do, they must obey rather than run the risk of losing alike their employment and their 104 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE prospective benefits. Unfortunately, too, there is the danger of a certain amount of intimidation being shown as well towards those who are troubled with scruples of conscience. A man who once had the boldness to speak strongly in favour of his employer, who was being vigorously abused, at a meeting of the society, was caught hold of, carried out of the room, and dropped over the balusters on to the stairs, down which he rolled from top to bottom, getting, as he afterwards declared, " black and blue all over." So it comes about, as the result of all these conditions, that the men are drifting into a condition of apathy, if not of lethargy, which is having a disastrous effect on the whole trade. Many of them speak and act as though they realised that the industry is doomed, and the common expression among them, when such things are discussed, is, " Well, it will last my time." The combined effect of forcing the, perhaps, in- efficient, unemployed on the masters, in preference to allowing the introduction of fresh recruits, and of the lethargy just spoken of, is a steady deterioration in the capacity of many of the workers. High wages are paid, for the men get from 30.s\ to 70«y. for a week which nominally consists of 48 hours, but actually is not often GIVING THE FOREIGNERS A CHANCE 105 more than 42. Yet, in spite of such wages as these, and in spite of the large number of un- employed, there is such a positive dearth of good workmen that in the Stourbridge district — the very headquarters of the industry — it is positively declared that there are at the present time not more than four or five men possessed of the skill and dexterity necessary to turn out a certain class of articles for which, in days gone by, Great Britain was famed all the world over. People to whom such deplorable truths are brought home, and who see the steady closing of one flint-glass works after another, may well find cause for fear that the doom of one of the most interesting of British industries, and one that formerly gave employment to thousands of workpeople, is sealed, and that, too, for no other apparent reason than because the officials of a trade union are taking every step open to them that is calculated to bring about its destruction. It is not so long since " An Unfortunate Glass-Master " wrote, in a letter to a provincial paper: So senseless is the attitude of the workmen's leaders, and so much do they seem to arrange beforehand for embarrassing the masters, that the only conclusion left to a glass-master is that some of the leaders could not do worse if they were secretly subsidised by the German glass-hands to ruin the English trade. 106 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE With regard to possible remedies, a resort to foreign labour is regarded as impracticable, because — as experience has already shown — of the intimidation that would be practised by the unionists, and a resort to free labour is also considered to be impracticable, because of the high degree of skill required in the flint-glass trade as compared with other branches of the glass industry. There is certainly the possibility that, if the masters took a bold and united stand against the men's society, they might bring it to reason in the course of a few months ; but it can only delicately be suggested that there are reasons why some of the employers who have suffered most in the struggle to keep the industry going should not feel equal to the adoption of this course. All the same, there are sanguine spirits among them who think the trade might even yet be saved, provided that certain conditions were granted. They ask, in the first place, that the men should make a fair quantity of goods in their six-hour turns. Any increase in the production over and above a certain standard means a profit to the em- ployer, either because he has more goods to sell at the old price, or because he is enabled to reduce the price and thus occupy a better position in the world's markets. Instead of the WHY ORDERS GO ABROAD 107 men, as at present, fixing " numbers " whieh will enable them to leave off work long before their six hours have expired, they should be willing to give such numbers as will fairly occupy them for the whole time. An employer who found that large quantities of a certain article were wanted for India asked his work- men what " number " they would make in their six hours. They said they would do 100. In order to make sure of a profit it was necessary for the employer that they should produce at least 150 in a turn, but they absolutely refused to attempt any such number, although they could have made from 170 to 180 in the six hours without over-straining themselves. They declined to do more than 100, and the order went to the Continent, where glass workers are quite content to put in longer hours for less money. The second condition is that the employer should have the right to engage whatever men he pleases, without being compelled to accept those who are sent to him by the trade union officials ; the third is that he should be allowed to put on more apprentices, having the right to engage them himself, without having first to seek the approval both of his men and of the union officials ; whilst the fourth and last of this very reasonable list of suggestions is that 108 THE FLINT-GLASS TRADE the manufacturer should have a perfectly free hand in regard to the particular classes of goods he makes. The meaning of this is that, under the present system, whenever one set of men in a flint-glass house leave off work, from any cause whatever, all the rest of the men leave off as well ; so that, in order to keep things going, the employer is often obliged to order a number of articles which he really does not want. If action should be taken, and taken promptly, along such lines as those here given, there might still be some hope of saving the industry ; but in any case, the reader will probably have concluded by this time that there was really no exaggeration in the manufacturer's remarks quoted at the outset of this decidedly dreary story. THE BIRMINGHAM BRASS TRADES Complaint is often made against trade unions that they are too disposed to look solely at the individual interests of the worker, without regard to the conditions of the economic situation, and especially of such factors therein as foreign com- petition and the results that competition must have upon the prices of the goods on which the worker is engaged. Recent experiences in those brass trades which form one of the staple in- dustries in the Birmingham district would suggest that the allegation in question is not made without good cause. Among the numerous manufacturers themselves there is a normal degree of competition quite keen enough in its way ; but they have common enemies in Ameri- can, and more especially in German, rivals. This foreign competition might, certainly, become much more severe than it is, and it might even be extremely serious if the foreign maker were to copy exactly the contour or pattern of English- made brass goods manufactured for the English 109 110 THE BIRMINGHAM BRASS TRADES home trade. Happily, a considerable portion of the foreign supplies bear indication of their foreign origin, and are easily recognised as German or American ; and in the brass trades, at least, it is found that English people, with their conservative English instincts, are still sufficiently patriotic to pay even a little more for an English-made article, provided the differ- ence in price is not too great. Thus far, at least, there is a redeeming feature in the situation. But, though the foreign competition may not yet be extremely serious, it is undoubtedly severe, and the manufacturer to-day must be content with a very small profit on individual articles, depending for his gain on the possi- bility of turning out very large quantities. In the trade in electrical accessories, for instance, prices are cut so fine that there is hardly any profit at all. The development of the electric light has attained to so much greater proportions in Germany than in Great Britain that the makers of accessories in the former country have a distinct advantage over those in the latter. The German manufacturer will buy English china, mount his own brass-work thereon, and send the complete article here, beating the English maker in his own market. A leading manufacturer says that when he has told his DISREGARD OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 111 men of such things as this, and shown them the foreign-made articles, the men have simply given him an incredulous smile, without in any way realising the gravity of the position. Then there is the case of the electric light lamp-holder, which is to the electric light what the burner is to the gas-bracket. At one time the manufacturer was protected in this country by a patent, and the holder sold for Is. 8d. But the patent was not in force in Germany, and, as soon as it expired here, the German makers so flooded the English markets with their holders that the price was at once reduced from Is. 8d. to ^d. per hour, plus 20 per cent., instead of at the higher rate which had been demanded ; while the arbitrator refused to interfere with the proportions of juvenile labour and of under- hands. The award was duly accepted by each side, and, in the view of the employers, the Birmingham brass trades were, for the time being, at least, saved from the annihilation with which they had been threatened. THE BIRMINGHAM TINPLATE TRADE In the Birmingham tinplate trade the effect of the working of a very short-sighted trade union policy has been to the direct prejudice, not so much of that industry itself, as of the trade unionists. The trade referred to occupies a leading position among the industries of the Midlands, and at one time the skilled tinplate worker — who produced a finished article from the raw material with the help only of ordinary tools — was a person who deserved to rank among the best workmen of his day. Later experi- ences have shown, however, that, in view of the large quantities of tinplate goods required, and the comparatively low prices at which they must be produced in order to meet foreign competition, old-fashioned methods must be modified to meet present-day requirements, and greater economy secured in the processes of manufacture. One of the directions in which such economy 114 FEMALE LABOUR V. MALE 115 was found possible was in the supplementing of male by female labour. There were certain stages in the production of tinplate goods which could be managed quite as well by women as by men, and the difference in the wages made this fact an important consideration to the manu- facturer. Thus, men were employed to set the presses, but women were put on to do the press work, and they showed in it a dexterity which no male worker could surpass. Men, in fact, did not take kindly to the idea of spending their lives in putting pieces of tin under a press to be stamped into particular shapes, and they were quite willing to allow the women to take up this branch of the work. But the manufacturers found that women could do the soldering as well, and that they did it with a degree of neatness to which comparatively few of the men could attain. Women were also put on to do the riveting ; but there were other stages where male labour was thought desirable. It is, however, one of the hard-and- fast rules of the Tinplate Workers' Association that work begun by either men or women should be completed by them, without any passing from the one to the other. The association is also keen on the subject of limiting the number of boys and under-hands employed. 116 THE BIRMINGHAM TINPLATE TRADE An especially significant example of its action is afforded by what it once did in the case of a Midland firm, which produces every year 500 gross of " hurricane " lanterns, of the type used by the natives of India. At that time the firm in question employed both men and women on the work, according to the different stages ; but the union officials came down upon them with a declaration that certain processes which the women were doing were men's work, and should be left to them ; and they made a further de- mand that the firm should employ only one boy to every four men, instead of two to every four. It so happened that German competition in the making of this particular lantern was very keen, and the firm represented to the union officials that to concede their demands would greatly increase the cost of production, so that there would be no margin left for profit. " Then you had better increase the price of your lanterns," was the characteristic reply of the union officials, with an apparently blind indifference to the fact that to adopt this course — merely out of regard for trade union scruples — would render it im- possible for the firm to meet their German competitors, and leave them no alternative but to give up the trade altogether. The firm gave the officials every opportunity WOMEN GAIN: MEN LOSE 117 for showing that their claims could be conceded without ruining the industry, but they failed to do so, and in the end the firm cut themselves free from trade union interference by giving notice to the whole of their union hands, taking back, however, those who were willing to work according to the wishes of their employers. Meantime the firm had made the discovery that women were quite competent to turn out the lantern in question themselves, without any need whatever to resort to the assistance of men. This discovery was the direct outcome of the action of the union officials, and from that time the 500 gross of lanterns per year have been produced solely by female labour. As the women get 146-. or 15s. a week, in place of the 35s. to 40.y. per week given to the men, and as they turn out the lanterns almost as quickly as the men, and, in some respects, do their work even better, the result to the firm has been distinctly beneficial, while the outcome of the trade union interference has been distinctly detrimental to the welfare of the unionists themselves. Of those of the men who had to leave their em- ployment, and who kept faithful to their union, many were walking the streets for months — at the cost, no doubt, of the union funds— before they got work elsewhere. 118 THE BIRMINGHAM TINPLATE TRADE There is another firm which manufactures, among other things, a cart candle lamp of so neat a design that, provided the price be kept down, it has a fair chance of competing with the cheaper but less attractive German lamp of the same class. The firm put women on to do most of the work, and they, too, found that the women did the soldering more neatly than the men. But they wanted a man to fix in the coloured glass at the back of the lamp, to see that the riveting had been properly done, and to look at other details where masculine skill and judgment seemed desirable. So they ap- pointed a man at day wage, giving him the trade union rate of wages, and the man was well satisfied with his post ; but the trade union secretary intimated that the arrangement could not be allowed, and the firm gave way rather than have any trouble. The man lost his place, and the work is now done entirely by women and youths. Another manufacturer introduced a machine for riveting cycle lamps, but put a tinman on to the work rather than dislodge him, although no skilled labour was required. The tinman got tired of the job and left it, and the manufacturer then put two odd men in the tinman's place. The society objected, and threatened to call out SALVATION IN MACHINERY 119 all its members. The employer surrendered, but soon effected such a re-arrangement in his works that he was able to dispense with men altogether and employ only women. This is an illustration of a very distinct change that has been proceeding of late years in the tinplate trade. There has been increased inducement to employers to in- troduce more and more machinery, wherever possible, in order to overcome the restrictive tactics of the men's union. Even in a new trade like that of bicycle accessories, the union wanted to impose old-fashioned rules and demands that were quite out of date, and this, too, although the margin of possible profit on the articles in question is almost infinitesimal. The manu- facturers have, consequently, resorted to the use of automatic machinery similar to that employed in the United States, and union hands are no longer wanted in this branch at all. To attempt to conduct the tinplate trade according to the ideas of the men's union would mean that the employers — who already have to keep their prices to the lowest possible level — would not be able to compete with the foreigner at all. At present they themselves manage to hold their own, more or less ; but the whole effect of the policy of the tinplate workers' 120 THE BIRMINGHAM TINPLATE TRADE union is to threaten with complete extinction the skilled tinman as known to British industry a generation ago, and to substitute for him an assortment of machines worked or supplemented by women, youths, and unskilled labour. GUNMAKERS AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION There is still another Birmingham trade to which reference should be made, inasmuch as it affords an illustration of the natural antipathy that certain types of trade union officials seem to entertain towards any scheme proposed by employers which may have the effect of bringing about the increased efficiency of those engaged in their particular industry. The trade in question is the Birmingham gun trade — that is to say, the trade in the manufacture of sporting guns, as distinguished from that in military rifles carried on in such factories as that of the Birmingham Small Arms Company. The system of apprenticeship has died out in the trade, and such is the position of affairs that there is an absolute dearth of skilled hands. There is plenty of " middle class " labour — that is, of men who can earn from 25s. to 30,y. a week ; but of really skilled men, worth their £2 or their £2 5s., there is declared to be not 121 122 BIRMINGHAM GUNMAKERS one to spare. There is no doubt that the development of the cycle trade has had a great deal to do with bringing about this scarcity, the skilled gunmakers leaving their own trade for the other ; but the chief cause has been the distinct lack of adequate facilities for giving to youths such a degree of training in gun- making as will enable them to develop into really skilled workers. The system hitherto in vogue has been for lads to begin as errand-boys for some of the workmen in the factories, to work occasionally at the vice, and then gradually to rise to one particular branch. But the sole interest which the master-workman has in such a boy is to get all the use he can out of him, to his own immediate profit, and it is not to be expected that he will spend too much of his time in giving him an all-round experience, or in explaining to him technical details for educational purposes only. Thus, unless the lad is exceptionally sharp, or is under an especially conscientious master-workman, he grows up only a second-class hand, and never attains to the rank of a really skilful worker. A different policy has been adopted on the Continent, and in Germany and Belgium, more especially, some very successful schools of gun- making have been established. At Liege there is A QUESTION OF TRAINING 123 one where 140 boys receive a systematic practical training in the art of making guns. In view of the increasing competition in the gun trade, one would naturally assume that, if the manufacturers here are to hold their own against Continental rivals, there should be no falling off in the comparative efficiency of the workmen. There has been the greater need for action because of an apparently increasing disinclination on the part of boys to enter the trade under the old conditions, while no boy can hope to develop into a highly skilled worker in a less period than five years. With the view of providing for what thus seemed to be a distinct need, the guardians of the Birmingham Proof-house inserted in a Bill which they brought into Parliament, to amend the Gun Barrel Proof Act, 1868, clauses which would allow them to expend on practical training in gunmaking certain accumulated funds under their control, amounting altogether to about £20,000. Thereupon the Gunmakers' Union claimed that, inasmuch as this provision was to be made for educational purposes, the workmen should be allowed to have three nominees on the Proof-house Board of Guardians. This body is, as specified by Act of Parliament, essen- tially one of employers only, and the guardians 124 BIRMINGHAM GUNMAKERS declined to concede the point asked for. The Gunmakers' Union — which, it may be mentioned, does not include in its ranks the best class of workmen, and has little or no weight with the employers — persisted in its demand, for which it managed to gain such support before the Parliamentary Committee that the guardians dropped the Bill altogether. But they did not abandon their educational scheme. Declaring that they were already empowered by Act of Parliament to devote their surplus funds to promoting the interests of the trade, they proposed at the annual meeting of the trade in 1901 that classes for teaching practically the art of gunmaking should be started on an experimental scale. This was unanimously agreed to, and the Gunmakers' Union was invited to act on the particular body which would have the supervision of these classes. Then the officials of the union showed their hand. They had been offered 25 per cent, of the representation, but they refused all co- operation on the ground (1) that the guardians aimed at flooding the trade with workmen, to the disadvantage of those at present employed in it ; (2) that they aimed at cheapening labour, in order that they might be able to make the lowest class of guns, similar to those imported OFFICIAL SCRUPLES 125 from Belgium ; and (3) that practical teaching could best be given in the workshops. After what has been already said it is hardly worth while to enter on a detailed discussion of these three allegations. The first of them, however, is sufficiently answered by the fact that, out of the first twenty-five boys received into the classes — which were formally opened in two rooms at the Proof-house, Banbury-street, Birmingham, in the autumn of 1901 — twenty-one were already in the trade. What opinion should be formed of the whole course of action taken in the matter by the Gunmakers' Union can well be left to the judgment of the reader. SHEFFIELD TRADES In most of those "lighter" trades on which, before the advent of armour plates and other such things of the "heavy" type, Sheffield mainly relied for her prosperity, one hears the same story of steady decadence and of a transfer of more or less of the trade into the hands of foreign competitors. For this result hostile tariffs are undoubtedly responsible to a certain extent, but there are various characteristics and peculiarities of the trades in question that render them especially deserving of study. One of the most striking features in the situa- tion is the breakdown of the apprenticeship system. The old custom of boys being appren- ticed to master-workmen at the age of fourteen, and remaining with them until twenty-one, grew into disfavour with such master-workmen be- cause they found that when the apprentices reached the age of eighteen or nineteen, and were beginning to be both useful and profitable, they would yield to the temptation of a few 126 LIMITING THE RECRUITS 127 shillings higher wages, disregard their inden- tures, and go to work elsewhere — a course they were practically free to take because of a re- luctance on the part of the apprentices' masters to enforce their rights, this reluctance being mainly due to the difficulty of obtaining any effective redress. It was short-sighted policy on the part of the apprentices, who gained a temporary advantage, but lost the chance of becoming good all-round workmen, as they might have done had they completed their training ; while, as regards the master- workmen, it became more and more difficult to get them to take apprentices whom they could not de- pend on keeping. Coupled with these adverse conditions, there was the fixed policy of the trade unions, almost without exception, to reduce to the lowest possible limits the entrance of newcomers into the different occupations, so as to keep lucra- tive industries in the hands of those already engaged in them, to maintain a high rate of wages, to ensure that there would always be employment for those in possession, and to give to the workers a greater power of control over the employers generally. And when reference is made to Sheffield trade unions it must be borne in mind that in the " lighter " industries 128 SHEFFIELD TRADES there is a different union for each process in the making of each class of articles. It is not enough, for instance, that there should be a forgers' union. There is a separate and distinct union for table-knife forgers, pen-knife forgers, scissors forgers, razor forgers, file forgers, and so on with other processes and other goods. Thus the men employed by a single manu- facturer may be members of twenty different unions, most of which guard with the greatest jealousy the demarcations of their own work, and would not make the slightest concession either to the members of another union or to their common employer. Most of these unions are small in numbers, and have not much in the way of accumulated funds, so that if at any time the employers really wanted to gain the mastery over them, and would only agree to combine, and to support the weaker ones among themselves, it should be quite possible for them to succeed. But, though the trade unions may be small individually, they agree collectively on two things — first, in wanting to keep their trades, as far as possible, in the hands of those who are in it ; and secondly, in practically retaining the power to fix the rate of wages. The first aspiration they secure by either prohibiting the taking on of apprentices ORGANISED SHORTAGE OF LABOUR 129 altogether for a stated period, or by limiting them to the sons of those already in the trade or to a very small number of outsiders ; the second aim they realise by working (on piece wages) according to more or less ancient " state- ments " for established articles, bargaining with their employers when new patterns are intro- duced, but varying these " standard " rates for different factories according to the amount they think they can get out of individual firms. Thus the plea that trade unions are useful because they establish a recognised rate of pay for the whole trade, so placing one manufacturer on the same level as another, does not apply in the case of Sheffield. In that town the unions may accept variations in the rate of pay in different houses in the same trade to a very considerable extent, the higher rates being im- posed on the large concerns, and the lower on the small masters ; and, as the small masters are numerous, the effect is to make them, in the aggregate, strong competitors of the im- portant establishments, and render difficult any real combination on the part of the whole body of employers. There is another respect, too, in which the men can play off one employer against another. Owing to the organised shortage of labour, a master who wants an additional hand 9 130 SHEFFIELD TRADES can, in certain of the trades, only hope to get one by inducing an employe from some other establishment to join his service. But the men know their market value, and hence it is the practice in several industries to give a man a bounty of up to £10 on his taking over a new place. In other words he gets a bribe of £10 to leave one employer and go to another. Add to this shortage of labour and to this keeping up of wages an almost unyielding opposition to machinery, and it will be under- stood how handicapped the employers in the " lighter " Sheffield trades have been. Sheffield goods retain their fame all the world over, and the demand for them is generally more or less active ; but the employers find it difficult to execute the orders they receive, and the goods that cannot be made in Sheffield are obtained elsewhere, with the result that where the balance goes the bulk generally follows. Twenty or thirty years ago the orders for this balance went mostly to Germany, because of the cheaper labour there ; to-day the great competitor, in various lines, is America. Manufacturers in the United States lay down machinery which enables them to turn out vast quantities of articles at a very low rate ; they sell in their own protected markets, at a good profit, goods that have cost "OPEN DOOR" TO "DUMPING" 131 less to produce because of the enormous output, and they can well afford to keep their machinery running, and send their surplus either to Great Britain or to the British colonies to be disposed of at cost price, covering themselves, and making it impossible for the British producers (especially under the particular circumstances narrated above) to compete with them ; while our own manufacturers are shut out from the home markets of their successful rivals by reason of hostile tariffs. A number of Sheffield trades are seriously affected in this way, and there would seem to be abundant reason for some degree of joint action on the part of employers and employed in those trades, in a recognition of their community of interest, for the purpose of doing what is possible to overcome the diffi- culties of the situation. BRITANNIA-METAL SMITHS To pass from the general to the particular, it may be of interest to show what is the actual position of affairs in some of the more repre- sentative trades ; and as a type of the trade unions concerned reference may be made to the Britannia-Metal Smiths' Provident Society. The union is said to have only between 300 and 400 members, and it is in the hands of this number 132 SHEFFIELD TRADES of men that it seeks to keep the Britannia- metal smiths' trade of Sheffield. According to the employers the trade is seriously underhanded, and there are not enough men to do the busi- ness. Foreign competition has made serious inroads into the industry ; yet, if a sudden influx of orders came to hand, there would not be enough workers to execute them. How the men's society seeks to limit the number of hands in the trade is shown by the following extracts from its rules in reference to apprentices : No journeyman shall take an apprentice, except such be his own or a journeyman's son, who must be under seventeen years of age, but he cannot have an apprentice in addition to his own son or sons. No man shall take a lad to work with him until he is himself twenty-five years of age. No master shall have more than one apprentice at one time ; if two or more partners they can have one each ; and for limited company's (sic) for the first ten men, or fractional part thereof, one boy ; from eleven to twenty- five men, two boys ; and so raising one boy to every fifteen additional men. But it would seem that this latter rule was considered too generous ; for in 1892 the right of employers to have apprentices was suspended for five years, and in 1897 the suspension was renewed for another five years. The result has been to impose on the employers a great injustice, TRADE UNION LAW 133 especially in view of the insufficiency of labour, while men have to be employed, at men's wages, to do odd jobs about the works which otherwise would be done by boys. It is probable that the master metal-smiths will be reduced to the necessity, either of fighting the point with the union, or of relinquishing the trade and leaving it entirely in the hands of their German rivals. Here are some other of the rules of the Britannia-Metal Smiths' Provident Society, further showing the lines on which it is con- ducted : Any man engaging himself to work at a manufactory where there is a dispute, and refusing to leave when requested by a deputation from the committee, or hiring himself so that he cannot leave, shall be fined £5, and shall be compelled to pay the whole sum, as well as any arrears of contribution, before he is allowed to work at any of our places (sic). No man shall be allowed to hire himself to any employer, on any pretence whatever. That no member shall sign any document detrimental to our rules. Any man making a new article must have it priced by the whole of the men in the factory, and not by himself, under a penalty of £1, and the price set by himself will not be acknowledged. Members seeking work must first see the secretary and ascertain if there are any places where men are prohibited from going, and any member applying for a situation before ascertaining this information, or acting contrary 134 SHEFFIELD TRADES to the secretary's instructions in the case, shall be fined 2*. 6cL, and any member going to work at a new situation without first obtaining from the secretary his clearance card shall also be fined 2^ London Master Builders' Association, 37 London Plate-Glass Trades Association, 79 London School Board, buildings for, 30, 31 London Society of Compositors, 154 London Society of Lithographic Printers, 160 London Union of Journeymen Basketmakers, 203 Machinery : engineering trades, 44, 48, 172-175; shipbuilding, 51, 52; ironfounding, 60, 61 ; glass trades, 86 ; tinplate trades, 119 ; Sheffield trades, 130 ; cutlery, 136 ; razors, 137 ; saws, 138 ; edge tools, 139 ; files, 140 ; proposed further use, 143 ; printing trades, 151-161; furniture trades, 162-166; machinery in America, 190, 191 ; greater resort to machinery — the employers' policy of self- defence, 208-211 Minimum Wage Theory : view of boot and shoe manufacturers, 67-70; glass trades, 86; Birmingham brass trades, 111, 113; in the United States, 1S7 Moore & Nettlefold, Messrs., 90 Mundella, Mr.: "Rushing" the Labour Department, 231 National Flint-Glass Makers' Society, 94-108 National Plate-Glass Bevellers' Union, 79, 81 National Society of Amalgamated Brass- workers, 111 " New " Unionism, The, 22 "Newer" Unionism, The, 22 Non-Union Labour : position in building trades, 38 ; engineering trades, 45 ; gas-workers, 63, 64 ; Sheffield trades, 146 ; printing trades, 159 ; coal trade, 175 Operative Bricklayers' Society, 36 INDEX 243 Printing Trades : reduction of output, 148 ; London distractions, 149 ; trade going to provinces and Continent, 150 ; " go easy," 151 ; use of machinery, 151-157 ; the general position, 157-159 ; litho- graphic colour printing, 1G0 Railway Workers: the Amalgamated Society, 71; "go easy" in railway operation, 72 ; shorter hours and outside work, 73 ; wages question, 73, 74 Razor Trade, 137 Restriction op Output : adopted by the " newer " unionism, 22 ; effect on British industry, 25; effect on workers, 27; building trades, 28 ; boilermaking, 51 ; boot and shoe trades, 65, 67-69 ; railways, 72; glass trades, 97; printing trades, 151; will not remedy industrial situation, 193 Royal Commission on Labour, and their recommendations, 231-234 Rules of Trade Unions (Examples of) : boilermakers, 55 ; ironfounders, 59 ; Britannia-metal smiths, 132, 133 ; Typographical Association, 155 Saw Trade, 13S " Seamen's Chronicle," 22, 26 Sheffield Trades : breakdown of apprenticeship system, 126 restriction of number of workers, 127 ; variety of unions, 128 fixing the rate of wages, 129 ; diversion of trade, 130, 131 Britannia-metal smiths, 131; silversmiths, 134; cutlery trades, 135; razor trade, 137; saw trade, 138; edge tools, 139; file- making, 140; future of the trades, 142-147 Shipowners : the Shipping Federation, 76 Silversmiths, 134 Socialism : its aspiration, 24 ; strengthening the propaganda, 25, 27 ; injuring industries, 192 ; attempted capture of trade unionism, 205 South Metropolitan Gas Company : Labour troubles, 62 ; resort to non-union labour, 63 ; advantages of, 64 Steel Melters' Union, 172 Sweden : doors, etc., imported from, 35 Tariffs, Hostile : effect on Sheffield trades, 126, 131 Tinplate Workers' Association 115-120 244 INDEX Teade Unions : effect of more aggressive type on the trade of the country, 21 ; the " new " and the " newer " unionisms, 22 ; the con- trolling influence, 145 ; variety of unions in a single works, 128, 176 ; aggressive action out of date, 198 ; utility of reasonably conducted trade unions, 198 ; essential principle good, 203 ; Socialist action and what it led to, 205 ; need for a trade union reform movement, 206 Typographical Association, 155 Workman, English, Views on : an engineering manager, 173, 174 ; an ironmaster, 181-184 ; an engineering expert, 189 Printed and bound by Ilazdl, Watson d- Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. 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