Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/864

 S3 1 TliADES UNION fain increased wages have occasionally appeared for several centuries ; but until a OOmpflrotiYely recent date they were every where the object re hral pemiltics. Toward the close of the last century the formation of workmen's societies received ;i i> .; tmpalft from the in- troduction of machinery, which, by conceti- the leading industries in large estab- lishment-,, gradually reduced many Hrnall mas- ters to tic- position of laborers, and vastly increased the difficulty of rising from the working to the employing olAM. In England union had bee n formed among the wool comb- ers, cotton spinners, weavers, calico printers, scissors grinders, and men of other trades, be- fore the beginning of this century. New laws prohibiting such combinations were enacted in IT'.t'J arid 1800, but were evaded in various ways; and in 1824 a committee of the house of eomnion.H reported that these laws had only produced irritation, distrust, and violence. They were repealed, arid an aet was passed to protect combinations of workmen or employ- ers from prosecution for conspiracy under tin? common law. Later acts were still more fa- vorable to the unions, providing for their re- gistration and enabling t hem to hold real estate. At the beginning of 1870 the number of mem- bers enrolled in the trades unions of the United Kingdom was estimated at 1,200,000, of which number more than one fourth is comj ..> the 14 societies named in the following table: NAMES OF SOCIETIES. Dw of YMT or No. of branche*. No. of rnemlwn. YWM-'i Income. Ynr'i xj^n.ll. turn. Kundi In band. Mtion. 1851 1888 1862 1809 L884 I860 18M 1871 1874 '.'.I'.t'r 860 98 106 148 M6t 261 I7.( 969 '217 HO 1,868 I:;.].M> 2;.iioi) iota 19,097 11.715 1M.-I7 18,908 14,600 21.1M52 .JO.OiMl i:t,r>(M 17,000 12,812 118,556 28,989 MOT 88,945
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Vi'/.i; 43,800 -M,r.Mi 6288,9* 1874 1-7 1 lS78-'4 1874 l78-'4 1874'" 8,8V) 2!;,!44G 2:v'j70 liV.^2 88,864 81,174 '.!.!> 41^M i:;.iir> r.i ooii 1 OIKI 80,000 Kri.'n.ll. ' Kniflmid, In-lund, mid W;il-.s BoiUrnulunMid iron ihipbtdldmrtor&reM i'.rit.:iin mni inhmi Ainiil^iiriiiit''il Horii't y of i-:ir|i' titi'i-H ;ui(| joiners
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1 VI H74 L8T8 l-7 S l878-'4 1 .u'rlriiltur.il 1'iliori'lV Union 1-71 L874 41,244 88,126 Arnulpimated uMnonlntl'in of <> ritiv rut ton spinners Tim following societies comprised in 1875 a membership of Miners' ruiUoniil union 140,000 Sou tli Yorkwhiro inlniTH' unm>dntin 25,000 KiiMt. F/imMNliln- power loom WCHVITN IU,000 K.-nt. mid SIIH^I-X .-ijjrii'iilfiinil lnt.on -r.V union'. .. lo'.OOO <Ji-n-nil union ofi-arprnlri-.s mid joimTH 9,700 l.rirkliiyrrH' w-rldrnt. mid tmrliil Hocloty. . . 7,850 I 'nil I'd K int, r d< ii n Hoclrt.y of concli liiiild'T.s 7,HOO North Wnlr.s <iuiifryiiu!ii'fl union 7,200 The 28 societies named above comprise all hav- ing not less than 7,000 member* which were represented iii the national trades union con- l1 Liverpool in January, 1H75, or in that held in (Jlasgow in October I if the same year, besides a few that were not represented in either. Their aggregate membership is 570,- 7"o, or nearly half of the f,,t:il estimated m .. m - bership of the t,ra<les unions of the kingdom. Trade societies comprise those orgaiii/ed fur trade purposes alone, such as mutual support in strikes, and those which are also mutual hem-lit, associations, the latter class now com- nearly all of the stronger organi/ations, in which the expenditures for benefits are u--u ally much greater than those incurred for Hut on the, other hand, the nnialira- matud association of miners paid .l'MI),Oi)0 with- in one year (1H7-I '") to assist brniich.-* on strike in South Staffordshire. By tho periodi- of iin-H,,. 7 w.-tf. In Australia : in N.-w /.-ntaml, In 1 in Hi- Cull,..) St:,f,, and C, it, ,,|||,T .-..iinlrl.-... it, m mbtrt, wm m ti,.- r..i t6d SUtoB, and I w, , cal publication of reports showing the state of trade in various towns and districts, some of the unions render valuable service; and another useful device is that of keeping in each of tho larger towns a "vacant book," in which tin- names of men out, of employment and employ- ers in want of men are registered. Tho quali- fications for membership generally include good health, sound physique, ability as a workman, steady habits, and good moral character; and (except in societies of unskilled laborers) the candidate must, have served a regular appren- ticeship to his trade. The minimum limit of for admission to full membership is usu- ally 21 years; the maximum varies from .'55 to 50 years. A prime object of these or <j-ani/a- tions is to obtain better wages, shorter time, or more agreeable conditions of employment. They discountenance long engagements at a (reestablished rate of wages, oppose the prac- tice of working beyond the customary hours, object to working in the same establishment with non-unionists, and usually seek to estab- lish in each town ordistrict a minimum rate of wages. In tho skilled trades they insist upon apprenticeship, and seek to regulate the pro- portion between apprentices and workmen, de- fending their action on then-round that it is the workman, and not the employer, who instructs the apprentice. In the various trades con- nected ith building and engineering the niem hers of the unions generally refuse to work under piece masters or sub-contractors. Tho objection to piece work is, that it is desired by