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 446 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

gaining more favorable conditions of wages and of employment." Accordingly, if a strike is not an aggressive strike, but a defen- sive one, if the strikers purpose merely to ward off a threatened or already announced cut, it would at least be uncertain whether they would then be liable under this sec. 153 of the industrial laws. Now, however, every agreement that has in view a cooperation to influence the conditions of labor or of wages (sec. i) is liable to the increased penalty. In the future, there- fore, no allowance is to be made for the difference between aggressive and defensive strikes. Moreover, not merely con- straint to bring about participation in given actual agreements to strike, but likewise constraint for the purpose of inducing laborers to join organizations, is now placed among criminal actions. Sec. i has the express provision, "to participation in organizations or agreements which have in view an influence upon the conditions of labor or wages." This, of course, strikes all industrial organizations of laborers whatsoever, whether they are at the moment engaged in a strike or not. Still further, under the present sec, 153 of the industrial laws only those deeds of violence are included which are committed for the express purpose of forcing another to participation in a strike. According to the new bill, however, every threatening or insult- ing action which springs from failure to take part in a strike becomes liable to the increased penalties (sec. 6). That is, in case the strike is long past, if the threat or denunciation can no longer have the effect of illegal constraint, even then it may be punished with a year's imprisonment.

Finally we must enumerate in this series of extensions of the number of punishable actions a provision which has attracted more attention than all the rest, namely, the prohibi- tion of strikers' patrols. The idea of threat is extended by this law, beyond its customary and natural sense, to cover the " sys- tematic watching of employers, employes, places of employ- ment, roads, streets, squares, railroad stations, water-ways, harbors, or other places of business." Thus the laborers are made impotent to carry through a strike with success. How can they maintain an oversight of the condition of the strike, of the