can be expressed. This voice will always be found in favor of the judicious and intelligent representative. Of course, as men become intelligent more deference must be paid to them personally and to their rights, and even to their opinions and prejudices; and, upon the whole, a greater share of profits must be paid in the day of prosperity to the intelligent than to the ignorant workman. He cannot be imposed upon so readily. On the other hand, he will be found much readier to accept reduced compensation when business is depressed; and it is better in the long run for capital to be served by the highest intelligence, and to be made well aware of the fact that it is dealing with men who know what is due to them, both as to treatment and compensation.

292. The Purposes of Trade Unionism10

BY JOHN MITCHELL

In its fundamental principle trade unionism is plain and simple. Trade unionism starts from a recognition of the fact that under normal conditions the individual, unorganized workman cannot bargain advantageously with the employer for the sale of his labor. Since he has no money in reserve and must sell his labor immediately, since he has no knowledge of the market and no skill in bargaining, since, finally, he has only his own labor to sell, while the employer engages hundreds or thousands of men, and can easily do without the services of any particular individual, the workingman, if bargaining on his own account and for himself alone, is at an enormous disadvantage. Trade unionism recognizes the fact that under such conditions labor becomes more and more degenerate, because the labor which the workman sells is a thing of his very life and soul and being. In the individual contract between the rich employer and the poor laborer, the laborer will secure the worst of it. The individual contract means that the worst and lowest man's condition in the industry will be that which the best man must accept. From first to last, from beginning to end, always and everywhere, trade unionism stands opposed to the individual contract. There can be no concession or yielding upon this point. There can be no permanent prosperity of the working classes, no consecutive improvements in conditions, until the principle is firmly and fully established, that in industrial life, the settlement of wages, the hours of labor, and all conditions of work, must be made between employers and workingmen collectively and not individually.

10 Adapted from Organized Labor, 2-11. Copyright by the American Book and Bible House (1903).

Trade unionism thus recognizes that the destruction of the workingman is the individual bargain, and the salvation of the workingman is the joint, united, or collective bargain. To carry out a joint bargain, however, it is necessary to establish a minimum of wages and conditions which will apply to all. By this it is not meant that the wages of all shall be the same, but merely that equal pay shall be given for equal work. If some are so willing to be over-rushed as to do more than a fair day's work for a fair day's wage, or are willing to allow themselves to be forced into patronizing truck stores, to submit to arbitrary fines or unreasonable deductions, whereas others would rebel at these impositions, it would result that in the competition among the men to retain their positions, those who were most pliant and lowest spirited would secure the work, and the wages, hours of labor, and conditions of employment would be set or accepted by the poorest, most cringing, and least independent of workers. If the trade union did not insist upon enforcing common rules providing for equal pay for equal work and definite conditions of safety and health for all workers in the trade, the result would be that all pretense of a joint bargain would disappear, and the employers would be free constantly to make individual contracts with the various members of the union.

The trade union does not stand for equal earnings for all workIt does not object to one man's earning twice as much as the man working by his side, provided both men have equal rates of pay, equal hours of work, equal opportunities of securing work, and equal conditions of employment. What the union insists upon is that certain minimum requirements be fulfilled for the health, comfort, and safety of all, in order that the workingmen shall not be obliged to compete for jobs by surrendering their claims to a reasonable amount of protection for their health, and for their life and limb.

The trade union thus stands for freedom of contract on the part of workingmen-the freedom or right to contract collectively. The trade union also stands for definiteness of the labor contract. The workingman agrees to work at a wage offered him by his employer, but frequently nothing is said as to hours of labor, periods for meals and rest, intensity of work, conditions of the workshop, protection of the workmen against filthy surroundings or unguarded machinery, character of his fellow-workmen, liability of the employer for accident, nor any of the thousand conditions which affect the welfare of the workman and the gain of both employer and employee. In the absence of an agreement with the union it

is in the power of the employer to make such rules absolutely, or to change or amend them at such times as he thinks proper.

The right to bargain collectively necessarily involves the right to representation. Experience and reason both show that a man, who is dependent upon the good will of an employer, is in no position to negotiate with him. Workingmen should have the right 'to be represented by whomsoever they wish. The denial of the right of representation is tyranny. Without the right to choose their representatives, the men cannot enjoy the full benefit of collective bargaining; and without the right of collective bargaining, the door is open to the evils of the individual contract. To avoid these calamities the workmen demand "the recognition of the union."

D. THE THEORY OF UNIONISM

293. The Principle of Uniformity11

BY ROBERT F. HOXIE

The key to the understanding of union rules and actions is to be found in the fundamental principles and theories of their program. If you understand these thoroughly and the policies to which they give rise, you can generally explain any given rule or act without difficulty; and without that understanding you are almost certain to go astray. In the space available it is barely possible to illustrate in a general way these theories.

Let us, then, by way of illustration, take one of the fundamental principles of Business Unionism, the principal of uniformity or standardization, and use it as a partial explanation of union policies, demands, and methods. This principle requires that all the men doing the same work use the same kind of tools and materials, work normally the same length of time, and at the same speed, turn out the same quantity and quality of goods, and receive the same rate of wages. The union argument on which the principle rests runs somewhat as follows:

Wages and conditions of employment are determined by the relative bargaining strength of the workers and employers of the industrial group.

"Adapted from an unpublished lecture entitled "The Trade-Union Program," delivered at the University of Michigan, May 17, 1914. The statements in this paper are general and admit of many exceptions. They constitute a theoretical statement of the tendencies underlying union activities rather than a generalization from such activities. They are not clearly understood even by all unionists.

2. Under competitive conditions the bargaining strength of the employer is greater than that of the individual laborer, because of (a) the superior bargaining knowledge, skill, and waiting power of the employer; (b) the smaller object which he has at stake—pecuniary profits versus life; (c) the presence of an actual or potential oversupply of labor; (d) the increase in bargaining power on the part of the employer in inverse ratio to his industrial and financial strength; (e) the limitation of the bargaining strength of the labor group to the competitive strength of its weakest member.

3. The full bargaining strength of the employer is bound to be exercised against the workers because under competitive conditions the pressure of the consuming public for cheap goods is transmitted through the retailer and the wholesaler to the most unscrupulous employer, who sets the pace; while under monopolistic conditions the relations of the employer and the worker are impersonal.

4. Therefore, allowing the employer to pit his bargaining strength against the bargaining strength of each worker, thus fixing their different rates of work, wages, etc., means the progressive deterioration of the wages and conditions of employment of the group.

5. The only way to prevent this deterioration is to rule out competition by establishing and maintaining the principle of uniformity or standardization, i. e., to require for all the men doing the same work the use of the same kinds of tools and materials, the same working time, the same speed, the same quality of work, and the same output.

Now let us see what light this policy throws upon the policies, demands, methods, and attitudes found in the union program. The main purpose of this principle, as we have seen, is to rule out competition. But competition is possible in regard to the wage rate, hours of labor, or the exertion and output of the individual. To prevent the first the establishment of a standard rate of wages at a fixed minimum is necessary. The prevention of the second requires the fixing of a normal day or week as a maximum. The third, in like manner, necessitates uniformity in the conditions and rate of work. It is obvious that these conditions working together make the standard rate a practical maximum as well as a minimum. Hence there arises the tendency toward dead-line mediocrity.

Competition, however, is possible not only in regard to the wage rate, the hours, and the exertion or output, but also in regard to the safety and sanitation, the comfort and convenience of the shop; the times of beginning and ending work; the arrangement of shifts; the

time, place, mode, and character of pay; the materials and tools used; and all the minor details of the conditions of work and pay. Hence, to secure uniformity, there arises the necessity of minute. specifications of standards in regard to all the incidents of work and pay, from which no deviation can normally be allowed. This explains a multitude of petty and harassing restrictions, of which employers complain, the validity of which rests, not on their immediate character and effects, but on the validity of the general principle of uniformity.

A large part of the Trade-Union Program is thus seen to be a direct effort to establish specific standards incidental to the principle of uniformity. Another large portion is in the interest of enforcement of conditions essential to their existence.

Let us first consider the latter. It is evident that these standards cannot exist if they are violated with impunity; still successful enterprise demands flexibility. Hence there has grown up a long list of irregularities and violations permitted but charged with penalties. These have the double object of stopping underbidding and of preventing the irregular practices from becoming regularly established. For example, overtime, the doing of extraordinary kinds of work, and the doing of work in irregular ways are allowed, but only on condition of extra pay.

These standards, moreover, are hard to establish and maintain. in a thoroughly dynamic industrial state, where new trades are evolving, and new processes are coming in constantly. This in part explains the undoubted tendency of unions to restrict new trades, new machinery, new methods, and new processes in industry-in short, industrial progress.

Now if we turn to the enforcement of these standards, we shall find that another large block of union policies and demands are, in part at least, in the interests of the principle of uniformity, and are valid if it is valid. The enforcement of these standards means the Common Rule. But to secure this you must have Collective Bargaining, or legislation. Collective Bargaining implies recognition of the union and all the complex machinery for the making and enforcement of contracts.

Moreover, you cannot enforce these standards unless you control the Workers or the Working Personnel. This, in part, explains apprenticeship regulations, and to the unionist calls absolutely for the Closed Shop and the control of hiring and discharge of men. It is evident that if you cannot control the men you cannot cut out underbidding in its manifold guise. This is especially true, since the