TRADE UNIONS. 397 TRADE UNIONS. on Labor Organizations. For a time trade unionism seems to have become involved in the cause of frcneral reform : wide-reaching and am- bitious federations were formed which worked at the same time for the abolition of slaver}-, for woman's rights, hmd nationalization, and cooper- ation, as well as the improvement of the con- ditions of employment. During this period trade unionism proper was undoubtedly making prog- ress in the separate trades, and by 1840 in the principal industrial centres local unions had been organized among the masons, marble-cut- ters, shoemakers, saddlers, hatters, tailors, print- ers, bricklayers, roofers, painters, carpenters, and shipworkers. The fifteen years between 1850 and 1865 may well be described as the period of nationalization. Labor leaders had learned that for a time at least the labor movement must go forward cau- tiously, that participation in politics and broad attempts to reform things in general were dangerous, that labor organizations must be ex- tended, if at all, within trade lines, and not by all-embracing amalgamations. In 1850 the union now known as the International Tj'pographical Union was organized. (See Typogr.pii1cai, Union of North America, The International.) This was probably the first American national union, though there is some reason to believe that the Silk and Fur Hat Finishers' National Association was organized as early as 1843. The National Association of Hat Finishers of the United States of America was founded in 1854, the National Protective Association (the Loco- motive Engineers) in 1855, the Sons of Vulcan and the National Spinners' Association in 1858. Since the Civil War local and national unions have been organized on every hand, their gov- ernment has been perfected, and their adminis- tration improved, A large number of vigorous labor journals have appeared; labor parties have been formed and in places have succeeded in electing labor candidates ; permanent boards of collective bargaining or arbitration and con- ciliation have been formed in many trades; boy- cotting through the union label and labor press has been systematized and developed ; favorable legislation has been secured in every State; and, more important than any other result, perhaps, public opinion has been brought to concede the utility and even the necessity of the trade union. The most striking phenomenon of the epoch has been the formation of large federations of unions. Among these larger organizations may be named the National Labor Union (ISliC), the Knights of Labor (IStii)), the International Association of Workingmen (18(i4), the Industrial lirother- hood (1873), the American Federation of Labor (1881), the National huilding Trades Council (ISilT), and the American Labor Union (1808). By far the most important of these is the Ameri- can Federation of Labor. (See Labor, Ameri- can Federation of.) The growth and striking success of this organization supply a potent les- son in the requirements and conditions of suc- cessful labor organization. Avoiding direct participation in politics, and sedulously refrain- ing from compulsory interference in the immedi- ate affairs of its constituent unions, it confines itself to the prosecution of those aims which all labor organizations have in common, namely, the organization of new unions, the passage of legis- lation favorable to the working classes, the wider use of the union label, and the support of the labor press. Statistics of Trade LTnions in the United States. These are collected by the Labor Bureaus of a few States, but no complete enu- meration for the whole country has ever been made. Estimates of the _ aggregate membership of American unions vary widel.y. In January, 1003. President Gompers of the American Fed- eration of Labor estimated that about two and one-half millions of the seventeen million wage- earners in the United States were organized. The estimate is probably too high. The report of the Industrial Commission gives the estimated membership of labor organizations in the United States on July 1, 1901, at 1,400,000. This is probably the most reliable estimate ever made. The increase during 1902 was very great. The unions affiliated with the American Federation alone reported an increase of 283,827 members during the eleven months. November 1, 1901- September 30, 1902. Assuming that the estimate furnished by the Industrial Commission is cor- rect, the aggregate membenship of labor organi- zations in the United States, at the close of 1902, was about 1,650,000. The average member- ship of the American Federation of Labor alone, during the year ending September 30, 1903, was 1,465.800. A more satisfactory idea of the growth of trade unions may be gained from the following table, in which the total membership of unions in Great Britain and New York is given, and an estimate of the members represented in the annual con- vention of the American Federation of Labor. Number and Membership of Labor Organizations YEAR New York State Represented in con- ventions of .merican Federation of Labor Great Britain Organiza- tions Member- ship Organiza- tions Meniber- stiip Organiza- tions Member- ship 1890 83 52 68 72 56 75 92 75 110 158 181 221 226 199,600 199.100 22S.400 245.900 176.300 207,100 273..50n 265,800 279.000 350,400 5,10,300 789.500 1,025.300 1891 1892 1.192 1.240 1.279 1.299 1.314 1.306 1.277 1.270 1.252 1.236 1.503.298 1,480.291 1,437,025 1,408,486 1,495,476 1,613,753 1,649,461 1.803,897 1.910.614 1.922.780 1893 1894 860 927 962 1.009 1.087 1.320 1,635 1,881 2,229 157,197 180,231 170.296 168,454 171,067 209,020 245,381 276,141 329,098 1K95 1K96 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 _ 1902
