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 LABOUR

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LABOUR

the workers were either slaves or serfs, we realize that, in spite of set-backs, there has been great and encour- aging progress. When we compare the condition and status of the labouring class during the best days of Greece and Rome with its condition and status to-day, we cannot doubt that the improvement is mostly due to Christianity, and that continued progress will be in proportion to the influence of Christian ideals in the social order. Some of these ideals are stronger to-day than ever before. The medieval doctrine that the price of goods ought to be sufficient to afford the pro- ducers a decent living has emerged from the oljscurity of three centuries, and is once more accepted by the majority of persons in every Christian country. Fi- nalh', when we recall that the condition of the toilers has improved notably and steadily for the last seventy- five years, and that, while some of the economic forces to which that improvement is due are not so strong as they once were, other beneficent forces, moral and po- litical, have grown stronger, we cannot deny that the outlook for the future is one of sane, if moderate, optimism.

Cunningham, Western Civilization in its Economic Aspects (Cambridge, 1900); Idem, A History of English Industry and Commerce (Cambridge, 1905); Ward, The Ancient Lowly (Wash- ington, 1889-1900); MoMMSEN, History of Rome (New York, 1905); Brownlow, Slavery and Serfdom (London. 1892); Has- BACH, History of the English Labottrer (London, 1909); Gibbins, Industry in England (London. 1898); Adams and Sumner, Labor Problems (New York, 1905); Willoughbt, Bulletin of the Bureau of Labor (Washington), no3. 25-30; Stimson, Report of the Industrial Commission, XVI (Washington); Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor (Washington); GulRAUD, 1m. nmin-d' ceuvre industrielle dans I'ancienne Grece (Paris, 1900); Levasseur, Histoire des classes ouvri^res et de rindustrie en France avant /755(Pari3, 1900); Inama Sternegg, Deutsche Wirthschaftsgeschichte (1879); Ratzinger, Volksivirth- schaft {FreihuTg imBr., 1895); Jannsen, Geschichtedesdeutschen Volkes (Freiburg im Br., 1893).

John A. Ryan.

Labour Unions, Moral Aspect.? of. — Since a la- bour union is a societ.y, its moral aspects are deter- mined by its constitution, its end, its results, and the means employed in pursuit of the end. If its constitution, that is, the conditions upon which its members become associated, lie immoral, the society will be morally unlawful. For example, if the mem- bers were required to promise blind obedience to the leaders, if the rules called for an unlawful degree of secrecy in its affairs, or if one of the conditions of membership were the promise to support some illicit action or project, the society would be bad in its con- stitution. It would be under moral condemnation, regardless of its aims, practices, or results. As there is no evidence to show that the labour union of to-day is immoral in its constitution, we may dismiss this par- ticular moral aspect and turn to the consideration of the other three.

I. The Ai.ms and Results of the Labour Union. — The two general aims, ends, or objects of the union are mutual insurance and better conditions of employ- ment. In the opinion and procedure of the unionists, the second is much the more important. Conditions of employment include wages, hours, sanitation, and safety, and several other circumstances that affect the welfare of the workers. Better conditions mean, in the consciousness of the unionist, not only better con- ditions than those now enjoyed, but better than he would have if the union did no t exist. In other words, the union aims at safeguarding and increasing present benefits. Inasmuch as these benefits rarely exceed, and probably in the majority of instances still fall below, the amoimt to which Labour is entitled in ju.stice, this, the chief aim of the union, is morally ju.stified. The morality of the insurance rcuturo is olivious.

So much for the union in general with regard to its general aims. In any specKic instance a union is jus- tified in seeking advantages, whether of wages, hours, or other conditions, only when these are in accor(l with the law of right. If its members are already re-

ceiving all that they are morally entitled to, they of course do wrong wlien they use the power of their organization to extort more. For, contrary to the prevailing conceptions and the too frequent practice of the last century, there is an element of justice in the labour contract, and when either party deliberately ignores this factor, its aim is to that extent immoral. This is as true of an organization as of an individual. Though good in its constitution and end, the union might possibly be immoral on account of the dispro- portionate amount of evil to which it leads. It is doubtful whether any intelligent and unbiased ob- server would contend that this hypothesis is verified to-day. Although the evil effects of the union are frequent, and sometimes very serious, they seem to be, on the whole, morally outweighed by its good effects. "An overwhelming preponderance of testi- mony before the Industrial Commission indicates that the organization of labour has resulted in a marked improvement in the economic condition of the work- ers" (Final Report of the Industrial Commission, p. 802). And the good results obtained by organization are considerably enhanced by the fact that they could not have been secured in any other way. As VValker, a very conservative writer, puts it, "Nothing, eco- nomically speaking, can save economic society from progressive degradation except the spirit and power of the working classes to resist being crowded down" (Elementary Course in Political Economy, 266). A careful survey of the history of labour during the last one hundred years will show with abundant clearness that no entire grade or class of labourers has secured any important economic advantage except by its own organized resistance and aggressiveness. And prac- tically every union lias at some time protected the working conditions of its members against deteriora- tion. These facts are merely a result of the system of imlimited competition, not a condemnation of the em- ploying class. If anyone doubt that the evils result- ing from the unions are less important morallj', eco- nomically, and politically, than the benefits that they have produced, let him calmly survey the conditions that would exist in England to-day if the imions were still prohibited by law, as they were during the period of English "wage slavery", in the early decades of the nineteenth century. It is quite possible that in- dividual unions are sometimes immoral, and as such forbidden to conscientious working-men, because the organization does more harm than good. This was probably true of the Western Federation of Miners in Colorado a few years ago.

The moral judgment to be passed upon unionism from the side of its results applies for the most part to the past. It cannot with certainty be applied to the future in order to determine whether a union or all unions are worthy of condemnation or of approval, except in so far as the past conduct of an organization may create a presumption for the time to come. If the judgment expressed in the last paragraph is sound, the presumption, therefore, is that the labour union in general will in the future be justifietl from the view-point of its results, and that it may claim the allegiance of conscientious men. And we have al- ready seen that it is lawful in its general constitution and general aims.

II. The Methods of the Laboitr Union. — While the union itself may be morally lawful in the sense just explained, many of its actions may be unlawful. This statement is obviously true of many social institu- tions. In the case of the laliour union, the greater part of the moral condcnuuition that is pronounced has reference neither to ils constitution. Us general aims, nor its net results, but to it suctions. Since these have practical importance oiily in so far as they are characteristic and haliitiial. they will lie most profit- ably discussed under the head of methods or prac- tices.