Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/867

 TRADES UNION TRADE WINDS 837

NAMES OF SOCIETIES. Date of organi- zation. No. of branches. No. of mem- bers. International typographical union. . . Machinists 1 and blacksmiths' inter- national union 1862 1859 171 10,295 8 000 Iron moulders' union of North 1859 Brotherhood of locomotive engineers Journeymen tailors' national trades union 1863 1865 188 40 12,000 2 800 Coopers' international union Cigar makers' international union. . Miners' national union.,. . . 1870 i873 "ioo 847 5,000 5,000 85 855 United sons of Vulcan.. . . 1874 4000 The miners' union comprises organizations yhich have existed for years in different states, f which the strongest was that of the anthra- jite miners of Pennsylvania. The member- hip of the national association is now dis- ributed as follows : Pennsylvania, 20,840 ; Jhio, 4,734; Illinois, 5,122; Indiana, 2,135; [ndian territory, 57; Iowa, 272; Colorado, 242 ; Wyoming, 544 ; Maryland, 431 ; Missouri, 547; Kansas, 123; Tennessee, 129; West Vir- ginia, 178. The society of the "United Sons of Vulcan " comprises iron puddlers and iron boilers. The local unions are called "forges." In addition to the above there are the brick- layers' national union, the united order of American plasterers, the house painters, the hat finishers' association, the knights of St. Cris- pin (shoemakers), the order of morocco dress- ers, the journeymen horse shoers' union, the society of locomotive firemen, the mule spin- ners of the cotton factories, and the weav- ers, who in May, 1875, amalgamated their lo- cal unions into one association. There are also many local societies, some of which, es- pecially among those in the larger cities, are of considerable importance. The financial panic of 1873 was followed by a large reduc- tion in the membership of many of the unions. In New York city the aggregate membership in 1873 was 44,950; in 1874, 35,765. In 1871 the knights of St. Crispin had about 300 branch- es and 70,000 members; now they scarcely have a general organization, though many of the branches survive with a reduced member- ship. In the national trades organizations of the United States, legislative power is confided to an assembly of delegates, to which each local union sends a number bearing a stated relation to its membership, and the action of these bodies is generally final. The princi- pal exceptions are in the tailors' union and the iron moulders' union, in both of which questions are decided by a majority of the unions, and not as in England by a majority of individual voters. The assemblies of dele- gates elect the executive officers, usually for a term of one year. The qualifications for mem- bership in the skilled trades usually include apprenticeship. In the typographical union the period required is four years. This union admits pressmen, and also charters local unions of pressmen. The iron moulders' union ad- mits brass moulders on the same conditions as iron moulders, one of which conditions is the ability to earn the average rate of wages pre- vailing in the locality where the candidate is employed. The locomotive engineers require that the candidate shall be a white man, not less than 21 years of age, able to read and write, of temperate habits and good moral character, and possessing at least one year's experience as an engineer. The contributions in the American societies are generally small. Those of the tailors' union are but 10 cts. a month. Among the miners there is a strike fund, to which the contributions are 25 cts. a month. In several unions the initiation fees, and charges for new charters, travelling cards, &c., constitute the only sources of income for general purposes. In the brotherhood of loco- motive engineers, the iron moulders' union, and some others, the benefit features, so largely developed in the English societies, appear to a limited extent. In most of the states the trades unions need legislation for the better security of their funds. The subject of a national law for this purpose, and also of legislation for the better protection of life in mining and oth- er dangerous occupations, has been agitated. Nearly all of the societies above named declare themselves opposed to strikes except as a last resort, and several of them require their mem- bers to make an effort to settle disputes by arbitration, before applying to the society at large for authority to strike. A tendency to- ward federation has manifested itself among the trades unions of the United States, as in the organization of the workingmen's assem- bly of the state of New York, which however had but a brief existence. In February, 1876, an amalgamated association of iron workers was formed, embracing societies previously existing in different branches of the iron trade. The national labor union, organized at Baltimore in 1866, although assuming to represent the working men of the country, found comparatively little support among the trades unions, and gradually took the form of a political party. A national industrial con- gress was formed at Cleveland, O., in July, 1873. Besides an exchange of views between the representatives of the different industries, its objects included united action for legisla- tion. Most of the large societies and many of the local unions were represented. See Le- mercier, Etudes sur les associations ourrieres (Paris, 1857) ; Brentano, Lie Arleitsgilden der Gegenwart (Leipsic, 1871 et seq.) ; the count de Paris, Les associations outrieres en Angleterre (French and English, 1869) ; Nadaud, Histoire des classes oumieres en Angleterre (Paris, 1872) ; Leroy-Beaulieu, La question ouvriere au XIX e siecle (Paris, 1872) ; Bamberger, Die Arlei- terfrage (Stuttgart, 1873); and Mazaroz, Les chaines de Vesclavage moderne (Paris, 1876). TRADE WEfDS, the prevailing N. E. and S. E. winds, in the northern and southern hemi- spheres respectively, that blow from the par-