January 1904
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58th C o n g r e ss , (H OUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. J D oc.N o.343, 2d Session. f l Part 1. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR. BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR. NO. 50—JANUARY, 1904. ISSUED EVERY OTHER MONTH. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1904. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis EDITOR, CARROLL D. WRIGHT, COMMISSIONER. ASSOCIATE EDITORS, G. W. W. HANGER, CHAS. H. YERRILL, G. A. WEBER. Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis CONTENTS. Page. Labor unions and British industry, by A . Maurice L ow .............................................1-103 Land values and ownership in Philadelphia, by A. F. Davies............................. 104-131 Agreements between employers and employees............................. ........................- - 132-147 Digest of recent reports of State bureaus of labor statistics: M aryland.............................................................................................................................. 148-150 M ichigan.............................................................................................................................. 150-152 North Carolina................................................................................................................... 152-155 O h io ....................................................................................................................................... 155-157 Deports of State boards of arbitration.............................................................................. 158-161 Digest of recent foreign statistical publications............................................................ 162-171 Decisions of courts affecting labor.................................................................................... 172-208 Laws of various States relating to labor enacted since January 1, 1896............ 209-218 i i i Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF LABOR. No. 50. WASHINGTON. J a n u a r y , 1904. LABOR UNIONS AND BRITISH INDUSTRY. BY A. MAURICE LOW. (a) The answer to a question which is not demonstrable mathematically, which can not be solved by exact statistics or figures by which a balance can be struck, must always be colored by the sympathy or prejudice of the person whom it most nearly affects. In making an investiga tion of English trade unions hnd their effect on British industry, it must be evident that there could be no answer returned which might not be criticised, if not even attacked. That certain conditions exist to-day can be easily determined, but whether those conditions would exist if there were no trade unions, whether those conditions would be better or worse, whether improved industrial conditions would prevail, whether, in short, a hundred things would be different if certain forces were not in existence, is a speculation fruitless and unprofitable and leading to nowhere. It must also be self-evident that a question so broad in its scope as this should not be dogmatized about. Prejudice and self-interest will sway conviction. In one sense the trade union represents a force antagonistic to the union of capital; in another the trade union is the ally of capital. Naturally, therefore, the simple question what the effect of unions of workers has been on industry will be answered in « The writer desires to express his thanks for the courtesy shown him and the valuable assistance rendered by Sir Alfred E. Bateman, K. C. M. G., Mr. H. Llewellyn Smith, C. B., Mr. John Burnett, of the Board of Trade, and other officials of the Board of Trade and the Home Office; Mr. Sidney Low, L. C. C., Mr. John Burns, M. P., Mr. Richard Bell, M. P., Mr. Sidney Webb, L. C. C., Sir George Livesey, Lord Glenesk, Mr. George N. Barnes, Mr. George S. Gibb, Mr. D. A. Thomas, M. P., Mr. W . Brace, and the editors of the Engineering Magazine. 1 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis 2 BULLETIN OF THE BUBEAU OF LABOB. more than one way, and honestly, according to the view point of capital or labor. These divergent views, instead of leading to hopeless confusion, as might be imagined, lead very directly to a common ground where conflict of opinion can be reconciled. In spite of differences as to details, disagreement even as to principles, there is substantial accord as to the service which the trade union has rendered by substituting for the arrangement between individual employer and employee the more scientific and more satisfactory method of collective bargaining under which a trade is' heard through its spokesman, and uniformity is secured in rates of wages, hours of labor, or other conditions of service with practically all employers. While the great majority of employers in Great Britain favor collective bargaining as leading to greater stability and as producing more satisfactory results, a certain number regard the power of the trade unions as inimical to their interests because the workmen, leagued in a union, are more powerful and less easily reduced to terms when it comes to a trial of strength than they were when there was no nexus to bind men of different crafts in a compact body united in a common cause, and every man, employer as well as employee, bargained as an individual. The idea of certain economists that labor and capital are cogs in a machine, which must engage if the machinery is to do its work, the one set of teeth as important as the other and both mutually depend ent, is not the general view entertained by. British labor. What labor has won labor has fought for is the statement, less epigrammatically expressed, of English workmen. Their increase in wages, their decrease in hours, their better condition generally, they have fought for and the employers have conceded to them, the workman believes, because the workman as a cohesive force was powerful enough to compel compliance with his demands and not voluntarily, not because they were impelled by considerations of charity or philanthropy, not even because of the narrower view that it was more economic and therefore more profitable to them in the long run. Yet it is this knowledge of power, this use of it—and often its mis use—which has unconsciously led to better relations between British labor and British capital, and which has exercised a marked influence on British industry. The investigation embraced an attempt to dis cover not only what the effect of unionism has been on industry, but also what the unions have done for their members, and what is the position of the unions and what are their relations to industry. Here one treads on no uncertain ground; the footing is firm. It can be clearly demonstrated what has been accomplished since the trade union became one of the great social factors. It is proper to state here the method pursued in an attempt to gain an accurate comprehension of a subject so extremely complex, and so Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis LABOR UNIONS AND BRITISH INDUSTRY. 3 largely colored by personal prejudice. Several weeks were spent in personal interviews with representative trade unionists and with some of the largest employers of labor. With these men the writer talked freely and at considerable length. The statement that follows is a synopsis of their views, which are given in detail later. For the present it is sufficient to draw attention to the salient facts which these interviews developed. It is the conclusion of the clearest observers of the labor question, observers who view the problem from the standpoint of capital as well as of labor, that the labor union in England, where it was born, and where it began as a benefit and charitable society formed for the purpose of succoring its members when ill or out of work, soon became a militant society whose main object was to better the condi tion of its members at the expense of employers, and without regard for the rights of employers, the equities involved, or the practical question whether an employer was able to meet the demands made upon him and continue to operate his works at a fair profit. It was a period of agitation and continued unrest. The leaders were men who were trying to embitter the relations between the members of the society and the employers. They believed, most of them quite honestly, that the only way to bring about any improvement in the condition of the men in the ranks of the great army of labor, was to sow discontent and keep alive the spirit of dissatisfaction. That era has passed. The fighting trade-union leader has been succeeded in England by a leader who is no less courageous, but who is certainly more intelligent. This new leader has given time and thought to the study of industrial questions, and comprehends that if the wage worker is to improve his condition, earn good wages, and be in the receipt of steady employment, it is essential for him to maintain friendly relations with his employer, to make strikes as few and as infrequent as possible, and to do nothing foolishly to restrict the conduct of business or increase the cost of production and thereby help a foreign competitor. The appeal to force—the strike on the one hand and the lockout on the other—is by no means an archaic weapon in England to-day, but both sides recognize the wastefulness and folly of resorting to force, and endeavor by every means possible to secure a settlement of diffi culties by an appeal to reason and the employment of methods of conciliation. It is impossible to discuss any question relating to capital and labor in England without immediately involving the United States in the discussion and without drawing parallels and comparisons between the conditions existing in the two countries. The reason for this is obvious. The United States is a factor of no mean importance in its influence on labor and industrial conditions in Great Britain. The Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St.