Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/866

 852 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

bargaining by combination laws and from legal enactment by theory, the workmen from 1800 to 1825 fell back on mutual insurance, secret coercion, and riots. Up to 1867 collective bargaining became popular, and, after extension of the suffrage, legal enactment was more employed.

Turning to the regulations and their intention, we are taught the meaning of the movement. The standard rate is the one regulation which is practically universal, and it calls for a payment according to some definite standard, uniform in its application. The great industry, with its machinery running at a nearly uniform speed and its large collections of workers, seems to demand greater uniformity of wages. This does not mean equality of wages, but only a minimum rate to prevent the "adulteration of labor" by competition with the inca- pable.

The employer is biased in favor of a long day. The unions believe the extension of the day msans a breaking down of the standard rate, and they resist it. There is a strong tendency to seek to limit hours by law. During the century the hours of labor have been consider- ably shortened, although overtime continues, and in backward districts the day is still long.

Great progress has been made in enforcing regulations favorable to health and safety. The individual workman is helpless. Even trade- union bargaining is of little avail. The method of legal enactment is the only efficient way, and in this matter public opinion helps the workmen. Employers' liability will not take the place of measures to prevent accident, because it is cheaper for employers to insure with some company than introduce costly protective appliances.

The unions have been able to diminish the tragic pain and misery attending the introduction of new machinery and processes, when the skill acquired by a life work is suddenly rendered valueless. The boot- and shoe- and papermakers have been able to devise means for hold- ing their own without interrupting the use of the best machinery. Even handicraftsmen in some lines, by keeping up price and quality, have maintained their advantages alongside the factory system. It has been more difficult to secure continuity of employment, but even here irregularity and uncertainty have been in a measure corrected. Full explanations are given of the policy of unions relating to entrance upon a trade, child work, and the right to a trade.

Under " Implications of Trade-Unionism " the authors give a lucid