mmM THE LIBRARY OF THE NEW YORK STJTE SCHOOL OF INDUSTRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924054508860 THE HANDBOOK SERIES SELECTED ARTICLES ON MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS COMPILED AND EDITED BY DANIEL BLOOMHELD Author of "Labor Maihtehance." Editor Handbook "Euploymeht Man- agement/' Associate Editor "Indcstrial Relations." Bloomfield and Bloohfield, Boston, Consvlt- ants in Employment Management AND Industrial Relations. With ah Introddctioh by MEYER BLOOMHELD AUTHOR; OF "Labor and Coupehsation," "Youth, School and Vocation," "Management and Men," Etc. Editor, "Industrial Relations, Bloomfield's Labor Digest." PROP'^PTV OF L !=?RARY W" W'\ ST^Tv jn^nOL INDUSTRIAL A ;n I .';JR RELATIONS CORNELL UNIVERSITY THE H. W. WILSON COMPANY NEW YORK CITY 1919 Published December, 1919 EXPLANATORY NOTE This book presents the first collection in one voliune of articles on modem industrial movements. It covers the most important printed material which has appeared in periodicals, reports and other important sources not easily xessible. Some subjects such as Socialism, Trade Unions, Compulsory Arbi- tration of Industrial Disputes, Compulsory Insurance, Minimum Wage, Open vs Closed Shop, Single Tax, are not included in this book as they are fully covered in other Handbooks pub- lished by The H. W. Wilson Company. The aim of the editor and compiler has been to present each subject from all angles so that the reader may have the ^opportunity of forming his own judgment as to the particular movements discussed. Not only will this handbook, therefore, jbe of value to students at schools and colleges, but it will also (appeal to the business man and the industrial manager, and the workers in industry who want to know in some detail about important movements in industry. We can arrive at the truth best by balancing what authoritative proponents of such move- ments say, with the expressions of responsible writers who hold contrary points of view. A large amount of material was gone over before the arti- cles in this volume were selected and the task was difficult because of the rapidly changing status of such movements as Bolshevism, and the Shop Stewards' Movement. However, in those cases, the articles finally selected make clear the funda- mentals underlying the growth of the movements and thus will serve their purpose in throwing light on the industrial thought of our time. September 15, 1919. Daniel Bloomfield. CONTENTS Bibliography xi Introduction by Meyer Bloomfield i Workers' Co-Operative Movement Laidler, Harry W. The British Co-operative Movement Pearson's 3 Progress of the Co-operative Movement in Great Britain.. 19 Warbasse, James Peter. The Co-operative Consumers' Movement in the United States 23 The American Federation of Labor on Co-operation 31 Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism, and the I. W. W. Preamble of the I. W. W 35 Industrial Union Manifesto 36 The Principle of the Industrial Union. New England Worker 39 I|-evine, Louis. Syndicalism North American Review 40 levine, Louis. The Standpoint of Syndicalism Annals of the American Academy 51 Russell, Bertrand. Democracy and Direct Action Dial 55 Robertson, Right Hon. J. M. The Dogma of "Direct Action" Everyman 62 Hoxie, R. F. The Truth About the I. W. W Journal of Political Economy 67 iSestruction the Avowed Purpose of the I. W. W ' American Federationist 79 Wilson, William B. False Theories of the I. W. W 82 Shop Stewards ileason, Arthur. Shop Stewards and Their Significance. . . Survey 87 viii CONTENTS Shop Stewards Gleason, Arthur.. Shop Stewards and their Significance Survey 87 The Shop Stewards' Movement Nation 102 Another Explanation Nation 103 EUery, George. British Shop Steward Movement Voice of Labor 103 Sullivan, James W. ^Passing of the British Shop Steward Movement ■ ... National Civic Federation Review ic8 Scientific Management Farnham, Dwight T. Brief for Scientific Management. ... 115 Brandeis, Louis D. Scientific Management 126 Person, H. S. Scientific Management Taylor Society Bulletin 131 Thompson, C. Bertrand. Relation of Scientific Management to Labor Quarterly Journal of Economics 142 Frey, John P. Labor's Attitude towards Scientific Manage- ment Shoe Workers' Journal 147 Guild Socialism Cole, G. D. H. Reviving the Guild Idea Living Age 153 Cole, G. D. H. National Guilds Movement in Great Britain Monthly Labor Review 158 Management Sharing (a) Shop Committees \l Stoddard, W. L. Committee System in American Shops , Industrial Management 169 (b) Workshop Councils Renold, C. G. Workshop Committees Survey 177 (c) Industrial Councils The Whitley Scheme 199 Functions and Constitutions of District Councils and of Works Committees 213 Joint Industrial Councils and Trade Boards 223 Cole, G. D. H. The Industrial Councils of Great Britain. Dial 23! n/ CONTENTS ix Bolshevism Constitution, Russian Soviet Republic 243 Lenin, Nicolai. Letter to American Workingmen Class StruiTgle 259 Croisier, Henri. Lenine and His Program Living Age 263 Emery, Henry C. Under Which King? Bezonian? Yale Review 271 Ledoc, K. J. Russia's Struggling Forces Living Age 282 Breshkovsky, Catherine. Russian Revolutionists Against Bol- shevism Struggling Russia 290 Bolsheviki as Capitalists Living Age 291 Walling, W. W. Bolshevism Convicted Out of its Own Mouth National Civic Federation Review 295 Sparge, John. Fight Bolshevism with Democracy. .McClure's 303 Gorky, Maxim. Bolshevik Serum New York Tribune 308 Is Bolshevism on the Wane? Round Table 309 Labor Parties Why a Labor Party ? New Republic 313 Gompers, Samuel. Should a Labor Party be Formed 318 The British Labour Party 328 Industrial Reconstruction Programs Program of the British Labour Party 331 Reconstruction Program, National Catholic War Council (United States) 335 American Federation of Labor 352 The International Charter of Labor Survey 368 Index 373 BIBLIOGRAPHY General Bloomfield, Meyer. Management and men. Century Co. 1919. Cohen, Julius Henry. An American labor policy. Macmillan. 1919- Friedman, Elisha M. Labor and reconstruction in Europe. Dutton. 1919. Hobson, J. A. Democracy after the war. London, Geo. Allen & Unwin. 1917. Kellogg, Paul and Gleason, Arthur. British labor and the war. Boni and Liveright. 1919. Kropotkin, P. Mutual aid. London. Heinemann. 1914. Kropotkin, P. Fields, factories and workshop. Putnam. 1913. Memorandum on the industrial situation after the war. Is- sued by the Carton Foundation. London. Harrison & Sons. 1919. Ramsay, Alex. Terms of industrial peace. London. Consta- ble & Co. 191 7. Russell, Bertrand. Political ideals. Century Co. 1917. Russell, Bertrand. Proposed roads to freedom. Holt. 1919. Workers' Co-operative Movement Annals of the American Academy. 84:143-9. Mr. '19. World wide trend towards co-operation. F. H. Sisson. Harris, E. P. Co-operation the hope of the consumer. Mac- millan. 1918. Pearson's Magazine. The British Co-operative Movement. H. W. Laidler. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 3. N ation . 106:565-6. My. 11, '18. The co-operative movement. J. P. Warbasse. Nation. 107:196-7. Ag. 24, '18. The Russian co-operative movement. I. J. Sherman. P ublic. 21 :628-32. My. 18, '18. American labor and the co- operative movement. J. H. Walker. xii BIBLIOGRAPHY Public. 22:109-11. F. I, '19. Co-operative movement during the war. J. P. Warbasse. Survey. 42:112-13. Ap. 19, '19. Producers and consumers, first national joint conference of trade unionists and co- operators in London. Williams, Aneurin. Co-partnership and profit sharing. Holt. 1913. Syndicalism ; I. W. W. ; Industrial Unionism American Federationist. 20:533-7. JL 'i3- Destruction the avowed purpose of the I. W. W. Samuel Gompers. Keprinted in this Handbook. See page 79. Atlantic Monthly. 120:651-62. N. '17. The I. W. W. Carleton H. Parker. Bankers Magazine. 98:544-6. My. '19. Our social and Indus-. trial system blamed for the I. W. W. Bellman. 22:233-5. Mr. 3, '17. The industrial workers of the world. E. Colby. Brissenden, Paul F. The I. W. W. A study of American syn- dicalism. Longmans, 1919. Brooks, John Graham. American syndicalism and the I. W. W. Macmillan. 1913. Debs, Eugene V. Class unionism. Chicago. C. H. Kerr & Co. 1909. Dial. 66:445-8. My. 3, '19. Democracy and direct action. Bertrand Russell. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 55. Dial. 66:341-6. Ap. 5, '19. On nature and uses of sabotage. T. Veblen. From a radical viewpoint. Estey, J. A. Revolutionary syndicalism in France. London. 1913. Everyman. 14:445-6. Ag. 16, '19. The dogma of "direct ac- tion." The Right Hon. J. M. Robertson. Reprinted in this Handbook. See pkge 62. Flynn. E. G. Sabotage: The conscious withdrawal of the workers' industrial efficiency. Cleveland. I. W. W. Pub-j licity Bureau. April, 1915. Fortnightly Review. 111:331-40. Mr. '19. Political syndical- ism. J. A. R. Marriott. Groat, George G. Organized labor in America. Ch. XXVIIj and XXVIII. p. 426-52. Revolutionary industrial unionism. Macmillan, 1916. BIBLIOGRAPHY xiii Harley, J. H. Syndicalism. London. 1912. Harper's. 137:250-7. Jl. '18. The industrial workers of the world. Robert W. Bruere. Hoxie, R. F. Trade unionism in the United States. Ch. VI. p. 139-76. The industrial workers of the world and revolu- tionary unionism. International Socialist Review. 9:172. S. '08. The economic argument for industrial unionism. Vincent St. John. International Socialist Review. 18:332-42. Ja. '18. The truth about the I. W. W. Harold Callender. Journal of Political Economy. 21:785-97. N. '13. The truth about the I. W. W. R. F. Hoxie. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 67. Lewis, Arthur D. Syndicalism and the general strike. Lon- don. 1912. Literary Digest. 61 :7o-S. Ap. 19, '19. What the I. W. W. black cat and wooden shoe emblems mean. Macdonald, J. Ramsay. Syndicalism. London. 1912. Marot, Helen. American labor unions. Ch. IV. p. 48-64. In- dustrial workers of the world. Holt. 1914. Nation. 107:220-3. Ag. 31, '18. The I. W. W. trial. V. S. Yarros. Nation. 108 :733-4. My. 10, '19. One big union. G. Grey. New Republic. 18:48-51. F. 8, '19. National organization by industries. Ordway Lead. New Republic. 24:284-5. Ap. 6, '18. Colonel Disque and the I. W. W. New York Evening Post Nov. 14, 17, 24; Dec. i, 8, 12, 15, 1917; Feb. 13, 16, 23; Mar. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30; Apr. 6, 13, 20, 1918. Following the trial of the I. W. W. A first-hand investi- gation into labor troubles of the West. North American Review. 196:19. Jl. '13. Syndicalism. Louis Levine. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 40. Political Science Quarterly. 28:451-79. S. '13. Development of syndicalism in the United States. Louis Levine. Public. 22:134-6. F. 8, '19. The Future of the I. W. W. Round Table (London). No. 35:611-19. Je. '19. The one big union in Australia. St. John, Vincent. The I. W. W. : Its history, structure and methods. Chicago I. W. W. Publicity Bureau. 1917. xiv BIBLIOGRAPHY Saturday Evening Post. My. n, 'i8. Our imported troubles and trouble makers. S. G. BIythe. Sunset Magazine. 38:16-18, 62-65. F. '17. The I. W. W. and the golden rule: Why Everett (Wash.) used the club and gun on the red apostles of direct action. Survey. 28:80-2. Ap. 6, '12. The shadow of anarchy. J. G. Brooks. Survey. 28:220-5. My. 4, '12. Developmefit of the industrial workers of the world. W. E. Bohn. Survey. 30:355-62. Je. 7, '13. The I. W. W. an outlaw organ- ization. J. A. Fitch. Survey. 31:87-8. O. 25, '13. The real trouble with the indus- trial workers of the world. J. G. Brooks. Survey. 33:634-5. Mr. 6, '15. Baiting the I. W. W. J. A. Fitch. Trautmann, Wm E. Industrial unionism. , Chicago. C. H. Kerr & Co. 1912. Tridon, Andre. The new unionism. Huebsch. 1914. Unpartizan Review. 12:35-45. Jl- '19- I- W. W. and Mayor Hanson. P. C. Hedrick. Warbasse, James P. The ethics of sabotage (pamphlet). New York. 1913. World's Work. 26:406-20. Ag. '13. What the I. W. W. is. Arno Dosch. Shop Stewards Nation. 108:192-3, 277-9. F- 8. 22, '19. Shop stewards' move- ment. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 102. National Civic Federation Review. 4:3-4. Ag. 30, '19. The passing of the shop steward movement. James W. Sulli- van. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 108. Survey. 41 :4i7-22. Ja. 4, '19. Shop stewards and their sig- nificance. Arthur Gleason. Selection reprinted in this Handbook. See page 87. Voice of Labor. 1:13-14. Ag. 30, '19. The British shop steward movement. George Ellery. Reprinted in this Handbook, See page 103. BIBLIOGRAPHY xv Scientific Management Annals of the American Academy. 6i :i46-64. S. 'iS- Scien- tific management as a solution of the unemployment prob- lem. M. L. Cooke. Annals of the American Academy. 65:27-56. My. '16. Per- sonal relationship as a basis of scientific management. R. A. Feiss. Atkinson, Henry. A rational wages system. London. G. Bell & Son, Ltd. 1917. Carpenter, Charles V. Profit making management. Engineer- ing Magazine Co. 1908. Church, A. Hamilton. The science and practice of manage- ment. Engineering Magazine Co. 1914. Dartmouth College. Addresses and discussions at conference on scientific management. 1912. Drury, H. B. Scientific management. Longmans. 1915. Efficiency Society Bulletin. F. S, '16. The brief for scientific management. D. T. Farnham. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 115. Emerson, Harrington. Efficiency. Engineering Magazine Co. 1914. Emerson, Harrington. The twelve principles of efficiency. En- gineering Magazine Co. 1917. Franklin, B. A. Experiences in efficiency. Engineering Maga- zine Co. 1915. Gantt, H. L. Work, wages, and profit. Engineering Magazine Co. 1916. Gilbreth, F. B. and L. B. Applied motion study. Sturgis & Walton, N. Y. 1917. Gilbreth, Fratik B. Motion study. D. Van Nostrand Co. 1911. Gilbreth, Frank B. Primer of scientific management. D. Van Nostrand Co. 1912. Hoxie, R. F. Scientific management and labor. Appleton. 1915. Knoeppel, C. E. Installing efficiency methods. Engineering Magazine Co. 1915. Knoeppel, C. E. Maximum production. Engineering Magazine Co. 1911- Nation's Business, p. 22. D. '18. A cure for scientific man- agement. R. B. Wolf. Parkhurst, Frederic A. Applied methods of scientific manage- ment. John Wiley & Sons. 1912. xvi BIBLIOGRAPHY Quarterly Journal of Economics. 30:311-51. F '16. Relation of scientific management to labor. C. Bertrand Thompson. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 142. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 31 :62-8s. N. '16. Why labor opposes scientific management. R. F. Hoxie. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 33 :466-503. My. '19. Pos- itive contributions of scientific management. H. H. Farquhar. Shoe Workers' Journal. 17:8-10. Mr. '16. Labor's attitude towards scientific managemient. John P. Meyer. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 147. Taylor, Frederick W. Principles of scientific management. Harpers. 191 1. Taylor, Frederick W. Shop management. Harpers. 1911. Taylor Society Bulletin. 2:16-22. O. '16. Scientific manage- ment. H. S. Person. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 131. Thompson, C. Bertrand. Scientific management. Harvard Univ. Press. 1914. Thompson, C. Bertrand. The Taylor system of scientific man- agement. A. W. Shaw Co. 1917. Thompson, C. Bertrand. Theory and practice of scientific man- agement. Houghton MifHin. 1917. Guild Socialism Cole, G. D. H. Self-government in industry. London. Geo. Bell & Sons. 1917. Cole, G. D. H. The world of labor. London. G. Bell & Sons. 1917. Cole, G. D. H. and W. Mellor. The meaning of industrial freedom. London. Geo. Allen and Unwin, Ltd. Hobson, S. G. Guild principles in war and peace. London. 1917. Hobson, S. G. National guilds — an inquiry into the wage system and a way out. London. G. Bell & Sons. 1917. Living Age. 302:214-17. Jl. 26, '19. Reviving the guild idea. G. D. H. Cole. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 153. Monthly Labor Review. 9:24-32. Jl '19. National guilds movement in Great Britain. G. D. H. Cole. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 158. Orage, A. R. An alphabet of economics. London. BIBLIOGRAPHY xvii Penty, Arthur J. Old worlds for new — A study of the post- industrial state. London. Geo. Allen & Unwin. 1917. Reckitt, M. B. and Bechhofer, C. E. Meaning of national guilds. Macmillan. 1918. Survey. 41 1643-4. F- i. 'i9- Books on the national guild movement. H. W. Laidler. Management Sharing Annals of the American Academy. 81 :i67-8i. Ja. '19. Rep- resentation in industry. J. D. Rockefeller, Jr. Benn, Ernest J. P. Trade parliaments and their work. Lon- don. Nisbet & Co. 1918. Fortnightly Review, n. s. 105 :9S8-64. Je. '19. The Whitley councils. James Glendinning. Industrial Management. 57:473-6. Je. 'ig. Committee sys- tem in American shops. W. L. Stoddard. Keprinted in this Handbook. See page i6g. Living Age. 300:631-4. Mr. 8, '19. An experiment in workers' control. Public. 22:424-5. Ap. 26, '19. Co-operative management. Sparkes, Malcolm. A memorandum on industrial self-govern- ment, together with a draft scheme of a builder's national industrial parliament. London. 191 7. Survey. 41:594-8. F. i, '19. New constitutionalism in British industry. Arthur Gleason. Survey. 41:902-3. Mr. 22, 'ig. Works committees for America. Survey. 42:27-8, 75-7, 109-11. Ap. 5-9, '19. Whitley councils. Arthur Gleason. Survey. 42:74-5. Ap. 12, '19. Harvester works council. Meyer Bloomfield. Trade parliaments. An explanation of the Whitley report, In- dustrial reconstruction council. London. 1918. Bolshevism American Law Review. 53:115-20. Ja. '19. Bolsheviki pro- gram. H. A. Forster. Asia. 18:188-94. Mr. '18. Mass rule in Russia. M. J. Olgin. Asia. 18:286-7. Ap. '18. Bolshevism in eastern Asia. J. Foord. Asia. 18:542-8. Jl. '18. Rise of the proletariat. B. Beatty. Atlantic Monthly. 123 :4i9-24 Mr. '19. Bolshevism : a liberal view. H. W. Stanley. xviii BIBLIOGRAPHY Atlantic Monthly. 124:126-31. Jl. 'ig. Poland, the verge of Bolshevism. Vernon Kellogg. Bellman. 24:235-41, 263-9. Mr. 2-9, '18. The madness of Rus- sia. J. A. Bradford. Bellman. 26:442. Ap. 19, '19. Bolshevism on the wane in Norway. J. Vidnes. Catholic World. 109:145-62. My. '19. The crimson terror. J. E. Murphy. Century. 98 :237-40. Je. 'ig. Bolshevism : the heresy of the underman. L. Stoddard. Current History Magazine of the New York Times. 8,pt i: 68-74. Ap. '18. International policies of the Bolsheviki. A. Yarniolinski. Current History Magazine of the New York Times. 8, pt 2: 10S-7. Jl. I, '18; 9,pti:74-S. O '18; 504-6. D. '18; g.pt 2: 78. Ja. '19. Terrorism in Russia. Dial. 66:i74-g. F. 22, '19. Bolshevism is a menace — ^to whom? Thorstein B. Veblen. Educational Review. 57:260-5. Mr. '19. Destruction of bol- shevism. Fortnightly Review. 109:371-83. Mr. '18. Lenine and bol- shevism. E. H. Wilson. Forum. 59:703-17. Je. '18. Bolshevism in America. L. A. Browne. Forum. 60:745-51. D. '18. The red flag of bolshevism. J. A. Reed. Forum. 61 :4S6-6i. Ap. '19. Bolshevism in France, the mad movement. Samuel Gompers. Independent. 96:352-3. D. 14, '18. Soviets and BolshevikL Independent. 97:88. Ja. 18, '19. The Bolsheviki must go. F. H. Giddings. Living Age. 299:718-26. D. 21, '18. Bolsheviki ideals and their failure. C. H. Wright. Living Age. 300:197. Ja. 25, 'ig. A factory under Bolshevik management. G. D. L. Horsburgh. Living Age. 300:200-2. Ja. 25, 'ig. Bolshevism defended. M. Gorki. Living Age. 300:509-10. F. 22, '19. Soviets in Switzerland. Living Age. 300:577-82. Mr. 8, '19. Lenine and his program, H. Croisier. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 263. BIBLIOGRAPHY xix Living Age. 302:261-6. Ag. 2, '19. Russia's struggling forces. K. J. Ledoc. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 282. Living Age. 300:820. Mr. 29, '19. Conference of Berne on bolshevism. Living Age. 301:641-8. Je. 14, '19. What is happening in Germany? Democracy or Soviets. Literary Digest. 61:9-11. Je. 21, '19. American labor and bolshevism. McClure's. 51 :io. S. '19. Fight bolshevism with democracy. John Spargo. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 303. Nation. 108:8-12. Ja. 4, '19. The Russian constitution. Nation. 108:82. Ja. 18, '19. Bolshevism, true or false. National Civic Federation Review, p. 7-9, 18-19. Ja. 10, '19. Bolshevism convicted out of its own mouth. W. E. Walling. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 295. National Civic Federation Review, p. 8-9, 18-19. D. 20, '18: p. 14-19. Ja. 10, '19. Bolshevik industrial government. Gustavus Myers. New Republic. 11:320-2. JI. 21, '17. Organization or anarchy. New Republic. 13:329-30. Ja. 19, '18. Bolsheviki and the junkers. New Republic. 18:70-2. F. 15, '19. Bolshevism on trial. Nineteenth Century. 85:232-48. F. '19. Bolshevism — accord- ing to Lenine and Trotsky. A. Shadwell. North American Review. 207:181-3. F. '18. Town meeting diplomacy. Outlook. 121 :l8s. Ja. 25, '19. France and the Bolsheviki, an official statement. E. H. Abbott. Public. 21:1043-6. Ag. 17, '18. Bolsheviki. M. L. Larkin. Public. 21:1199-1201. S. 21, '18. Russia and revolutionary experiment. Public. 21:1529. D. 21, '18. Bolsheviki method. E. M. Win- ston. Public. 22:82-6. Ja. 25, '19. Russian bolshevism — tyranny or freedom. V. S. Yarros. B. Beatty. Public. 22:126-7. F. 8, '19. Why we hate the Bolsheviki. Review of Reviews. 57:188-90. F. '18. Bolshevism as a world problem. N. Goldenweiser. Ross, E. A. Russia in upheaval. Century Co. 1918. XX BIBLIOGRAPHY Round Table. No. 35:511-14. Je. '19. Is bolshevism on the wane? Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 309. Scribner's Magazine. 64:625-33. N. '18. Siberian chaos. J. W. Prins. Scribner's Magazine. 65:735-41. Je. '19. Way of the Bolshe- vik. L. Warner. Spargo, John. Bolshevism. Harpers. 1919. Spectator. 122:31-2. Ja. 11, '19. The basis of bolshevism. Spectator. 122:191-2. F. 15, '19. Bolshevism in practice. Survey. 41 ■.612-14. F. i, '19. A new era in Russian industry. Clara I. Taylor. Survey. 41 :655-7. F. 8, '19. Co-operating with the commissars. Jerome Davis. World's Work. 36:613-23. O. '18. Bolsheviki — ^who they are and what they believe. Yale Review, n. s. 8:673-93. Jl. '19. Under which king, Bezonian? H. C. Emery. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 271. Labor Parties Academy of Political Science Proceedings. 8:181-92. F. 'ig. American labor readjustment proposals. Angell, Norman. The British revolution and the American democracy. Huebsch. 1919. Atlantic Monthly. 122:221-30. Ag. '18. Mr. Henderson and the labor movement. A. G. Gardiner. Annals of the American Academy. 44:114-19. N '12. The Standpoint of Syndicalism. Louis Levine. Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 51. Contemporary Review. 113:614-20. Je. '18. Idea of a labour party. J. M. Robertson. Current Opinion. 65 :2I2. O. '18. Pacifism and the British labor party. Fortnightly Review. 111:341-51. Mr. '19. Labour party at the crossways. F. J. C. Hearnshaw. Henderson, Arthur. The aims of labor. Huebsch. 1918. Nation. 107:698-9. D. 7, '18. Western labor in independent politics. V. S. Yarros. New Republic. 13:149-52. D. 8, '17. Re-organization of the British labor party. S. Webb. I BIBLIOGRAPHY xxi New Republic. 14:387-8. Ap. 27, '18. American labor party. W. T. Stone. New Republic. 16:63-5. Ag. 17, '18. Nationalism of the British labor party. New Republic. 18:397-400. Ap. 26, '19. Why a labor party? Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 313. Public. 21:40-1. Ja. II, '18. America's greatest need; a labor party. Public. 21 :S37-9. Ap. 27, '18. Mr. Gompers and the British labor party. Public. 21 :789-9i. Je. 22, '18. Australian labor party. G. E. M. Jauncey. Public. 21:1009-11. Ag. 10, '18. Labor's opportunity in pol- itics. Public. 22:601-3. Je- 7. 'iP- British labor movement. F. Dilnot. Survey. 40:7-11. Ap. 6, '18. Two-edged; the British labor offensive. P. V. Kellogg. Survey. 40:287-9. Je. 8, '18. Labor and politics. J. A. Fitch. Survey. 41 :264-S. Labor's fourteen points. (Platform of the Independent Labor Party launched by the Chicago Federa- tion of labor) World's Work. 37:493-4. Mr. '19. Mr. Gompers opposes an American labor party. Industrial Reconstruction Programs American Contractor, p. 20-21. Mr. 29, '19. Report of Execu- tive Board, Associated General Contractors of America. Annals of the American Academy. 82 :i24-34. Mr. '19. How American manufacturers view employment relations. I. C. Mason. (Program of the National Association of Manu- facturers) California State Federation of Labor. 19th Annual Conven- tion Proceedings. San Diego, Oct. 7-11, 1918 p. 41-46, 95. Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Referendum No. 27. Washington, D. C. Industrial relations. Committee on Education and Labor. U. S. Senate. Report of hearings on Senate Resolution 382. Ja. 4, '19. p. 41-8. Washington, D. C. (Program of the American Federation of Labor). xxii BIBLIOGRAPHY Eliot, Charles W. Plan for co-operative management. (See Handboiok Employment Management. Daniel Bloomfield. p. 390-94) Forum. 61 :i86-88. F. '19. The industrial need. John D. Rocke- feller, Jr. National Catholic War Council, Reconstruction pamphlet No. I. Social reconstruction. Washington. 1919. New Republic. I4:pt 2. F. 16, '18. Labour and the new social order. New Statesman. 11:244-5. Je. 29, 'i8. The Labour party conference. Ohio State Federation of Labor, 35th Annual Convention Pro- ceedings. Columbus, O. Resolution No. 44 p. 66-7. Reconstruction. I ;82-3. Mr. '19. New York Labor Party de- mands public ownership and war referendum. Survey. 41 : Reconstruction series No. 2. N. 23, '18. Pro- gram twenty British Quaker employers. Survey. 41 1500-2. Ja. 11, '19. French labor on peace and reconstruction. Survey. 41:857. Mr. 15, '19. The International charter of labor. (Adopted by the International Trade Union Con- ference and by the International Socialist Conference meet- ing at Berne, February 1919). Reprinted in this Handbook. See page 368. SELECTED ARTICLES ON MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS INTRODUCTION The penalty for being a very busy industrial executive or manager is the difficulty in getting the facts needed in order to make decisions. This is especially true of that class of facts which we vaguely lump under the heading of the "Labor problem." And this sittiation need cause no surprise. The field of industrial literature is so big, the voices so varied, and indeed discordant, that it has come to be somewhat of a specialty to deal with the ideas, ideals, and general pronouncements in the world of industrial relations. But it is not the specialist, it is the everyday business and manufacturing administrator who is most concerned with get- ting the vital information on which to form a judgment or a plant policy. He must understand what is moving men, what is acting on their thoughts, their feelings, their attitudes. Un- less he is intelligent in this respect, he had better confine himself to lifeless things. Existence will then be more satis- factory. It is the great merit of this book that it has selected for busy men who carry large responsibilities, a rich assortment of material which in the aggregate gives a unique cross-section of the important industrial thinking of our time. Thoughts are facts. They are the sort of facts which have a way of crystalizing into action, and the action of large masses of men in their industrial relationship is what makes the labor problem. In looking over the table of contents of this volume there surely can be no imputation of bias. No one can be trusted to deal with facts who proceeds to get them or assert them in a manner to support some personal prepossession. Getting facts is an art which needs more than ordinary conscientiousness. This quality is present throughout this volume. The author is 2 SELECTED ARTICLES looked upon as an expert organizer of fundamental informa- tion on economic questions. Those industrial and business leaders and students who appreciate what trustworthy organ- ization of industrial data means will find the present volume a valuable collection of papers dealing with live industrial questions of the day. A careful reading of the various topics, presented by the best published opinion obtainable will serve as a priceless initia- tion into what multitudes of human beings are thinking about, what they are trying to bring about, and what is actually taking place in the supremely important field of economic relationship. Boston, Mass. Meyer Bloomfield. October 1919. WORKERS' CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT THE BRITISH CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT* It was a Sunday afternoon in November, 1843. The place was Rochdale, England, a growing industrial town hard by capitalism's birthplace, the city of Manchester. The times were dark with misery for the nation's workers. They seemed that afternoon especially dark to Rochdale's flannel weavers, who had just emerged from an unsuccessful strike. Twenty- eight of them were gathered together in the Chartists' Reading Room to discuss what could be done. Some of the twenty-eight were Chartists who had been fighting with might and main for the political rights of the workers. Some were Owenite Socialists whose vision was a co- operative brotherhood. Some were just plain, unphilosophical weavers chained hand and foot by the credit system of the "truck" store and by the wage system — then at its worst. Many were the remedial schemes proposed. One fotmd fa- vor. It was to start, as soon as capital permitted, a co-opera- tive store of the workers, by the workers, for the workers, which immediately might free its members from dependence on ex- ploiting merchants and from the enslavement of the credit system; which ultimately might lead to the abolition of the wage system, and "so arrange the powers of production, dis- tribution, education and government as to create a self-support- ing home colony." Their dream seemed indeed Utopian. The dreamers were poor. They were unschooled. And who had ever heard of the working class controlling its own industrial affairs? But these dreamers not only had vision, they also had their share of good horse sense and bulldog resolution. Two pence a week this little band resolved to put aside for the venture. The two pence gradually grew to $140, and with that a dilapidated old store in a back street known as Toad Lane, Rochdale, was hired. The Rochdale Pioneers, as they * By Harry W. Laidler. From an article in Pearson's Magazine, copyri^ted and reprinted by special permission. 4 SELECTED ARTICLES were called, bought a few packages of flour, sugar, butter and oatmeal with which to supply the store, and finally got up sufficient courage to fling open; the doors amid the jeers of surrounding storekeepers and the cat calls of street urchins. Mondays and Saturday nights the store was kept open. Its first week's sale amounted to the munificent sum of $io. One mem- ber acted as salesman, one as cashier, another as secretary and the fourth as treasurer. Tenderly the members coaxed along their small establishment. Many a conference was held over its probable demise. It did not die, however. To the surprise and wrath of mer- chants and the joy of the few faithful, it actually grew. In 1914, seventy years after, if the original Pioneers had been still alive, they would have found that their dream had grown in England and Scotland into no less than 1,400 retail stores with many branches ; into two enormous wholesale so- cieties which supplied the retail "co-ops" with almost every conceivable article of common use, and which was in turn sup- plied from over a half-hundred factories owned by them. They would have. found annual sales for the factories, wholesale and retail stores of no less than $650,000,000 and a membership of over 3,000,000 (in 1917 over 4,000,000) — comprising, with the families of the members, between one-fourth and one-fifth of the population of Great Britain! They would have discovered that the little capital of $140 had grown into one of over $300,000,000; that the four em- ployees had increased to nearly 150,000; and hat the surplus divided at the end of the year to the workers who purchased their supplies from the "co-ops" had jumped from a few paltry dollars to more than $71,000,000! Incidentally they would have learned that the co-operative movement was among the largest single buyers of produce from England on the New York Produce Exchange and the largest shipper of butter from Ireland; that is possessed the great- est tea warehouse and the most extensive shoe factory in the United Kingdom; that it had its buyers in every part of the world; that it owned thousands of acres of farm land; that it chartered its own ships, possessed tea estates in Ceylon and factories in Australia and had its agents in dozens of countries all over the world; that it was spending thousands of dollars annually for educational purposes, was growing five or six times faster than the British population, and that it was prov- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS S ing such a thorn' in the flesh of the British merchant class that, at a recent convention in Glasgow, it was described by them as "the devil let loose upon trade." Nothing, perhaps, indicates more vividly not only the won- derful growth and efficiency of this "industrial republic" of working class consumers, but also its power for usefulness to the workers in their struggle for higher wages, than does the part played by the co-operative movement in the strike of the Irish dockers of Dublin in 1913. The unskilled workers of that city, 30,000 of them, had en- tered upon a long-drawn-out struggle for better conditions. They were holding out bravely, but were sorely in need of food. At the instigation of Larkin, the Parliamentary Com- mittee of the British Trade Union Congress investigated con- ditions and decided to give $25,000 toward food for their Irish brethren. They tried to obtain a loan for that amount on a promissory note from respected English bankers, but were promptlj* refused aid. "Will you supply 30,000 starving Irish workers with food on the guarantee of our note?" This question they then put up to the English Wholesale Co-operative Society in Manchester a few hours later on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 24th. The reply this time was a prompt affirmative. "Within 48 hours," the manager declared, "60,000 packages of foodstuffs will be on board your chartered steamship in the harbor." Presto! The order was executed. Thirty thousand pack- ages, each containing two pounds of jams and as much of su- gar, one pound of canned fish and quantities of butter and tea, and an additional thirty thousand packages of potatoes weigh- ing some 10 pounds, were on the good ship Hare ready for the trip by Friday night. Thus through the wonderful organization which the working class of Great Britain had slowly and painfully built up, the unskilled workers of Ireland, engaged in their most extensive labor struggle of the century, were able to give valiant re- sistance to the oppression of capital. Before the end of the strike, the Co-operative Wholesale Society sent no less than 17 specially chartered vessels to the relief of the strikers besides additional consignments through the more ordinary channels. Among the enormous quantities of supplies furnished by this society to their fellow workers were : 1,797,699 loaves of bread ; 6 SELECTED ARTICLES 689,166 bags of potatoes; 477,966 packets of margarin; 480,306 packets of tea; 461,530 packets of sugar (2 pounds each); more than 85,000 tins of fish, nearly 75,000 jars of jam and many thousands of packets of split peas and beans, cheese and condensed milk. In addition to this, the employees of the Wholesale gave as a Christmas gift to the Irishmen nearly 900 tons of coal and many hundredweight of biscuit, beef, onions, oranges and sweets. No wonder that, on his present visit to America, Jim Lar- kin has been persistently preaching the gospel of co-operation as part and parcel of his agitation for the coming of a genuine industrial democracy! The co-operative movement of consumers in Great Britain is divided territorially into two parts — the English and the Scottish Co-operatives. These have distinct organizations, al- though they unite their forces for common ventures. In each country there are two branches of consumers' co- operatives — the retail and the wholesale. The retail societies, as stated before, number 1,400. About six-sevenths of these organ- izations have, as societies, joined the wholesales in their re- spective countries, and purchase from the wholesales about three-fourths of their supplies. Two of the largest and most complete business buildings in Manchester and Glasgow are used respectively as the headquarters of the English and Scot- tish Wholesales — wonderful monuments, they appear to the visitor, of the ability' and perseverance of the English work- ing class. The retail movement has its greatest strength, not in the great centers of population, such as London, Liverpool or Birmingham, but rather in the smaller mining and industrial cities and villages between the Humber and the Tweed in Northern England and between the Clyde, and the Forth in Scotland. In many of these cities one finds the co-operative store looming up as the most imposing edifice in town and as the intellectual and social center for the working class. A half dozen of the stores have a membership of more than 30,000 souls and employ between 1,000 and 2,600 employees. Literally hundreds possess a yearly trade of more than $500,000 and con- tain a membership exceeding 5,000. One whole county- Clackmannan— has a larger co-operative membership than it has households. The city of Leeds, England, boasts of the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 7 most extensive membership of any society in the United King- dom, and Edinburgh, Scotland, of the most extensive trade. In many cities the "co-op" store is the one great fact in the economic life of the citizens. In the village of Desborough, in Northamptonshire, for instance, the co-operative not only sells the necessities of life to the great majority of the population, but also conducts many other activities left, in other cities, ab- solutely in the hands of private enterprise. How Co-operative Stores Differ from Capitalistic Enterprises How are these thousands of retail co-operative stores run? In what way do they differ from capitalistic enterprises? These are questions of vital interest and importance. Any member of either sex can, at any time, join a co-opera- tive by purchasing, in most societies, a $5 share of its stock. As a general rule membership begins just as soon as the first twenty-five cents of the $S is remitted. The remainder of the share is usually paid for out of the dividends which would nat- urally accrue to the member from purchases at the store. The prices charged to the members for goods purchased are approximately the same as those of private merchants. A special effort is made, however, at all times to sell pure, un- adulterated goods and to give full measure. Practically no credit is extended to the members of the store — cash transac- tions are well nigh universal. At the end of the quarter the surplus earned by the society is divided among the members in proportion to their purchases. The sums distributed range for different stores and periods from 37 cents to 62 cents on every $S worth of goods purchased, or between 7 per cent, and 12 per cent. This amount is called the "dividend." This term, however, is somewhat of a misnomer, and has led to the constant accusation that the co-operative differs not at all from a private venture. But the distinction is marked. The dividend in the private firm is paid to an inac- tive stockholder on capital loaned and increases in proportion to the prosperity of the enterprise. The "dividend" of the co- operative is paid to a member-purchaser in proportion to pur- chases made. It bears no relation to the amount of shares owned. In fact, the return to shareholders on capital invested is likely to become less in co-operative stores in proportion to their increasing prosperity. Members may also purchase shares to the extent of $200 from most of the co-operatives. An average of 5 per cent, is 8 SELECTED ARTICLES paid on these shares. All members are privileged to attend the quarterly meetings of the society and to vote on all issues. Each member has one vote and one vote only, irrespective of the number of shares owned. The membership elects the com- mittee of store management, generally 28 in number. In most societies employees are excluded from holding office. Officers must possess a certain minimum of shares. This democratically elected committee on management appoints the store manager and has charge of the affairs of the society. The members of the co-operative stores are overwhelmingly working class in their character — miners, weavers, artisans — and the management committees are also very largely composed of the manual work- ing class. In many of the suburbs, however, the professional and clerical groups exert a considerable influence. Two devices adopted at the formation of the co-operative movement, universally adhered to, have been responsible, to no small degree, for keeping the British co-operative movement a truly democratic republic of consumers. The first device has been the distribution of dividends according to purchases, not according to capital invested. The second has been that of one man, one vote. In a private concern, or even in a self-governing workshop, where surplus is divided according to capital invested, the in- evitable tendency is to restrict the number of shares — after a minimum of capital is obtained — in order to augment the return to each shareholder. The greater the number of shares obtained by one individual, moreover, the greater the control of that individual over the industry, because the greater is his voting capacity. In the British co-operatives, however, this condition does not obtain. The larger the number of members, the larger the amount of goods purchased and the smaller the average cost of distribution. The inevitable result is a larger dividend to each individual— providing, of course, the prices remain station- ary. This increased dividend gives to each member an incen- tive to increase the number of members of the society and to have the" co-operative include an ever larger proportfon of the population. The British retail co-operative stores differ then from the capitalistic enterprises by virtue of the fact that they are or- ganized for use and not for profit; that they give returns pri- marily according to purchases made, not according to shares MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 9 owned; that they provide to each member an incentive to obtain an ever larger membership for the stores; and that they give all an equal voice in the management of the stores, irrespective of the amount of shares owned — ^thus ensuring democratic control by a working class constituency. The shares of the stores are, furthermore, absolutely non-speculative. They are bought at par and sold at par. The retail stores, however, constitute but one part of the whole co-operative machine. As soon as retail co-operatives began to be organized in various parts of the nation, they were, in many instances, discriminated against by the wholesalers who wished to discourage co-operative enterprise. They were often able to purchase but a comparatively few commodities at a time and this made buying relatively expensive. To eliminate these and other disadvantages, numerous demands were made for the establishment of wholesale stores. In 1863, nearly twenty years after the birth of the Rochdale Co-operative Store, a central warehouse was established in Manchester by the representatives of a number of retails. The headquarters appeared at first like "a gaunt spectre haunting certain rooms in Cooper Street and starving upon quarter ra- tions." The wholesale, however, soon "caught on." At first it confined itself to the purchase and display of a few groceries. Soon a boot and shoe department appeared, then, in succession, drapery, furnishing, tea, architectural, print- ing and other departments quickly followed. Branches began to appear in London, Newcastle and various other cities with extensive and attractive salesrooms filled with exhibits for buyers of retail stores. Following these came great warehouses for tea and other commodities throughout the United Kingdom. Still the co-operators were not satisfied. Still they felt that they must get nearer to the producer. So they became their own brokers and sent their purchasing agents to all parts of the world. To Greece their representative went every year, and bought dried fruits direct from the farms at Patras — in some instances having them conveyed to England in the ves- sels owned and run by the co-operative movement. They es- tablished purchasing depots in Cork, New York, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Gothenburg,- Ceylon, Denia, a city in Spain, Mont- real and at various other points of strategic importance. "We have now demonstrated that we can run successfully 10 SELECTED ARTICLES our own retail and wholesale business and have supplanted in many instances the private broker, purchasing agent, ware- houseman," they began to argue. "Why cannot we become our own producers, especially of those working class necessities for which there is a steady demand?" Without their own factories, they discovered, they could not ensure the quality of their goods and they would, furthermore, be forced to pay rent, profit and interest to other manufac- turers. The result was the organization of a long series of factories. Works were started for the preparation of bread, flour, corn, cocoa, chocolate, lard and butter, jam and tobacco and many foodstuffs.. Great factories appeared for the making of boots, shoes and clothing. These proved successful and still more articles were produced. In 1874 the manufacture of soap was begun. By 1900 no less than 800 tons of this household necessity were sold weekly by the co-operators. Cabinet and tallow, brush and drug, iron, tin, bucket, fender and paint works were also entered into and by 1912 the English Wholesale boasted no less than forty such factories, while the Scottish housed in Glasgow no less than a dozen. A cry of "Back to the Land" was then raised by many of the co-operative societies. The ideal of co-operation, it was argued, would not be reached until the movement possessed some part of the soil and grew its own raw materials therefrom. So after much discussion — and no step was taken by the co- operatives without thorough discussion — ^the movement decided, in 1896, to purchase an extensive estate of between 700 and 800 acres in the western part of England, near the city of Shews- bury, at a cost of $150,000. Soon thousands of bushes and trees loaded with fruit were in evidence, and immense glass- houses, in their collective lengths no less than a mile, were nourishing tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables. A fine convalescent home for sick members was built on the estate. Eight years afterwards another estate near Hereford was added to the co-operator's possession, containing some 22,000 plum beds, 4,500 apple trees, and over 100,000 gooseberry bushes. Purchasing departments were established in rural England a few years later, and in 1912 and 1913 extensive farms for the raising of vegetables and lor cattle grazing became the property of the Wholesale. The total area of, the society land is now about 2,500 acres, excluding large tracts owned by retail stores. Nor did the co-operators stop in their acquisition of land MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS n when the shores of England were reached. They had devel- oped, during many years, a remarkable tea trade — which, of course, is not at all remarkable when one considers the Eng- lish thirst for tea. In 1913, in fact, the English and Scottish Wholesales boasted a sale of 27,219,767 pounds of that bever- age. It was but natural, therefore, that the enterprising co- operators should try to trace the tea to its source and control the product from its very beginnings. So, in 1902, it purchased three large estates in Ceylon, and in 1907 and 1913 further in- creased its holdings, possessing, at the end of that year, no less than 2,899 acres of ground, including a factory and ade- quate machinery.* There is one line of business which the average worker has been led to believe is so intricate and difficult to handle that it should be left wholly in the hands of the intellectual elite, and that this intellectual elite should, with justice, secure huge sums of money therefrom for condescending to tackle the business of banking. It was with perhaps some misgivings that the English Wholesale, in 1872, began its career as banker, open- ing, for this purpose, a Deposit and Loan Department. This department finally changed to the Banking Department of the C. W. S., permitted retail stores to deposit money and loaned money to them in time of need. It was not long before its worth was realized, and during the last generation hundreds of thousands of dollars have been saved to the co-operators, which would otherwise have been diverted into the coffers of the bankers. In the year 1913 the deposits and withdrawals of this department amounted to the enormous sum of $850,000,000. Over 1,000 of the retail societies are now keeping their accounts with this institution, having been weaned away, by proof of greater advantages, from private banks. The C. W. S. Banking Department, it may be said in passing, has a somewhat unusual system of exacting a fixed commission both on deposits and withdrawals, sufficient to cover the ex- penses of the Department. However, a small amount of inter- est, 2j4 per cent., is returned on all balances, and 4^ per cent, exacted on all overdrafts. The net surplus, averaging about $225,000 a year, is divided among all customers at the rate of 1 per cent, on deposits or withdrawals (yi per cent, to non- members). Besides the retail co-operatives, trade unions have been permitted to keep their accounts with the Department, as ^In 19 16 the C. W. S. purchased 10,000 acres of \rheat land in Canada. 12 SELECTED ARTICLES non-members, and no less than 124 unions have thus far availed themselves of the opportunity afforded. More lately the Wholesale has allowed individual members of the stores to deposit money with them through the retails, and has loaned money to individuals for the purpose of build- ing or purchasing their own homes. No less than 2,000 mem- bers have thus been accommodated with about $2,000,000. The Scottish Wholesale has not gone into this business so extensively as has its brother society, but does receive depos- its from individuals and societies, the deposits of a year ag- gregating about $12,500,000. This amount has been invested with public authorities .or with societies on security of land and buildings. Another incursion into the domain of private business, and one which, as in the case of banking, deals with the more in- tangible wealth, was made by the Wholesale with the establish- ment of the Insurance Department. Four years after the for- mation of the Wholesale, the society took charge of its own fire insurance. It was not long before the members began to feel that the insurance of human beings was, perhaps, worth consideration. At first, a distinct organization was formed for the purpose of conducting this important branch for the co- operatives, but in 191 1 the Scottish and English societies took over the Insurance Co-operative Society bodily. Now prac- tically every imaginable kind of insurance is conducted by the Insurance Department — fire, accident, death, workingman's com- pensation, employers' liability, burglary and fidelity guarantee. If an English co-operator wishes to insure his house, worth $500, against fire, he pays 50 cents a year; if against burglary, 82 cents. About one-half of the entire industrial insurance busi- ness of Great Britain is now in the hands of the co-operative. The greatest achievement of the Co-operative Insurance Department, however, and one which indicates most vividly the exceeding waste involved in our present private insurance schemes as compared with the possible automatic governmental insurance, is the so-called "Collective Insurance Scheme" re- cently adopted by the Wholesale. By this plan it is possible for retail co-operative stores to insure as a society. The retail gives to the Wholesale Insurance Department two cents a year for each $S of purchases made by members. Through this single exchange, all of the members of the retail are automat- ically insured. There are no expensive collections by insur- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 13 ance agents, no costly offices to be maintained in each town, no lapses for non-payment on the part of the individual worker. Insurance money is paid to the member, wife or husband on the basis of the average annual purchase made by the members during the three years prior to death. At the end of 1913, some 406 co-operative societies had taken advantage of the scheme, insuring thereby over 800,000. Premiums from this source had reached $500,000 a year and nearly 13,000 claims had already been paid. The expense of administering this collective plan was, more- over, found to he about 5 per cent, of the premimn paid in, while that incurred in administering the average industrial in- surance was 4 per cent. For every 25 cents paid into the in- dustrial company, li cents went for expenses. For every 25 cents paid under the coUectivist scheme, about i cent was needed to cover expenses. The co-operative movement, it is true, has dealt primarily in dollars and cents. It has, however, since its very inception, proved a great forum for the thrashing out of big ideas of value to the working class. Many of the retail societies have for years laid aside each year 2^ per cent, for educational purposes and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been ex- pended for that purpose. In their desire to keep alive general educational propa- ganda, the co-operators formed, nine years after the C. W. S. was established, a Co-operative Union to look after this end of the work. Each society contributes to this association. For many years, through its annual Co-operative Congress, the Union has exerted a big influence on the general movement. It has published many hundreds of tracts interpreting the work of the CorOperative; has established scores of libraries and reading rooms; has conducted thousands of courses on co- operation and civic problems; has exerted considerable pressure on political bodies to ensure that rights of co-operatives were not invaded; has organized lectures and entertainments; has given sage advice to struggling stores; has acted as arbitrator in time of dispute; has lessened the evil of overlapping among the retail stores; has issued plans for a great Co-operative College, and has, in a thousand and one ways, helped to solid- ify the forces of co-operation. The women also of late have been proving a more and more 14 SELECTED ARTICLES effective force in holding aloft the banner of co-operative brotherhood. In many instances the co-operators are found on the amuse- ment side of life. The Scottish Societies have a camp for the members on Loch Riddon, one of the beautiful Scottish lakes, and walking and camping parties are constantly being planned directly and indirectly by the retail and wholesale "co-ops." The Co-operative Wholesale Societies are managed in the same democratic manner as are the retails. Of the 1,400 re- tail co-operative stores in Great Britain, 1,200 belong to the English and Scottish Wholesales. Each retail, on joining, gives to the Wholesale shares to the value of $S for every member it has enrolled. In England each society has one vote in the Wholesale for every 500 members it contains; in Scotland vot- ing power is proportionate to purchases from the Wholesale. Twice a year meetings are held at which financial reports are rendered and discussed. Twice a year the general affairs of the societies are thoroughly aired. The management of the English Wholesale is in the hands of 32 directors elected by the delegates of the retail societies to hold office for two years. These 32 directors give their entire time to the business of this great industrial plant at the mag- nificent salary of $1,750 a year! The management of millions of dollars of business and its successful and honest manage- ment at a salary less than that of a junior clerk in a small American business concern! Money is the only incentive to ability? Not here! Twelve directors are appointed by the Scottish Society at a similar salary. Practically all of these directors are members of the working class. "These two committees," declares the Fabian Bureau, in discussing the management committees of the two wholesale societies, "directing in unison and sometimes actually in part- nership, manufacturing, importing" and distributing enterprises with an aggregate annual turnover exceeding $200,000,000, and nearly 30,000 employees, are a standing proof of the capacity of the British workmen for industrial self government. For not only all the cofnmitteemen, but with one or two exceptions also all the officers of the wholesale societies belong to the manual working class by birth, by training and by sympathy." Throughout the existence of the co-operative movement. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS is special attention has been paid to the conditions of the em- ployees of the wholesale and retail societies. The movement is not a Co-operative of Producers, but a Co-operative of Con- sumers. It cannot claim, therefore, to have inaugurated, in its retail, wholesale or productive departments, the status of a self-governing workshop. The employees do not directly, as employees, elect their own managers. The successful self-governing co-operative workshops in England, where full democracy in the management of the individual shop has prevailed, have been few and far between. Out of the thousands established during the last century, one strictly self-governing factory, the Nelson Self Help Manufac- turing Society, with a capital of some $20,000 and with 116 em- ployees, has, through 25 years, breasted the storm of capitalistic opposition, and has sustained life as a,' thoroughly democratic concern, where workers are practically all part owners and where they elect their own managers and run the industry directly. A few other democratic workshops in the boot in- dustry have also survived. Their success is a good omen. However, the obstacles to that success have been great. The employees of the co-operative, while not directly con- trolling their own shop, are, on the average, considerably bet- ter off than those in capitalistic concerns. And this, despite the fact that the co-operatives are in constant competition with the private stores and cannot afford to charge higher prices than these establishments. The workers may have an equal voice in the management of the stores with any other member, the mere requirement being that they join a co-operative retail society. Generally when a trade union exists in the trade represented by the worker, the employee is encouraged to join and sometimes is required so to do. Through the union, of course, the employee secures a degree of control over his con- ditions. Moreover, practically the entire management of whole- sale and retail co-operatives is in the hands of the working class members and every question is discussed by most of the con- stituent stores largely from the standpoint of the producer. It is not surprising, therefore, that the co-operative worker, in trades represented by trade unions, invariably receives the full trade union rates, usually for shorter days; that the holi- days in the co-operative movement are more frequent; that a minimum wage is enforced for male and female workers; that the attitude toward labor in time of sickness, etc., is in marked i6 SELECTED ARTICLES contrast with that found in many capitalistic concerns; and that the health conditions in the factories are superior. In the great Crumpsall biscuit works, for instance, where more biscuit packets are turned out than in any other factory in the country, one finds that the space allotted to the workers is four or five times as great as that required by law. A lighter, brighter space could hardly be imagined. This is the one bis- cuit factory in the country, moreover, which has adopted the eight-hour day, trade union wages being paid. Capacious dining- rooms for employees where good, substantial meals can be ob- tained for eight cents each; lounging rooms with piano, gramo- phone, a well selected library and the representative maga- zines and newspapers are available, while extensive athletic grounds for tennis, cricket, nine pins are there for the enjoy- ment of the workers. Free summer camps, dances and enter- tainments are among the other features which take care of the social side of things. The Scottish Wholesale also gives a certain bonus to the workers in proportion to its profits. For 'many years there has been an agitation for the establishment of the same plan in the English society, and for some years this plan was actually entered upon. However, it was found that, "as products were not sold on the markets, but were transferred to other depart- ments at arbitrary valuation, no profits could be ascertained with any exactitude." The surplus of the factories, further- more, depended "'on the chances of the market, unconnected with the zeal or the efficiency of the operator." While the conditions of the manual proletariat of the co- operatives are superior to those found in most capitalistic in- dustries in Great Britain, the great salaries given in private industries to many of the brain workers are not evidenced here. The highest salary received by the manager of a co-operative concern in England and Scotland — and this is an exceptional case — ^is $6,000. None of the 32 directors in the great English Wholesale, as was stated before, obtain more than $1,750. The salaries of the managers of the factories vary from $2,000 to $4,000, approximately the same gradation as that which exists in the big retail co-operatives with an annual trade extending to $2,500,000. The general manager of the average retail, on the other hand, receives from $20 to $25 a week. What keeps these workers in the co-operative movement, you ask. "The attractiveness of comradeship in a great popu- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 17 lar organization; the consideration they enjoy as the public ad- ministrators and leaders of a widespread democracy; and the consciousness of social service." Finally, what have the members of the co-operative gained through these long years of struggle? Has their effort been worth the while? The co-operatives have saved to their working class member- ship millions of dollars which would otherwise have been dis- tributed among countless middle men and merchants. They have freed the workers from the bondage of the credit system; have provided an easy method of saving; have ensured pure, honest goods — and an honest measure. More important, however, have been the educational results. Co-operation in England has given to tens of thousands of workers an invaluable training in the conduct of industry and in the art of working together to achieve big results. It has inspired them with a confidence in the possibilities of the work- ing class controlling a still greater share of its own industrial life. It has shown them who in their ranks can be entrusted with their cause. To the manual employee members of the society the co-operative movement has, furthermore, meant a better standard of living than they would otherwise have obtained. The competition of the immense chain, department and mail order stores, with capitalization of millions of dollars, must be faced — this development had not taken place in England at the beginning of the co-operative movement. The organized dis- crimination of the private wholesale and retail dealers against co-operatives must be dealt with. The belief on the part of many American workmen that the only kind of collective effort which it pays them to make is that made through their trade unions for an increase of wages, etc., must be uprooted. Coun- ter attractions must be provided the wives of the workers to whom "shopping'' and "bargain hunting" have proved such fas- cinations. Finally, co-operators in America must perform the difficult task of welding together for common co-operative effort many heterogeneous groups of workers, descendants of widely separated nations and races. However, in spite of these difficulties, there are undoubtedly great possibilities for co-operation in this country — ^provided it is rightly handled. How should co-operative enterprises be organized? First, i8 SELECTED ARTICLES according to the successful English co-operators, the store should be started in a working class community where practically the same standard of living prevails for large numbers of the pop- ulation, and where the demand for certain definite commodities is likely to be steady. A community in which the inhabitants have shown an ability to work together and in which the wage earners are reasonably well paid is preferred. For the co- operators in England have found that their trade is neither among the very poor nor among the well-to-do, but chiefly among those workers to whom the quarterly dividend is a posi- tive inducement, and who are not compelled to live from hand to mouth. When the place is selected and stocked with staple com- modities, or, perhaps, prior thereto, the co-operators should proceed to permanent organization. The "don'ts"' and "do's" suggested by the movement abroad at this juncture are many and various. Don't choose a person as member of a committee on man- agement because he is a good talker. Select men who are hon- est, who possess quiet thought and good common sense, who are willing to submerge the ego and who are animated with a profound belief in the co-operative cause. Make the commit- tee, during its term of service, the head of the society; the supreme tribunal, of course, always being the membership-at- large. Insist that the committee require of its manager accurate reports every week. Urge it, however, to discourage undue, petty interference with the work of the appointed manager. Do not select a person as manager because, forsooth, he chances to be out of a job, and the committee is therefore anxious to help him. Select a man in sympathy with the cause, of high character, possessed of good business ability, a level head and an unusual amount of tact. Let him be ever con- scious of the fact that those around him "are not dependents of his, but co-workers in a democratic movement." Let him con- fer with and take suggestions from the humblest. However, place him in a position to enforce discipline and cleanliness. Select the workers carefully. Make them missionaries of the co-operative idea; secure for them reasonable hours and wages and "a feeling that their welfare is one of the chief con- cerns of those for whom the service is rendered." And, finally, make the store one in which it is a pleasure to enter. If the co-operative store committees observe these and other MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 19 important rules, a co-operative movement worthy of the name may, without doubt, be expected in this country. The people of Great Britain and of practically every ad- vanced country of Europe can no longer declare with any sin- cerity that the working class has never shown its ability to conduct its own industrial affairs. The co-operative move- ment is a monumental example of the workers' ability to do this. Will the workers of America furnish a similar example? Will they provide for themselves the training needed to under- stand the complexities of modern industrial life? Are they possessed of sufficient imagination, sufficient practical execu- tive ability, sufficient stick-to-itiveness, sufficient will to carry through this important experiment in industrial democracy? The future alone can tell. Judging, however, from the signs of the co-operative spirit which are now appearing thick and fast on the American horizon, the writer is convinced that these questions require an answer in an emphatic affirmative. PROGRESS OF THE CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN' The signing of the armistice has stimulated a new interest in the co-operative movement throughout Great Britain, where there already were some 2,500 industrial co-operative distribu- tive and productive societies in operation, with a membership of three and one-Jialf million persons, a total share, loan, and reserve capital of over $375,000,000, a total trade (distributive and productive) of just over $1,000,000,000, and a total profit in 1916, before deduction of interest or share capital, of about $90,000,000. On the whole the war has had a favorable effect on the progress of co-operation in Great Britain. Controlled prices have helped rather than hindered the movement, since in the case of the controlled commodities, for which everybody must pay a certain retail price, members of the co-operative society have an advantage over non-members in that they receive a dividend on all purchases. Co-operative stores are the only stores paying such a dividend, and in many cases this has been 1 From Commerce Reports, United States Department of Commerce. May 5, igig. (p. 674-6). 20 SELECTED ARTICLES an excellent argument to prove the soundness of the co-opera- tive system. The number of members of individual co-operative societies has shown a fair increase, and this increase would undoubtedly have been much greater had the societies been able to obtain sufficient supplies. Government restrictions, applying equally to all stores, made it very difficult for a stock of supplies to be maintained in any section of the country. During the last lo days of the present month (January) British consumers have the option of changing their retail dealers, and this is expected to result in a substantial gain in the membership of retail co- operative societies, since it is believed that many persons who were not members during the war now appreciate to a greater extent the merits of the co-operative idea. The extent to which the war has interfered with the nor- mal organization of co-operative societies can be realized when it is known that the British Co-operative Society alone had 6,000 employees called to the colors. The society undertook to make up the difference between their pay as soldiers and their wages by means of the payment of a separation allowance, and to date $3,000,000 has been disbursed for this purpose. As de- mobilization proceeds and former employees return the society will be in an excellent position to proceed with the new devel- opment schemes referred to below. The British Co-operative Wholesale Society (Ltd.), with headquarters at Manchester, England, and the Scottish Co-opera- tive Wholesale Society (Ltd.), with head offices at Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland, are the most important single units in this co-operative movement in Great Britain. The British society commenced business on March 14, 1864, and the Scottish society on September 8, 1868. The membership of both societies is made up entirely of individual co-operative retail societies. The British society now comprises 1,189 societies having 2,653,257 members. That the societies have prospered during the war is evident from the table given below, which covers the operations of the wholesale co-operative societies from January, I9i3i '" June, 1918: MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 21 tn M O O ID E-i ? O 6 u 01 s O HI ^ O 01 15 o H < M O *P M W» J2 00 ts * t^ o N VO (a M ! 00 Is o> n o C4 K V? n \n us lO t- o» N >o t>. 00 o> o\ in VO v> -"t *5 « 4A. * ^* tn N 00 ° ^ o n y^ n O; 1 00 m ^ m N ? 00 M^ 00 00 00 ^ to 00 »o H o> o « ■* 00 R t^ 2 "> ^ s* ■* W ^ IH VO o go VO o pT J. VO - ~ — 2 VO ^^ >i 00 Oi "it 0=9 VO 00 So. to N O - ' oi o "I in O (O tN <^ Ov " \0 O O CO a -^ to ■* •sg c (0 S S a V S ■° H ^ .s s-S B s 1*- (0 u en • u D.a • ^ i 2 00 00 J? u _ ■ s ^ 'H ^«; vs "i 'd s ^ u w u c SS £ W J Eh ^p4 o .. ^ m «u 5 ^ = u n: Oil •Sj o r ' pa-*! It will be noted that the profits of the trade department for the six months ending with June, 1918, show a sharp decrease from those for the year 1917. This is explained by the policy of the board of directors to keep wholesale prices as low as pos- 22 SELECTED ARTICLES sible, in order that the members of the retail societies may reap the benefit. The total sales of the wholesale societies for the first six months of 1918 are given as $144,157,298. It is estimated that the total sales for the year ending December 31, 1918, will amount to $311,456,000. Practically all of this total represents sales to co-operative retail societies — ^in other words, wholesale prices. Groceries and provisions make up the biggest item in the business of the Co-operative Wholesale Society. Up until the past two or three years the contact between the co-operative societies and the trade-unions has not been at all close. Recently, however, there has been a definite attempt to persuade trade-unions to do their banking business with the banking department of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and an important scheme of agricultural and industrial development which will shortly be announced by the society will tend, it is believed, toward establishing a closer working arrangement between the co-operative societies and the trade-unions. For a long time the leaders of the co-operative movement have sought to widen the field of co-operative trading, and efforts have been made to have the law governing co-operative trading so amended as to allow individual members of soci- eties to increase their interest beyond the limit of $1,000. The Treasury has now sanctioned the proposal to issue what will be called "development bonds" in denominations of $100, $2,^5, $500, $2,500, and $5,000 up to a sum of $12,500,000. Thes : bonds will bear interest at the rate of 5J4 per cent., payable half yearly, and they may be redeemed at par at the end of ten years. At a meeting of the shareholders of the Co-operative Wholesale Society held in Manchester during the past week this scheme for issuing developmental bonds was ratified. The directors of the Co-operative Wholesale Society believe that their scheme will appeal not only to individual's but also to trade-unions as a good investment for their funds. Already several hundred trade-unions are banking with the local co- operative society in their districts, which acts as an agent of the banking department of the Co-operative Wholesale Soci- ety at Manchester. Trade-unions also invest their funds in municipal, government, and railway stocks. The proposal which the Co-operative Wholesale Society now makes to the trade-unions is that it will be to their interest to invest their MODERN. INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 23 money in a co-operative scheme for development in the field of agriculture and industry. Among the projects contemplated under this development- bond scheme is the acquisition and operation by the society of flour mills, tanneries, jam factories, boot and shoe factories, corn mills, dairy farms and similar enterprises. Not long ago the Co-operative Wholesale Society began the manufacture of textiles. It bought and is now running three weaving sheds — one at Bury with 900 looms, another at Radcliffe with 500 looms. It proposes to extend its interest in cotton-textile man- ufacturing when it is in position to consume the yarn output of a moderate-sized mill. It intends to build a mill for the spinning of yarn in the near future. Another 'big development foreshadowed is the acquisition of large coal fields in Yorkshire. Already the society owns a coal mine near Newcastle. During the war the society has spent large sums for the purchase of farm lands and factories. For land in connection with factory extensions it has paid $573,480; for new factories and workshops, $3,049,650; and for farms and other land, $3,333,960— a total of nearly $7,000,000. It is estimated that the society now holds about 33,000 acres of farm lands, mostly in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire, and Cam- bridgeshire. It is hoped eventually to establish 1,400 branches of the banking department of the Co-operative Wholesale Society. THE CO-OPERATIVE CONSUMERS' MOVEMENT IN THE UNITED STATES ' Fundamental Principles I. One vote only for each member. 2. Capital to receive interest at not more than the legal or minimum current rate. 3. Surplus savings (or "profit") to be returned as savings returns (or "dividends") in proportion to the patronage of each individual, or to be employed for the general social good of the society. 4. Business to be done for cash or its equivalent. 1 By James Peter Warbasse. The Co-operative League of America, 1919. 24 SELECTED ARTICLES 5. Goods to be sold at current market price — ^not at cost. 6. Education in the principles and aims of Co-operation, with the view of expansion into the larger fields, always to be carried on in connection with the enjoyment of the immediate economic advantages. 7. Federation as soon as possible with the nearest Co-opera- tive societies, with the ultimate purpose of national and world Co-operation. The Co-operative Movement is an organized force moving toward the control of the necessities of life by the people in a free society. It aims to set the people working together for their mutual benefit. It teaches how they may be free from the exploitation of private interests. It proceeds to do this through organization entirely external to the political state. Through their co-operative organization, the people become their own store-keepers, wholesalers, manu- facturers, bankers and insurance societies. Co-operation teaches the people how to provide, own and conduct their own housing, recreations and educational institutions, and ultimately to sup- ply all of their needs. Its purpose is to take these things out of private hands, which administer them through a competitive system for purposes of private gain, and install organized con- sumers in the place of private promoters. It does this through methods which are democratic and founded on the principles of liberty and fraternity. It excludes none. It desires that all shall join. Its significant function is to substitute the spirit of co-operation and mutual aid for that of competition and antagonism. This movement exists in all countries of the world. For seventy-five years it has been growing without ceasing. Its increase is ten times faster than the population is increasing. In Europe it now embraces one third of the population. In some countries a majority of the people are included in the Co-operative Movement. The organized societies in each coun- try are federated in the World Movement through the Interna- tional Co-operative Alliance. This is the strongest and most effective democratic international organization in the world. Where does America stand in this great movement? The history of Co-operation in the United States is a story of ideal- ism, blasted by failures. From a practical point of view the pioneers were not rewarded by the success of their enterprises. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 25 But idealism never perishes, and today we are reaping the benefits of which they despaired. The spirit of individualism, the newness of the country, the mixture of races and nationalities, the presence of frontiers into which a fluid population could be kept moving, and the not hopeless possibilities of escape from poverty, all contrib- uted to inhibit the growth of Co-operation in the United States. In later times the strenuous competition among private trades- men, the allurements through business advertising, and the great power of monopolies and vested interests have been potent fac- tors against co-operative development. Co-operation among the descendants of the Puritan and Pilgrim settlers of this country may be said to have failed. New England is the burial ground of Co-operation. To this day the most backward people in this movement are those of the oldest American stock. The new life came with aggregations of immigrant people from countries which had well established co-operative soci- eties. The farmers of the western and northern states and the foreign industrial workers in all parts of the country dur- ing the past decade have been making more successful experi- ments in organization than had ever before been attained. But it has been especially since the year 1916 that the greatest impetus to the movement has been seen. This has been due partly to a greater stability of industry, partly to the conspicu- ousness of profiteering and the obvious evils of the competitive system, partly to the better education in the fundamentals of Co-operation which has been promoted, and partly to the cul- mination of impulses to get together and do the thing which sooner or later had to be done. All over the country the movement has developed. It has been sporadic. No center can be designated as the seat of the renaissance of Co-operation. The agricultural people of the northern states have been among the first in this new era. The Co-operative League of America has knowledge of over 2,000 true consumers' co-operative societies conducting stores. In some locations the purchasing power of groups of societies has become so great that they have federated and organized whole- sale societies. The Tri-state Co-operative Society is a federation of about seventy societies, mostly in western Pennsylvania. These so- cieties are constituted of many nationalities; Poles, Slovaks, 26 SELECTED ARTICLES Lithuanians, Ukranians, Italians and Bohemians. One of the typical successful organizations is that of Bentleyville, Penn. Here in a little mining town, it has crowded out private busi- ness, and handles groceries, meats, dry goods, shoes, feed and automobile supplies to the amount of $200,000 a year. The Tri-state Go-operative Society maintains a wholesale with a warehouse at Monessen, Pa. It has recently acquired another warehouse at Pittsburgh. The demands of the co- operative societies within reach of its motor trucks are so great that it does not attempt to give service beyond a radius of twenty or thirty miles. It carries a stock of staple com- modities, which are quickly consumed and renewed. It is growing rapidly. A single labor union contributed $5000 to its capital. The Central States Co-operative Society is a federation of about sixty-five distributive societies. Its heaidquarters are Springfield, Illinois. It maintains a wholesale with a ware- house at East St. Louis. These societies are largely built up among the union locals of the United Mine Workers in Illi- nois. This is a group of about eighty of these societies. Their financial success enables many of them to return to their mem- bers a savings-return of from 6 to 12 per cent, quarterly on the cost of their purchases. The society at Witt, Illinois, may be taken as a typical example of this group. It has over 300 members. Its last quarterly report shows that for the three months they paid a cash savings-return to their members of 8 per cent., totalling $2,213; they added to their merchandise reserve fund $1,051 ; their sales to members for the three months were $27,685, and to non-members $3,354; and their total resources are $28,847. Its building is the largest in the town. They state, "Private merchants no longer look upon us lightly ; some of them are beginning to wonder how long they will last. Almost all of them have reduced their help." This society like that at Danville, has an energetic committee on education and social features, and brings together the men, women and children in its educational and recreational activities. The Staunton, Illinois, society has nearly 400 members, de- clares a 10 per cent, savings-return, does a quarterly business of $36,376, and has resources amounting to $3S,ooo. Many of these societies own their own buildings. They sell groceries, meat, hardware, dry goods, and clothing. Some con- duct their own coal-yard. The Roseland, Illinois, Society has MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 27 400 members, and is doing a business of $130,000 a year. The Gillespie, Illinois, Society does a business of $140,000 a year. Here is a society with a large element of Scottish co-operators, who learned Co-operation in the old country. Their festivals and picnics, with their band of kilted musicians, is a glory of the movement. The $3,000,000 annual business which these Illinois societies do is in the hands of working men who have come up out of the mines and taken charge of financial affairs. I have no hesitation in saying that their business is conducted with a higher degree of efficiency, more economically, more honestly, and with a smaller chance of failure than is the average capit- alistic business which is in the hands of that paragon of astute- ness, "the American business man." Illinois is but an index of what is going on in the neigh- boring states. Strong groups of societies exist in Indiana, Ohio and Iowa. The Palatine Co-operative Society of Chicago with 1200 members conducts a school with 400 Polish students. This society has a capital of $500,000. The societies in the northern states are growing up in the farmers' organizations. Their wealth, numbers, and the size of their membership is greater than in any other section of the country. These societies are largely connected with co-opera- tive producers' organizations. Hundreds of them not only con- duct stores where groceries, clothing, dry goods, and hardware are sold, but they do an enormous business in supplying seeds, fertilizer, and harvesting machinery to their members. These same organizations buy the farmers' products and dispose of them on a co-operative basis. Some of them own grain ele- vators, others are organized to sell live stock, and not a few conduct a meat-packing business. It is among these societies that the Co-operative Wholesale Society of America, the Amer- ican Rochdale Union, The American Co-operative Association, the American Rochdale League, the American Co-operative Organization Bureau, and a large number of organization soci- eties operate. One of these is organizing co-operative dis- tributive societies at the rate of one every two weeks. An- other of these societies started in 1914 with $7,000 capital paid in. In 1918 it had 75 branches with over $700,000 paid in. It has a wholesale and has entered the field of manufacture. There are several such organizations which manage groups of distributive societies, and do their bookkeeping, auditing, 28 SELECTED ARTICLES buying, and generally supervise their work. One is developing a mail order business. One in Wisconsin does a business of between $700,000 and $1,000,000 per month. The expense of carrying on this business is 3 1/3% of the amount of sales. They put up in one year fifteen car loads of canned goods with their own label. Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Montana are, per- haps, more thoroughly permeated with the spirit of co-operation than any other section of the country. An example of the method of operation is the Silverleaf, North Dakota, Society. A small group of farmers subscribed $200 each. They bought out two merchants in the nearest town. One building was remodeled and used as a store, warehouse and creamery; the other is used as a community center. The same group of farmers are members of a co-operative farm-produce selling association; the interests of the two are combined. This is going on all through the northern States. The Non-Partisan League has given special attention to co-operative organiza- tions and is promoting the movement, organizing not only soci- eties to run stores, but banks and community centers. The North-west has a vigorous movement around Puget Sound. The powerful labor organizations of Seattle have be- come interested in Co-operation. Things are happening rap- idly. The Seattle society bought a store doing a business of $4,200 a month. They started in June 1918 and increased the business to $7,000 a month. They then took over the city mar- ket, and during the first 30 weeks did a business of $500,000. Now their meat business alone amounts to $70,000 a month. Their net profit in the first seven months was $20,000. All this business is on strictly Rochdale principles. During the past few months, they have gone ahead and organized their slaughter house where they kill the animals supplied by their own agri- cultural members. Most of their fruit and vegetables are supplied by their own members. Their market is a concrete building with its own ice plant and cold storage. Among these Seattle Co-operatives are found 'a laundry, printing plant, milk condensary, several shingle mills, fish can- nery and recreation houses. Behind them is the support of the labor unions. A single union contributed $12,000 to their total $41,000 paid up capital. The Puget Sound Co-operative Whole- sale, a federation of the societies about Seattle, was organized in 1918. In the Winter of 1919 it fed the famiUes of the strik- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 29 ing ship-yard workers when the authorities and the private merchants conspired to starve them out. An older Co-operative Movement is found in California. The Rochdale movement was started there fully twenty years ago. It experienced many vicissitudes. A wholesale was or- ganized but it failed to give substantial help. Then the Pacific Co-operative League was incorporated in 1913 as a propaganda and sustaining organization. 'This has given decided strength to the movement. During the first four years more than iioo associate members joined the League. In 1918 a significant move was made; the California Union of Producers and Con- sumers was created. The three organizations which enter into its composition are the Farmers' Educational and Co-operative Union, the Pacific Co-operative League and the California State Federation of Labor. This union of farmers, co-opera- tive consumers, and organized workers is an indication of the sort of solidarity which should be of help to the people in their movement onward toward civilization. A group of people who have done more than any other na- tionality to promote Co-operation in the United States are the Finns. They have the intelligence, the solidarity and the tra- ditions necessary for success. At Superior, Wisconsin, they have a wholesale in the midst of a group of about fifty splen- did societies. Their bakeries are as near perfection as possible. In Western Massachusetts is another group of Finns. In New York City they have co-operative apartment houses, restaurants and club houses. Their central bank at Fitchburg, Massa- chusetts, has a branch in New York. It receives the deposits of the members and finances their enterprises. They conduct printing houses which publish several daily papers, weeklies, and monthly magazines. From the northern States to New England are chains of these Finnish societies. They have done more in developing the social, educational and recreational as- pects of Co-operation than any other people. Their club houses, theatres and amusement parks represent the best America has in these expressions of Co-operation. Other national and racial groups which have made notable progress are the Russians, Italians, Germans, Poles, Slovaks and Franco-Belgians. Besides these groups there are hundreds of isolated societies in every part of the country. Fraternal societies which carry on life insurance and other activities have made progress also during the past fifty years. 30 SELECTED ARTICLES These organizations are co-operative to a high degree. In 1918 the National Fraternal Congress was held. Societies repre- senting over 6,000,000 members were represented. At that time there were in the United States 550 fraternal beneficiary soci- eties, with over 9,000,000 members and nearly $10,000,000,000 of insurance in force. During 1917 nearly $100,000,000 in ben- efits were paid. Since 1868, these societies have paid to the families of deceased members nearly $2,500,000,000 of which amount the Ancient Order of United Workmen has paid $250,- 000,000. Women are prominent in the work of these societies. One of the most successful forms of Consumers' Co-opera- tion in the United States is seen in farmers' fire insurance. There are about 2,000 of these mutual fire insurance companies. They carry insurance exceeding $5,250,000,000 on property val- ued at nearly seven billion dollars. This insurance is carried at one half the rate charged by the commercial companies. The insurance is cheaper because the expenses are less and the moral hazard is largely removed. The National Co-operative Convention at Springfield, Illi- nois, in 1918, under the auspices of the Co-operative League of America, was a significant event in the development of the American Movement. It brought together delegates from all parts of the country, united the co-operative forces, and set on foot the organization of an American Wholesale.* During the first six months after this event the League added the names of over 1,000 societies to its list. The Co-operative Movement in America has undergone a striking revival during the past few years. In 1916 the Amer- ican Federation of Labor passed strong resolutions indorsing Consumers' Co-operation and provided for the promotion of true Rochdale methods. Since that, the labor publications throughout the country have carried on an effective propaganda. The result has been as follows: The subject is brought up in union locals, a committee is appointed to get information, the committee writes to the League, advice and literature are sent, a society is organized, and a store opened. This is the natural current of events. The Co-operative Movement in America is developing in close alliance with the Labor Movement. The indications are » The Transactions of the Convention and all literature dealing witt the movement may be had from the Co-operative League of America, 2 West I. 1th Street, New York City. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 31 that this alliance will become stronger. It is desirable for both that it should. The Labor Party has taken a stand in favor of the Co-operative Movement. All of the indications show that these three social forces — Co-operation, organizing the consum- ers; Labor, organizing the workers at the point of production; and Labor in the political field — are destined to go forward together to victory. Quietly, like a great river, the current of Co-operation sweeps on. It is difficult to record its facts. The onward movement is so great that what is recorded today is left be- hind on the shore tomorrow. The mission of American Co- operation should be to play a large part in the drama of social reorganization, and side by side with the united forces of Co- operation of other lands, move on toward the redemption of the world. REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COM'MITTEE ON CO-OPERATION OF THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR Buffalo, N. Y., Nov. 17, 1917. To the Executive Council, American Federation of Labor : Your "Committee on Co-operation," appointed by President Samuel Gompers, in accordance with Resolution No. 86, adopt- ed by the Baltimore Convention, November, 1916, present the following as their report: Reversing the usual order of reports, the committee sub- mits at the outset its recommendations. They are as follows : 1. That a qualified trade unionist co-operator be appointed by the President of the American Federation of Labor to serve one year as lecturer and adviser on the practical work of Rochdale co-operation. 2. That this appointee shall have office room in the Amer- ican Federation of Labor Building in Washington, which shall be the center of information by correspondence and otherwise on the subject. 3. That he shall visit localities in which co-operative soci- eties are in process of formation or have already been formed, and give practical information to the officers and members of such societies, making out routes of travel for this purpose so as to conserve his time and perform the work at a minimum of expense. 32 SELECTED ARTICLES 4. That it shall be understood that central labor unions and local trade unions as such shall not form co-operative societies, but shall appoint committees from their membership to act in co-operation with other citizens who are in sympathy with the trade union movement in assisting in the upbuilding of a gen- eral co-operative movement. 5. That every local trade union under the jurisdiction of the American Federation of Labor be requested to contribute the sum of one dollar ($1.00) in order to establish successfully the Federation bureau for promoting and advancing the cause of true co-operation in the United States and Canada. Your committee believes the submission of this practical pro- gram to be of more value to the trade unionists of the country than an extensive survey of the co-operative movements of the world or any exhaustive dissertation on the principles of co- operation, which might be made the subject matter of a report, except to say. that we have found that protests, denunciations, condemnations and investigations are alike without power to influence employers to pay the rate of wages they should pay; provide safe and healthful conditions of employment, or es- tablish the relationship that should obtain between the employ- ers and the workers or the reasonable hours that should constitute a day's work. The only way we have been able to assure these conditions has been through the establishment of the trade union move- ment, a powerful organization of workers to enforce labor's just demands. This is just as true of the merchants and business men as it is of the employers. Protests, denunciations, condemnations and investigations will not enable us to obtain permanently the best articles which we use in every day life for just prices. There is nothing that will accomplish this purpose except organization, and the co-operative movement' is the organiza- tion that is designed to protect the workers in their relations with the merchants and the business men in the same sense that the trade union movement protects them from the employ- ers. The two movements are twin remedies. If we had a thorough co-operative movement throughout America, comprising in its membership the workers thereof, there would be less need for official governmental food control agencies. And without that kind of organization established perma- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 33 nently to deal with this question there is no guarantee to the workers that the cost of living for them and their families will be permanently placed on the basis that should obtain, and it is for that reason that we believe that the American Fed- eration of Labor should assist in establishing, building up and strengthening in every way possible a legitimate organization of bona fide workers in our country and Canada as part of the great world's co-operative movement: so that after the trade union movement has secured for the workers the wages that they are entitled to for the labor they perform, they may be assure^ in spending those wages that they will get for them their full value. We hold that it is just as essential that a workingman should get ten dollars' worth of actual value for his wages when he spends them as it is that he should get the ten dollars that he is entitled to for the labor that he performs. We would also recommend that the United States govern- ment be requested by the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor to take up the question of the co-operative movement in connection with its activities relative to the high cost of living, with a view to utilizing as far as possible, the existing co-operative organizations for immediate purposes and encouraging the creation of additional co-operative organizations where they are needed and conditions are suitable. There has been assembled in the offices o£ the American Fed- eration of Labor a considerable body of literature on the sub- ject, among which are the standard works, reports from vari- ous countries, and lists of recent publications. Your committee has excluded from its consideration all forms of associated work that do not fall within the strict lim- its of the Rochdale co-operative system. The simple principles of this system are : 1. A democratic organization; 2. One vote for each member with equality in share owner- ship ; 3. Cash returns quarterly to members of the difference be- tween the total amount they have paid for their purchases and the lesser total cost of these purchases to the co-operative so- ciety; including among the costs depreciation and a reasonable amount for a reserve fund to meet emergencies and extend the business. 4. Rejection of the principle of profit; 34 SELECTED ARTICLES 5. Current interest on loan capital; 6. Sales where possible preferable to members only; 7. Distributive co-operation to precede productive; 8. A sufficient number of retail stores to be established to assure a market before a wholesale department is created. g. Observance of method recommended by the International Co-operative Alliance. All the members of your committee have made the subject of co-operation the study of many years, have had personal experience in conducting or investigating co-operative societies and are acquainted with co-operation as a great world move- ment. In their judgment the co-operative principle and the trade union principle give rise to no hurtful interference with each other, but are mutually helpful, and each is in a degree beyond measure a factor in the economic, social, political and educational development of the wage-working masses. (Signed) G. W. Perkins, Chairman. J. H. Walker, W. D. Mahon, A. E. Holder, J. W. Sullivan.- President Gompers: "The report just read will be referred to the Committee on Report of Executive Council." At the recommendation of this committee the report was adopted unanimously. SYNDICALISM. INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM AND THE I. W. W. I. W. W. PREAMBLE The working class and.the_einpIo£ing_cl3SS Jjaye-nathiag. in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of working people and the few, who make, up the employing class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take posses- sion of the earth and the machinery of production,) and abol- ish the wage system. We find that the centering of the management of indus- tries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever-growing power of the employ- ing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping to defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into belief that the working class have interests m common with their employ- ers. These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working class upheld only by an_organizatiQn_foxmeiLin such a w ay that all its members in any one industry, or in all in- ^ dustnFs ,~if~nec"essary7 cease7 work whenever a stxikc- or IcLck- flut. is on in any department thprpn^^ tTii|c; pialfjnpp.ati injury to one an injury, to all,.. Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wages for a fair day's work," we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, "Abolition of the wage system." It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for the every-day struggle with the capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been 36 SELECTED ARTICLES overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old. INDUSTRIAL UNION MANIFESTO Issued by Conference of Industrial Unionists at Chicago, January 2, 3 and 4, 1905. Social relations and groupings only reflect mechanical and industrial conditions. The great facts of present industry are the displacement of human skill by machines and the in- crease of capitalist power through concentration in the pos- session of the tools with which wealth is produced and dis- tributed. Because of these facts trade divisions among laborers and competition among capitalists are alike disappearing. Class di- visions grow ever more fixed and class antagonisms more sharp. Trade lines have been swallowed up in a common servitude of all workers to the machines which they tend. New machines, ever replacing less productive ones, wipe out whole trades and plunge new bodies of workers into the ever-growing army of tradeless, hopeless unemployed. As human beings and human skill are displaced by mechanical progress, the capitalists need use the workers only during that brief period when muscles and nerve respond most intensely. The moment the laborer no longer yields the maximum of profits he is thrown upon the scrap pile, to starve alongside the discarded machine. A dead line has been drawn, and an age limit estabUshed, to cross which, in this world of monopolized opportunities, means con- demnation to industrial death. The worker, wholly separated from the land and the tools, with his skill of craftsmanship rendered useless, is sunk in the uniform mass of wage slaves. He sees his power of resistance broken by class divisions, perpetuated from outgrown industrial stages. His wages constantly grow less as his hours grow longer and monopolized prices grow higher. Shifted hither and thither by the demands of profit-takers, the laborer's home no longer exists. In this helpless condition he is forced to ac- cept whatever humiliating conditions his master may impose. He is submitted to a physical and intellectual examination more searching than was the chattel slave when sold from the auction block. Laborers are no longer classified by difference in trade MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 37 skill, but the employer assigns theta according to the machines to which they are attached. These divisions, far from repre- senting differences in skill or interests among the laborers, are imposed by the employer that workers may be pitted against one another and spurred to greater exertion in the shop, and that all resistance to capitalist tyranny may be weakened by arti- ficial distinctions. While encouraging these outgrown divisions among the workers the capitalists carefully adjust themselves to the new conditions. They wipe out all differences among themselves and present a united front in their war upon labor. Through employers' associations, they seek to crush, with brutal force, by the injunctions of the judiciary and the use of military power, all efforts at resistance. Or when the other policy seems more profitable, they conceal their daggers beneath the Civic Federation and hoodwink and betray those whom they would rule and exploit. Both methods depend for success upon the blindness and internal dissensions of the working class. The employers' line of battle and methods of warfare correspond to the solidarity of the mechanical and industrial concentration, while laborers still form their fighting organizations on lines of long-gone trade divisions. The battles of the past emphasize this lesson. The textile workers of Lowell, Philadelphia and Fall River; the butchers of Chicago, weakened by the disinte- grating effects of trade divisions; the machinists on the Santa Fe, unsupported by their fellow-workers subject to the same masters; the long-struggling miners of Colorado, hampered by lack of unity and solidarity upon the industrial battlefield, all bear witness to the helplessness and impotency of labor as at present organized. This worn-out and corrupt system offers no promise of im- provement and adaptation. There is no silver lining to the clouds of darkness and despair settling down upon the world of labor. This system offers only a perpetual struggle for slight re- lief from wage slavery. It is blind to the possibilities of estab- lishing an industrial democracy, wherein there shall be no wage slavery, hut where the workers will own the tools which they operate, and the product of which they alone should enjoy. It shatters the ranks of the workers into fragments, render- ing them helpless and impotent on the industrial battlefield. Separation of craft from craft renders industrial and finan- cial solidarity impossible. 38 SELECTED ARTICLES Union men scab upon union men; hatred of worker for worker is engendered, and the workers are delivered helpless and disintegrated into the hands of the capitalists. Craft jealousy leads to the attempt to create trade monopo- lies. Prohibitive initiation fees are established that force men to become scabs against their will. Men whom manliness or cir- cumstances have driven from one trade are thereby fined when they seeK to transfer membership to the union of a new craft. Craft divisions foster political ignorance among the workers, thus dividing their class at the ballot box, as well as in the shop, mine and factory. Craft unions may be and have been used to assist employers in the establishment of monopolies and the raising of prices. One set of workers are thus used to make harder the condi- tions of life of another body of laborers. Craft divisions hinder the growth of class consciousness of the workers, foster the idea of harmony of interests between employing exploiter and employed slave. They permit the as- sociation of the misleaders of the workers with the capitalists in the Civic Federation, where plans are made for the perpet- uation of capitalism, and the permanent enslavement of the workers through the wage system. Previous eilorts for the betterment of the working class have proven abortive because limited in scope and disconnected 'in action. Universal economic evils afflicting the working class can be eradicated only by a universal working class movement. Such a movement of the working class is impossible while separate craft and wage agreements are made favoring the employer against other crafts in the same industry, and while energies are wasted in fruitless jurisdiction struggles which serve only to further the personal aggrandizement of union officials. A movement to fulfill these conditions must consist of one great industrial union embracing all industries — ^providing for craft autonomy locally, industrial autonomy internationally, and working class unity generally. It must be founded on the class struggle, and its general administration must be conducted in harmony with the recog- nition of the irrepressible conflict between the capitalist and the working class. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 39 It should be established as the economic organization of the working class, without affiliation with any political party. All power should rest in a collective membership. Local, national and general administration, including union labels, buttons, badges, transfer cards, initiation fees and per capita tax should be uniform throughout. All members must hold membership in the local, national or international union covering the industry in which they are employed, but transfers of membership between unions, local, national or international, should be universal. Workingmen bringing union cards from industrial unions in foreign countries should be freely admitted into the organ- ization. The general administration should issue a publication rep- resenting the entire union and its principles which should reach all members in every industry at regular intervals. A central defense fund, to which all members contribute equally, should be established and maintained. All workers, therefore, who agree with the principles herein set forth, will meet in convention at Chicago the 27th day of June, 190S, for the purpose of forming an economic organiza- tion of the working class along the lines marked out in this manifesto. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE INDUSTRIAL UNION ' The principle upon which industrial unionism takes its stand is the recognition of the never ending struggle between the employers of labor and the working class. It must educate its membership to a complete understanding of the principles and causes underlying every struggle between the two opposing classes. This self imposed drill, discipline and training will be the methods of the O. B. U." In short the Industrial Union, is bent upon forming one grand united working class organization and doing away with all the divisions that weaken the solidarity of the workers to better their conditions. Revolutionary industrial unionism, that is the proposition that all wage workers come together in organization accord- ing to industry; the grouping of the workers in each of the » From The New England Worker, July 12, 1919. ' One Big Union 40 SELECTED ARTICLES big divisions of industry as a whole into local, national and international industrial unions; all to be interlocked, dovetailed, welded into One Big Union for all wage workers; a big union bent on aggressively forging ahead and compelling shorter hours, more wages and better conditions in and out of the work shop, and as each advance is made holding on grimly to the fresh gain with the determination to push still further for- ward — gaining strength from each victory and learning by ev- ery temporary setback — -until the working class is able to take possession and control of the machinery, premises and materials of production right from the capitalists' hands, and to use that control to distribute the product of industry entirely among the workers and their dependents. Revolutionary industrial unionism embraces every individual unit, section, branch and department of industry. It takes in every creed, color and nation. SYNDICALISM ' The world has been startled of late by the appearance of a new actor in the drama of social life. Coming at a juncture when he was least expected, the new dramatis persona at once upset the situation which he found and began accelerating the movement of events and passions. He came but yesterday, but his determined planning and intense action have already made it clear that he has a momentous part to play and that the development of the social drama will in no small measure de- pend upon what he wills and does. This new dramatis persona is the Sjmdicalist. But a short while ago he may have been considered a peculiar product of that peculiar country, France, which has furnished the world for nearly a century with "freakish" social ideas and "fantas- tic" social schiemes. But now no one can any longer hold that view. The Syndicalist has invaded "common-sense" England and has raised his voice in the "land of the free." He has be- come an international figure, and his ideas are of significance to the entire world. Taken by surprise, however, the world has not had an op- portunity as yet properly to measure the new-comer, to find out what he wants. In fact, the task is not so easy. It would •By Louis Levine. North American Review. 196:9-19. July, 1913- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 41 seem that the Syndicalist really had nothing to wish that had not already been supplied. It would seem that in a world where Trade-Unionist, Social Reformer, Socialist, and Anar- chist vied withi one another in curing all the social evils of the times, no new brand of "ism" was possible and no room left for an "ist" of a new kind. The fact, however, cannot be ar- gued away : the new "ist" is here and proclaims he has a new message for the world. There must be, then, something in Syndicalism which differentiates it from any other known "ism", and the question naturally arises. What is it? In a general way the answer may be given at the very out- set. Syndicalism is an attempt to combine Socialism and Trade- Unionism in a higher synthesis in which the labor unions should become the basis of Socialism, and Socialism the ideal expres- sion of the unions. Such a synthesis necessarily presupposes certain modifications in the structure and ideas of both Social- ism and Trade-Unionism, and, like every other synthesis, con- tains something that was not present in its constituent elements. The Syndicalist synthesis cannot be regarded as an entirely sudden phenomenon in the world of social thought and practice. On the contrary, it can be traced back to the "International Association of Working-men" founded in 1864, and even fur- ther back to the first half, of the nineteenth century when both Socialism and Trade-Unionism were making their first awk- ward steps. It is not at all strange that this should be so. Syndicalism is the child of peculiar conditions and of a pecu- liar psychology closely bound up with Socialism and Trade- Unionism. It is but natural, therefore, that it should be found in some rudimentary form in the early stages of the social movement of the nineteenth century and that the Syndicalism of to-day should be the mature fruit of seeds sown long ago. It will be easier to understand the nature of the fruit by first analyzing the seed and by examining the environment in which it struck root and grew. IThe seed was the idea of Socialism. Ever since the problem of labor in its modern phase arose, in the early part of the nineteenth century, one solution offered was to solve the labor problem by dissolving the wages system. As a rule, this solution came from the so- called better, and certainly better educated, classes of society who were deeply moved by the sufferings of the working-class. Accustomed to abstract and general reasoning, these representa- tives of the middle classes and of the aristocracy sought for 42 SELECTED ARTICLES the general causes of the social evils and found them, in the institution of private property and in competition. They there- fore called upon society to do away with private property and to reorganize industry on the basis of collective solidarity and collective responsibility. As a recompense for following their advice, they held out to the world the promise of a new social era in which Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity would truly reign supreme. Born amidst the upper classes, the idea of Socialism soon swept a portion of the working-class. A number of intelligent, active, and ambitious working-men were charmed and fascinated by the grand visions of Socialism and became ardently devoted to the cause of emancipating their fellow-working-men from the "thraldom" of the wages-system. The ideal of industrial free- dom, social equality, and intellectual opportunities thrilled their souls with the deepest enthusiasm, and they felt themselves to be the inspired leaders in a great historic movement which, in their opinion, was to Uberate their class and to rejuvenate the world. The militant Socialist working-man soon found out, how- ever, that his task was not easy and that his situation was full of inner contradictions. In the Socialist organizations of all types — secret, revolutionary, educational, and so forth — ^which he frequented he was at all times thrown together with more or less numerous descendants of the middle class who were attracted to Socialism for various reasons and who claimed the part of intellectual leaders in the Socialist movement. These "intellectuals," as they were dubbed by the working-men, surely possessed superior lights and were better fit by training and experience for the role of leaders. The Socialist working-man was loath, however, to acknowledge this. Awakened to a sense of the historical importance of his class, enthused by the idea of social equality, thrilled by the sentiment of his own intel- lectual growth, he resented any suggestion of inequality within the Socialist ranks themselves, and watched with suspicion and ill feeling the tendency of the "intellectuals" toward leader- ship and predominance. He could not at all times effectively counteract it. But he was ready always to turn upon the middle-class "intellectuals," to whose intuition and reasoning he owed the idea of Socialism, and to start a movement in which! his own predominance would not be threatened. 1 nHhis ten- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 43 dency, on the part of the militant Socialist working-man, runs, like a thread through the whole history of modern Socialism. On the other hand, turning to his own class, the militant Socialist working-man soon convinced himself that he could not get at once the response he so hopefully expected. The large mass of the working-class was actuated by simpler and more elementary motives. It wanted some improvement right now and here, it cared more for things than for principles, it had a keener feeling for the pangs of the stomach than for the pains of the heart or brain. The Socialist working-man regretted and deplored this state of affairs, but he could not ignore it. After all, he was a working-man himself, who knew by bitter experience what it meant to be in want. He had to adapt himself, therefore, to the conditions and psychology of his class and to take an interest in their immediate demands if he wanted them to take an interest in his far-away ideal. As a rule, the mass of the workers hit independently upon the means of improving their immediate condition — means which hinged upon the idea of combination and organization, and which resulted in the rise and development of Trade-Unionism. The militant Socialist working-man was thus driven to do his share in the work of the Trade-Unions, for there was no hope for him outside the ranks of his own class. But entering the Trade-Union, the Socialist working-man never lost sight of his ideal, f Nor did he lose his impatience with existing conditions or his feverish hope to bring about his ideal as soon as possible. He was a Social Faust within whose breast two souls resided — one clinging to the sufferings and demands of his class in the present, the other sweeping "the dust of the present above into the high spaces'' of Socialism in the future. But, like Faust, he was not content to have his breast rent in twain. On the contrary, he was intent upon realizing, as soon as possible, a harmonious union of the conflicting feel- ings, ideas, and aspirations which his peculiar economic, polit- ical, and intellectual existence called into being. The history of the Socialist movement reveals the gropings of the militant Socialist working-man for the unity just spoken of, and this is why rudimentary Syndicalist ideas may be found all along in the social movement of the nineteenth century. But before Syndicalism could assume its present developed form, it was necessary that the conditions described above should be- come more pronounced and accentuated. This was brought 44 SELECTED ARTICLES ajbout in the latter part of the past century by a complicated chain of economic, political, and other causes. In the nineties of the past century the Socialists had their first big electoral successes in France, Germany, and other countries. They not only polled a large number of votes, but succeeded in electing many of their members to the national and municipal legislative bodies. The result was a change in the composition and character of the Socialist parties. The latter were everywhere invaded by large and new sections of the middle class, particularly by representatives of the liberal professions such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, and so forth, who swamped the Socialist working-men in all positions of author- ity and responsibility in the Socialist party. Socialist press, and Socialist parliamentary groups. The invading "intellectuals" carried with them their group feelings, their habits of mind, and their methods of procedure. They introduced into the So- cialist movement the ideas of slow evolutionary changes, of a gradual "growing-in" into Socialism, of peaceful and diplo- matic negotiations with "capitalist" political parties. They ex- tolled the importance and influence of legislative bodies in which they could display their general knowledge, oratorical powers, and resplendent qualities. In a word, they imparted to Social- ism that exclusively political and legislative character — smooth and moderate^ — which has in recent years both surprised and soothed the world. At the same time the political Socialists were not slow to show their intention of subordinating the economic organiza- tions of the working-class to the political party. To the polit- ical Socialist the Trade-Union could not but appear as a sec- ondary organization which wrangles with employers over minor matters and which is insignificant in comparison with the great political organization. The political Socialist could value the Trade-Union mainly as a field for recruiting new Socialist con- verts and could expect nothing more from an organization which, in his opinion, was to disappear after the triumph of Socialism and which could play but a subordinate part in the movement toward Socialist victory to be brought about by cap- turing the political machinery of the State. The change in the character of Socialism — its marked evo- lution in the direction of an exclusively political, peaceful, and legal movement — blazed into fire the embers of discontent which had slumbered in the breast of the militant Socialist working- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 45 man. The latter was alarmed by the success of political Social- ism, which, in his opinion, was dangerous to the real success of the Social Revolution. The militant working-man suspected the environment of Parliament, its methods and political trick- ery, and felt in his heart a growing antagonism to a form of action which led the Socialists into the stifling embrace of "cap- italist" parliamentary institutions. The militant Socialist work- ing-man therefore began to look about for another form of social movement which would embody his revolutionary spirit, preserve his hope of a speedy emancipation, and secure for him equality within the organization. He had groped for such a movement for years and years. He had organized secret revo- lutionary societies, he had tried Socialist co-operatives, he had attempted open revolt. But his previous attempts had been unsuccessful, and, furthermore, former methods were no longer applicable under the new conditions of the latter part of the nineteenth century. The militant working-man saw that the development of democracy and the expansion of industry had made necessary a form of organization which would be broad enough to include large masses and flexible enough to be capa- ble of both political and economic action. Examining more closely the nature of the Trade-Union in which he had always played some part, the militant Socialist working-man was struck by the idea that it offered the form of organisation he was so eagerly looking for and that it was capable of carrying on the social movement in which he placed his hopes. He therefore now changed his former attitude to the Trade-Union; instead of merely suffering it, he now began actively to support it and to shape it in accordance with his views and aspirations. By a process of careful reasoning and under the influence of experience the militant Socialist working-man gradually developed the whole theory of Sjmdicapsm in which the Syn- dicat — or labor union — is the basis, end, and means. The Syn- dicat— according to this theory— ^j^he organization which first brings the working-men together, binds them by ties of com- mon interest, develops in tl^ the sentiment of solidarity, and consolidates them into a Coherent self-couscious class. Organ- ized in the Syndicats,,'the working-men are in a position to enter into a direct R&uggle with employers and the State for better conditions of /life and work. Direct action— which the' Syndicalists so mucjli insist upon — consists in exerting energetic pressure and coercion on the employers and the State in such a 46 SELECTED ARTICLES manner as to rally all the workers around one banner in direct opposition to existing institutions. Nation-wide strikes, vehe- ment agitation, public demonstrations, and like procedures, which arouse passions and shake up the mass of the working- men, are in the view of the Syndicalists the only methods which can make the working-men clearly perceive the evils and con- tradictions of present-day society and which lead to material successes. Such methods alone drive home to the working-men the truth that the emancipation of the workers must and can be the work of the workers themselves, and free the latter from the illusion that anybody else — even their representatives in Parliament — can do the job for them. By constantly bring- ing working-men into open and sharp conflict with employers, Direct Action, in all its manifestations, necessarily undermines the foundations of existing society and fortifies the position of the working-class. Every successful strike, every victory of labor — when gained by energetic pressure and Direct Action- is regarded by the Syndicalists as a blow directed against cap- ifalism and as a strategic point occupied by the workers on Aheir way toward final emancipation. Reforms, therefore, gained and upheld by Direct Action do not strengthen existing soci- ety, but, on the contrary, dilapidate it and pave the way for a complete and violent social transformation. The latter, in the opinion of the Syndicalists, is inevitable. The direct struggles of the Syndicats — argue they — increasing in scope and importance, must finally lead to a decisive collision in which the two antagonistic classes — the working-class and the empldyefs — will be brought face to face. How that deci- sive struggle will be begun cannot be foretold. But it most probably will have its origin in a strike which, spreading from industry to industry and from locality to locality, will involve the whole country and affect the entire nation. This will be the General Strike, in which the issue will not be an increase of wages or any other minof, matter, but the paramount socfal issue: who shall henceforth cfmtrol industry and direct the economic activities of the natibn?\ The Syndicalists will not wait foV^arliament to decide that question, but vnll take matters into tifipir own hands. When the "final hour of emancipation" strikes,^e militant working- men organized in the Syndicats will step iri* and assume control of all means of production, transportation, a^nd exchange. They will proclaim the common ownership of air means of»produc- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 47 tion, and will start production under the direction of the Syn- dicats. Every Syndicat will have the use of the means of pro- duction necessary for carrying on its work. All Syndicats of a locality will be organized in local federations which will have charge of all local industrial matters. These local Federations of Labor will collect statistics pertaining to local production and consumption, will provide the raw material, and will act as in- termediaries between a locality and the rest of the country. All Syndicats of the country in any one industry will be organized in a National Industrial Federation having charge of the spe- cial interests of the industry, while local federations and indus- trial federations will be organized in one great National Fed- eration of Labor which will take care of matters national in scope and importance. This ideal, according to the Syndicalists, is not a scheme or a Utopia whose realization depends upon the good-will or wisdom of any individual or individuals. It is a social system gradually evolved by the Syndicalist movement and gradually prepared by the social struggles of to-day. The framework of the ideal organization is being built every day by the growth of organization among the working-men, by the ever-spreading network of Syndicats, local, industrial, and national federations. And the intellectual and moral qualities necessary for con- trolling society are gradually acquired by the working-men in their organizations, in their struggle, and in their every-day experiences. Here, in this theory, the militant working-man finally^ achieved the synthesis he was groping for. The Syndicat — or labor union — ^kept out the middle class "intellectual," barred the politician, and made compromise impossible. On the other hand, it secured the leadership of the revolutionary working-man, brought him into a direct struggle with employers and the State, and offered him the image of his future ideal society. It prom- inently held before him the fact that his salvation lay in his own hands, in the weapons forged by himself, in Direct Action and the General Strike. The Syndicalist working-man could, therefore, now counteract the "pernicious" influence of the political Socialist and work for the social revolution in his own way and through his own organizations. The cause of the working-men was now in safe hands, and his profound yearn- ing for a speedy social emancipation was gratified. There are several reasons why Syndicalism first developed 48 SELECTED ARTICLES in France and why it achieved there its most notable success. France, before other countries, witnessed those changes in the character of Socialism which were described^abbve. France was the first country to have a Socialist Minister, M. Millerand, and to reveal the "demoralizing" effects of Parliament on the Socialists. France, besides, is rich in revolutionary .traditions which at all times fed the revolutionary feelings of the mili- tant working-men. Thirdly, the French Syndicats began to develop only at the time when Socialism was becoming insuf- ficient for the militant working-men, and the latter had there- fore little difficulty in capturing the Syndicats. When the Gen- eral Confederation of Labor (La Confederation GenSrale du Travail) was formed in 189S, it was soon brought under the combined influence of Socialist and Anarchist working-men, who steered the organization in the direction of revolutionary meth- ods and Syndicalist ideas. The success of the General Confed- eration was due to their energetic action and devotion, and the influence of their ideas grew in consequence. The General Confederation has grown steadily since 1902, and has now about 500,000 members. It consists of local and industrial federations which in their turn are composed of single Ssmdicats, and pre- sents, from the Syndicalists' point of view, the embryo of the future society. In England the situation is somewhat different. Syndical- ist's ideas had their exponents among English working-men before, and a Syndicalist paper, The Voice of Labor, was pub- lished in 1907. But Syndicalism did not make headway in England until Tom Mann, an experienced labor-leader, was converted to the new ideas. Tom Mann had spent some years in the labor movement of Australia, and was disappointed by the slowness, uncertainty, and trickery of the political game which the Australian working-men played in the hope of achiev- ing their ends. He then went to France and underwent there the influence of the Syndicalists. Since then Tom Mann has been actively propagating Syndicalist ideas in England. He started a monthly, the Industrial Syndicalist, in 1910, and un- der his influence a Syndicalist organization, "The Industrial Syndicalist Education League," was formed in Manchester toward the end of 1910. The "Syndicalist Education League" is now publishing The Syndicalist— a. monthly devoted to the propaganda of Syndicalism in England. The new ideas have found numerous adherents, particularly among the working- MODERN INDufe«i*!]*ifr'%*0^teSJlM'fSt^ Tt^'' men of the building trades, the transport-workers, and the min- ers. In November, 1910, the English Syndicalists held their first conference in Manchester at which 60,000 workers were represented. Since then their numbers have undoubtedly in- creased and new industrial groups have been gained. The re- cent strikes in England show that at least Syndicalist forms of organization and methods are forced upon the working-men by the powerful combinations of employers and by the rather am- biguous policy of the Government. The further development of Syndicalism in England will depend on the success with which the convinced Syndicalists will be able to "bore from within" and to steer the 'Trade-Unions in the direction of the new doctrine, while the success of their efforts will depend on economic and political conditions. In America the specter of Syndicalism first appeared in they Lawrence strike. The American Syndicalists, the Industrial Workers of the World, who directed the strike in Lawrence, have been attracting more and more attention since and have been trying to make Syndicalism a factor in American life. American Ssmdicalism -should, not be regarded as an importa- tion from France. Of course, American SyndtcalisftS'htive been more or less in contact with French Syndicalists, but the move- ment has grown up on American soil and can be traced back to the Knights of Labor. The latter had already formed a vague idea of industrial organization which is so actively pro- pagated by the Industrial Workers of the World. Craft Union- ism, however, carried the day in America after 1886, and achieved marked success in the development of the American Federation of Labor. The idea of Industrial Unionism, never- theless, never died out, and in recent years has been gaining ground under the influence of favorable economic conditions. Finding support among Socialist working-men, the idea of In- dustrial Unionism was combined vyith the Socialist conception, and a theory resembling French Syndicalism in the rnost essen- tial points was the result. This theory was made the basis of the programme adopted by the I. W. W. in 1905. The Industrial Workers of the World differ, however, fromi the French Syndicalists in their attitude toward the General Strike. The former conceive the Social Revolution not as a stoppage from work, but as a "staying at work."' According • There is, however, a growing number of Industrial Workers who defend the idea of the Social General Strike. 50 SELECTED ARTICLES to this idea the working-men will one day declare the means of production common property, but, instead of leaving the fac- tories, will stay there to continue production on a Socialist basis. The difference, however, is rather verbal, for any act having for its purpose such a tremendous change will lead to the interruption of industrial activities at least for some time. The I. W. W. are, besides, more in favor of passive resistance and of other forms of struggle which, though less demonstra- tive and noisy than the methods of the French Syndicalists, are believed to give the workers a strategic advantage over employers. Syndicalism is primarily a working-class movement having for its end the solution of the labor problem. But its plans are so far-reaching and involve such profound social changes that society as a whole is necessarily affected. What has, then, Syn- dicalism to offer to those classes of society which are not occu- pied in manual labor? The Syndicalists have recently given some attention to this problem. They have solved it by extending the meaning of labor so as to include all productive work. Teachers, doctors, artists, clerks, and the like have been organized into Syndicats and have joined the army of organized workers. The Sjmdical- ists propose to organize in the same way all those who do some /useful work for society, or, as they express it, to "Syndicalize" 'society. Their idea is to transform society into a federation of self-governing productive groups working together for the benefit of all with instruments belonging to society as a whole and under the supreme control of the community. From the political point of view, therefore. Syndicalism must be regarded as an attempt to transform the existing po- litical state into an industrial federation. Syndicalism hopes thereby to do away with the arbitrary and coercive aspects of the modern State and to inaugurate an era of expert public service when every man will do his share of the work of society in that field alone in which his knowledge and skill are greatest Syndicalism is ready to fight any organization opposed to it and ambitious to absorb all that are friendly to it. It must, therefore, necessarily arouse the hostility not only of the con- servative elements of society, but even of reformers and polit- ical Socialists. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 51 THE STANDPOINT OF SYNDICALISM ' The standpoint of Syndicalism is clear and definite. Syn- dicalism expressly denies the possibility of industrial peace un- der, existing conditions, frankly proclaims its determination to carry on industrial warfare as long as the present economic system exists, and firmly believes that only the realization of its own program will establish industrial peace on a permanent and secure basis. Syndicalism arrives at its first conclusion by an analysis of existing economic conditions. The fact which is untiringly em- phasized in the Syndicalist analysis is the objective antagon- istic position of those engaged in modern industry. The own- ers of the means of production directly or indirectly running their business for their private ends are interested in ever- increasing profits and in higher returns. The workingmen, on the other hand, who passively carry on productive operations are anxious to obtain the highest possible price for their labor- power which is their only source of livelihood. Between these two economic categories friction is inevitable, because profits ever feed on wages, while wages incessantly encroach upon profits, and because the passive wage earners shake off now and then their submissiveness and reach out for more control over industrial conditions, while the owners and directors of industry resent the interference of the workers. From this twofold antagonism, rooted in the structure of modern economic society, struggle must ever spring anew, and this is the reason why all schemes and plans to avoid industrial conflicts fail so lamentably. Even the conservative trades unions, based on the idea that the interests of labor and cap- ital are identical, are forced by circumstances to act contrary to their own profession of faith. Organizations, like the Civic Federation, are doomed to impotency. Boards of conciliation and arbitration work most unsatisfactorily and can show but few and insignificant results. If arbitration is once in a while successfully resorted to, it is only when the menace of a great and dangerous industrial conflict stares the community in the face. But the threat of a strike is as much a manifestation of industrial peace, as the mobilization of troops on the frontier is a manifestation of international peace. ^By Louis Levine. Annals of the American Academy. 44:114-19. November, 19x2. 52 SELECTED ARTICLES It is preposterous — argue the Syndicalists — ^to attribute the acute character of our industrial conflicts to "pernicious agita- tors," socialists, anarchists, and "turbulent" individuals gener- ally. Would a miracle still be possible in our sceptical age, and should all these "undesirable" elements be rushed to Heaven on a fiery chariot, our world would still remain a battleground of opposed interests. One must ignore the elementary facts of human psychology to believe that a few individuals, however gifted and energetic, could move large masses of men to action unless the conditions in which these masses lived prompted them to follow these leaders. And one must be blinded by hopeless optimism to believe that all the employers will one day become benevolent and "inspired" and will joyfully hand out to the workers all that the latter may demand, thus removing all occa- sions for mutual ill feeling and conflict. The most that can be achieved by benevolent effort as long as the basis of modern economic life remains unchanged is to mitigate now and then the violent character of the industrial struggle and to ward off a conflict here and there. But the result is hardly commensurate with the energy spent, while the principal aim of these efforts — industrial security and peace — h not attained. As is shown by experience, conflict mitigated once becomes more violent the next time, and warded off at one point breaks out at ten other points. All efforts, therefore, to establish industrial peace under existing conditions result at best in the most miserable kind of social patchwork which but reveals in more striking nudity the irreconcilable contradictions inherent in modern economic organization. There is but one logical conclusion from the point of view of Syndicalism. If industrial peace is made impossible by mod- ern economic institutions, the latter must be done away with and industrial peace must be secured by a fundamental change in social organization. At the root of the struggle between capital and labor is the private ownership of the means of pro- duction which results in the autocratic or oligarchic direction of industry and in inequality of distribution. The way to secure industrial peace is to remove the fundamental cause of indus- trial war, that is, to make the means of production common property, to put the management of industry on a truly demo- cratic basis and to equalize distribution. In general terms the program of Syndicalism may not seem to differ in any respect from that of socialism, and, in fact, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 53 socialism and Syndicalism have many points in common. Yet there is an essential di£Eerence. The Syndicalist analysis of modern society emphasizes a point which is not prominent in socialism and which leads to important differences in their con- structive programs. That point is the question of control. While the socialist lays emphasis on what he considers the exploitation-features of capitalistic society, the Syndicalist lays no less emphasis on the relations of authority and freedom in economic life, on the aspect of direction and management in industry. The Syndicalist finds that this is one of the sources of industrial troubles in the present, and he is convinced that a proper solution of this aspect of the social problem is essen- tial for industrial peace. He can not agree with the socialist that the concentration of the economic functions of society in the hands of the state represented by a government elected on the basis of territorial representation is the proper and adequate solution of the problem. The Syndicalist distrusts the state and believes that political forms and institutions have out- lived their usefulness and can not be adapted to new social rela- tions. The Syndicalist program for the future, in so far as it is definite and clear, contains the outlines of an industrial so- ciety — ^the basis of which is the industrial union and the sub- divisions of which are federations of unions and federations of federations. The direction of industry, in this ideal system, is decentralized in such a manner that each industrial part of society has the control only of those economic fimctions for the intelligent performance of which it is especially fitted by experience, training, and industrial position. The Syndicalist is convinced that until his program is car- ried out, industrial peace is impossible. To one who believes in the eternal character of existing economic institutions such a pessimistic conclusion could not but be a source of grief and regret. But the Syndicalist, guided by the idea of social revo- lution, feels differently. While he may regret the suffering and social disturbance which follow in the train of industrial strug- gles, he sees in the latter another aspect which is to him a source of gratification and hope. This other aspect is what he considers the organizing and constructive power of the indus- trial struggle — ^its creative force. The creative force of the industrial struggle, according to the Syndicalist, manifests itself in a series of economic and moral phenomena which, taken together, must have far-reach- 54 SELECTED ARTICLES ing results. In the struggle for higher wages and better con- ditions of work the workingmen are led to see the important part they play in the mechanism of production and to resent more bitterly the opposition to their demands on the part of employers. With the intensification of the struggle, the feeling of resentment develops into a desire for emancipation from the conditions which make oppression possible; in other words, it grows into complete class consciousness which consists not merely in the recognition of the struggle of classes but also in the determination to abolish the class-character of society. At the same time the struggle necessarily leads the workingmen to effect a higher degree of solidarity among themselves, to develop their moral qualities, and to fortify and consolidate their or- ganizations. The stronger the latter become, the more do they assert themselves in the economic struggle, and the more evi- dent does it become to the workers that their organizations could readily supplant the organizations of the capitalists and assume the control of the economic life of society. It is evident that unless the Syndicalist could theoretically connect the struggles of the present with his ideal of the future, the latter would remain a beautiful but idle dream even in the- ory. For the Syndicalist, as has been said, does not believe in the efficacy of benevolent intentions, nor does he think the power of mere abstract ideas sufficient for transforming society. He is bound, therefore, to find concrete social forces Working for the realization of his ideal. His position forces him to prove that his ideal is the expression of the interests of a definite class, that it is gradually being accepted by that class under the pressure of circumstances, and that the social destinies of the "revolutionary class are more and more identified with the Syndicalist ideal In the theory above outlined the Syndical- ist believes he has solved his problem and has found the con- necting link between his analysis of the present and his out- look for the future. Having thus defined the significance of the industrial strug- gle, the Syndicalist is led to lay down rules of practical activ- ity in accordance with his theory. He cheerfully accepts the conclusion that if industrial strife is creating social harmony his task is to intensify the struggle, to widen its scope, and to perfect its methods — in order that the creative force of the struggle may manifest itself as thoroughly and on as large a scale as possible. He, therefore, logically, assumes a hostile MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 55 attitude towards all efforts tending to mitigate the industrial struggle, such as conciliation and arbitration, and definitely en- ters the economic arena for the purpose of stirring up strife and of accentuating the struggle as much as is in his power. To those who are anxious to bring about peace between labor and capital on the basis of existing economic and legal institutions, the Syndicalist must necessarily appear as a dis- turbing factor in the situation. The Syndicalist will not deny this nor will he be forced to change his attitude either by denunciation or by persecution. From his own standpoint, the Syndicalist believes that he is merely sincere in looking facts in the face, logical in drawing the proper conclusions from them, and rationally optimistic in seeing through the mist of the contradictory present the rising sun of a socially harmoni- ous future. DEMOCRACY AND DIRECT ACTION' The battle for political democracy has been won : white men ever3rwhere are to live under the regime of parliamentary government. Russia, which for the present is trying a new form of constitution, will probably be led by internal or exter- nal pressure to adopt the system favored by the Western powers. But even before this contest was decided a new one was seen to be beginning. The form of government in the United States, Britain, and France is a capitalistic or plutocratic dem- ocracy: the democracy which exists in the political sphere finds no counterpart in the economic world. The struggle for eco- nomic democracy seems likely to dominate politics for many years to come. The Russian government, which cares nothing for the forms of political democracy, stands for a very ex- treme form of economic democracy. A strong and apparently growing party in Germany has similar aims. Of opinion in France I knovir nothing, but in this country the workers who desire to obtain control of industries subject to state owner- ship, though not sufiiciently strong numerically to have much influence on the personnel of Parliament, are nevertheless able through organization in key industries to exert a powerful pressure on the government and to cause fear of industrial upheavals to become widespread throughout the middle and 1B7 Bertrand Russell. Dial. 66:445-8. May 3, 19 19. 56 SELECTED ARTICLES upper classes. We have thus the spectacle of opposition be- tween a new democratically-elected Parliament and the sections of the nation which consider themselves the most democratic. In such circumstances many friends of democracy become be- wildered and grow perplexed as to the aims they ought to pur- sue or the party with which they ought to sympathize. The time was when the idea of parliamentary government inspired enthusiasm, but that time is past. Already before the war legislation had come to be more and more determined by contests between interests outside the legislature, bringing pressure to bear directly upon the government. This tendency has been much accelerated. The view which prevails in the ranks of organized labor — and not only there — is that Parlia- ment exists merely to give effect to the decision of the govern- ment, while those decisions themselves, so far from representing any settled policy, embody nothing but the momentary balance of forces and the compromise most likely to secure temporary peace. The weapon of labor in these contests is no longer the vote, but the threat of a strike — "direct action." It was the leaders of the Confederation Generale du Travail during the twenty years preceding the war who first developed this theory of the best tactics for labor. But it is experience rather than theory that has led to its widespread adoption — the experience largely of the untrustworthiness of parliamentary Socialist leaders and of the reactionary social forces to which they are exposed. To the traditional doctrine of democracy there is some- thing repugnant in this whole method. Put crudely and nakedly the position is this : the organized workers in a key industry can inflict so much hardship upon the community by a strike that the community is wiUing to yield to their demands things which it would never yield except under the threat of force. This may be represented as the substitution of the private force of a minority in place of law as embodying the will of the majority. On this basis a very formidable indictment of di- rect action can be built up. There is no denying that direct action involves grave dan- gers, and if abused may theoretically lead to very bad results. In this country, when (in 1917) organized labor wished to send delegates to Stockholm, the Seamen's and Firemen's Union pre- vented them from doing so, with the enthusiastic approval of the capitalistic press. Such interferences of minorities with the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS S7 freedom of action of majorities are possible; it is also possible for majorities to interfere with the legitimate freedom of mi- norities. Like all use of force, whether inside or outside the law, direct action makes tyranny possible. And if one were anxious to draw a gloomy picture of terrors ahead one might prophesy that certain well-organized vital industries — say the Triple Alliance of Miners, Railwaymen, and Transport Work- ers — ^would learn to combine, not only against the employers, but against the community as a whole. We shall be told that this will happen unless a firm stand is made now. We shall be told that, if it does happen, the indignant public will have, sooner or later, to devote itself to the organization of black- legs, in spite of the danger of civil disturbance and industrial chaos that such a course would involve. No doubt such dan- gers would be real if it could be assumed that organized labor is wholly destitute of common sense and public spirit. But such an assumption could never be made except to flatter the fears of property-owners. Let us leave nightmares on one side and come to the consideration of the good and harm that are actually likely to result in practice from the increasing re- sort to direct action as a means of influencing government. Many people speak and write as though the beginning and end of democracy were the rule of the majority. This, for example, is the view of Professor Hearnshaw in his recent book Democracy at the Cross-Ways. But this is far too me- chanical a view. It leaves out of account two questions of great importance, namely: (i) What should be the group of which the majority is to prevail? (2) What are the matters with which the majority has a right to interfere? Right answers to these questions are essential if nominal democracy is not to develop into a new and more stable form of tyranny, for mi- norities and subordinate groups have the right to live, and must not be internally subject to the malice of hostile masses. The first question is familiar in one form, namely that of nationality. It is recognized as contrary to the theory of de- mocracy to combine into one state a big nation and a small one, when the small nation desires to be independent. To allow votes to the citizens of the small nation is no remedy, since they can always be outvoted by the citizens of the large nation. The popularly elected legislature, if it is to be genuinely dem- ocratic, must represent one nation; or, if more are to be rep- resented, it must be by a federal arrangement which safeguards 58 SELECTED ARTICLES the smaller units. A legislature should exist for defined pur- poses, and should cover a larger or smaller area according to the nature of those purposes. At this moment, when an attempt is being made to create a League of Nations for certain objects, this point does not need emphasizing. But it is not only geographical units, such as nations, that have a right, according to the true theory of democracy, to autonomy for certain purposes. Just the same principle ap- plies to any group which has important internal concerns that affect the members of the group enormously more than they affect outsiders. The coal trade, for example, might legiti- mately say: "What concerns the community is the quantity and price of the coal that we supply. But our conditions and hours of work, the technical methods of our production, and the share of the produce that we choose to allow to the land-owners and capitalists who at present own and manage the collieries, all these are internal concerns of the coal trade, in which the gen- eral public has no right to interfere. For these purposes we de- mand an internal parliament, in which those who are inter- ested as owners and capitalists may have one vote each, but no more." If such a demand were put forward it would be as impossible to resist on democratic grounds as the demand for autonomy on the part of a small nation. Yet it is perfectly clear that the coal trade could not induce the community to agree to such a proposal, especially where it infringes the "rights of property," unless it were sufficiently well organized to be able to do grave injury to the community in the event of its proposal's being rejected — ^just as no small nation except Nor- way, so far as my memory serves me, has ever obtained in- dependence from a large one to which it was subject, except by war or the threat of war. The fact is that democracies, as soon as they are well es- tablished, are just as jealous of power as other forms of gov- ernment. It is therefore necessary, if subordinate groups are to obtain their rights, that they shall have some means of bringing pressure to bear upon the government. The Benthamite the- ory, upon which democracy is still defended by some doctrin- aires, was that each voter would look after his own interest, and in the resultant each man's interest would receive its pro- portionate share of attention. But human nature is neither so rational nor so self-centered as Bentham imagined. In practice it is easier, by arousing hatred and jealousies, to induce men MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 59 to vote against the interests of others than to persuade them to vote for their own interests. In the recent General Election in this country very few electors remembered their own inter- ests at all. They voted for the man who showed the loudest zeal for hanging the Kaiser, not because they imagined they would be richer if he were hanged but as an expression of dis- interested hatred. This is one of the reasons why autonomy is important : in order that, as far as possible, no group shall have its internal concerns determined for it by those who hate it. And this result is not secured by the mere form, of democracy; it can only be secured by careful devolution of special powers to special groups, so as to secure, as far as possible, that leg- islation shall be inspired by the self-interest of those concerned, not by the hostility of those not concerned. This brings us to the second of the two questions mentioned above — a question which is, in fact, closely bound up with the first. Our second question was : What are the matters with which the democracy has a right to interfere? It is now gen- erally recognized that religion, for example, is a question with which no government should interfere. If a Mahometan comes to live in England we do not think it right to force him to pro- fess Christianity. This is a comparatively recent change; three centuries ago, no state recognized the right of the indi- vidual to choose his own religion. (Some other personal rights have been Itonger recognized: a man may choose his own wife, though in Christian countries he must not choose more than one.) When it ceased to be illegal to hold that the earth goes round the sun, it was not made illegal to believe that the sun goes round the earth. In such matters it has been found, with intense surprise, that personal liberty does not entail anarchy. Even the sternest supporters of the rule of the majority would not hold that the Archbishop of Canterbury ought to turn Buddhist if Parliament ordered him to do so. And Parliament does not,, as a rule, issue orders of this kind, largely because it is known that the resistance would be formidable and that it would have support in public opinion. In theory, the formula as to legitimate interference is sim- ple. A democracy has a right to interfere with those of the affairs of a group which intimately concern people outside the group, but not with those which have comparatively slight ef- fects outside the group. In practice, this formula may some- times be difficult to apply, but often its application is clear. 6o SELECTED ARTICLES If, for example, the Welsh wish to have their elementary edu- cation conducted in Welsh, that is a matter which concerns them so much more intimately than anyone else that there can be no good reason why the rest of the United Kingdom should in- terfere. Thus the theory of democracy demands a good deal more than the mere mechanical supremacy of the majority. It demands: (i) division of the community into more or less autonomous groups; (2) delimitation of the powers of the autonomous groups by determining which of their concerns are so much more important to themselves than to others that oth- ers had better have no say in them. Direct action may, in most cases, be judged by these tests. In an ideal democracy industries or groups of industries would be self-governing as regards almost everything except the price and quantity of their product, and their self-government would be democratic. Meas- ures which they would then be able to adopt autonomously they are now justified in extorting from the government by direct action. At present the extreme limit of imaginable official con- cession is a conference in which the men and the employers are represented equally, but this is very far from democracy, since the men are much more numerous than the employers. This application of majority-rule is abhorrent to those who invoke majority-rule against direct-actionists ; yet it is absolutely in accordance with the principles of democracy. It must at best be a long and difficult process to procure formal self-govern- ment for industries. Meanwhile they have the same right that belongs to oppressed national groups, the right of securing the substance of autonomy by making it difficult and painful to go against their wishes in matters primarily concerning themselves. So long as they confine themselves to such matters, their action is justified by the strictest principles of theoretical democracy, and those who decry it have been led by prejudice to mistake the empty form of democracy for its substance. Certain practical limitations, however, are important to re- member. In the first place, it is unwise for a section to set out to extort concessions from the- government by force, if in the long run public opinion will be on the side of the government. For a government backed by public opinion will be able, in a prolonged struggle, to defeat any subordinate section. In the second place, it is important to render every struggle of this kind, when it does occur, a means of educating the public opin- ion by making facts known which would otherwise remain more MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 61 or less hidden. In a large community most people know very little about the affairs of other groups than their own. The only way in which a group can get its concerns widely known is by affording "copy" for the newspapers, and by showing it- self sufficiently strong and determined to command respect. When these conditions are fulfilled, even if it is force that is brought to bear upon the government, it is persuasion that is brought to bear upon the community. And in the long run no victory is secure unless it rests upon persuasion, and employs force at most as a means to persuasion. The mention of the press and its effect on public opinion suggests a direction in which direct action has sometimes been advocated, namely to counteract the capitalist bias of almost all great newspapers. One can imagine compositors refusing to set up some statement about trade-union action which they know to be directly contrary to the truth. Or they might in- sist on setting up side by side a statement of the case from the trade-union standpoint. Such a weapon, if it were used spar- ingly and judiciously, might do much to counteract the influence of the newspapers in misleading public opinion. So long as the capitalist system persists, more newspapers are bound to be capitalist ventures and to present "facts," in the main, in the way that suits capitalistic interests. A strong case can be made out for the use of direct action to counteract this tendency. But it is obvious that very grave dangers would attend such a practice if it became common. A censorship of the press by trade unionists would, in the long run, be just as harmful as any other censorship. It is improbable, however, that the method could be carried to such extremes, since if it were a special set of blackleg compositors would be trained up, and no others would gain admission to the offices of capitalist news- papers. In this case, as in others, the dangers supposed to be- long to the method of direct action are largely illusory, owing to the natural limitations of its effectiveness. Direct action may be employed: (i) for amelioration of trade conditions within the present economic system; (2) for economic reconstruction, including the partial or complete abo- lition of the capitalist system; (3) for political ends, such as altering the form of government, extension of the suffrage, or amnesty for political prisoners. Of these three no one now- adays would deny the legitimacy of the first, except in excep- tional circumstances. The third, except for purposes of es- 62 SELECTED ARTICLES tablishing democracy where it does not exist, seems a dubious expedient if democracy, in spite of its faults, is recognized as the best practicable form of government; but in certain cases, for example where there has been infringement of some im- portant right such as free speech, it may be justifiable. The second of the above uses of the strike, for the fundamental change of the economic system, has been made familiar by the French Syndicalists. It seems fairly certain that, for a con- siderable time to come, the main struggle in Europe will be between capitalism and some form of Socialism, and it is highly probable that in this struggle the strike will play a great part. To introduce democracy into industry by any other method would be very difficult. And the principle of group autonomy justifies this method so long as the rest of the com- munity opposes self-government for industries which desire it. Direct action has its dangers, but so has every vigorous form of activity. And in our recent realization of the importance of law we must not forget that the greatest of all dangers to a civilization is to become stereotyped and ' stagnant. From this danger, at least, industrial unrest is likely to save us. THE DOGMA OF "DIRECT ACTION'" Only a "documented" history of Labour movements, such as they now produce in France, will ever tell anything like the whole story of the movement for "direct action" in the area of modern Socialism. All that the outsider can broadly discern is that it is an intelligible reaction, apparently arising in France, from the old Marxist precept of waiting for the coming So- cialist majority and then scientifically reshaping society. So far from hinting at "direct action," the original Marxist gospel did not contemplate even a participation in any legislative meas- ures of social reform. The faithful were simply to wait till the inevitable worsening of things under the capitalistic system brought about the "general overturn;" whereupon, having at- tained their majority, the Socialists would take charge. Per- haps the Old Guard in recent years began to contemplate a consummation without a preface of social collapse; but they were still merely critics of a doomed social system. ^B7 the Right Hon. J. M, Robertson. Everyman. 14:445-6. August 16, 19 19. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 63 In Germany, the double result of that attitude was, on the one hand, a revival of practical trade unionism among workers who wanted some betterment in their lifetime; and, on the other hand, a movement for practical "palliative" action within the Socialist party proper. As a result of that policy, the So- cial Democrats were obtaining before the war rapidly increas- ing gains in the elections, many people supporting the Socialist ticket because, for one thing, it included a demand for reduced food duties. But in France, where the "high" Marxian doc- trine was never calculated to win great headway; and where the gifted and much beloved Jaures stood for a policy of grad- uated progress, as against the Old Guard of Bebel, the im- patient type of idealist began to cry, "A plague o' both your houses," and to insist that Labour has at any moment the power in its hands to impose its will on the world if it will but confederate and organise. "No more waiting for the par- liamentary majority; no more patient propaganda: instead of trying to set up a Labour Ministry, dictate to the existing Min- istry and the existing society the minimum of Labour's de- mands. If they are refused, resort to the universal strike; that will compel them to surrender." Such is, in outline, the latter-day ideal. Obviously, the affinities of such a doctrine are with Anar- chism rather than with Socialism. Anarchism, of course, had always its two wings, the "idealist" and the "realist," one preaching an incredible but innocent Utopia; the other savagely planning to clear the ground for it. The title of Anarchist thus covered some of the most benign and some of the most ruth- less men in the world; the one thing they had in common be- ing a dream of a complete social disintegration, which was simply to be followed by a fresh integration. For a time the group of wreckers, like a wolf at large, sought to terrorise Europe by desperate crimes. But the wolf cannot long hold his own in an organised society, and Anarchism of all sorts gradually ebbed out. It is partly to that old inspiration, how- ever, that we may ascribe the new doctrine of Direct Action, which so resembles Anarchism in respect of determination to impose a revolutionary ideal on an unprepared society, and of total unpreparedness to organise a new society, save by hand- to-hand methods. We are told, of course, that the party of Direct Action has a programme — a policy, to begin with, of nationalisation of 64 SELECTED ARTICLES certain industries, such as mines and railways. But that pro- gramme is no more advanced in detail than was the Anarchist dream of a new "archism" ; and meantime the existing system is to be paralysed by the instrument of the universal strike. To bring a society to a standstill by way of compelling it to organise at once upon new lines, is a policy of Anarchism, in the sense that that must be the result. For those, of course, who see social order and progress in the Bolshevik despotism in Russia, with its Red Guards and Chinese police, and its rapid pauperisation of a vast aggregate of peoples, the new war-cry may be full of promise. But we have only to conceive any committee of British Labourists and Socialists taking charge of a headlong scheme of nationalisation of mines and land and railways, with an eye to speedy nationalisation of everything else — we have only to conceive that experiment in order to realise how anarchy invariably follows on the violent transformation of any social system whatever. For societies subsist progressively only by means of a working agreement among the majority; and the movement of Direct Action is really the scheme of a .minority who hope to effect their ends by somehow persuading or seeming to persuade a docile mass of workers to accept their leadership. Sane Socialists have long ere this seen that their ideal is set at nought by all separatist movements which despise com- mon legislative action. The trouble began when "class war" became a general watchword of Socialist propaganda. Those who could not see the tragic absurdity of preaching a gospel of class hatred in the name of social solidarity were the natu- ral raw material of Syndicalism on the one hand and the movement of Direct Action on the other. A Socialist who could see that Syndicalism (with its ideal of "Every trade for itself") was the negation of Socialism, could hardly fail to see further that Direct Action must mean only social tyranny with a dif- ference. When an organisation of workers passes from the simple ideal of Trade Unionism (under which an industrial group makes its bargains with employers in general, and looks after its legislative interests) to an ideal of collective Trade Unionism, using the general strike as an instrument not merely against the employer, but against the whole social and political system, it is proposing to pass at a stride from a kind of ac- tion which is well within the comprehension of its leaders to one that is outside their power of management. Efficient Trade MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 65 Unionism is the result of generations of constant experiment, involvinpf many ups and downs. The ideal of Direct Action means either an arbitrary combination of Trade Unions to manage a new socio-political system of which there has been no experiencCj or a chronic convulsion by means of which a scared legislature is to carry out orders for which it has no plans. Now, if the advocates of Direct Action have any real faith in the principle of government by majorities, they must recog- nise that if there really exists a majority of workers desiring a new social system, that majority can give effect to its wishes at the polls. In that fashion the new plan, whatever it is, can be canvassed before the whole electorate; and the workers, who constitute the majority of both sexes, can elect the men whose programme satisfies them. To propose Direct Action instead of that method of national propaganda and open Parliamentary action is to reveal a belief that the majority of the workers do not desire the particular measures which the advocates of Di- rect Action propose. There is only one inference. The "Ac- tionists" (to use a convenient name for. them) believe that they can secure majority votes in the trade organisations where they could not secure Parliamentary majorities in the constituencies. That is to say, the vote to be obtained in the trade organisa- tions does not really represent the deliberate choice even- of the majority of the workers, to say nothing of the millions whom the Actionists dismiss from consideration as bourgeois. It represents only a manipulation of the workers' votes by a minority who zealously work the "machine" while the major- ity of the workers let the matter alone. To the end of Direct Action, then, will be a mere Directorate of Labour leaders who for the time being hold power like so many Tammany Bosses, and who can dictate a policy only so long as they are able to combine upon one. For the mass of the workers there is no more safety or sta- bility in such a policy than there is for the rest of society. Labour solidarity, like the solidarity of any other aggregate, depends on the general conviction that the general interest is being preserved. Any Labour Directorate which might attain either virtual or actual political power as a result of Direct Action would have to satisfy the demands of every Labour sec- tion, as manipulated by its special leaders, who would insist that Direct Action must work out to their group interest as 66 SELECTED ARTICLES they interpreted it. The spirit which revealed itself as Ssm- dicalism is latent in every Labour section which has been led to accept Direct Action as the means of forcing the will of so-called Labour on the nation. And Labour leaders are at least as ready as any other politicians to subordinate their policy to their personal ambitions and their personal antagonisms. There are men in the rank and file of the Direct Action movement who perfectly realise that their delegates may work more for their personal advancement than for the interest of their supporters; and they meet such criticisms as the fore- going by saying that disloyal delegates can be superseded. But even that optimism recognizes that every attempt at separatist control of the nation's destinies involves endless risks of indi- vidual self-assertion, which make possible the ascendancy of the most unscrupulous when they know how to "swing" the opinion of the mass in their favour. It is a strange form of credulity that relies on a perfect operation of good faith and good sense within the covered area of a Labour organisation, while refusing to accept the open electoral system on the score of its being controlled by sinister interests. True, the open electoral system means the frequent deference of multitudes of electors to policies of self-interest and class- interest to wire-pullers and to clap-trap. But is not that very fact the proof that the mass is still capable of being misled? And does it give any ground for the belief that the device of Direct Action will secure the adoption of only wise policies? There is this saving difference between the Parliamentary system and the ideal of Direct Action, that under the former disputes must be thrashed out in the open among men representing many if not all points of view; and that thus every policy must run the gauntlet of criticism. True, the majority vote against the weight of the evidence. But at least the evidence is published, and in time it carries the day. Under the Parliamentary sys- tem it is generally possible for the individual elector to know the merits of a case if he will take the trouble. But under a system of Direct Action the acting Dsrectorate would never know the arguments against their plan until they had forced its acceptance. Thus far, there has been no adequate general crit- icism of any one of the schemes for which Direct Action is proposed to be taken. If there is to be any good future for either Labour or the nation (which we are now being taught to regard as different MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 67 things) it will be by way of loyalty to the system of representa- tive government for which Labour a generation ago strove with its whole heart. The advice to abandon or supersede that sys- tem because it has not yet yielded all the well-being that was hoped from it is the advice of men seeking not so much the general well-being as their own advancement, though many doubtless associate the two ends by force of habit. Whatever be their ideals, they are labouring to set up, not the sovereignty of the people, but a State within the State. And what is dis- loyalty to the principle of democracy will never work out as loyalty to Labour. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE I. W. W. ' The American public has been frightened by the impression- ist school of reporters and magazine writers into vital mis- conception and tremendous overestimate of the power and sig- nificance of the Industrial Workers of the World. This is the one outstanding fact revealed by the eighth annual convention of that organization held in Chicago late in September. It is proposed in the following paper to review the evidence in sup- port of these assertions mainly by reference to that furnished by the convention itself, supplemented by facts verifiable through observation and testimony of members of the organization. The first significant fact revealed by this convention, and by the whole history of the I. W. W. as well, is that this body, which claims as its mission the organization of the whole work- ing class for the overthrow of capitalism, is pathetically weak in effective membership and has failed utterly in its efforts to attach to itself permanently a, considerable body of men repre- sentative of any section of American workers. In spite of eight years of organizing effort and unparalleled advertisement, the official roll of the convention indicated that its present paid-up membership entitled to representation does not much exceed 14,000 men, while the actual constitutional representation on the convention floor was probably less than half that number. Nor was there anything to make it appear that this was regarded by the leaders or members as an ex- ceptional or disappointing showing. The fact is, impossible as ^By Robert F. Hoxie. Journal of Political Economy. 21:785-97. No- vember, 1913. 68 SELECTED ARTICLES it may seem to those who have read the recent outpouring of alarmist literature on the subject, that this number probably comes near to representing the maximum, permanent, dues- paying membership at any time connected with the organization. For notwithstanding extravagant statements made in the past and a present claim of an enrolment approximating 100,000,' it is admitted by the highest official of the Industrial Workers that up to the time of the Lawrence strike the membership never reached 10,000, the highest yearly average being but 6,000; and the convention debates indicated clearly that th? great bulk of those enrolled during that strike and in the succeeding period of unusual agitation and activity have retained no lasting con- nection with the organization. It was shown that the effective force of the union at Lawrence is already spent.' The repre- sentatives of the whole textile industry, indeed, cast but 31 votes in the convention, developing the fact that the total paid-up membership in this line of work probably does not now exceed 1,600,' and a conjmunication was received from one of the lo- cal unions still remaining at Lawrence complaining of the methods of the organization and threatening adhesion to the American Federation of Labor. At Akron, again, where dur- ing the rubber strike early this year apparently more than 6,000 were added to the roll, the convention vote cast indicated a present membership of 150 or thereabouts, and statements on the floor revealed the fact that most of those who joined at the time of the strike did not retain official connection with the union long enough to pay the second assessment of dues.' Evidence to the same general effect might be multiplied al- most indefinitely. Everywhere the history of the organization 1 The actual membership of the I. W. W. is unknown even to the officials. The records of the general office show an average paid-up mem- bership for the year of 14,310. It is estimated that local and national bodies have an additional dues-paying membership of 25,000 on which no per capita tax has been paid to the general organization, and that there is, besides, a nominal non-dues-paying enrolment of from 50,000 to 60,000. The truth seems to be that 100,000 or more men have had I. W. W. dues cards in their possession during the past five years. How much of this outlying membership fringe is now bona fide it is impossible to estimate. Some part of it represents members out of work or on strike and there- fore temporarily unable to pay dues. Even this portion, however, is_ or- ganically ineffective and is constantly dropping out We seem justified therefore in taking the actual paid-up membership as the nearest approx' imation to the permanent effective strength of the organization. 2 The membership claimed at Lawrence (1913) is 700. After the strike it was said to be 14,000. • By constitutional provision one vote is allowed in the convention for every 50 members or major fraction thereof. *At the time of the strike the local purchased n.ooo dues stamps from the general office. A membership of 2,000 is claimed at present. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 69 has shown this same inabiHty to maintain a stable and growing membership. There are without doubt reasons for this fact apart from the special character and methods of the I. W. W., but these are beside the point. The point is that by reason of lack of sufficient membership this body is and seems destined to be utterly inadequate to the tasks which it has set itself to accom- plish. It aims to educate and organize the working class and claims to have discovered the effective ideals and organic basis to this end, but during eight years of strenuous effort it has succeeded in reaching and holding less than one in 2,000 of the workers of this country alone. Its first great organic tasks, if it is to attain this end, are the displacement of the American Federation of Labor, the railway brotherhoods, and the Social- ist party, but it has not been able to organize effectively for these purposes a body of men equal to i per cent of the mem- bership of the American Federation alone, or to one-sixtieth of those who act with the Socialist party; it proposes a united and successful direct industrial assault upon capitalism, but it has not thus far drawn to itself on this basis a permanent en- rolment equal in number to the employees of many a single capitalist enterprise. Plainly no further proof is needed that those who are attached to the present order have nothing now to fear from I. W. W.-ism judged from the standpoint of mere numbers and power of appeal to the great body of the working class. But numerical weakness is not after all the chief handicap of the I. W. W. in its struggle for positive achievement. This convention secondly brought into clearest relief the fact that this feeble body is in a state of organic chaos as the result of apparently irreconcilable internal conflict, and the history of the organization makes it appear that this state of affairs is chronic and inevitable. The conflict, the keynote of I. W. W. history, was waged in the present convention under the guise of centralization versus decentralization. It is at present ob- jectively a contest virtually between the East and the West. The so-called decentralizers, mainly westerners, sought in the convention by every conceivable means to cut down the power and authority of the central governing body. This central au- thority already had been reduced almost to a shadow. As the result of previous phases of the contest the office of general president had been abolished; the executive board had been placed under control of the general referendum which could 70 SELECTED ARTICLES be initiated at any time and on all subjects by ten local unions in three different industries, while its efficiency had been min- imized by inadequate financial support; and the locals had be- come to all intents and purposes autonomous bodies. But all this has brought no permanent satisfaction to the decentraliz- 'ing faction. Its ultimate ideal apparently is, and has been from the beginning, not "one big union" but a loosely federated body of completely autonomous units, each free to act in time and in manner as its fancy dictates, subject to no central or constitutional guidance or restraint — in short, a body of local units with purely voluntary relationships governed in time, char- acter, and extent of co-operation by sentiment only. Actuated by this ideal, the decentralizers conducted in the recent convention a twelve days' assault upon what remained of central power. They attempted to abolish the general executive board; to paralyze the general organization by minimizing its financial support; to abolish the convention and provide for legislation by means of the general referendum only; to place the official organizers under the direct control of the rank and file; to reduce the general officers to the position of mere clerks, functioning only as corresponding intermediaries be- tween the local organizations; and by other means to give to each of these local bodies complete autonomy in matters of organization, policy, action, and financial control. It matters little that at this particular convention the centralizing faction, mainly ty virtue of superior parliamentary tactics, succeeded in staving off the attacks of its opponents and in saving, at least until the matter goes to referendum, the present form of the organization. The significant facts are that the same factional strife has existed from the moment when the I. W. W. was launched; and that it apparently is bound to exist as long as the organization lasts; that the decentralizing forces, though often defeated formally, have in practice succeeded and seem bound to continue to succeed in working their will inside the organization, with the inevitable result of disintegration and organic chaos. Evidence of this is everywhere apparent. Dur- ing the past year 99 locals, ignored and uncared for, went out of existence entirely; in New York the relatively strong local assembly is working at cross-purposes with the central organ- ization and successfully defying its power; in the West, locals ' are being formed and managed on extra-constitutional lines; throughout this part of the country members are being expelled MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 71 by one local and straightway admitted by another; so diverse are the local ideals and so uncertain the means of intercom- munication that in practice it has been found generally impossi- ble to get ten locals into the requisite harmony to initiate a referendum; sabotage is being openly practiced by the local membership against the organization itself and has recently resulted in the suspension of one of its two official organs, the Industrial Worker; in fact, it is freely admitted and apparently is looked upon with satisfaction by the decentralizing faction, that there are at present fifty-seven varieties of Industrial Workers of the World. The net result is that the I. W. W., instead of being the grim, brooding power which it is pictured in popular imagina- tion is a body utterly incapable of strong, efficient, united ac- tion and the attainment of results of a permanent character, a body capable of local and spasmodic effort only. True, it has a constitution which provides in a most logical manner for the welding of the workers into a great, effective, organic body. But this constitution is a mere mechanical structure in the inter- stices of which organic accretions have here and there settled. The little organic bodies are sovereign, each of their members is a sovereign, and to both member and organic unit the consti- tution is a thing subject to their will. The fact is that the I. W. W. is not an organization but a loosely bound group of uncontrolled fighters. It is a sympton if you will, and in that alone, if anywhere, lies its present social significance. But decentralized as it is to the extent of organic dissipation, atom- istic and rent by bitter factional strife, it has no present power of general persistent or constructive action. The I. W. W., however, is not only weak in membership and organic unity; it possesses, further, no financial resources even in a slight degree adequate to advance and maintain its pro- posed organization of the working class or to carry forward any consistent assault on capitalism; and, moreover, it has shown itself incapable of controlling for its main purposes even the financial resources which it does possess. Advocates of the movement, it is true, minimize the importance of mere money in the kind of warfare which they propose to conduct. This is supposed to be one of the pregnant ideas of the direct action- ists. They do not propose, it is said, like the Socialists, to support a horde of parasitic labor politicians, nor, like the trade unions, to out-wait the capitalist. They will force the 72 SELECTED ARTICLES capitalists to abdicate by the simple process of making it un- profitable for them to conduct industry. And this can be done practically without funds — where it will suffice — simply by keep- ing the worker's hands in his pockets ; where this will not pro- duce the desired result, by striking on the job. I do not purpose in this connection to enter into any discussion of the theory of direct action. All that I wish to do is to point out the fact that much of the present weakness of the I. W. W. is due to financial want and a constitutional inability to control the actual financial resources at hand. Time after time the L W. W. has been obliged to let slip favorable opportunities for organization and has lost local bodies because it could not furnish the carfare and meal tickets necessary to send the gospel to the workers groping in darkness. Time after time it has seen promising demonstrations collapse and the workers drift away from the point of contest and from its control be- cause it could not finance organizers and supply food and lodging to tide over the period of temporary hardship. The whole experience of the organization has, in fact, proved that, short of a condition of general and desperate distress, progres- sive and permanent working-class organization requires ready and continuous financial support. And here lies the most vital error in the practical theory and calculations of the L W. W. The American workmen as a body are not, and are not likely to be, in a condition of general and desperate distress. It is, therefore, to the unskilled and casual laborers alone that the I. W. W. can bring home its appeal and to these only that it can look for the funds to put through its organizing projects. It is this chronic financial distress that more than anything else has caused the dissipation of its membership after each of its brilliant but spasmodic efforts. The case is made more hopeless by the inability of the organization to control the little financial power it can com- maiid. This lack of financial control is another outcome of the decentralizing mania which grips the membership. The average local has not developed the ability to conserve its own resources. Rather than support the central authority and sub- mit to its financial management, the local suffers its funds to be dissipated by incompetent members or stolen by dishonest officials. Nothing was more striking in the recent convention than the stories of local financial losses. "All down through the line," said one delegate, "we have had experience with sec- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 73 retaries who absconded with funds." "No less than three have done the same thing (in our local)," was the testimony of another. This has happened three times to one local in one year according to a third statement. Indeed, so loose is the local financial control and the general interrelationship of or- ganic units, especially in the western country, that there appears to exist a body of circulating professional agitators who make it their business to go from locality to locality for the sole purpose of getting themselves elected to the treasurer's office and absconding with the funds. The local unions do not seem to be in sufficiently close touch to ferret out the malefactors and check the practice, nor will they heed the warnings of the general office. Indeed, in some locals the feeling seems to prevail that the local secretary is entitled to what he can make way with. Such are the financial conditions in the organization which claims to have the only means of opposing to the cap- italist class a solid and effective organization of the workers, and asserts that it is training the workers for the task of re- organizing and managing the industries of the country. From what has already been said it might readily be in- ferred that the I. W. W. would be incapable of successful general assault on the present social and industrial organiza- tion or of any effective reconstructive effort, even though it should succeed in greatly enlarging its membership, reconciling its factions, and overcoming its financial difficulties. Such a conclusion in fact seems amply warranted. It rests on a three- fold basis : First, the membership of the I. W. W. is and is bound to be of such a character that united, sustained, con- structive action is practically impossible for it without a con- sistent body of ideals and a relatively permanent leadership of the highest organizing and directive quality. As already intimated, the I. W. W. must depend for the bulk of its membership on the least capable, least developed, lowest trained, and poorest paid of American workmen. To these may be added an element made up of irresponsible atom- ists who are so constituted that to them all authority is an ever-present challenge. No American workman of constructive mind will permanently affiliate himself with a revolutionary industrial organization which abhors half-measures and political action, so long as he can see ahead the hope of immediate betterment through the gradual development and enforcement of an improved system of working rules and conditions. This 74 SELECTED ARTICLES does not mean that th,e L W. W. is composed of the so-called "bum" element, as is so often asserted. Far from it. But it does mean that it is the desperate elements of the working class, the men who have not developed and cannot develop, under the existing system, organic discipline and constructive ability, to whom the I. W. W. appeals — in the East the "Hunkies" and underpaid mill hands, for the most part unassimilated Euro- peans; in the West the "blanket stiffs," the "timber wolves," "the dock wallopers," and the padrone-recruited construction gangs; and everywhere the man who because of temperament or oppression has become a self-directing enemy of whatever stands for authority or things as they are. One has but to ob- serve the recent convention to recognize these types and these characters as predominant even in this picked assembly. Under- nourishment and underdevelopment were prominent physical characteristics of the group. The broad-headed, square-jawed, forceful, and constructive type, so marked in trade-union as- semblies, was conspicuous by its absence. By many of those present organic strength and action were evidently regarded as correlatives of oppression. To some these ideas seemed so foreign that the general character of the organization appeared to be unknown to them. The rule of the majority, except in so far as it applied to the local group, was repudiated many times during the course of the debates. Add to all this the presence in the assembly of members of secret committees whose actions are beyond even the knowledge and control of the local groups — and we have a fair conception of the diiE- culty here presented of united and controlled action. Obviously only a body of leaders strong in intelligence and personality, bound to a consistent body of ideals, harmonious in action, and long in the saddle, could hope to weld such elements into an effective, organic whole. j/ But, secondly, the I. W. W. has failed to develop and sus- tain such a stable body of leaders and shows no capacity to do so. Of the original group of men who organized and outlined the policies of this new venture in unionism, only one was seated in the convention and only one or two besides are prom- inently connected with the organization at present. Moyer, Debs, Mother Jones, Pinkerton, and others, signers of the original manifesto, effective leaders of the past, many of them yet effective leaders in other labor organizations, have all dis- appeared from the councils of the I. W. W. — snagged out, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 75 kicked out, or driven out by despair or disgust. This result has been in part the inevitable outcome of the hatred of author- ity which expresses itself in the decentralizing movement. Partly, as will be shown later, it is the outcome of an incon- gruity and shifting of ideals within the organization; but, to no small extent, it is the product of a strong force of ro- mantic idealism which, strange as it may seem, exists in the minds and hearts of the downtrodden constituency of the I. W. W. In spite of the fact that these men will have none of the regularly constituted authority when it makes for strength, they are hero-worshippers and are easily led for the moment by the "heroes of labor." These heroes are the mo- mentary leaders of strikes and of battles with the police and militia, those especially who have gone on trial and suffered imprisonment for violence or the disturbance of the public peace. They are, in general, men who themselves have not involuntarily suffered at the hands of society but have pro- voked its vengeance. They are largely well nourished, quick, and intelligent, but, with exceptions, they are men who have deliberately discarded all constructive ideals, deliberately thrown off social restraint, and, in the spirit of the mediaeval knight or the revolutionist of the well-to-do classes in Russia, have constituted themselves the personal avengers of the wrongs of the working class. Such men grip the imagination of the rank and file and make of what would otherwise be an ultra-demo- cratic organization, relatively unfitted for constructive effort, a positively destructive force in spirit and action. They are the inventors of new forms of sabotage, the guerilla leaders, the members of ''secret committees," the provocateurs in the free- speech fights; the men who create the sentiment that the only existing standard of right is might, that opposition to authority is a virtue, that imprisonment is an honor. It is these labor heroes, rising from time to time before the admiring vision of the undisciplined membership of the I. W. W., who have displaced the men already in power and, to a large extent, have made impossible the development of a stable body of leaders capable of welding the membership by patient effort into an organic whole. Underneath all this, however, making consistent action and therefore permanent development impossible for the I. W. W., there exists and has existed, thirdly, a fundamental conflict of ideals. Much has been made of the sabotage and other modes 76 SELECTED ARTICLES of direct action current among the members of the 1. W. W. Because of the prevalence of these methods, the conclusion has been accepted uncritically that I. W. W.-ism is another name for syndicalism. This, however, is but a half-truth and even as such it needs qualification. The truth is that the L W. W. is a compound entity whose elements are not entirely harmo- nious. It was launched in igos as a protest against craft union- ism and the conservative attitude and policies of the. American Federation of Labor. It was originally composed prevailingly of a body of men socialistically inclined who believed that betterment of the condition of the workers as a whole and permanently could be attained only by organizing all of them by industries into one big union with the ultimate object of the overthrow of the capitalist system. In order to attain this end they outlined an organization which should bring the skilled and unskilled workers into one structural body with highly centralized authority, so that the whole power, of the organi- zation — especially its financial power — could be quickly con- centrated at any one point where contest existed between the employers and the workmen, and which should co-operate with the Socialist party on the political field. The slogans of the organization were: "Labor produces all wealth"; "might makes right"; "an injury to one an injury to all"; "no contracts and no compromise"; "industrial organization"; "one big union"; "workers of the world unite." The I. W. W. showed at this time no essential characteristics of what has since become fa- miliar as revolutionary syndicalism. No sooner, however, had the organization been launched than a conflict of ideals appeared. The first year saw a fatal blow struck at the idea of one big union with strong, cen- tralized authority — in a disruption which resulted in the abo- lition of the office of general president of the organization. In igoS a second split occurred which banished the Socialist ele- ment from power. Political action was stricken from the pre- amble to the constitution and direct action as a revolutionary slogan arose alongside the notion of one big, centralized, in- dustrial union. From this time forward the internal history of the I. W. W. has been a history of the conflict of these two ideals — the one, industrial unionism, standing for permanent organization of the workers and immediate benefits, requiring a strong central authority well financed ; the other, revolutionary syndicalism, standing for uncontrolled agitation and guerilla MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS ^^ warfare, whose adherents chafe against central authority and its financial support. Out of this conflict of ideals the contest between central- ization and decentralization arose. The decentralizers, mainly westerners, imbued with the revolutionary ideal because they were for the most part casual workers with no big industries to organize, whose main recourse was to stir up trouble, argued that since this was the purpose of the organization all central authority was to be reckoned as irksome restraint. The local membership could best judge when the time had come to act. A central treasury was not needed since one or a few individ- uals acting on their own responsibility could wreck machinery, destroy materials, and precipitate a contest with political au- thority. Therefore they raised the banner of decentralization and direct revolution. Thus was syndicalism born and nour- i.shed in the I. W. W. But it was mainly an instinctive syndi- calism, a blind, destructive force, lacking in general the vision and well-rounded doctrine of the European syndicalists. Even yet it is safe to say that few among the rank and file who call themselves syndicalists could state the theory of the European movement. Meanwhile in the East the relatively permanent character of the unskilled workers, and the necessity of wrench- ing from great industrial organizations immediate and perma- nent gains, still emphasized the need of regularity, authority, and permanent power — in short, industrial unionism in its orig- inal connotation. Hence syndicalism and industrial unionism have remained as conflicting ideals within the organization, preventing the development of that leadership which alone can give to the I. W. W. consistent action, permanent growth, and effective power. So long as the conflict holds, the organization must remain weak, spasmodic in action, and destructive in results. But it is doubtful if the final triumph of either of these ideals would suffice to make of the I. W. W. a real power in this country. In this connection two points need emphasis: first, in so far as the I. W. W. aspires to represent syndicalism pure and simple the conditions are not here for its growth. Syn- dicalism as it has developed in this country is a doctrine of despair. However much its proponents may attempt to stress its ultimate ideal — the reguilding of industrial society — it is essentially a destructive philosophy. As stated above, ■it will not be adopted, except temporarily and under special stress. 78 SELECTED ARTICLES by any body of workmen who see hope ahead in gradual better- ment through constructive industrial and political action. Such a body is the organizing element of the American working class as evidenced by the 2j4 million trade unionists, and the growth of the Socialist party since it has taken an opportunist position. Secondly, in so far as the I. W. W. aspires to represent the movement toward industrial unionism, the field of action is already occupied. The American Federation of Labor through its local councils, its central organizations, its system federa- tions, its departments, and its amalgamated craft unions, is creating the machinery for the practical expression of the in- dustrial union ideal as rapidly as the circumstances of the worker's life and needs allow of its development. The process is perhaps slow but it is sure and effective. It is proceeding by the trial-and-error method which alone has proved adequate to the permanent advancement of the interests of the work- ers. And when it is considered further that within the Amer- ican Federation one industrial union alone outnumbers in membership the whole effective force of the I. W. W. in the proportion of 20 to i, the prospect that the latter will be able to oust its rival from the field becomes too small for consid- eration. The fact is that the I. W. W. faces a perpetual dilemma. The bulk of the American workmen want more here and now for themselves and their immediate associates and care little for the remote future or the revolutionary ideal. These will have none of the I. W. W. The others have not, and under the existing conditions cannot develop the capacity for sustained organic effort. Whichever way the organization turns, then, it seems doomed to failure. Viewing the situation in any reasonable light, therefore, we find it difficult to escape the conclusion that the Industrial Workers of the World as a positive social factor is more an object of pathetic interest than of fear. It has succeeded in impressing itself upon the popular imagination as a mysterious, incalculable force likely to appear and work destruction at any time and place. It has terrified the public because its small body of irresponsible and foot-loose agitators scent trouble from afar and flock to the point where social rupture seems to be for the moment imminent. They are like Morgan's raiders. By rapidity of movement and sheer audacity they have created MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 79 the impression of a great organized force. But in reality they are incapable of anything but spasmodic and disconnected action. As a means for calling attention to the fact that machinery is breaking down the distinction between skilled and unskilled labor and is thus rendering craft organization ineffective; as an instrument for rousing the public to a consciousness of the suffering and needs of the unskilled and transient workers and of the existence here of a compelling social problem; as a spur to the activity of the more conservative and exclusive labor organizations, the I. W. W. may have a useful social function. As a directly effective social force, it has no considerable significance. DESTRUCTION THE AVOWED PURPOSE OF THE I. W. W. '■ The I. W. W. is destructive in theory and in practice. It would destroy the State and the ownership of property and substitute for these voluntary collectivism or a form of anar- chy. It claims that the campaign of education and that con- stant reform are antiquated and ineffective, advocates "direct action," and the destruction of the present that Utopia may be superimposed on the ruins. As the Industrial Workers of the World state in their own literature: "There is just one bargain the Industrial Workers of the World will make with the em- ploying class — complete surrender of all control of industry to the organized workers." Since the purpose is to subvert present economic conditions and principles, all policies and methods are destructive. They say society is composed of two classes — the employing and the employed — ^whose interests are diametrically opposed and incapable of conciliation. Hence the wrongs of the employed can be righted only by dispossessing the employ- ers. Upon this basis their program is prepared. So irrevocable and so ineradicable do they consider the line of demarcation between the two classes that one of their inter- preters, Mr. Pouget, even postulates for them two distinct systems of morality: "The truth is that, as there exist two classes in society, so there exist two moralities, the bourgeois morality and the proletarian morality." Yet Mr. Pouget deems even this morality too constrictive. ^From the American Federationist. 20:534-7. July, 1913. 8o SELECTED ARTICLES For in considering the transfer of industry to the workers from an ethical standpoint, he says : "We are going to take over the industries some day, for three very good reasons: Because we need them, because we want them, and because we have the power to get them. Whether we are 'ethically justified' or not is not our concern. Their destructive policies begin with opposition to the trade union. For this they would substitute a type of organization that would unite all the workers into one ardent, compact, awe- inspiring union, eager to sacrifice personal and immediate bene- fits to a dream of future perfection. Such an organization would constitute a sort of militant flying wedge to reach by direct action the heart of industry — for to the victors belong the spoils. The tactics employed in this "organization" are the general strike, direct action, and sabotage. The general strike is to enable the workers to approximate the fighting strength of the employer — for action "altogether," with irresistible solidarity, would sweep all difficulties away. The mere fact that different groups of men working at different trades have different interests, presents no difficulties to these theorists who demand that all workers be ever on the qui vive to forego their individual desires and welfare and the inter- ests of those dependent on them for the sake 6f the "alto- gether" Utopia. Since the "altogether" strike with folded hands for industrial purposes is impracticable because of difficulties presented by human nature, more aggressive methods are em- ployed. In actual practice it is hard to distinguish between direct action, sabotage, and violence. Direct action, they say, is getting results by more immediate methods — that is, appropriating. The term sabotage is derived from sabot, meaning a wooden shoe. The propagandists say sabotage is a slang word used figuratively in the sense "to work clumsily." Less prejudiced writers find a more sinister connotation, derived from the action of French peasants in throwing their wooden shoes into ma- chinery as a strike device. Direct action interpreted means violence, force, sabotage, the strike in which are used all the methods condemned by humanitarian standards — that the ulti- mate ideal may be obtained immediately. Sabotage is just an- other term for destruction. The leaders suggest that delicate and expensive machinery may be ruined by careless handhng or dropping in foreign articles ; food or other articles may be made unfit for sale; salespeople may refuse to show stock, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 8i may injure sales by displaying all the defects in the goods or by telling the whole truth; expensive mistakes may be made intentionally, as perishable goods billed to the wrong destina- tion. One of their leaders dropped this suggestion : "With two cents worth of a certain ingredient utilized in a peculiar way it will be easy for the railwaymen to put the locomotives in such a condition as to make it impossible to run them." The whole purpose of this program is not to secure changes that will bring present benefits to the workers, but to make the employers so dissatisfied, so hopeless, that they will retire in despair, leaving the workers in possession of industry. And then what? Which of them knows? Is it not true that if society is "too individualistic for a socialist State'' it is equally "too communistic for an individualist State?" We would not disparage idealism, but the vision of all the workers of the world, banded together in one world-wide organization against all other forces of society, nations, and States is too chimerical to be seriously entertained by an intel- ligent man or woman confronted with the practical problem of securing a better home, better food and clothing, and a better life. Intelligent, practical workers want an organization that will benefit them now, and will protect them in the enjoy- ment of advantages secured while additional benefits are sought. It is well and inspiring to work for the uplift of all humanity, but that usually can best be done if each will attend to his own immediate obligations so that all may daily grow into better things rather than suddenly be carried skyward by a cataclysmic uplift to strange and unaccustomed heights and duties. However, the most serious objections to the Industrial Work- ers of the World are not their Utopian theories, but the violence, the "ceaseless class war" without regard to humanitarian rules of war, and the needless suffering inflicted upon the workers and society. It has been said that in advising waiters on strike their leaders called attention to the opportunities in serving food to destroy even life. This has been put into words by one of their spokesmen thus : "They do not recognize the employer's ri^ht to live any more than a physician recognizes the right of typhoid bacilli to thrive at the expense of a patient, the patient merely keeping alive." Although the ultimate ideal is individualistic in the extreme, when industry shall be controlled by the groups of workers, when neither State nor laws shall exist, yet the method of at- taining this goal sacrifices individual welfare at every stage. The workers are to become pawns to be directed and used by 82 SELECTED ARTICLES a "live minority'' for the ultimate good of all. Present pos- sessions and present benefits are to be lightly cast aside in response to the call of the leaders for immediate, united action for revolutionary purposes. Such methods fail to take human nature and the evolutionary chairacter of progress into account. Both employers and employed who have had experience with the I. W. W. turn with appreciation to the American Federation of Labor. Then, too, the workers are done a criminal injury and injustice when the L W. W. comes among them to instill im- practicable ideals, so to inflame the imagination by the hallu- ciation that in yet a little while the workers shall inherit the whole earth and all its riches. Deluded by this leadership, unorganized workers who have no conception of hours, fair wages, sanitary or standardized conditions of work; who, since they are unorganized, have been unprotected, domineered over and cruelly treated by employers who take every advantage of their dependent and defenseless position — these toilers have been persuaded to believe that the so-called Industrial Workers of the World will lead raw recruits of labor to immediate, final, and absolute emancipation from every industrial, economic, and social ill ; that they will immediately become the owners of all wealth, the directors of all the means of production and agen- cies for distribution. Dazed by the anticipated dizzy heights of mastery of world-destinies, intoxicated by the vision of tri- umph and absolute control, workers have entrusted their wel- fare to these industrial "promoters" only to come to a realization of the futility of their visions, of blasted hopes and wasted opportunities. Then they turn in wrath upon their deluders and misleaders. THE FALSE THEORIES OF THE I.W.W.' The Department of Labor, over which I have the honor to preside as Secretary, for more than two years has been combatting the peculiar philosophy advocated by the Industrial Workers of the World, which is very closely akin to the philos- ophy of the Bolshevist movement, though there have some things developed in connection with the theories and practice of the Bolshevists that even our most rabid radical philosophers 'Froin »n Andreas by WillUip V- Wilson, U.S. Sf»r«»ary qf m»r, before the ]Bbston Chamber of Comtherce. April, 1919. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 83 among the Industrial Workers of the World will not accept when they come to understand them. A year ago last September the western part of our country was honey-combed with the teachings of the Industrial Workers. The organization had almost gone out of existence after a brief period of activity and could not again have come into existence in our country if it had not been for the assistance that it received, consciously or unconsciously, from abroad. The President directed a commission to proceed into the west- ern part of the country, to examine into the situation and endeavor to find a remedy if possible, so that the industries, particularly those industries necessary for the prosecution of the war, might not be interfered with. I had the honor of being the chairman of that commission. We proceeded to investigate and we found this to be the sit- uation : That the Industrial Workers of the World were unable to secure a foothold of any importance in any of our industrial establishments except where the owners of the establishment or the management of the establishment had pursued a policy of repression of the legitimate aspirations of the workers in their plants. Wherever the evolutionary tendency of the workers was permitted to express itself, the philosophy of the Industrial Workers found no foothold. Unfortunately, there have been large numbers amongst the"' capitalists of our country who have felt that the welfare of their establishment and their business required that they should pursue a policy of repression of the legitimate expressions of their workers, and hence a fertile field was created for the propaganda of these false philosophers. The Department of Labor, being entrusted with the wel- fare of the wage workers, believed that ultimately the accept- ance by the wage workers of these theories, even though they were working under conditions of repression, would lead to great injury, started a campaign of education against the philosophy. And what was the philosophy that we found? First, the propagandists laid as the foundation of their theories that ev- ery man is entitled to the full social value of what his labor produces. 'This is a purely maximal theory, stated in a purely maximal way, but it is not only a theory that socialists may accept— it is a theory that every individual may also accept. 84 SELECTED ARTICLES To my method of thought it is a truism to say that every man is entitled to the full social value of what his labor produces. The difficulty with it, however, is that human intelligence has not as yet devised a method by which you can compute the value to society of the labor that is contributed by any man. and until human intelligence has devised a method by which you can compute the value of the mental and physical labor of mankind, it is futile to assert that every man is entitled to the full social value of what his labor produces. We have endeavored,, in years gone by, in the centuries that we have been engaged in industrial enterprises, to solve that question on the basis of competition, — competition multi- plied on one side by the organization of capital and on the other side by the organization of labor. But having laid that foundation for their philosophy — and a very sound foundation this — they proceed to step farther and they say that all property is valuable only so far as profits can be secured from the property — that if you can destroy the prof- its that result from the use of the property the owner will no longer desire to retain it, and the thing for the workers to do, therefore, is to destroy the profits from the property — to shirk, to soldier, to "perform a stint," as they say on the other side of the ocean, to put sand upon the bearings, to break the ma- chines, to destroy the product, to drive copper nails into fruit trees — anything that, will reduce the production per individual and increase the cost; and the allegation is made that if this course is pursued by the workers, the profits will be eliminated so far as the owner of the property is concerned, and with the profits eliminated and the property no longer valuable, the work- ers can take the property over, operate it themselves collectively and secure the full social value of their labor. The people who are advancing these theories fail to take into consideration our public school system, our facilities for acquiring information and knowledge, the method of thought of the average American. They fail to realize that the vast majority of the workers of our country have at least a smat- tering knowledge of industrial history, and all we had to do to upset that kind of preaching was to call attention to the his- torical fact that, nrior to the introduction of the modern factory system, prior to the rebirth of the inventive genius of man, when everything that was produced was produced by hand, there was a smaller amount of production per individual per day, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 85 per week, per year than could possibly result from any system of shirking they could introduce. Yet in those old days there were still profits for the em- ployers and value in the property. What did result was a very much lower standard of living for the wage workers; and if these people succeeded in crowding their theories into effect, if it had been possible for them to do it, instead of destroying the value of the property and the profits of the employer it would have resulted in reducing the standard of living of the wage workers of our country. Mutual Interest The employer and the employee have a mutual interest — and an identical interest; mark the distinction — the employer and the employee have a mutual interest in securing the largest possible production with a given amount of labor, having due regard to the health, the safety, the opportunities for rest, rec- reation and improvement of the workers. Those being safe- guarded, then the larger the production the better it is for all of us. If there is nothing produced there will be nothing to divide. If there is a large amount produced, there will be a large amount to divide. The interests of the employer and the employee only di- verge when it comes to a division of that which has been pro- duced; and if they are wise in their generation, if they have the good business tact that the average American man usually has, in these times of stress and in the years that are to follow when it comes to the point of a division of that which has been mutually produced they will sit down round the council table and endeavor to work out the problem on as nearly a just basis as the circumstances surrounding the industry will permit. Divergent Views And yet we find very divergent views exisiting amongst employers and amongst workmen on that very question. We find amongst employers the theory set forth that their property is their own, their business is their own, and they have a right to run their business as it suits themselves, without in- terference from any sources. Now that may have been true in the days of Adam, when there was only one man on earth. 86 SELECTED ARTICLES but when the second man came the second man had equal rights with the first, and as they grew in numbers each of the additional men had equal rights with those who had preceded them. They had divergent views as to what constituted their rights. That grows out of the judgment which the Almighty has endowed us with. And because they had variations of judg- ment as to what constituted their rights, they had conflicts; and finally as a means of adjusting those differences without resorting to physical conflict, we established organized society in its various forms — and in the organized society no man has a right that is absolute and complete within himself that has any bearing upon the equal rights of his neighbors. There are certain things that are inherent, that deal only with the man and his own conscience— a man in his relation to the Almighty, in which no majority has the right to impose its will upon the smallest kind of minority; but in the relation of man to man no one has an absolute right that in any way interferes with the equal rights of somebody else. Partners in Industry To my mind, the employer and the employee, having a mu- tual interest in the largest possible production, are, to the extent that they have that mutual interest, partners in the business. It does not follow, however, that because men have a voice in determining the conditions under which they will assist in pro- ducing they will be compensated alike, because as I have al- ready said, men are endowed with different degrees of intel- ligence, with different viewpoints, they have lived in different environments; and because of these differences they approach the question from divergent standpoints, and so there may be conflicts growing out of these divergences of opinion, even where both feel that they are absolutely right in their position; but the number of conflicts will be reduced to a minimum when there is a recognition on the part of the employer of that partnership and where there is also a recognition on the part of the employee that there is that partnership. SHOP STEWARDS THE SHOP STEWARDS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE ' The swing to the left in British labor in its organized front in foreign and domestic politics, shows itself in the economic field in the newer movements for workers' control. True, we have had outreachings toward democracy in indus- try in the long upward thrust of craft unionism, iji the Socialist movement for state ownership of the means of production, in the more recent syndicalist movement for producer's owner- ship. But there is something at work in England which can be differentiated from all three. It is manifesting itself spon- taneously in the insurgency of the shop-stewards. It is mani- festing itself organically in the rise of industrial unionism. It is manifesting itself deliberately in the recommendations by the Whitley Commission of industrial councils which have been adopted by the British government as the basis for its policy for industrial reconstruction; deliberately, also, in the plans of farsighted employers and the propaganda of the guild- Socialists. The story of the shop stewards is laid in the engineering trades — ^the machinists, as we know them in America; the mu- nition-workers, as the war cast them in a new role. In that new role, the women workers have been their understudies; and the fortunes of the two are, willy nilly, bound up together. Yet, in a sense, the shop steward is offspring of the "fa- ther" (or as we call him in America, chairman) of the printers' chapel, an institution older than unionism itself. By usage dating back to Caxton's time, the oldest journeyman printer has represented his fellows in taking up things with the manage- ment. Prior to the war, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (A. S. E.) had established stewards in various plants. They were the men who looked out for the interests of the union 'By Arthur Gleason. Survey. 41:417-22. January 4, 1910. Reprinted in "British Labor and the War" by P. V. Kellogg and Arthur Gleason. Boni and Liveright, 1919. 88 SELECTED ARTICLES in the particular shop. They would ask a new man to show his union card and, if he had none and refused to join, then it would be made uncomfortable for him by the other unionists. The shop steward would get together temporary shop commit- tees to take up some plant grievance with the employer. The shop stewards were often fired offhand by the employers if they found them out. While they were unremunerated save for perhaps a couple of shillings a quarter for turning in a report, and while they stood a chance of dismissal, the pres- tige of their position and their fidelity to the union made it characteristic of the stewards that they were usually the most re.sponsible, biggest calibered men about the plant. Finally, the practice reached a stage when the A. S. E. undertook to guarantee these men their wages for a year, or until they found employment elsewhere, if they were discharged for union activ- ity. This led to the multiplication of stewards. Under war conditions the movement went forward even more rapidly. There were several causes for this. At the out- set of the war many of the national unions (miners excepted) agreed not to strike and they agreed to waive all the trade union restrictions and regulations which for a generation had been built up to safeguard the status and income of skilled men. The effect of the agreement was to scrap old machines, introduce speeding up and dilute the labor force in the war trades with unskilled and semi-skilled men, women and youths. The effect was, also, to scrap the old negotiating and conciliating machinery between employers and employes just at the time that the abandonment of the rules and regulations and the in- flux of "dilutes" made local issues all the more real. In view of the fact that under war conditions, these issues had finally to be settled, not by bargaining, but by decision of the arbitration boards under the munitions act, the district trade union committees tended to side-step them and pass them up to the nationals, and the nationals to pass them on to the government tribunals. Moreover, under the war conditions, the new workers sought representation and a chance to count. The result was the growth of shop stewardism as a sponta- neous groping after local remedy. It has taken many forms — sometimes the selection of a single steward for all crafts and all grades of skill as the representatives of the men of a plant in meeting with their employers; sometimes the getting together of several stewards in a large plant; sometimes the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS Sg getting together of the shop stewards of one district into a common committee for joint action. This brought them at various times and places into conflict with district committees, with the national unions, with the employers and with the gov- ernment ; conflicts which spread rather than confined the move- ment; conflicts which brought them individual set-backs only to break the way for newer and further incarnations of the same active principle elsewhere. Speeding-up Unrest To understand these outcroppings of self-assertion at a hun- dred points which can be compared only to a new rough and ready local leadership breaking through the crusts of a state political regime — such as the overthrow of the Whigs by the headstrong Jackson Democrats in the 20's — it is necessary to retrace some of the developments of the last four years, more in detail. It must be borne in mind, in doing so, that the war did not create English industrial unrest. It merely speeded it up along with output. In 1913, Great Britain had 1497 strikes and lockouts, involving 688,925 workpeople, and resulting in 11,630,732 lost working days. In coal-mining 200,000 persons were involved, in engineering 50,000. The war intensified the causes of dispute, and in 1917, 267,000 miners were involved, and in engineering 316,000 workers. Modern big-scale standardized industry had long before 1914 outgrown its checks and controls, and was seeking some form of government which would permit it to function productively, smoothly and justly. It was seeking a government of its own, autocratic or self-governing, according as you focussed atten- tion on the big managers or on the stirrings of the rank and file. When the need came to produce standardized goods swiftly, in immense quantities, the directorate and the workers could not operate under the old constitution. The power-driven machine tool had entered industry. An automatic machine is "a machine, which after the job has been fixed, requires no hand adjustment." Specialized work is done by such machines, one person forging nuts, another superintending their tapping, a third turning their ends, a fourth shaping their sides, an- other hardening them, a sixth polishing them. This means, carried over a period of years, "that unskilled and semi-skilled labor takes over the process from the skilled worker, who is 90 SELECTED ARTICLES used only to set up the machine. It means that women and children supplant the adult male. Before the war the introduction of low-paid women as ma- chine tenders had made for simmering trouble in the engineer- ing trades. With the half million of women entering these trades (which are the munition trades) under the demands of war, the trouble came. In the autumn of 1914, a great arma- ment firm put in women on shell-making, with a wage-reduc- tion of so per cent from the standard rate of men. An agree- ment was reached between the Employers Federation and the Amalgamated Society of Engineers, restricting female labor to purely automatic operations. The men thus conceded the right of women to take part in the process of shell-making, but the firm did not make the corresponding concession of maintaining the wage-scale. The officials of the A. S, E. never again caught up with the situation. Multitudes of women were poured into the engi- neering trades at a low wage scale. The rank and file mem- bers of the union remembered from this moment on that their officials (the executive committee and the district committees) had failed to protect them at this time of crisis. From this time on, the rank and file looked to themselves, and not to their officials, for protective action against what they believed to be profiteering employers. The labor troubles of the Clyde, Coventry, and elsewhere, led by the shop stewards began when the employers contrived to let the old labor leadership throw down its outer defences by admitting women to the munition processes and at the same time refused to safeguard the wage scale. On February 8, 191S, H. J. Tennant, who had been under- secretary of state for war, representing the government, sum- moned the union leaders to organize the forces of labor, thus confessing the inability of the state and of the employers to conduct industry without a new partner in the control. This new partner was the trade union. This act of Mr. Tennant made the joint committee of men and masters a board of continuous mediation, conciliation and consultation. It con- ceded the husk of democratic control of industry, but what of the kernel? Mr. Lloyd George was at this point in his variSd career chancellor of the exchequer. In March, 1915, he called a con- ference at the treasury of 33 leading trade unions. He and MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 91 they drew up the Treasury agreement. Stoppages of work were to cease; arbitration was to take the place of strikes and lockouts. The trade unions were to favor "such changes in working conditions or trade customs as may be necessary with a view to accelerating the output of war munitions or equip- ments." In other words, labor was to give up its chief offensive weapon (the strike) by which it could achieve a drastic re- consideration of its status and standard of living, and its main system of defensive trenches (its trade union restrictions, with respect to speeding up, overtime, apprenticeship and the like) by which it could safeguard the standards it had gained in the past. In return for what? A promise not a fulfilment: The relaxation of existing demarcation restriction and admission of semi-skilled or female labor shall not affect adversely the rates customarily paid for the job. And the A. S. E. obtained the additional promise: That the government will tindertake to use its influence to secure the restoration of previous conditions in every case after the war. Already the majority of munition workers were women. Their interests were not directly represented. One of their spokesmen wrote to Mr. Lloyd George for a definition of "rates customarily paid: Mr. Lloyd George said: The words which you quote would guarantee that women undertaking the work of men would get the same piece-rate as men were receiving before the date of the agreement. This meant that the piece-rate but not the time-rate was guaranteed. But the time-rate is the basic standard for wages, because, without a time-rate guarantee, the piece-rate can be nibbled away. Also, many operations are not on piece-work. So the Treasury Agreement did not safeguard the new un- skilled workers. As Mrs. Barbara Drake says: The women's earnings fell to just one-half the earnings of the men, although the output of each was exactly the same. The first munitions of war act incorporated this Treasury agreement. It went further and prevented the worker from obtaining an increase in wages by leaving one factory and go- ing to another. It prevented him by enacting that he must obtain a "leaving certificate" ifom his former employer, or else go idle for six weeks. The wording was this (clause seven) : "A person shall not give employment to a workman who, within the previous six weeks has been employed in or in connection with munition work," unless the workman holds a certificate from the employer that he left work with the consent of his 92 SELECTED ARTICLES employer. Moreover, while this munitions of war act per- mitted the employer an advance of 20 per cent in profits over the profits of the three preceding years, it did not permit an average rise in the rate of wages sufficient to meet the rise in the cost of living. G. D. H. Cole, the guild Socialist and labor investigator, says of it: In the munitions act, the state virtually entered into profit-shartng arrangement with the employers for the exploitation of labor, lending its disciplinary powers to the employers for the period of the war. The War Time Tribunals Mitigations were gradually found. A labor supply commit- tee drew up a memorandum (circular L. 2) which became a statutory order fixing a rate of wages for women. And cir- cular L. 3 fixed the rate of wages for semi-skilled and unskilled men. By January, 1916, the munitions of war amendment act made L. 2 and L. 3 legal and mandatory in government-con- trolled factories. No less than three sets of adjustment agencies were set up to which the workers could appeal. ^ The title of the committee on production is a misnomer. Some such scope may have been in mind at the time of its creation, but its work has been largely in the adjustment of grievances between the employers and the men's unions. At first it was made up of representatives of the government merely, but under pressure of labor, its mem- bership was expanded to nine, three chairmen representing the public, three labor men and three employers sitting in groups of three as arbitration courts. Where the question was one involving women, it came under the munitions arbitral tribu- nals. It was before these bodies that general adjustments were brought, which would ordinarily come under collective bar- gaining. Rulings once made, if there was question as to their meaning, or the workers or employers claimed that they were being wrongly enforced, the case was reopened in the same tribunal for reinterpretation and enforcement. But when it was a simple case of whether an existing rate or decision was being observed in a given plant, the complainant turned from the national bodies to the district munitions courts. For ex- ample, if a woman was being paid forty shillings when the arbitral tribunal had awarded fifty for that kind of work, she ^ This is exclusive of the Minimum Wage Boards in certain sweated traSes. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 93 might start proceedings just as an individual starts proceed- ings in a civil court for collection of a debt. The presiding officer was usually, but not always, a barrister, but lawyers were not permitted to practise before these courts. He was assisted by two assessors, one nominated by the employer, and one (if the case was that of a woman) by the Federation of Women Workers. A further explanation of the widening cleavage between the rank and file and the old leaders, especially those who went into the government, was the slowness with which this new wartime machinery often functioned, coupled with the lack of consistent policy toward meeting the issues raised by the rising cost of living, by the change frotn time to piece rates, and by the revolutionary changes in method. For example, the National Federation of Working Women endeavored for a long time to get a minimum wage ruling for a certain very large class of operatives in munitions- work. The government let the thing drag unconsciously. Finally the girls at Newcastle, some thousands of them, struck. The federation was peppered with wires and long distance tele- phone calls from government officials telling them that the strike was contrary to the law and insisting that they should tell the girls to go back to work. The federation said that it had tried for months to get the government to set a minimum rate but without avail. It had not advised the girls to strike, nor would it, under the circumstances, advise them to quit striking. The issue lay between the munitions office and the strikers. Within twenty-four hours the award was granted, for, this was important war work, but the award was for these Newcastle girls alone. It took six weeks before similar rates were granted in other plants, and in each one the issue had to be raised that the rate had been granted in Newcastle. And it took four months before a general order was issued covering all work of this sort in the United Kingdom. As it was, the Newcastle girls got five pence an hour as against four pence halfpenny which was given to their less militant fellows. The result was to spread a distrust of the government's sincerity among a growing body of women who were having their first experience at wage-earning. And in general we have the Standing Joint Committee on Industrial Women's Organiza- tions reporting that "the promises to munition workers generally 94 SELECTED ARTICLES of a fair minimum have so far materialized precisely in pro- portion to the energy of the organizations concerned." The Fabian Research Department summed up developments in 1917 as follows : The trade unions have abandoned their practice for the period of the war^ and admit female labor to every branch of engineering con- cerned in munitions of war, while the employer retains his own, and continues to exploit female labor at blackleg and sweated rates of wages. And we find the government Commission of Inquiry into Industrial Unrest (July, 1917) presenting among the causes of unrest "inconsiderate treatment of women, whose wages are sometimes as low as 13 shillings" ; "the introduction of female labor without consultation with the workpeople." Other causes, it noted, were deficiency in housing, profiteer- ing, particularly in food, but also in shipping and in contracts. The rank and file of the workers wer-e strengthened in their distrust of the general drift of things by such evidence as the 191 7 report of the Employers' Parliamentary Council, repre- senting printers, builders, the shipping federation and other organizations of employers which urged the repeal of such legislative protections of labor as the trades disputes act and the factory acts. The Carton Foundation, of which Mr. Balfour is a trustee, pointed out that: Many of the men who return from the trenches to the great muni- tion and shipbuilding centers are, within a few weeks of their return, among thQse who exhibit most actively their discontent with present con- ditions. To a very large number of men now in the ranks, the fight against Germany is a fight against "Frussianism," and the spirit of Frussianism represents to them only an extreme example of that to which they object in the industrial and social institutions of their own country. They regard the present struggle as closely connected with the campaign against capitalist and class-domination at home. Unfortunately, some of the results of the war itself, such as the munitions acts and the compulsion acts, have intensified this identification of external and internal enemies. The working of these acts and the tribunals created under them has given rise to an 'amount of deep and widespread re- sentment which is the more dangerous because it is largely inarticulate. The very moderation and unselfisliness shown by the responsible leaders of organized labor are looked upon by important sections of their fol- lowing as a betrayal of the cause, and by some employers as a tactical opportunity. Enter the Shop Stewards 'This historical summary of the early years of the war lays bare what might be called the ground plan of the strikes in the engineering trades and the shop stewards movement emerg- ing from them. It should now be clear why the most vigor- ous expression of self-goverpment in industry ha( come dur- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS ps ing the war and because of the war. The principle of "self- determination" was being fought for alike in Belgium and on the Clyde. A democracy cannot fight for a principle on the battle front, and at the same time permit its abrogation on the industrial front. When the miners remained outside the Treasury Ajgree- ment, the rank and file of other unions saw that their own leaders had signed away their power of leadership. Particu- larly in the munition trades, where the tide of "dilution"' swept in, the distrust of the pre-war union officials spread and grew among the trade union members. But not only was there this war-reason why these trade union leaders had lost grip on their following. There was a reason in the organization of the union itself. In the muni- tion or engineering industry, the unions are the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (275,000 members), the Friendly Society of Ironfounders (30,000), the Toolmakers (30,000), steam en- gine-makers (over 20,000), United Machine Workers (over 20,000), Brass-workers (18,000), Electrical Trades Union (12,- 000) and so on. In addition there are large engineering groups in the general labor unions, numbering over 300,000. This situation makes the A. S. E. the dominant union of the muni- tion trades. It is made up of fitters, turners, machinists, mill- wrights, smiths, electricians, planers, borers, slotters, pattern- makers and other grades. Thus the A. S. E. is a craft union, but one composed of many kindred grades ; the basis a common skill. It has 7O0 home branches, grouped in a series of district committees, covering each an industrial area. The Glasgow Dis- trict Committee, for example, covers about 60 branches. The district committee has a measure of autonomy in framing the local industrial policy. It is composed of delegates from the various branches in the district; the branches are made up of delegates from various shops. (So the policy of the branch is broken up among the various interests of these various shops.) Just as the district committee is above the branches, so the executive council is above the district committees. This execu- tive council is the national administrative body, the cabinet of the trade union. There is also a judicial and a legislative body. Now, the point to note in this analysis is that the only unit of the organization close to the workers in the shop is the braqcl), that the branch represents tnany shop^ (with confliqt- ipg ittt$rests), and tjiat th^ Ijrancli does tipt deqil directly Tjrith 96 SELECTED ARTICLES the head office and central executive of the whole union, but, instead, deals with a district committee. In short, the rank and file of the A. S. E. are a long way removed from the central executive, and as result the workers have felt that they are not swiftly and directly represented by their officials. This constitution of the A. S. E. dates back to 1851. With the min- ers, the branch is based on the industrial unit of the coalpit. With the engineers, the branch is based on the place where they live, not on the place where they work. To sum up, the war, bringing in standardized machinery and the dilution of labor, endangered the standard of living of the machine shop workers. Their officials tnade bargains with the government, which robbed them of power. The con- stitution of the union made it difficult for the rank and file to be directly represented. Accordingly, they acted independ- ently of the Treasury agreement, of their officials, and pf their constitution. They remade the structure and organization of their union, and they asserted the principle of self-government in industry. They took action in the shop stewards' moyement, which became the most revolutionary movement in the indus- trial field. It has broken ground from beneath the workers' control. The rule-book of the A. S. E. says of the shop steward: . Rule 13. — Committees may also appoint shop-stewards in workshops or departments thereof in their respective districts, such stewards to "be under the direction and control of the committee, . by whom their duties shall be defined. The stewards shall be empowered to examine period- ically the contribution cards of all members, and to demand that alleged members shall show their contribution cards for examination when start- ing work. They shall report at least once each quarter on all matters affecting the, trade^ and keep the committee posted with all events occurring in the various shops. They shall be paid 4s. for each quarterly report; namely, 35. for duty performed, and is. for attendance- and report to committee (conveners of shop-stewards shall receive 6d. extra) ; _ these to be payable by the district committee. Should a shop-seward be discharged through executing his duties he shall be entitled to full wage benefit. If it is necessary for stewards to attend other meetings of the Committee they ^ shall be remunerated the same as witnesses attending committee meetings. By the terms of the A. S. E. constitution, then, the shop stewards had come to be recognized as part of the organiza- tion, but entirely under the jurisdiction of the district com- mittee. That sounds harmless enough. The shop steward was a dues-collector, reporting to his branch and district committee. But the war pressure, already described, crushed down on the worker, rendered his central officials powerless, and created a set of conditions in the shop which made necessary continuous MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 97 and immediate negotiation between the workers and their man- agers. The shop steward was the man who could perform this function. He was in the shop, was elected by the workers, and merely had to enlarge a function already exercised. The Clyde Strikes This is what happened. In the Parkhead Engineering Works, there had been before the war 20 shop stewards," and, under war conditions, the number of shop stewards was increased to 60. David Kirkwood was appointed convener or chief of the shop stewards, to deal with difficulties with the manage- ment, and report grievances. When the munitions act of July 2, 1915, was passed, the workers in the Clyde District (which included the Parkhead Works) formed the Clyde Workers' Committee, which dis- cussed the government's plan of dilution, and criticized the attitude of the executive officials of the A. S. E. and other unions. As one labor witness described it: It was more a collection of angry trade unionists than anything else, which had sprung into existence because of the trouble which was going on, on the Cljrde. Did you think it better to go to the Clyde Workers' Committee than to go to your own trade union officials? Oh, yes. Our own trade union officials were hopelessly tied up. They could do nothing. They were tied up by whom? Under the munitions act. Where the men in the workshop had pre- viously sent their shop stewards to the A. S. E. to report to their dis- trict committee, the shop stewards were now sent to the Clyde Workers* Committee. This committee of shop stewards issued a manifesto saying: The support given to the munitions act by the officials (of the A. S. E. and other unions) was an act of treachery to the working classes. We are out for unity atjd closer organization of all trades in the in- dustry, one union bein^ the ultimate aim. We will support the officials just so long as they rightly rejpresent the workers, but we will act in- dependently immediately they misrepresent them. This Clyde Workers' Committee advocated the view that the organized trade unionists should be allowed to share in the administration and control of workshop arrangements. Kirkwood, a member of this committee, asked Lloyd George if he was prepared to give the workers a share in the manage- ment of the works. Kirkwood said to Lloyd George that the workers, as Socialists, welcomed dilution of labor, which they regarded as the natural development in industrial conditions. But this scheme of dilution must be carried out under the con- trol of the workers. Without such control, cheap wages would be introduced. 98 SELECTED ARTICLES There we have the philosophy of the shop stewards' move- ment in their own words — workers' control of industry, be- ginning in the shop, and industrial unionism (in preference to craft unionism). Lloyd George's conversation with Kirkwood took place in December, 1915. In the following March, came a strike in the Parkhead Works where Kirkwood was convener. As a result of the strike Kirkwood and nine others were arrested and deported, and the shop stewards' 'movement spread over Great Britain. The immediate cause of the strike was a dilution scheme. Women were set at work in the howitzer shop. Kirkwood and two shop stewards interviewed the women, and saw to it that they were requested to join the National Federation of Women Workers. The management of the works objected to these activities of Kirkwood, though they had used him to conciliate the workers at other times. The result of th£ trou- ble was the strike and the deportations. The domestic radical- ism of the shop stewards was in some cases yoked to an internationalism which is close to pacifism. Pacifism has been a militant doctrine in war-time England, and charges of "un- patriotic" utterances against Kirkwood and others entered into the first public sanction of the government's methods of re- pression. The Clyde trouble was the most spectacular of the cases of friction in the munition trades, but it was by no means an isolated example. Unquestionably there has been remarkable work done by the production committee and the bodies created under the munitions act to bring employers and workers to- gether. But instances in which wage awards have been hung up for months until the workers struck or threatened to strike have spread the notion, as already indicated, that you could not get anything from the authorities because it was right but only because you had the force to compel it. The result was to provoke strikes. Under the war law, to strike was a serious offence, and to lead or counsel or order a strike wa:s a very serious one. As we have seen, it was not the responsible national officers of the older unions that led the strikes. They stood by the gov- ernment in their agreement. But because they did not stand by the men, in the minds of many of the workers themselves, the shop stewards came up. They led the men and paid the penalty. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 99 Here again, in dealing with the strikes, the government policy did not work out. Its experience with deporting the strike leaders from the Clyde worked out in fact so disas- trously that it did not attempt drastic measures wholesale. Deportation is something which is peculiarly offensive to the English worker. It smacks of South Africa; it goes against his ingrained ideas as to his rights in his own home, and in his own home town. And while the labor movement in Eng- land might have been of two minds as to the issues of the Clyde strike and the notions of its leaders, it was not of two minds as to the treatment of the Clyde strikers. McManus was deported to another city which had been a center of labor conservatism, with the result that that city thereafter became a hotbed. Kirkwood, it is said, has since been made a fore- man in a government munitions factory. The government took the position in the case of a strike that it would not treat with the workers unless they went back. But a labor leader stated to us that, as a matter of fact, the government had crumjiled in, time and again, and beat the devil around the stump in some other way; for example, by granting the demand, or some measure of it, without treat- ing with the workers. This seemed so sweeping a statement that we took it up with a government official who frankly ad- mitted its truth. The result was to prove pretty conclusively that the way to prevent strikes is not to prohibit them. A Share in Management But, as brought out on the Clyde, the shop stewards stand for something more far-reaching and constructive in its im- plications than the right to strike. They were asserting the right to an increased share in workshop management. They were doing it without consultation with the old-line officials of the unions ("We do not recognize them," said Kirkwood), and they were acting through an organization of shop stew- ards, representing unofficially all the shops in the district. The position of the shop steward is a detail in labor organi- zation. But the impulse of which the shop steward is an ex- pression is from the rank and file of the labor movement. He came at a moment of arrest, when the trade union officials had been blocked by war legislation. He gathered up the dy- namic of the rank and file and went ahead, while the officials 100 SELECTED ARTICLES had to mark time. He captured the imagination of the unrep- resented workers by direct action just when compromise and postponement were being forced upon them by their former leaders. The shop stewards as a group are young men, the central officials are middle-aged. The shop stewards are not inured by a lifetime of troubled experience to piece-meal gains, to opportunism. In the hour when government officials were de- vising programs of workshop committees and joint councils, the shop stewards formed their own committees — a living em- bodiment of the Whitley Report. The danger of unchartered liberty and youthful dynamic is clear. Yet a keen observer of labor conditions expressed the belief to us that there would not be permanent antagon- ism between the self-created shop stewards and the shop com- mittees set up under this national program. Nor will there be permanent antagonism between the shop stewards and the national unions of organized labor. They are more likely har- nessed to the main labor machine. From the union standpoint, the immediate question is: Shall shop stewards of various trades receive recognition as the basis for common action in the works of a district? G. D. H. Cole has suggested a way out. Let the general principle of organization be that of the works branch (instead of the residence branch). Then the shop stewards will become the branch officials, and the shop stewards* committee the branch com- mittee. The unofficial workshop movement will have been taken up into, and made a part of, the official machinery .of trade unionism. At a national conference held between the Engineering Employers' Federation and the engineering trade unions, rec- ognition was given to shop stewards, and their entry into negotiation iit the early phases permitted. The A. S. E. did not sign the agreement. In December, 1917, representatives of the Engineering Employers' Federation and of thirteen trade unions held a conference. The unions included steam engine workers, toolmakers, smiths and strikers, brassfounders and metal mechanics, blacksmiths and iron workers, electrical trades union, workers' union, journeymen brassfounders, core- makers, general workers, union of enginemen. They came to an agreement that the functions of the stewards so far as they are concerned with the avoidance of disputes will be on the following lines : A workman or workmen desiring to raise any question in which he or they are directly concerned shall in the first instance discuss the same with hia or their foreman. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS loi Failing settlement the question shall, if desired, be taken up with the management by the appropriate shop stewards and one of the workmen directly concerned. If no settlement is arrived at the question may, at the request of either party, be further considered at a meeting to be arranged between the management and the appropriate shop steward, together with a dep- utation of the workmen directly concerned. At this meeting the organizing district delegate may be present, in which event a representative of the employers* association shall also be present. The question may thereafter be referred for further consideration in terms of the provisions for avoiding disputes. No stoppage of work shall take place until the question has been fully dealt with in accordance with this agreement and with the provisions for avoiding disputes. Meanwhile, the shop stewards' movement is spreading out into woodworking trades, textiles and the boot and shoe trades. ' A prophet and philosopher of its extension (himself one of the leaders) is J. T. Murphy, of Sheffield, whose pamphlet, The Workers' Committee, might be called the official exposi- tion of the movement. He believes that the new trade union organization will be based on the shop and the works, instead of the craft and the industry. He gives the power of final decision always to the rank and file, and never to the upper stories of organization. He visions shop stewards, shop com- mittees, plant committees, district committees and then a na- tional organization of districts. But one thing is sure. While the government plans Whit- ley Committees (with the consent of the employer and the worker), and while farseeing employers encourage them, else- where the workers themselves elect their own stewards, choose their own committees, and set going from the bottom up the movement toward workers' control, which in its various em- bodiments will dominate industrial reconstruction in England. The shop stewards are those who have broken with tradition ^ The manufacturing sections of the cotton industry are now beginning to follow the spinners in the creation of shop committees. The Ashton and District Textile Manufacturing Trades Federation has elaborated a scheme for the appointment of shop stewards and shop committees. A steward is to be appointed for every fifteen or twenty workers, and the expenses are to be met by a shop levy of id. monthly. The stewards are to elect from themselves shop committees, and grievances are to be submitted to these committees, which will take them up with the man- agement. Failing a settlement at this stage, the matter will be carried to the district Trade Union organization. Thus the movement towards workshop organization goes on spreading from one section of workers to another. The Oldham operative cotton spinners have approved the adoption of the shop steward principal in the cotton mills by a majority of nearly two to one. It is provided under the scheme that there shall be a shop club at each mill, that all spinners at the mills must be members, and that the chair- man, secretary, and committee of the respective sho^ clubs shall be rep- resentatives to the management in case of any grievance. Each shop club is to appoint two representatives to attend the district monthly meet- ings and report on the proceedings to their club. 102 SELECTED ARTICLES at the place where the fight is hardest — in their own organiza- tion, in their own workshop. THE SHOP STEWARDS' MOVEMENT' The ascendency of the shop stewards is striking; for the movement is literally in its infancy. Fifteen months ago but few persons, even in England, knew anything about it. The shop stewards' control first came into prominence in Novem- ber, 191 7, during the big strike in the munitions factories at Coventry. The object of the strike was to obtain recognition for the shop stewards' committees of the various works in the district. The demand was first made in a single plant, at which there has been recrudescent trouble for a long period. It was refused by the management, on the ground that the whole question of recognition was the subject of negotiations between the firm and the official representatives of the union. The consequence was a strike in this establishment; within a week it had become general throughout Coventry. The situation there greatly alarmed public opinion, because the vital airplane industry was tied up, and the Government hastened to settle the strike. The shop stewards' committees were recognized in the engineering trade. The conference for the settlement of the Coventry disputes showed clearly that the recognition of the new movement was a deal not between the workers and the employers, or between the latter and the State, but be- tween the rank and file and the trade union. Shop stewards are by no means entirely new functionaries in the British labor world. As a matter of fact, shop stewards have always been the agents for the trade union branches (the smallest units of union activities). But the rank-and-file move- ment, which has loomed so large in the last year and is known as the shop stewards' movement, has no connection with the old union shop stewards. As an organization, it is doubtless a product of the war, and it has come into prominence under pressure of the war. But the adherents of the new movement assert that the shop steward idea was developing for many years before the war. They are confident that had there been no war, the shop stewards' organization would sooner or later have come to grips with the trade unions, and finally supplanted •From the Nation. 108:192-3. February 8, 19 19. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 103 them. They maintain that the industrial reaction against the futility of the doctrine that economic power can be acquired primarily by parliamentary political action (a doctrine ex- tremely popular with British labor for the last twenty years) had become evident before the war. In spite of the great tri- umph of political labor, which at the outbreak of the war was safely intrenched in Parliament, economically British labor was weaker than before. While capital gained enormous power under the flourishing conditions of British industry, labor made no corresponding gain. The exaggerated hopes of Parliament- ary successes, which ran high after the election of 1910, soon gave way to disappointment and depression, and the idea that industrial power is the real expression of working-class strength gradually grew in popularity. The new shop stewards' move- ment was the accumulated expression of this idea. But it could only come to a head when the war demonstrated the weakness of trade unionism and made the shop the unit of industrial activity. ANOTHER EXPLANATION' The shop stewards consider themselves the harbingers of a new unionism founded on a new democratic basis of real equality for all workers. The basis of the new unionism is the workshop, which is the natural unit for labor amalgama- tion and industrial activity. The shop stewards are chosen by all workers in the shop, skilled and unskilled alike, irrespec- tive of the particular craft or affiliation. The complete and final amalgamation of the workers in the shop is the first step towards the great industrial union. THE BRITISH SHOP STEWARD MOVEMENT'' What is known as the "Shop Steward Movement" in Great Britain is merely the machinery by which the rank and file of the organized workers have taken control of the Labor move- ment. The name "Shop Stewards" is not new in British industry. Before the War the agents for the regular Trade Union 'From the Nation. 108:270. February 22, 1919. 'By George Ellery. The Voice of Labor. 1:13-14. August 30, 1919. (This article represents the subject from a radical's viewpoint— r£d.) 104 SELECTED ARTICLES Branches — like our Local Unions in this country — were called Shop Stewards. But the present movement has no connection with the old Union Shop Stewards. The Shop Stewards are now elected by all the workers of every trade in each shop or plant, and are assisted by a Shop Steward's Committee, composed of delegates from each trade. Shop Stewards vs. Trade Unionism Of course this form of organization is directly opposed to the Trade-Unionism characteristic of British — as well as Amer- ican — Organized Labor. Trade-Unionism is based upon the division of the workers into crafts, with the skilled workers in a preferred position; its aim is simply to attempt to regulate wages to keef) up with the cost of living, and ultimately, to secure for Labor a voice in the determination of his job. The Shop Steward movement, however, demands more than that. Its immediate aim is self-government for the workers, both in the shop and throughout industry; its ideal is the 060- lition of capitalist production, and the control of industry by the workers. In the Labor movement, it stands for the break- ing down of craft-lines, organization by shop and industry, instead of by trade, and direct election and control of Union officials. British Labor and Politics The War undoubtedly gave birth to the Shop Steward move- ment, but the causes for it existed long before. For the past twenty years British Labor leaders had been absorbed in poli- tics. The British Labor Party was built up on the idea that the workers can acquire economic power through electing La- bor men to Parliament. The Labor Party was very successful — successful to such an extent that at the outbreak of the War there was a powerful Labor delegation in Parliament; but at the same time, British Labor was economically weaker than before. The capitalists gained colossal wealth, but Labor fell more and more behind. The elections of 1910 made it seem as if the Labor Party would soon be all-powerful in Parliament — but it soon become evident that parliamentary action would not help. British Labor, like American Labor, has swung periodically backward and forward between political and industrial action. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS los The recruiting movement toward industrial action, which was expressed in the formation of the Triple Alliance of Miners, Railwaymen and Transport Workers shortly before the War, was still in full swing when the War broke out. How the War Smashed the Unions Also the development of modern industry, with its subdivi- sions of crafts, and its methods of speeding-up, produced the same tendency toward Industrial Unionism that has been evi- dent in this country. And as in America, the reactionary form of Trade-Union organization, and the reactionary policies of the Trade-Union officials, placed the workers at a disadvantage, and actually held them back. At the beginning of the War, the British Government found that it was necessary above all things to get increased produc- tion, which was prevented by Trade-Union rules and regula- tions, made to protect Labor by limiting hours of work. The Government thereupon called in the Labor "leaders," and asked them to give up all Union privileges for the duration of the War. The Government solemnly promised that all Union rules and practices should be completely restored when peace came. "Any departure during the war from the practice and ruling in the workshops, shipyards and other industries prior to the war, shall be only for the period of the war, and must be absolutely and completely reinstated when the war is over." Thus said the Munitions Act. By the Treasury Agreement of March, 1915, the Unions, through their officials, renounced all the essential features of Trade-Unionism ; shop rules and regulations, Union practices, even the right to strike. The Importance of Labor In return, the Government invited the Trade Unions to co- operate with it in making munitions and supplies. Trade Union officials formed part of Munitions Boards, sat upon Government Commissions and Tribunals, and were treated with the greatest respect. In time of crisis the Government discovered that the industrial workers were of supreme importance; while on the other hand, the capitalists proved themselves practically inca- io6 SELECTED ARTICLES pable of managing industry. In many cases the Government was compelled to take over industries — ^just as in this country, the bad management of the railroads forced the Government to assume control. But all this power and glory, while it strengthened the self- respect of the workers, did not make them economically more powerful. As a matter of fact, the rank and file, deprived of all safeguards, were driven at frightful speed. Officials Against the Workers At first, bewildered by the new conditions and the patriotic clap-trap of the capitalistic press, the workers submitted. Be- fore long, however, they began to wake up to the fact that the slowly-accumulated gains of half a century had been swept away. Women poured into industry; "dilution" grew by leaps and bounds — the same process that went on among the Machin- ists of Bridgeport, Conn., whereby unskilled men were taught to do each one part of a skilled man's job, and so replaced the skilled men at lower wages; conscription came, munitions leg- islation, which made the workers almost serfs, then conscrip- tion of labor. At first all these demands were indignantly rejected by La- bor. Yet, supported by the Trade Union leaders, the Govern- ment was able to put them through. Resentment of the Rank and File The resentment of the British workers grew and grew, ac- cumulating not so much against the Government as against the Trade Union leaders. Deprived of the support of their Unions, the workers, driven to the wall, developed their own form of resistance — the Shop Stewards and Shop Stewards Committees. Moreover, there was another cause for the new form of organization. British industry had developed more in three or four years than in the preceding thirty. The removal of Trade Union restrictions, also, had changed the very face of the La- bor movement. The women workers and the "dilutees" robbed of their old meaning the words "skilled" and "unskilled." Union jurisdictional disputes were suspended, and new indus- trial classifications, unclassified, grew more and more numer- ous. Deprived of their old-time Union rules and guideposts, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 107 the workers became more and more a mass, a class united on the job. In the stress and storm of everyday work Labor was adapting itself to the new conditions, seeking new weapons, developing its own ideas and its own leaders from the rank and file. The Workers Begin to Move In the spring of 1917, in spite of the prohibition of strikes, a number of important walk-outs took place. These were the "disturbances" mentioned in dispatches to the American news- papers, which were described as strange movements, without adequate demands. In fact, nobody understood what was hap- pening. The Trade Union officials hastened to the disturbed areas and ordered the workers back — and the workers refused to go back! The Government became alarmed. It arrested strike committees and leaders; it appealed; it threatened; but the unrest grew. A Government Commission was appointed to investigate — and it was then that the world discovered that the British workers didn't give a tinker's damn about the restora- tion of Trade Union rules. Labor was going in a new direc- tion — toward industrial control. Out of this investigation, in the fall of 1917, came the ap- pointment of the Whitely Commission, which proposed the establishment of local Industrial Councils, composed partly of workers and partly of capitalists, to administer industry. But the workers were not satisfied with the Whitely Council. In November, 191 7, the Shop Steward Movement first ap- peared in all its power, in the munitions-strike at Coventry. The object of the strike was to get recognition for the Shop Stewards' Committees of the various works in the district. The demand was first made in a single plant, at which there had been much disturbance. It was refused by the manage- ment, on the ground that the employers were then negotiating with the Trade Union officials for recognition of the Unions. Within a week there was a general strike throughout Coventry. The Government was very much alarmed, because the vital aeroplane industry was tied up. The consequence was that the Machinists won their Shop Steward recognition. Since then Shop Steward strikes have been pulled off all over England, controlled by the rank and file in the shops, with astonishing success. . . . These strikes were bitterly fought by the Trade Union machines and leaders. io8 SELECTED ARTICLES The Bitter Struggle At the present time the struggle between the Trade Unions and the Shop Steward Committees is very bitter. The Trade Union officials are supported by the British Premier and the Tory Parliament against the rank and file. Lloyd George's speech in the House of Commons on "La- bor unrest," condemned the Shop Steward movement very strongly, declaring that it was a "sedulous attempt to undermine confidence in Trade Union leaders." The Government is spend- ing a great deal of time studying "how to re-establish the authority of the Trade Unions." THE PASSING OF THE BRITISH SHOP STEWARD MOVEMENT' ■ Among the many unusual developments in the course of the abnormal conditions which characterized the industrial situa- tion in Great Britain during the war, few were viewed with greater interest than the so-called "shop stewards movement." It was mainly in its beginnings a war-time schism from regular trade unionism, and later a thrust toward nationalizing and democratizing industry. Following its rise and rapid growth, most extravagant claims were made for it in various radical publications in the United States. How unsubstantial these claims were is, I think, conclusively shown in the history of the shop stewards movement which follows, for it evidences on how slight foundations Utopias may be built by impatient social perfectionists, and also how widely the British and Amer- ican trade union systems differ in organization, practice and effectiveness. Shop Spokesmen Long a Feature In various British industries, shop spokesmen chosen by their fellow wage-workers have long been a necessary feature of works operation. In Britain, with the war, came hastily assembled working forces in large new munitions works and other manufactories. * By James W. Sullivan. National Civic Federation Review. 4:3-4' August 30, 1919. (This article represents the attitude of organized labor in the United States— Ed.) MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 109 In these establishments, department representatives of the workers were usually recognized as a necessity by the employ- ers, and, prompt decisions regarding working conditions for all the departments being frequently required, the various repre- sentatives on presenting themselves for conference were recog- nized as a general shop committee. In the non-union shops these committees could directly ad- just differences, to the extent of the powers conceded them by the employers and their fellow workers. But in the union shops a first and serious obstacle to speedy decision existed in the unit organization of certain trade unions, especially that of the machinists (in England, "engineers"). Membership by Living Areas In a British branch union of engineers, the membership is by living areas and not by working areas. Hence the branch may be made up of members at jobs in various other living areas, and contrariwise a shop force may be made up of members of different branch unions. British trade unionists account for this form of unit organization by the fact that usually the "branch" combines trade union with "friendly society" features. Work- men's organization benefits are better administered by neigh- bors, it is argued, than by shopmates living far apart, some of them casual workers. Previous to the war, by the practice of the engineering trade union, which for at least half a century had authorized shop committees, a "convener of committee" was appointed in case of trouble, but there was no trade union official present regu- larly as deputy to carry out affairs of the general union. In American trade unions the confusion of this situation is obvi- ated by making the workshop, or the shops of a given locality, the unit for the branch union, with its chairman representing the general union in local administration. Lack of Unity in Organization It was in this lack of shop unity of organization, and con- sequently of direct executive union action, that during the war troubles through shop stewards, both independent and union, clogged the work. This gap in efficiency characterized some of the largest Brit- no SELECTED ARTia.ES ish trade unions having members engaged in war work. Con- tinuous operation necessary, the shop stewards, union and unor- ganized, learned to take on authority for themselves. Conse- quently, union stewards drifted away from control by their headquarters; stewards for the unorganized, new-blood "labor leaders," became powerful men of the day. With the dilution of skilled labor came relaxed union organization together with distrust of the higher trade union officials because of their impotence in sudden crises. Here was opportunity for the modern youthful agitator — energetic, unafraid, unencumbered, chafing under restraint from his elders in union positions. When fired by socialistic faith, the steward standing for the unorganized recked little of imme- diate consequences could he but promote the cause. He was in office for that purpose. Churchill Recognizes Stewards It was at this stage that a deputation from the stewards of the Woolwich Arsenal was assured by Winston Churchill as Minister of Munitions that they should be the body consulted concerning work in that important government establishment, thus ignoring the regular union officials. Similar recognition was soon extended to other large industrial centers. District committees, seeing shop stewards recognized and setting aside union laws, ventured to follow suit, and in turn were suspended. In many parts of the country local, unofficial shop or craft spokesmen practically dominated in dealings with perplexed employers, uncertain whether agreements were to be observed. Differing from the United States, there was no authorized central executive standing for a general wage-workers' organ- ization, covering all occupations for the entire country, with which employers, singly or in bodies, might treat. American Federation's Proved Efficiency The capability of the American Federation of Labor to come to a working understanding with our government on its en- tering the war, and to offer to employers a complete union mechanism applicable to every industry throughout the coun- try, with models of rules, regulations and organization for the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS in rapidly forming unorganized working forces, even to having an authorized union agent in every considerable virorkshop, is a matter of very recent history. Everyone of the one hundred and eleven general ("nation- al" or "international") unions covers comprehensively as to its own trade and exclusively of all other trades the whole of the United States. A traveling member of any local union is thus entitled to free, direct, unobstructed membership in every other local union of his occupation throughout the coun- try. The workshop local unions uniformly represent, not living but working districts; in this respect certain building trades allowing latitude. No union man is under constraint to support any political party. The Secretary of the American Federation of Labor re- ported in 1919, before the accession of the Brotherhoods, that the membership was 3,260,068, regular dues for the previous year of exactly that number having been paid into the treas- ury. Exempted members not being paid for — the sick, the unemployed, the idle by lockout or strike, an average year by year of approximately 10 per cent. — the true membership was then 3,600,000. Today the grand total, with the Brotherhoods, ranges from 4,200,000 to 4,500,000. Four "National" British Unions The British labor movement, differing fundamentally from that of America is politico-economic in character. It has four separate organizations, varying in type and purpose: (i) The Trade Union Congress, meeting annually to decide principally upon the several measures to be asked of Parlia- ment and to elect its "Parliamentary Committee," whose man- date is "to watch all legislation affecting labor." The Secre- tary's report of the 1918 meeting gives the total membership as 4,532,085; the number of delegates 881, representing 262 soci- eties. (2) The "General Federation of Trade Unions," described by its Secretary as "the largest purely trade union organization outside of the United States," and as having March 31, 1,215,107 members. (3) The Co-operative Union, its fraternal delegate to the Congress reporting a membership of 3,500,000, the great bulk trade-unionists; associated since 1917 in the Labor Party. 112 SELECTED ARTICLES (4) The British Labor Party, its membership composed of wage-workers and other citizens, mixed, polling a vote equal to somewhat more than half the total membership claimed for the trade unions in the Congress and represented in Parlia- ment by 59 out of 707 members. Membership Figures Disconcerting While 4,532,085, was recorded as the membership represented at the British Trade Union Congress of 1918 at Derby, these figures stand for the total number for which entrance fees were paid by the delegates at their option at the rate of ten shillings or less per 1,000. Between the membership of the unions re- ported, separately or in total, nearly all in round numbers, in this way in the Congress proceedings, and those given officially in detail in other union or government publications, there is wide divergence. In comparatively few cases are the 262 organizations' par- ticipating in the British Trade Union Congress of 1918 national in the sense of representing either England or the kingdom. In the "National Federation of General Workers," for instance, are nine organizations (four of them having "National" in their titles), all separately represented in the Congress, each with its own headquarters and independent administrative machinery, and mostly with special fields of operation, local or regional, the total membership claimed being 961,466. Similar instances might be cited almost ad infinitum. British Tribute to Federation Commenting on the business-like completeness, unity and efficiency of the American Federation of Labor, a British trade unionist, for years high in the councils of the movement, said: "I believe that the superiority in organization of the American Federation of Labor is due largely to the fact that among its originators were Englishmen who, having had experience with the shortcomings of British organization, suggested correct forms for America." Cole, an indefatigable "intellectual" writer on labor matters, suggests, as to the local union: "Let the general principle be that of the works branch (instead of the residence branch)." British union and non-union employ- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 113 ers alike frequently express the desirability of facing representa- tives of all their employees directly without loss of time. In 1918 the British Parliamentary Committee's income was, in round numbers, $45,000, and its expenditures $35,000. It neither owns the building in which its offices are located nor issues a periodical. It does not employ organizers. The Amer- ican Federation's income last year was more than $650,000; its expenditures nearly $590,000. In its new headquarters build- ing in Washington it has invested $200,000. It paid for print- ing and publishing the American Federationist $122,000. It employed 112 paid organizers, fifty of them on full time, at an expense of $165,000, besides directing a corps of more than a thousand volunteer organizers and maintaining office communi- cation with the numerous paid organizers of the separate na- tional and local unions. Abundant confirmation of the statements made previously in this article is found in writings of numerous leaders in the various branches of the British labor movement. For instance, Arthur Henderson, Secretary of the Labor Party, wrote in the Daily News of March 27 that "the pressing need of organized labor was fewer trade unions and more trade unionists." J. H. Thomas, Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, is quoted in the Manchester Evening Chronicle as saying, "The gravest danger now is not between the Government and the railwaymen, but between the unions themselves." However, crude and clumsy as it is, British trade unionism possessed sufficient resisting power to throw off the shop stew- ard fever, after the armistice came. From that time the stew- ards never won a strike and the mass of the wage-workers in the engineering trade repudiated both irregular leadership and insurrectional tactics. Product of the war emergency, with which British trade unionism was incapable of coping, the stew- ards' growth and power passed away with the cessation of war materials. In the United States, as a social reformer, the shop steward never had a footing with its workers. To American trade unionists, accustomed to their own complete organization mech- anism, as a workshop official supplementary to the union rep- resentatives he would have been classed with the proverbial fifth wheel to a wagon. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT BRIEF FOR SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT' Efficiency in the best sense is constructive rather than de- structive and it is this phase that interests America at a time when the markets of the world are open to her as never before. What efficiency means to the manufacturer, the employee and to the community we have stated briefly in the following out- line : — A— FOR THE MANUFACTURER, Scientific Management I Cheapens the cost of production. II Eliminates labor troubles. III Increases output without increasing investment. IV Improves quality of product. V Insures prompt deliveries. I A cheaper cost of production means (a) Greater profits as a whole and a lower cost per unit, which brings (b) Greater business stability, because a lower selling price permits a wider market to be covered, doing away with the effects of local business depressions; (c) Fewer shutdowns. Lower costs allows the fac- tory to run at a profit long after competitors have to shut down to avoid loss. II The elimination of labor troubles results in avoiding the expense of (a) Shutdowns from strikes and lockouts. (b) Loss of property and possibly life. (c) 111 feeling on the part of workmen. Ill An increase of output without increase of investment means (a) Greater total profits — ^more units to sell. (b) No necessity for raising more capital — with pos- sible change in control. (c) Slight increase in overhead expense. >By Dwight T. Farnham, Consulting Engineer, St. Louis, Mo. ii6 SELECTED ARTICLES IV An improved quality of product (a) Decreases complaints and consequent loss of business. (b) Facilitates sales. (c) Increases demand. V Prompt deliveries mean (a) Satisfied customers. (b) Increase in business through reputation for relia- bility. B—FOR THE EMPLOYEE, Scientific Management Means I Higher pay. II Shorter hours. III Steady employment. IV Less fatigue. V Better satisfaction in work. VI Education leading to better life and higher ideals. C—TO THE COMMUNITY, Scientific Management Means I Better citizens. II Lower taxes. III Absence of strikes. IV Steady flow of money from without. V Less hard times. VI Lower cost of living. To understand how this is possible, it is necessary to ex- plain briefly the two prevalent methods of handling labor. Day Wage System Workers are paid for time served, regardless of the work done. The lazy man or the systematic soldierer receives as much pay as the hard working ambitious laborer. The naturally ambitious worker has- no incentive to do more than his lazy neighbor and probably does less, being better able to figure out and put into eflfect schemes for soldiering. The foreman's usual means of determining the efficiency of his crew is their general appearance of bustle. There is no incentive for the workmen to learn from each other, for the foreman to teach his men better methods, even MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 117 if he knows them. The foreman is usually judged by the ap- parent busyness of his gang. Day work is a grim game between the foreman and the labor- ers. His part is to drive them into doing as much as possible, by roaring at them and by keeping ever present the fear of discharge. Their part is to retain their jobs, meantime doing as little work as possible. Piece Work System Theoretically, since the workman is rewarded in direct pro- portion to the work he does, the ambitious worker makes the maximum of which he is capable, the lazy worker is propor- tionately penalized and the output of the shop is maintained at the highest level; supervision is required only to maintain quaUty and it is to each worker's advantage to keep his ma- chine in the best possible shape. Actually the whole thing goes to pieces on the difficulty of setting proper piece rates. In the usual coiirse of events it is necessary to set a new piece rate before any quantity of the article in question has been manufactured. Setting the rate therefore resolves itself into an argument between the boss and the worker, based on past records, and the final bargain is a compromise. As the worker gains experience in making a new article he naturally cuts the time per piece — as much as he dares — and earns as much as he dares — knowing from past experience that if his daily earnings go beyond a certain point his rate per piece will be cut. It is to the worker's advantage to set the rate as high as possible, so that he may earn as much as his boss will let him with the least possible effort — especially as his record on this job will be used as a basis for bargaining on the next job. All this leads to certain subterfuges which hurt the employer and have a bad effect upon the character of the employee. If the worker discovers a quicker way to do the job he keeps it to himself. That becomes one of his reserves to draw on when the boss drives him to the limit. He does not spend any time inventing new tools or devices to do the work more quickly. He is willing that there should be enough breakdowns so that the boss will have to allow for breakdowns next bargain day. He favors a slow speed and lost motion on his machine and he ii8 SELECTED ARTICLES argues the necessity of various false motions in handling the material. The weak are driven too fasty knowing only speed and strenuousness where under a different system they would be carefully taught every detail of the work, the obstacles removed and gradually fitted to do efficient work. The general effect of the piece work system is to place a premium on inefficiency and hypocrisy to make for suspicion, mutual distrust and antagonism between employer and employee. A — For the Manufacturer I The cost of production is cheapened by scientific man- agement as follows: I Labor cost is reduced by each workman doing as much work as possible because: — (a) It is to his advantage to do so as the bonus system pays him fairly and justly in proportion to what he ac- complishes. (b) There is no chance for soldiering^since the short- est time in which the work can be done is determined by scientific methods — before he begins the work. (c) The worker's motions are analyzed, all unneces- sary ones eliminated and the laws of physics, anatomy and psychology brought to bear upon the balance to assist him. (d) His machine is speeded for production in the shortest time. (e) Tools best adapted for the work are furnished in the finest condition. (f) All obstacles to continuous performance are re- moved, breakdowns are reduced to a minimum, supplies are delivered as needed, no time is lost asking for instructions or hunting foremen. (g) Machines are so grouped as to reduce the move- ment of material to a minimum and the worker has the advantage of securing the right thing, at the right place at the right time. (h) The worker's skill is increased and he is stimu- lated to suggest improved methods and devices. (i) He has to assist him, combined and in usable form, the past best practice, the experience and intelli- gence of his fellow workers, the ability of his superiors and all extant scientific knowledge. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 119 (j) The management does the work for which it is best fitted and the men the work for which they are best fitted. (k) The best class of labor is attracted and held, and a lower, class of labor can do a higher class of work. (1) The men are better contented, more interested in the work, in better health and a greater output per man is possible. (m) The various departments are so balanced that local congestion is replaced by a continuous pull from each department. 2 Material cost is reduced: (a) By a systematic elimination of waste in manu- facture. (b) By a system of storage which reduces to a mini- mum: — (i) Stock carried. (2) Deterioration in storage. (c) By a scientific selection of the most suitable ma- terial. 3 Overhead cost is reduced since intensive management means a greater output with the same labor force and equip- ment. The following charges are therefore divided by a larger amount and the cost per unit is reduced: — (a) Superintendence and general office, (b) Rent or interest on investment in land, build- ings, machinery, tools and various sorts of equipment. (c) Taxes, insurance, (d) Depreciation, (e) Repairs. (f) Power, water, light, heat and ventilatson. Wastes of power, floor space, lighting, etc., are reduced. Losses due to inaccurate cost estimates are reduced by pre- determination of the costs of manufacture. 4 Competent management is continuously assured. (a) Once a best method — either of doing the work or meeting a condition — is determined it becomes a per- manent record of the company so that the expense of solving the problem does not have to be incurred more than once. Costly mistakes are not repeated and the con- cern ceases to be the personal experimental school of new executives. 120 SELECTED ARTICLES (b) The capabilities of various subordinates are more exactly determined so that the likelihood of mistaken pro- motions, which are costly, are reduced. (c) Trade secrets become the property of the company. (d) Faults, whether of men or managers, are auto- matically traced to their source. (e) Exact and definite knowledge takes the place of bluffing; this applies to men, foremen, superintendents and managers. Those who are incompetent are automatically forced out. (f) Unnecessary executive work is eliminated by the introduction of the exception principle which brings only abnormal conditions, but those forcibly to the attention of the management. II Labor troubles are eliminated by scientific management (a) Since the interests of employer and employee are made identical. The employee is benefitted directly in proportion to his part in lowering the cost of manufacture. (b) Men are not herded together in classes, and the payment of classes instead of men ceases to lead to col- lective bargaining, strikes, etc. (c) Mutual respect takes the place of mutual distrust since : — (d) The worker is insured a fair deal by scientifically and impartially predetermined rates. It is no longer nec- essary for the employer to cut rates, break his word, etc., and it is no longer necessary for the men to deceive their employer as to the amount of work which is possible. (e) Bluffing is eliminated on both sides. (f) Driving by the foremen is replaced by their inter- ested assistance. (g) Blame is placed where it belongs. (h) Co-operation takes the place of the fight for ad- vantage. (i) Labor is educated to habits of industry which lead to better habits of life, to contentment and happiness. III An increased output is obtained without increasing the investment in real estate, plant or equipment, since the same labor force housed in the same buildings and using the same machines turn out a vastly greater product. IV An improved quality of product is obtained by: — MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 121 (a) Making it as much to the worker's advantage to produce quaHty as quantity. (b) Reducing the chance of misunderstanding in re- gard to the method of doing the work. (c) The elimination of dreaming over the work. (d) The abolition of strenuousness, (e) Scientifically determining the best adapted mate- rial. (f) Furnishing the tool and machine calculated to do the best work. (g) Concentrating the best knowledge of the best way to do the work in such a manner that it bears directly upon the work in hand. V Prompt deliveries are insured by scientific management by means of (a) A storage system which reduces delays through lack of material. (b) Figuring systematically the time required for the manufacture before making promises to the customer and then keeping the time allowed for making each part forc- ibly before the department responsible. (c) So sorting the material throughout the course of the manufacture that the parts are ready when wanted and in' the order wanted in each department. B — For the Employee I Higher pay is secured by scientific management since the workman is allowed to let himself out without fear of hav- ing his pay cut and consequently earns more. He is assisted in this by having all obstacles to rapid per- formance removed, breakdowns reduced, material delivered promptly, and the proper tools furnished in the best condition. He loses no time hunting foremen for instructions. The best method of doing the work is figured out for him so that in doing his work he has the advantage of the best brains and the best experience in concentrated form. As a result he can pay his employer for having this done for him and still earn from 20 to 40% more wages. II Shorter hours are secured in many cases although this is dependent upon the nature of the work and the established working day. Frequently scientific analysis of the work has resulted . in a shorter working day, higher wages and an in- creased profit to the manufacturer. 122 SELECTED ARTICLES III Steady employment is secured as a result of the elim- ination of labor troubles resulting in strikes and lockouts and in the reduction of shutdowns due to dull times by means of the wider market reached and by the advantage more efficient op- eration gives the manufacturer over his competitors. IV-VI Less fatigue, satisfaction in work, education, etc., are made possible by the methods of scientific management The work is analyzed, each motion is studied and is made as easy as possible. All unnecessary motions are eliminated, rest periods are introduced where necessary, conditions are lined up to assist the worker and where he is not physically or tempera- mentally suited to the particular work a transfer is made. The work is speeded to the point where it exhilarates, being neither fatiguingly slow nor exhaustingly strenuous. The combination of pay in proportion to work, incentive for ingenuity, and clear and intelligent instructions, means less worry and greater possible interest in the work. Ambition is substituted as an incentive for the fear of dis- charge. The foreman instead of a driver becomes a friendly teacher. Co-operation is substituted for antagonism. Deception is unprofitable and hate is succeeded by mutual respect. The worker's increased knowledge of his work, his acquired habits of industry, and his better ideals make him a better man, physically, mentally and morally which benefits him as well as the community C — To the Community I- VI Scientific management generally introduced into the industries of a community means much to the community. The more good citizens, the greater is the benefit to all the citizens. There are fewer in jails and hospitals and the taxpayers are benefitted. The merchants are paid more promptly, there are fewer failures and lower prices. 'The banks are benefitted and new industries grow. New industries seek a community free from labor troubles. As the factories increase and grow money from a wider territory flows into the community and all pros- per. Business becomes more stable. If times are -dull in one section, the manufacturer may reach another market and the more industries a town possesses, the more is that town's prosperity insured. If wages are increased without reduction of profit to the manufacturer he maintains his price and the employee can buy MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 123 more of that produced for his increased pay than he could be- fore he received his raise. It makes no difference whether he buys from his own or someone else's employer, he can get more for his money as long as wages can be raised without increasing prices. What you can get for your money determines whether the cost of living is high or low. Any system then which makes it possible for the manufacturer to profitably raise wages with- out raising prices reduces the cost of living to the community and to the nation. Elements of Scientific Management Scientific management combines, with the present best prin- ciples of management, among others, the following special fea- tures : — 1 Analytical time study — under which — (a) The best practice is timed, one motion at a time and this is — (b) Divided into — (i) Necessary motions — (which are improved upon, following the laws of motion study). (2) Unnecessary motions — (which are elimin- ated). (3) Delays — (which are analyzed and as far as possible eliminated). 2 Written instruction card — ^which combines — (a) The results of analytical time study. (b) The knowledge and experience of the men, fore- men, superintendents, etc. (c) The knowledge and science of the industrial en- gineer, mechanical engineering, the laws of heavy and light labor, of fatigue, of mental and physical fitness to tasks, etc., etc. (d) And establishes the correct time for each motion. 3 Bonus for workmen — which rewards the worker for do- ing the work according to the instruction card, in proportion to his accomplishment. This usually includes day rate in case of failure and partial reward for partial success. 4 Bonus for foremen — and to all who assist the workman in accomplishing his task. 5 Centralization and specialization in all activities, com- prising especially 124 SELECTED ARTICLES (a) Despatching — Instead of sending each part along in a haphazard fashion, dependent upon the care of each workman or foreman, the matter of the movement of parts is concentrated in one department, or maide the business of one man, who makes the movement of each part and its arrival on time his special study and is held responsi- ble. This work covers also the arrival of material and supplies at the proper time. (b) Routing — ^The shortest and most economical path of each part through the shop is studied and established and the responsibility for its following this route is fixed. (c) Functional foremanship — Instead of each boss and foreman trying to be A "jack of all trades" each one spe- cializes in some one portion of the work — covering more men but less subjects. (d) Staff investigation — Certain problems requiring special study and development are turned over to one man or group of men. This would include a study of the best adapted tool for the work, the creation of new machines, the determination of the most economical material and the methods of rendering repair work permanent. Standards are established and the line organization is enabled to do each sort of work in the best way. The industrial engi- neer assists in this work and the results become a record of the company. Results of Scientific Management Over 50,000 workmen in the United States are now employed under this system and they are receiving from 30 to 100% higher daily wages than are paid to men of similar calibre with whom they are surrounded, while companies employing them are more prosperous than ever before. The output per man and per ma- chine has been doubled and there has never been a strike among the men working under the system. A few examples of the application of the principle of scien- tific management to various industries follow: — •' I Pig iron handling: Unloading from box cars — Wages in- creased 69% ($ .16 to $ .27 per hour) ; output increased 500% (2 tons per hour to 10 tons) ; costs cut 66% (from ^ The figures here given applied at the time this article was written (igi6). Later figures are not available. — Ed. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 125 $ .08 to $ .27 per ton). In Bethlehem Steel Co.'s yards, various movements — Wages increased 60% ($1.15 to $1.85 per day) ; output, 300% (from 12 tons to 48 tons per day) ; cost cut 60% (from $ .097 to $ .038 per ton). 2 Shoveling: Various materials in Bethlehem Steel Co.'s yards — Wages increased 60% ($1.15 to $1.88 per day) ; cost per ton reduced 54% (from $ .073 to $ .033). The saving the first year amounted to $36,000, the second year to $80,000. 3 Iron moulding — Wages increased 75% ($3.28 to $5.74 per man) ; output increased 265% (time cut from 53 to 20 minutes per piece) ; and costs cut 53% ($1.17 to $ .54 per piece) . 4 Bricklaying: Union men averaged 350 brick per hour in- stead of 120, with less fatigue, making five motions in- stead of 18. 5 Riveting: Crew drove 731 rivets per day on structural work instead of 432 per day — an increase of 69%. 6 Cleaning boilers: Cost cut from $62.00 to $11.00 per set and work done more easily and more thoroughly. 7 Sulphate pulp mills: Output doubled, cost reduced. 8 Tobacco pouch factory : Girls averaged 550 per day instead of 27s, an increase of 100%. 9 Bicycle ball factory : Wages increased 90%, hours short- ened from loj^ to 8j4, quality improved, cost reduced. ID Pillow case factory: Wages increased 40%; production increased 33% ; cost cut in half ; imperfections per case cut from 47 to 2. 1 1 Cloth mill : Wages increased 40% ; production increased 80% ; cost reduced 60% ; quality improved. 12 Foundry: Wages increased over 60% and cost cut 66% on big cylinder bushings. 13 Machine shop: Wages increased 17%; output increased 41%; cost reduced 60%. Foundry and machine shop : Wages increased 69.2% ; working day cut from ten to nine hours; and a saving of $120,000 per year effected. The establishment of standards through staff investigation in certain shops has accomplished remarkable results, for ex- ample : (a) Standardized belting has increased the average life 126 SELECTED ARTICLES of belts sixfold, the belt failures are one-sixth and the annual cost is less than one-seventh what it was. (b) High speed steel in machine shops accomplishes from four to five times as much as ordinary steel. (c) Standardized abrasive wheels cut four times as fast as old fashioned ground stones. (d) Standardized files last four times as long and cut much faster. Scientific management investigates every phase of a business using the scientific method, which eliminates the useless, im- proves the necessary and makes permanent the best; its results benefit the worker, the owner and the community. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT' Scientific management differs radically from the most com- petent and progressive management under the old system. It differs also from systematized management. The difference is one in kind; and not merely in the degree of competence, or in the existence of the progressive as opposed to conservative methods. Scientific management differs from that now gener- ally practiced, much as production by machinery differs from production by hand; and the revolution in railroading and other industries, which must result from the introduction of scientific management, is comparable only to that involved in the transition from hand to machine production. Engineering, whether applied to the production of trans- portation or of cotton cloth, or shoes, or machines, means the planning in advance of production so as to secure certain re- sults. The distinction between the mechanic and the engineer is that the mechanic cuts and tries and works by formula based on empiricism; the engineer calculates and plans with absolute certainty of the accomplishment of the final result in accord- ance with his plans which are based ultimately on fundamental truths and natural science. In scientific management, therefore, results are predeter- mined.. Before the work is commenced, it is determined not only as to what shall be done, but how it shall be done, when it shtall be done and what it shall cost. Planning in advance is the essence of scientific management 1 By Louis D. Brandeis. From brief filed with the Interstate Com- merce Commission, January 3, igxi. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 127 The business engineer makes his plans and specifications cov- ering the process of production before it is entered upon, — ex- tending his directions like the mechanical engineer into minute details in order to secure the perfect product. Those engaged in actually performing the work would rarely be competent to do such planning; but even if competent, they could not under- take that function while engaged in performance without seri- ously impairing the progress of the work. Under scientific management, the management of the business assumes towards the workmen a wholly new function. Instead of the prevailing "putting it up" to the employee to do his work with such stimulus as may be given through force or induce- ment, the management, under the new science, assumes the re- sponsibility of enabling the employee to work under the best possible conditions of perfect team play. It undertakes to in- struct him definitely what to do and the best method of doing the particular work. It undertakes to provide him with the best tools, and with machines in the best condition. It under- takes to furnish him with assistance to perform those parts of the operation requiring less skill than his own. It keeps him constantly supplied with appropriate material. Acting in full co-operation with the workmen, the management thus removes all obstacles to the workmen's full performance and supplies all aids necessary to secure full performance. The manage- ment thus assumes the burdens of management, and relieves labor of responsibilities not its own. The results attained through scientific management depend upon universal preparedness. Under scientific management nothing is left to chance. All is carefully prepared in advance. Every operation is to be performed according to a predetermined schedule under definite instructions, and the execution under this plan is inspected and supervised at every point. Errors are prevented instead of being corrected. The terrible waste of delays and accidents is avoided. Calculation is substituted for guess; demonstration for opinion. The high efficiency of the limited passenger train is sought to be obtained in the ordinary operations of the business. The results attained through scientific management depend further on a careful study of each operation with a view to determining in the first place what time should normally be taken in performing the operation, and secondly, whether it can be performed in a better manner than has hitherto been prac- 128 SELECTED ARTICLES ticed. No assumption is made that the time hitherto employed was necessarily the proper time, nor that the way in which it has been performed is the best way. Scientific observation and scientific methods are substituted for the rule of thumb, for practices hallowed by age and tradition; and waste, whether of time or of effort or of material, is eliminated. The whole realm of science is brought to the aid of the humblest work- man. Instead of letting him trudge alone in darkness and afoot through a sandy road, he moves as on a bicycle by daylight over asphalt pavement. Scientific management recognizes also that due appreciation of the actual results of effort must be based upon actual knowl- edge; and such knowledge is an essential condition to the best performance. The current record of the accomplishment of each individual, of each machine, and of all material is an indispensable factor in scientific management. Without such a record the tyranny of the foreman, and all the discord which attends it, is inevitable. Without such a record justice to em* ployer and employee is impossible. Without such a record waste cannot be eliminated. Without such a record no firm basis exists for progress in the individual or in the establish- ment. Possessing such individual records, each performance is then compared with the standard determined through analytical study. Scientific management seeks to ascertain and apply in every process the best attainable methods, practices, tools, and ma- chines. It necessarily follows that all must be standardized. There is but one best way; and it is essential for the stand- ardization of tools and machines that they be all in perfect condition. Any variation from the best, be it in kind or con- dition, is certain to interfere with the regularity of producton, in quantity and quality and also to render untrustworthy such tests of relative efficiency as have been established. Wherever the principles of scientific management have been applied, greatly increased efficiency of men has been attained. The following are a few examples. (a) When applied to the simple operation of loading by hand a railroad car with pig iron, the performance of the in- dividual worker increased from 12^ to 47 tons a day. (b^ When applied to shoVelinT coal, it doubled or trebled the performance of the shoveller. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 129 (c) When applied to machine shop work, it developed in certain operations, increases in production, ranging from 400 to 1800 per cent. (d) When apphed to bricklaying the day's accomplishment rose from 1000 to 2700 bricks. (e) When applied in the manufacture of cotton goods, it increased the output a hundred per cent. Under scientific management the same analytical study is made of the possible accomplishment of each part of the plant and of each individual machine, as it is of the individual worker. Analytical study is made to determine what perform- ance is possible under the best conditions and to eliminate ev- ery obstacle to full performance so as to secure the full utili- zation of every part of the plant and equipment. In most cases the increased productivity of the individual workman carries with it increased production of plant and machinery. Every problem incident to plant and machinery receives close study, — for instance, the arrangement of plant and machinery so as to reduce all unnecessary movements of men and material or ma- chinery; equalization of equipment as well as standardization of equipment. A common incident of the introduction of scien- tific management is the discovery that a plant supposed to have been inadequate proves to be over-equipped. Under scientific management the same study is made and care taken to secure full utilization of materials as of men and machines. Scientific methods are pursued to determine what materials are best fitted for the particular purpose and what their proper cost should be. Only such materials are supplied. The material is guarded with the same scrupulous care as the money with which it is bought. Ledger accounts are kept for each article; whatever is needed must be vouched and accounted for and the material account be balanced as accurately as the cashier balances his daily cash account. Thus what is on hand is always known by the accounts ; and waste either in purchase or in use is avoided. Under scientific management the employee is enabled to earn without greater strain upon his vitality from 25 to 60 per cent and at times even 100 per cent more than under the old system. The larger wages are made possible by larger produc- tion; but this gain in production is not attained by "speeding up." It comes largely from removing the obstacles to produc- tion which annoy and exhaust the workman, — obstacles for 130 SELECTED ARTICLES which he is not, or should not be made, responsible. The man- agement sees to it that his machine is always in perfect order. The management sees to it that he is always supplied with the necessary materials. The management sees to it that the work comes to him at proper times, with proper instructions and in proper condition. The' management sees to it that he is shown the best possible way of doing the job; that is, the way which takes least time, which takes least effort, and which produces the best result. Relieved of every unnecessary effort, of every unnecessary interruption and annoyance, the worker is enabled without greater strain to furnish much more in production. And under the exhilaration of achievement he develops his capacity. The social gains of the workingman from scientific manage- ment are greater even than the financial. He secures the devel- opment and rise in self-respect, the satisfaction with his work, which in almost every line of human activity accompanies great accomplishment by the individual. Eagerness and interest take the place of indifference, both because the workman is called upon to do the highest work of which he is capable, and also because in doing this better work he secures appropriate and substantial recognition and reward. Under scientific manage- ment men are led, not driven. Instead of working unwillingly for their employer they work in co-operation with the manage- ment for themselves and their employer in what is a "square deal." Scientific management recognizes the right of those less ex- pert in the work to advance to greater efficiency, and the im- portance to the employer of training his workmen to be com- petent. It therefore provides through the most practical teachers for careful training of men to work in the best manner and to develop habits of industry instead of letting "the devil take the hindmost" and exposing the less competent to the proba- bility of discharge. It supplies instruction, and offers to the teachers special incentives if they succeed in bringing up the hindmost. Experience has already demonstrated that the principles of scientific management are general in their application, and can be introduced into practically all businesses, and all depart- ments of any business. They have been successfully applied in private competitive businesses, like machine shops and facto- ries, steel works, and paper mills, cotton mills and shoe shops, in bleacheries and dye works, in printing and book-binding, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 131 in lithographing establishments, in the manufacture of type- writers and optical instruments, in construction and engineer- ing work, and in establishments not commonly regarded as business, and recently to some extent they have been introduced by the United States Government into the manufacturing depart- ments of the Army and Navy. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT ' Basic Principles — Social and Industrial What are the basic principles of Scientific Management, industrially and socially? Historically, Scientific Management was not worked out as the expression of any basic, industrial principles : that is to say, it did not originate in the mind of any man as a detailed and concrete expression of some body of principles in his mind. Mr. Taylor, a foreman over a group of working people, was concerned with the practical problem of making his foremanship successful, and worked out certain detailed methods of control, and made investiga- tions related to the problem of control for a great many years. If he started with a basic principle at all, it was this : investi- gate thoroughly before you conclude what to do and how to do it. He investigated thoroughly, came to conclusions how to solve certain practical problems relating to the control of the operations of a shop, and then after going over these practical conclusions discerned that there were in them certain universal principles of management. These he presented in a paper be- fore a body of engineers. But few of his auditors grasped their significance ; one or two did, and these men in discussion said they were revolutionary, not only from the point of view of management, but also socially and industrially. Since then there has been a growing appreciation that Scientific Manage- ment represents new industrial and social as well as managerial principles. The fundamental industrial and social principles are two : I. It is a method of management which permits a greater satisfaction of human wants from a given quantity of material, capital and labor. It is a fundamental principle which is not " By H. S. Person, Managing Director, The Taylor Society. From a lecture delivered before the Filene Cooperative Association, an organ- ization of the employees of Wm. Filene's Sons Co., Boston, Mass., in its business course. Printed here by permission. 132 SELECTED ARTICLES disputed, that the total income of all of us, in the form of wages, interest, rent and profits, is limited by the productivity of the combination of labor, machinery, raw materials, and so forth, at our disposal and we cannot have a larger income than can be derived from the best known technical methods of com- bining these. There is no way of increasing one's share of the total income except at the sacrifice of another party, or by mak- ing total production more efficient. Now Scientific Manage- ment means greater technical efficiency, and therefore greater total income, which will result in greater profits, higher wages, or a shorter working day, or in a combination of these, and in general in the satisfaction of more wants than we are now able to satisfy under present operating methods. IL The second fundamental principle — I think it may sur- prise some of you — is the principle of democratization. There are a great many who conceive of Scientific Management, through its centralized control, as working against the demo- cratization of the whole combination of working people. It means the reverse, I believe, for the following reason: It seeks exact information, which it does not conceal. It pools the in- formation ascertained so that everybody can have it. It is recognized that it makes much more efficient and independent the average of ability. You can go into a Scientific Manage- ment plant and you will find that the Order of Work Clerk, the Production Clerk, those in immediate supervision of control of the processes, have nearly all been drawn from the ranks of working people. It discovers, records, and pools • information in such a way as to make more efficient and much more pro- ductive the average ability, such as we all have; and as a re- sult it makes it possible for industry to rely less on genius and on intuition. Another reason for its influence towards democ- racy is that it is conditioned upon co-operative good will. There are two fundamental principles: (i) the industrial principle of greater satisfaction of human wants from a given amount of equipment and material; (2) the social principle of greater democratization in industry. Plans and Policies I interpret "Plans and Policies" to ask me what is the ob- ject of Scientific Management and what does it purpose to do in actual operation? First, I want to speak about the plans and MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 133 purposes of Scientific Management as concerning productive procelses; after that I want to say a word about the plans and policies as they concern the distribution of the income which results. Keep those two points separately in mind. I. Aims, plans, policies and methods as they concern pro- ductive processes. As I analyze it there are three principal aims in it: (1) Seeking of more precise information through investi- gation, experiment, etc. (2) As great an amount of prediction of what is going to happen in business operation as is possible on the basis of the unusual amount of exact information acquired. (3) Precise control of the processes of conducting the busi- ness by various functionalized people in such wise as to bring about as precisely as possible the predictions which have been made on the basis of the exact information required. I think that is a somewhat new analysis of the aims of Sci- entific Management, but I believe it is absolutely sound. (i) Seeking of more precise information. It is in the Scientific Management plant that investigation and experiment, — the establishing of an experiment room with adequate equip- ment under the direction of capable investigators, have been worked out. It is in connection with this investigation and ex- perimentation that time study has come in. I cite it as a method of acquiring precise information. Time study simpily means a method of acquiring exact information with respect to the time which it takes a person to do a certain thing, with certain definite equipment, under certain definite conditions. If you know that — the time it takes a person to do a definite thing, with definite equipment, under definite conditions — ^you have a piece of precise information which you can use in pre- diction if you receive an order to make something. There has been a great deal of abuse of time study, because it is one of those things of which it is easy to comprehend the possibili- ties; because it is easy to buy a stop watch; because it is easy to put over the bluff of using it properly. The stop watch has been used injuriously by unskilled persons. The scientific use of the stop watch is to take unit times. It has been applied to a good many varieties of work. Take brick laying, because that is a classical case of the application of time study as a method of scientific investigation. Brick laying has a great many variables, such as windows, comers, the nature of the 134 SELECTED ARTICLES courses, etc. Now, Scientific Management investigators have worked out the time it takes an ordinary skilled brick layer to lay a single brick under each of every conceivable condition. They did not find out how long it takes to lay fifty feet of wall with all sorts of conditions, but how long it takes to lay one brick under any condition of bricklaying. Suppose a contractor receives an inquiry to bid on laying a wall. He receives the specifications and analyzes them: so many corners; so many windows; so many feet of plain wall between; so much face brick; so much filling; etc. By multiplying the number of bricks to be laid under each varying condition by the average time of laying one brick under each condition, he can compute readily an average over-all time for laying fifty feet of wall with all the specified conditions of windows, corners, etc. I give you that as an illustration of the extent to which this pre- cise information is sought, and also as an illustration of the exact prediction possible in the light of precise information. (2) Precise Prediction. If one by time study and other investigation has secured and filed information telling the time of performing a unit operation with certain tools and materi- als under certain conditions, then if an order comes in to do or make something which represents a combination of tliese unit operations, by a simple mathematical calculation it is pos- sible to determine how long it will take to fill the order, what materials and tools must be provided, what conditions estab- lished, when work on each part should begin, when and how they, should be assembled, etc. In other words, an accurate lay- out of work on the job becomes possible. In most plants layout is by guess. Guess involves waste. An accurate layout of separate jobs means accurate layout and dovetailing of all jobs, and economical and efficient operation of materials, equipment and labor; in other words, more precise control. (3) Precise Control. This means that to each of a num- ber of persons shall be assigned, with authority, the responsi- bility of maintaining one or more of the standard conditions on the basis of which the prediction or layout of a job is made. The principal standard conditions to be maintained are (a) Standard materials. All materials purchased should conform to carefuUy-worked-out, detailed specifications. It is surprising, if this is not done, how great variations there may be in materials received, without violation of the terms of the purchase and grounds for rejection. Materials purchased by MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I3S detailed specifications, however, should never vary, and should give always the same reaction to the application of the labor of foreman and workman. (b) Standard storing and issuing of materials. Materi- als should be under the custody of a person who will issue them only at the time, to the workman, and in the. quantity specified by the person who lays out the job. Thus is avoided that surprising, unintentional waste which results from permit- ting Tom, Dick and Harry to help themselves to material at their pleasure. (c) Standard conditions under which work is performed. Someone to whom such responsibility has been assigned should relieve the workman of the necessity of maintaining the most favorable conditions of work. The most favorable conditions of work involve many elements: heat, light, availability of material, perfect conditions of machine, bench, tools, belting, etc. (d) Standard methods of performing operations. This is the responsibility of the foreman and workman. When a job is to be performed, it should be performed by the workman ac- cording to the best known method determined by experiment, and nothing should detract the workman from that responsi- bility. His standard materials have been brought to him; the perfection of the conditions in which he is to work has been provided for; another has seen to it that his machine and tools are in perfect condition and ready; his responsibility is to per- form the operation. And he, as well as the person who has laid out his job, should know how long it will take him to per- form it, for every condition of operation is predetermined. There are other elements of precise control which I might describe to you, but I feel that I have made clear the nature of it in describing control of materials, conditions and processes. Do you not see that much waste of material, labor, machine, time, etc., is impossible with such control? Through what machinery are the three primary aims of Sci- entific Management (investigation, prediction, precise control) accomplished? This machinery is described in the words functional organisation. You have functional organization in this merchandising house, and you know what it is. It is carried but to an unus- ual degree in manufacturing plants by Scientific Management. First, there is functional organization in the large; planning is separated entirely from doing. Now, in an ordinary manufac- 136 SELECTED ARTICLES turing plant an order is received to make something. That is sent down to the foreman with an order to "make twenty-five of these by the 25th of June." The foreman turns to the work- man and says, "Start on these day after tomorrow." There your foreman has planned who is to do it; how long it will take; how it is to be done; and so on. Under Scientific Man- agement, on the other hand, in a room called the planning room, where is kept on file all the information which has been gathered regarding all phases of operation, the planning is done. First, a list is made of the operations involved in filling this order, and of the materials and equipment required; second, an estimate is made of the time it takes to do each one of the operations with due allowance for uncertainties; third, a day is determined when work on the order is to start in order to meet the date of promised delivery. All planning of that sort is done, and proper orders are made out. 'On the proper date these orders are issued to the man who has charge of the ma- terial, telling him to send it to such and such a machine; and to the workman at that machine, telling him to start the work. Accompanying the order issued him is the analysis of the job and definite instructions for its performance. You know the story of the German General who made warfate scientific. The story is that he was awakened from his sleep and notified- that war with France had been declared. He said "Pigeon-hole A" and went to sleep again. When he awoke, mobilization was on. He had filed in the pigeon-hole "A," ready for the emer- gency, precise directions for conducting it when it should come, and precise telegrams to commanders and officers. That is what planning in Scientific Management means. I have been speaking about functional organization in the large — the separation of performing, planning and investigating. There is also functional organization in detail. The best il- lustration is any shop where working people are. In the ordi- nary manufacturing plant there is one foreman directing the work of the shop. He hires the workmen and discharges them; he tells them what to do; when to do it; how to set up the machine; he inspects results; and so on. Now under Scientific Management the way that would be handled is this: Suppose you have several shops in your plant, each with a foreman with all these responsibilities. One of these men is extra good at directing workmen how to do the work; another man is very good as what we call a disciplinarian, — he can talk tactfully MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I37 with the workman who is not doing his work right, and straighten out the situation without causing friction; another one is excellent in the technical side of setting up machines. Now, you say to them that instead of each man having a room, and being responsible for everything pertaining to that room, each shall be responsible in all four shops for that in which he is particularly strong. One man, perhaps, will do nothing but instruct workmen in all four rooms; another will be disciplin- arian; another will do nothing but hiring, because he is strong in that; etc. This is functionalization in detail. I have been talking concerning plans and policies as regards productive processes. A word about plans and policies as con- cerns sharing in the rewards. II. Aims, plans, policies and methods as they concern the distribution of the total income which results. The particular productive processes which I have described to you produce more with a given combination of materials, equipment and la- bor than any other productive processes that have been worked out. What is the theory of Scientific Management with regard to the sharing in this extra income? Now Scientific Manage- ment is not tied up to any theory of sharing at all. That should be clearly kept in mind. You can have Scientific Management under a regime in which the proprietor takes every bit of the extra income. You can have Scientific Management under a regime in which the workmen get all of it. There is no definite relation between your theory of distributing your income and this technique of management. You can have Scientific Man- agement under the present prevailing system of what we know as individual ownership and control; you can have it under that possible and, as some people believe, probable form of control in which through co-operation the working people own the business and hire a manager. There is no fixed relation between the philosophy of management and of distribution. Scientific Management can be applied at any stage of our in- dustrial progress, under the particular philosophy of ownership and distribution then prevailing. Under the prevailing theory of individual ownership and management, it would be possible for the surplus of income of Scientific Management all to go to the proprietor. As a historical fact it does not. The man- agers have always shared this increased productivity with the working people by increasing wages, and with the consumer by lowering prices. This is how it works. I am saving on costs. 138 SELECTED ARTICLES I am convinced that the saving will be permanent. To get more trade I lower my selling price slightly. I lower it to the extent necessary to get the trade, and increase my business to the extent I want. Thereby I am sharing part of this increased income with the consumer in lower prices. Furthermore, this policy of precise investigation, precise prediction, and precise control of operations so as to bring about what is predicted, is based on, and conducted on, a spirit of goodwill and co-opera- tion of all workers concerned, and therefore, historically, with- out reference to any theory of distributing social income, sim- ply as a method to secure the goodwill of everybody concerned, the management has in every case increased wages voluntarily. This precise control requires that everybody shall agree to as- sume responsibility for doing the particular thing assigned to him or her without fail. It never will work without the spirit of co-operative assumption of responsibility, and one of the first moves of the managers who put in this type of manage- ment, whose whole bringing up would be to take all the profit they can get as long as they are paying running wages, is to increase wages very considerably in order to get those things absolutely essential to precise control — goodwill and co-opera- tion. If Scientific Management is working successfully in any plant, it is proof that there is fine spirit there, because it would fail without that spirit. This increasing of wages and salaries by owners because they do so as a means of securing the good- will essential to precise control, has developed with discussion and with the enlightenment and broadmindedness that has come from discussion, so that the dominant motive today as con- trasted with ten years ago is to share the increased profits as a matter of social justice, a very radical modification in motive resulting from largeness of mind. That is one of the effects of this philosophy of management. Range of Application In the first place Scientific Management has been applied almost entirely in manufacturing establishments, for the very obvious reason that manufacturing operations are capable of much more precise control than merchandising operations, and the operations of auxiliary businesses. Second, the demand for the services of the men capable of applying Scientific Man- agement in these manufacturing industries has been so great as MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I39 to absorb nearly all of their time. They have not had deliber- ately to pick out the hardest industries. A number of applica- tions were first worked out in machine shops, and most illus- trations are naturally from that industry. As a matter of fact, without any literature resulting from it, the philosophy of Sci- entific Management has been applied to a great variety of industries, represented by such a variety as iron and steel, books and binding, textiles, clothing, building construction, and even banking. It is very interesting to know that the exponents of Scien- tific Management are now educating the public with respect to something they have known but which the public has not — that Scientific Management is not a rigid thing. It is not the same here and there, but must be different in every kind of plant, because of different local conditions; and in different types of industry different features of the mechanics and principles must be emphasized. They have worked out three principal types of industries : 1 Industries with continuous processes; uniform product with uniform specifications; single purpose machines; uni- form operations; simple routing. Illustrated by the man- ufacture of paper and pulp. 2 Industries with non-continuous processes; uniform product with varying specifications; single purpose machines; uni- form operations; simple routing. Illustrated by the manu- facture of envelopes, books, and handkerchiefs. 3 Industries with non-continuous processes; varying products with varying specifications; multiple purpose machines; varying operations; complex routing. Illustrated by ma- chine shops. Effect on Production and Distribution. Where real Scientific Management has been applied there is observable the following effect on productive and distributive processes, — all resulting from precise control made possible by intensive continuous investigation: 1 Greater efficiency of the individual workman, without greater expenditure of physical and nervous energy. 2 Greater efficiency of equipment. 3 Greater efficiency of material. 140 SELECTED ARTICLES 4 Resultant lower costs, greater profits, higher wages, and in many instances lower selling prices. 5 Greater precision in deliveries. Effect on the Industrial Workman I do not know of any phase of the subject about which there are more incorrect statements, based either on prejudice or ignorance, than the influence on the workman. There is only one safe way to know what the facts are: that is to go and visit real Scientific Management plants. You cannot rely on printed literature. These misleading statements are in many instances deliberate falsehoods, but on the whole, I believe, rather a misrepresentation of facts because of the bias of some industrial philosophy. I am going to present the following gen- eralizations based on personal observation and inquiry, con- cerning the eflfects of Scientific Management on the individual workman. First: The health of working people is not impaired, but on the other hand is usually improved by the better general working conditions established. Second: There is always increased wage. In some cases it is very considerable — twenty-five or thirty per cent. Where it is not as considerable as that it takes the other form of shorter hours. In many cases it is a combination of increased wage and shorter hours. Third : The attitude of mind and spirit of the working peo- ple in the plants I have inspected is conspicuously better than the attitude of mind and spirit I have seen under other types of management. Scientific Management to survive, depends upon that thing. The idea of precise control is impossible without it. Fourth : Contrary to your first impressions, based upon mis- information and upon a misconception of the nature of stand- ardization, Scientific Management offers a greater opportunity for the promotion of working people freely from one position to another. Fifth : According to my observations, as a result of the spirit in the plant, and increased wage, and sometimes shorter hours, the standard of living of the working people is more satisfactory than that which accompanies ordinary conditions of management. This results not merely from the ability to MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 141 enjoy more things; it arises also from a different attitude toward things and toward each other. Finally: I think I see in it the opportunity for regularizing employment. One of the serious social problems confronting us is irregularity in employment. I do not see any possibility of regularization without precise knowledge of facts, ability to predict, and precise control; and one plant — a Scientific Man- agement plant — ^has had the nerve to tackle the problem of reg- ularizing employment by deliberately not making all it can in full season and holding production over to the dull season. It feels confident of what it is doing, because of precise knowl- edge and precise control of its operations. These effects of Scientific Management on the individual workman, reflected in the home and multiplied by the number of homes, represents its effect on the community. Higher wages make possible the enjoyment by the community of a greater number of things of life, and shorter hours of work afford the time for this enjoyment. The spirit of "the best way" and of "the reason why," developed in the shop, is carried into home and community life, as is also that broadmindedness and tol- erance which develops with co-operative activity. Modifications of Scientific Management Just as there were fake physicians and shyster lawyers when medicine and law were young professions, so we have at pres- ent fake organizing engineers. They do as much damage to the plants by which they are engaged as the fake physician did to the health of his patient. I wish it were possible by some sort of prescription to abolish these fake and damaging self- styled organizing engineers. I do not see how that can be done. We must rely upon the education of the employer, his refusal to employ them, and their ultimate extinction by starva- tion. The point I have just made does not concern the topic "Modification of Scientific Management," but it does concern the modification of the circumstances in which real Scientific Management finds itself. I would not suggest any modification of Scientific Manage- ment, for Scientific Management is an attitude of mind rather than a physical thing. It is a body of principles rather than a mechanism. Who would suggest a modification of the three fundamental principles I have attempted to bring out? (i) 142 SELECTED ARTICLES Continuous and intensive investigation of facts. (2) Predic- tion, so far as it is possible, on the basis of the facts ascer- tained. (3) Precise control of materials and processes so as to make actual operation conform to the facts ascertained by investigation. I cannot think of three more satisfactory uni- versal principles. Their honest application involves the idea that there shall be a strict regard for the exact facts surrounding the conditions of any particular application of the principles of Scientific Management. The consequence of that is that the mechanism and external manifestations of Scientific Management must in any particular plant be more or less different from those in any other particular plant. In that unreal sense of the word "modification,"' we may say then that there must be a modifi- cation of the mechanism of Scientific Management with every application of its principles ; but its principles remain the same, for it is a corollary of the principles enumerated above that accurate investigation of every separate plant will find a sepa- rate combination of facts that will require separate application of the principles. RELATION OF SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT TO LABOR' Until recently the problem of the relation of scientific man- agement to organized labor had, as one of its practitioners said, "merely an academic interest." There was no attempt to develop the system in closed shops. In other shops no one in- quired or knew whether there were union men or not; nor, if there were such, did they offer any objection to the develop- ment of scientific management. About 1910 however, or even earlier, in some of the railroad brotherhoods, the attention of professional labor leaders was directed toward the possibilities of this tjrpe of management. Their reaction was unfavorable; but except for the refusal of locomotive engineers to accept the bonus proposals on the Santa Fe railroad, no opportunity to express their organized opposition to scientific management presented itself until that system was extended to a detail of the Watertown Arsenal, which is part of a highly unionized branch of the government service. This was seized upon by • By C. Bertrand Thompson. From an article in Quarterly Journal of Economics. 30:330-40. February, 1916. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 143 the leaders, apparently without regard to the real feelings of the men or the facts in the case, as the occasion for a brief and insignificant strike and a long train of government investi- gations, reports, petitions, and bills in congress, whose aim is to discredit positive management generally by setting on it the stamp of governmental disapproval. In the last congress this agitation was partially successful, altho the labor leaders seem to have gotten through the wrong bill. The affair has at least been of sufficient importance to convert the question from one of academic interest to one of general industrial and economic consequence. The traditional attitude of the practitioners of positive man- agement is based on strong practical considerations of which they are fully cognizant, and on an economic theory which is rather implicit in their discussions. In general they admit cer- tain historic advantages in trade unionism, such as the gradual shortening of hours, the improvement of working conditions, and the maintenance and raising of wages. They admit that labor organization is still necessary to secure and maintain these advantages in plants not using positive management. But they insist that positive management provides these advantages to the working man more quickly, more certainly, and in fuller measure, than labor organization ever has done or can do. Re- duction of hours is a not uncommon practice under positive management. The standardization of conditions to the point of economic perfection is a fundamental principle. Wherever positive management prevails, basic wages are maintained as a matter of expediency, and are raised by the extent of the bonus. These results are brought about quickly, and without dispute or trouble. Why then, they ask, is labor organization necessary? The advocates of positive management do not stop, however, with this negative position. They maintain that certain of the present principles and practices of labor unionism are not only incompatible with the fundamental principles and practices of scientific management, but are subversive of the public inter- est. This criticism applies to such practices as restriction of output, insistence on a uniform wage, collective bargaining on matters which are questions of fact rather than of opinion, restriction of membership, and the closed shop. Socially controlled restriction of output may under some circumstances be advisable, as when there is regulation of the acreage to be sown in wheat or cotton or of the amount of coal 144 SELECTED ARTICLES to be mined year by year. The movement for the conservation of natural resources is a form of restriction enforced in the broad public interest. This is an essentially different matter from privately controlled restriction, whether by the entre- preneur or the workman. Such restriction may be of tempo- rary advantage, maintaining profits for awhile for the entre- preneur and possibly maintaining wages and postponing unem- ployment for awhile for the workman. Both these results, however, are temporary and of individual benefit. Scientific management aims fundamentally at the increase of the national dividend, which any form of privately controlled restriction aims to reduce. Scientific management, while recognizing that over-production may occur as an accidental result of unco- ordinated industrial activity or of the friction and groping of distribution, denies the possibility of real over-production in the sense of an excess of consumable goods over the needs of society. Positive management opposes the lump of labor the- ory, and insists that the more economically work can be done the greater will be the demand for it and the more highly re- warded the workers. And there is no question that increased production at lower cost per unit is desirable, at each succes- sive stage, from the point of view of the entrepreneur producer. Altho labor unions are becoming less and less willing to acknowledge restriction of output as a fundamental policy, there can be no doubt that such restriction is their constant practice and that in the back of their heads it is their final answer to the problem of unemployment. For the individual workman in the individual plant much is to be said for their theory. If the plant has orders for a hundred units, the men's jobs will last ten times as long if they take ten days instead of one day each per unit. The broader social consequences of this type of restriction work out slowly and react only in the most obscure ways on those who practise it, while its imme- diate personal consequences are obvious and apparently advan- tageous. Even if the workman sees the ultimate social disad- vantage of this policy, he can hardly be expected to sacrifice his present personal advantage to a remote social good. Inasmuch however as one of the fundamental aims of pos- itive management, and a necessary result of all its practices and methods, is the increase of output, there is here, in the ab- sence of centralized social control of production, an irrecon- cilable conflict. It would appear that the ultimate social as MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 14S well as the immediate industrial advantage is on the side of positive management and that, as it cannot surrender its funda- mental principles, it must continue to educate society to the advantages of large output and to fight all efforts to restrict it. There is an equally fundamental conflict between the trade union principle of a uniform wage based on class similarity and the positive management principle of a differential wage for differential abilities. Positive management accepts the wage current in the com- munity as its basic wage, and so long as general conditions remain substantially the same, considers that this wage should be paid uniformly to all workmen for an ordinary day's work. Some of its practitioners may question theoretically the justice of these current rates. While their theories have apparently not been thoroly reasoned out nor stated with any great clearness, there appears to be among them a feeling that basic wages should be related to each other in proportion to the dis- agreeableness, sacrifice, or "cost" of different occupations, sci- entifically determined. One proposes that this determination shall be on the basis of foot pounds of energy expended, an- other on an estimate bf the relative total disagreeableness or irksomeness of jobs. These theories are not pressed very in- sistently, however, nor is there much tendency to question the justice of the current rates. On the the whole they are felt to depend upon some rather hazy "law of supply and demand" ; and in any case the validity of this law, if there is any, is out- side the practical scope of a scientific manager's business. He accepts current wages as they are, as the basis on which to build a differential payment for differences in ability. For on the theory express or implied that wages should be proportionate to productive efficiency, it is agreed among all scientific management experts that it is both just and necessary to pay more than an ordinary day's wage for an extraordinary day's accomplishment such as is made feasible by their methods. It is necessary, as already explained, because otherwise the workmen will not perform the unusual day's work. It is just, because it tends to encourage the exercise of superior abilities to the ultimate benefit of society ; whereas a uniform wage tends to reduce the effort of all men, whatever their capacity may be, to the level of the least efficient man who receives the uni- form wage. There is also a feeling, scarcely reasoned out or defined, that the workman should in some way share in the 146 SELECTED ARTICLES increased product secured at least in part through his efforts. In any case there is a there conviction that differential wages are essential to the practice of positive management and that therefore the trade union principle and practice of uniformity is absolutely unacceptable. The objection of positive management to collective bargain- ing rests theoretically on the incompatibility between bargaining and the accurate scientific determination of facts, and prac- tically on the numerous diflSculties thrown in the way of the reorganization of a plant by recognition of labor unions as at present led and conducted. Positive management endeavors to build up the principles of industrial organization as well as the science of industrial conservation upon a basis of ascertained fact, where possible; and it declines to admit that any facts pertinent to the discussion are not ascertainable. Bargaining implies difference of opinion and compromise until a basis of agreement is reached. You do not bargain about or vote on scientific facts. If the ideals of positive management are real- ized, therefore, the field left open for collective bargaining is narrowed to those matters which cannot be, or at least have not been, reduced to law. In the opinion of some this eliminates altogether the pos- sibility of collective bargaining; for they believe there is' no factor, not even the basic wage rate, which cannot be reduced to accurate scientific determination, even if such determination is only the resultant of an unanalyzed "law of supply and de- mand." Others (of whom I am one) believe that while the basic wage rate is doubtless determined by some law, natural or social, the law has not yet been accurately and comprehen- sively defined; and that therefore, theoretically at least, the basic rate of wages may be a subject of bargaining. But there is complete agreement that such matters as the process to be used, or the time which it should take to perform a given piece of work, and the amount of bonus which is to be paid for its performance within a standard time, are questions of fact, and therefore not in any sense subject to collective bargaining. More important, however, than the theoretical consideration is the circumstance that collective bargaining under existing conditions requires a recognition of the union and thereby brings in its train a series of difficulties and conflicts which might be avoided altogether by consistent refusal to deal with organized labor. The bargain on basic wage rates, even the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 147 theoretically consistent with positive management, does in fact involve many details of organization such as the length of the working day, the employment of men or women or children, and the determination of what constitutes the (customarily ordinary) day's work. Further, such a bargain opens the way to "dicker- ing" over many other details such as the degree of specializa- tion to be required, the functions and authority of minor ex- ecutives, the principles governing inspection and the reduction of defective workmanship. All scientific managers will testify that at best the difficulties of their work are extreme, not to say heartbreaking. To complicate them with the necessity of conferring with committees of workmen not in the slightest de- gree familiar with the principles of management or the details as they are being worked out in the plant under process of systematizing, would be wellnigh fatal. LABOR'S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT' Industrial Democracy The controversy which centers about time study, task set- ting and the methods of payment employed by "Scientific Management" is perhaps of secondary importance to the atti- tude of "Scientific Management" towards industrial democracy and its relation to the workers. Mr. Taylor has claimed that : " 'Scientific Management' is the essence of industrial de- mocracy. It substitutes the rule of law for arbitrary decisions of foremen, employers and the unions and treats each worker as an independent personality; it transfers to the workers the traditional craft knowledge which is being lost and destroyed under current industrial methods;, lessens the rigors of shop discipline ; promotes a friendly feeling and relation between the management and the men, and among the workers of a shop or group; it gives a voice to both parties — to the workers in the end equal voice with the employer — and substitutes joint obedience to fact and laws for obedience to personal authority. No such democracy has ever existed in industries before. iBy John P. Frey. From an article in Shoe Workers' Journal. 17:8-10. March, 1916. 148 SELECTED ARTICLES Every protest of every workman must be handled by those on the management side and the right or wrong of the com- plaint must be settled, not by the opinion of either of the management or the workman, but by the great code of laws which have been developed and which must satisfy both sides; both can refer only to the arbitrament of science and fact. 'Scientific Management' thus makes collective bargainings and trades unionism unnecessary as a means of protection to the workers, but it welcomes the co-operation of unionism." Organized labor has declared that "Scientific Management" is essentially autocratic, a reversion to industrial autocracy which forces the workers to depend upon the employer's con- ception of fairness and justice and limits the democratic safe- guards of the workers, that it tends to gather up and to trans- fer to the management all the traditional knowledge, the judg- ment and the skill of the workers, and monopolizes their ini- tiative and skill in connection with work; that it ordinarily allows the workmen no voice in hiring or discharging, the setting of the task, the determination of the wages, or the general conditions of employment; that it greatly intensifies unnecessary managerial dictation and discipline; tends to pre- vent the presentation and denies the adequate consideration of grievances and tends to increase the number of shop offenses and the amount of docking and fining; it introduces the spirit of mutual suspicion and contest among the men and thus de- stroys the solidarity and co-operative spirit of the group, it has refused to deal with the workers except as individuals; it is incompatible with and destructive to unionism; it destroys all the protective rules established by unionism; and, finally, it is incompatible with and destructive to collective bargain- ing. Industrial democracy, as we understand it, is that condi- tion in the industries which acknowledges and accepts the right of labor to a collective voice in determining what the terms of employment shall be, and the conditions under which labor is to be performed. It gives practical application to the prin- ciple that government in the shop, like government in the na- tion, should be by the consent of the governed. It has not been my purpose to discuss the theory of "Scien- tific Management" as expounded by its leaders, but rather to call attention to the conditions affecting labor which were found to exist in plants where "Scientific Management" had been in- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 149 stalled. It is essential, however, that attention should be called to industrial democracy as it is apparently understood and defined by those who apply the principles of "Scientific Management," for, unless this is done, it would be impossible to understand the attitude which "Scientific Management" has assumed towards labor. Mr. Taylor has held that the relations between employers and workers are governed by a fundamental harmony of in- terests. Assuming this to be true and that perfect equality of interests exists between them, complete democracy in all of their relations is to be secured by setting aside the employers' personal authority, and the arbitrary rules and regulations of the workers, with all of the machinery for negotiations and the enforcements of decisions created by both, and substitut- ing at all times the impersonal dictates of natural law and fact. It is the democracy of science as applied to industry. All that is necessary to realize this is to have in the hop a corps of scientists to determine and declare to employers and workers the objective scientific facts. "If," as the Hoxie report says, "Mr. Taylor's original as- sumption is correct, and if all industrial matters touching the relations of employers and workmen have been or can be re- duced to a_ purely scientific basis his conception of industrial democracy is valid, and if it is adhered to by scientific man- agers generally, the worker has no need of unions, union ma- chinery or collective bargaining to voice his complaints and enforce his demands in order to secure just consideration of his interests and equal voice with the employers in the deter- mination of all matters of mutual concern." However, as a matter of fact, neither is the Taylor as- sumption correct, nor is it adhered to by scientific managers generally. Theoretically, Mr. Taylor and other leaders of "Scientific Management" hold that the elements of the conditions of la- bor and the terms of employment can be demonstrated as objective scientific facts and are, therefore, no more subject to bargaining or arbitration than the question of the earth's revolution on its axis or the principles of arithmetic. Perhaps no feature of "Scientific Management" indicates a wider di- vergence between a theory and its application than the one under consideration. Mr. Taylor's ideal shops with their corps of scientists, and ISO SELECTED ARTICLES scientifically trained time-study men and instructors were not encountered during the investigation. It is true that systems of "Scientific Management" had been installed by efficiency engineers possessed of marked ability and wide experience, men of high ideals and not wanting in the milk of human kind- ness, but these men did not remain in charge of the plant to direct the machinery which they had installed, and this work was taken up by other and inferior men. It is the work of the time study men which chiefly determines whether effi- ciency shall be combined with just and humane treatment of the workers, regardful of their present and future welfare. "This being true," says the Hoxie report,^ "the time-study man is, from the standpoint of labor, the central figure in 'Scientific Management,' — its vital organ and force. To per- form his functions properly, to make 'Scientific Management' tolerable to labor, he must be a man exceptional in technical and industrial training, a man with a broad and sympathetic understanding of the workers as well as of the economic and social forces which condition their welfare, a man of unim- peachable judgment, governed by scientific rather than pecun- iary considerations, and, withal, he must occupy a high and authoritative position in the management. For if he is to set tasks that will not cause nervous and physical exhaustion, he must not only have an intimate personal knowledge of the work to be done, the special difficulties it involves, the quali- ties required to do it well, the demand which it makes on the strength, skill, ingenuity and nervous force, but he must be able to recognize and measure nervous dssturbance and fa- tigue and understand and deal wisely with temperament. If he is to set tasks that will always be fair and liberal, he must understand and know how to discount all the effects of cur- rent variations in machinery, tools and materials, in human energy and attention. If he is to safeguard the lives and health of the workers and their general economic and social welfare, he must be an expert in matters of sanitation and safety, and have a broad and deep understanding of economic and social problems and forces and, finally, if he is to make all this knowledge count, he must be able to establish the standards warranted by his study and judicial weighing of men and facts, and to protect these standards against infringe- ment and displacement. All this and more, if the claims of ' See Scientific Management and Labor by S. F. Hoxie. Appleton. 1915. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS isi 'Scientific Management' relative to labor are to be generally fulfilled. But as things actually are, this emphatically is not the type of man who is habitually engaged in time-study work, and who is being drawn into it, nor does the time-study man of the present occupy this exalted position in the hierarchy of 'Scien- tific Management.' The best men in this work are perhaps technically qualified, but so far as the observation of your investigator has gone, the best of them are technicians with little knowledge of the subject of fatigue, little understanding of psychology and temperament, little understanding of the viewpoint and problems of the workers, and almost altogether lacking in knowledge of and interest in the broader economic and social aspects of working-class welfare. The bulk of the time-study men encountered were immature men drawn from the shop or from college. They were expected to get their knowledge and training in all the matters enumerated above through, the actual work of time-study and task-setting. In the majority of cases encountered it was not considered es- sential that they should have had any special training in the particular industry. A man who had worked exclusively in the machine shop was considered competent, after a few weeks or months of contact and trial experience, to set tasks in a cotton mill. Sometimes previous industrial experience of any kind was not considered necessary. Analytical ability, good powers of observation, a sense of justice and tact were the chief quali- ties emphasized as. essential for a time-study man. Rarely, if ever, was anything said of technical knowledge concerning fatigue, psychology, sanitation, safety, and in broader prob- lems of industrial and social welfare. Indeed, time-study and task-setting were almost universally looked upon as primarily mechanical tasks in which the ability to analyze jobs and manipulate figures rather than broad knowledge and sound judgment were regarded as the essential factors. Naturally, therefore, the time-study men were found to be prevailingly of the narrow-minded, mechanical type, poorly paid and oc- cupying the lowest positions in the managerial organization, if they could be said to belong at all to the managerial group. Nor does the situation seem to promise much improvement. For the position and pay accorded to time-study, men gen- erally, are such as to preclude the drawing into this work of IS2 SELECTED ARTICLES really competent men in the broader sense. Aside from a few notable exceptions in the shops, and some men who make a general profession of time-study in connection with the in- stallment of 'Sci^tific Management' )this theoretically im- portant functionary receives little more than good mechanic's wages, and has little voice in determining shop policies. The start is often made at $15.00 per week. A good time-study man, according to current standards, can be had at from $75 to $100 a month, and $125 per month is rather high rating for experienced men, if the statements of scientific managers are to be trusted. In fact, the time-study man, who, if 'Scienti-- fie Management' is to make good the most important of its labor claims, should be among the most highly trained and in- fluential officials in the shop, a scientist in viewpoint, a wise arbiter between employer and workmen, is, in general, a petty functionary, a specialist workman, a sort of clerk, who has no voice in the counsels of the higher officials. There are, of course, exceptions to this general rule, but taking the situa- tion as a whole, the quality of the time-study men actually setting the tasks in 'Scientific Management' shops and the po- sition which they occupy are such as to preclude any present possibility of the fulfillment of its labor claims." GUILD SOCIALISM REVIVING THE GUILD IDEA' Most people are aware that long ago, in the Middle Ages, industry was organized under a system which is now called the Gild (or Guild) system. They know that for several cen- turies this was the prevailing method of industrial organiza- tion, and that it gradually decayed before the coming of modern industry, overwhelmed by the expansion of the market, by the substitution of new for old forms of production, by the grow- ing importance of finance, and by the growth of national, as opposed to local, economic, and social consciousness. The old Guild system was essentially a local system, and for most peo- ple that is a sufficient reason for dismissing it as irrelevant to present-day industrial problems. The old localized market, the 'town-economy' of which the industrial historians tell us, is indeed gone forever, though it may be hoped that we shall some day recover the iiner qualities which belong to craftsmanship and small-scale production. But, even if we accept, for our time at least, the existence of na- tional and international economy, with their concomitants the world market, and large scale production, there may still be much which we can learn from the guilds of the Middle Ages. For in the great days of the guilds, the ordinary man did achieve a position which he has never occupied in modern in- dustry — a self-government and a control of his own working life which are of the essence of human freedom. Modern industry is built up on a denial — a denial to the mass of the workers of the attributes of humanity. In the factory of to-day, the workman counts not as a man, but as an employee, not as a human being, but as the material embodi- ment of 'so much labor power. He sells his labor in a 'labor market,' and in that market an employer or the management of a company buys just that quantity of labor power which can be used for the realization of a profit. The employer or the 'By G. D. H. Cole. Living Age. 302:214-17. July 26, 1919. Mr. Cole is the leading exponent of Guild Socialism. IS4 SELECTED ARTICLES firm buys labor-power just as it buys electrical power or ma- chinery, and just as an ordinary purchaser buys a pound of tea or a cake of soap. In short, under modern industrial con- ditions labor is treated as a 'commodity' and is bought for the purpose of realizing a profit. Vast consequences flow from this way of treating the worker. Seeing that, in the factory, the worker is present not as a hu- man being, but merely as so much embodied labor power, the worker is not regarded as having any right to share in the con- trol of the factory in which he works. He is there to behave not as a man, but as labor power, to be moved about and used and to have his motion directed at will by those who have purchased his labor. According to the theory of modern in- dustry not only does the factory belong to the employer to do with it what he will : the workman also belongs to the employer during the hours for which his labor has been bought. Of course, things do not work out quite like this in prac- tice. Iff the bad days of the Industrial Revolution in the eight- eenth and early nineteenth centuries, when the workers were for the most part half-starved, helpless, and unorganized, the theory and the practice did almost completely coincide, as they still coincide in the case of the sweated workers in this country or the downtrodden employees in the mills of India or Japan. But even in these cases, the harmony of theory and practice has been on occasion rudely broken : the workers have rebelled against the conditions of their wage-slavery, and there have been strikes and riots, usually without conscious purpose or final success. In the civilized countries, the workers have gradually organized in Trade Unions, and as they have grown stronger the gulf between theory and practice has widened. The recalcitrance of labor has become more marked and more frequent, and employers have been compelled to bargain col- lectively with their workers, and to admit their possession not merely of certain human rights, but even of a certain title to a small share in industrial control usually in the form of certain restrictions imposed by the Trade Unions on the way in which the factories are run. This has meant a growing difficulty in administering industry under the existing system, until unrest has risen to such proportions as to threaten the stability of the system itself. We are not far off the position when the work- ers will refuse any longer to be treated as labor power, and MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I5S when the refusal will compel a complete reconsideration of the principles and the practice of the industrial system. The growing divergence of theory and practice can have only one end. It is impossible, in view of the present strength and consciousness of labor, that our industrial practice should ever again be harmonized with the old theory. It remains, there- fore, that we should remodel our theory, and make our practice consistent with that new theory. What is this new theory? It is here that the mediaeval guild can teach us useful lessons. For the only way out of our present impasse is to get back to a position in which every workman can feel that he has a real share in controlling the conditions of his life and work. We must reconstruct our industry on a democratic basis, and that basis can be only the control of industry by the whole body of persons who are en- gaged in it, whether they work by hand or by brain. In short, the solution lies in industrial democracy. This democracy must be in many ways very different from the democracy which existed in the mediaeval guilds, until the rise of inequalities in wealth made them plunge into oligarchy and finally chaos and dissolution. The mediaeval guilds were local, confined to a particular town and its environs: our mod- ern guilds must be national and even, in many respects, inter- national and world-wide. While preserving the local freedom and local initiative, we must co-ordinate them on the same scale as the market must be co-ordinated. The epoch of world- commerce calls for national and international guilds. There will be a second difference hardly less important. The mediaeval guilds were made up of master-craftsmen, with their journeymen and apprentices who could hope one day to be masters, working in independence in separate workshops under conditions laid down by the guild. The modern guild will be made up, in our time at least, of huge factories in which democratic control will have to be established and safe- guarded by far more formal methods than were necessary in the small workshop of the Middle Ages. Moreover, our mod- ern industries are so inter-connected and so bound up one with another, and economics and political considerations are so in- tertwined, that modern guilds will have to be far more closely related to the State than were the mediaeval guilds, which, it is true, were often most intimately related to the mediaeval municipality. 156 SELECTED ARTICLES But, with all these points of difference, the resemblance will be far more essential. Modern, like mediasval guilds, will be dominated by the idea of social service — an idea which has al- most vanished from the organization of industry in modern times. They will bring back the direct control of the producer over his work, and will give him the sense, which hardly any- one can have in industry nowadays, of working for the com- munity. That, Guildsmen believe, is the secret of getting good work well and truly done. If we set this ideal of National Guilds before us, how can we set about its realization? It is made necessary and possible by the emergence and power of Trade Unionism, and Trade Unionism is the principal instrument by means of which it must be brought about. The growing strength of Trade Union- ism is beginning to make impossible the continuance of indus- try under the old conditions; there is no remedy but in making Trade Unionism itself the nucleus of a new industrial order. Our problem, then, is that of turning Trade Unions into Na- tional Guilds. Trade Unions to-day consist principally, though not exclu- sively, of manual workers. But, clearly, a National Guild must include all workers, whether they work with their hands or with their heads, who are essential to the efficient conduct of industry. Trade Unionism must, therefore, be widened so as to include the salariat. This is already coming about. On the railways, in the shipyards and engineering shops, and in other industries the salariat is already organizing, and is show- ing an increasing tendency to link up with the manual workers. As the power of Trade Unionism grows still greater, this ten- dency will become more and more manifest. I One part of the building of National Guilds is the absorption of the salariat into the Trade Union movement. Another part, on which I have no space to dwell, is the reorganization of Trade Union- ism on industrial lines, t As these processes go on, the Unions will continue their steady encroachment in the sphere of industrial control. The divergence between the theory and practice of capitalist industry will become wider and wider, and it may be that we shall find ourselves at last with a practice fitting the new the- ory achieved without any abrupt or violent transition at all. What form will the gradual encroachment take? First, I think, the form which it is now manifestly taking in some of MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS iS7 the principal industries. The workers will create strong or- ganizations of their own in the workshops and factories (shop stewards' committees, works committees and so on) and will then demand for these organizations positive functions and powers in the control of industry. At the same time, especially in services which are state-owned and administered, the Trade Unions will demand a share in control, nationally as well as locally. In every direction, the workers through their organi- zations will gradually demand and secure as much control as they are at present able to exercise. And not merely will the appetite for control grow as it feeds ,^The competence and the power to control will grow with it, till by a series of stages the functions of industrial management are gradually trans- fered to the workers' organizations, which will by that time have come to include the whole effective personnel of industry. This is one side, and the most important side, of the de- velopment. But at the same time, the democratization of in- dustry will be accompanied by a similar gradual democratiza- tion of politics and of the State. The State will be driven more and more to assume the ownership and control of industry, and every step which it takes in this direction will make more important the existen ce of real and effective democratic con- trol over the State. pThe National Guildsman believes that industry ought to be controlled by the workers engaged in it : but he believes also that the State ought to own industry, and that popular control must be established over the machinery of St ate, f I have not left myself space to deal with this side of the problem fully :rf~can only say that Guildsmen believe that it is impossible to have a really democratic political system while the economic system remains undemocratic, and continues to be based on the denial of the Humanity of Labor.\ And, on the other hand, the democratization of the industrial system will make possible a parallel democratization of the political machine. The way to political and individual as well as to industrial freedom lies in the control of industry, and it is for this reason that the industrial problem occupies its paramount position among social questions. The Guild system, I believe, furnishes the best possible solution of the social problem, be- cause it carries with it the best reconciliation for our time of the principles of freedom and order — principles apparently in conflict, which must be reconciled in any system which is to IS8 SELECTED ARTICLES satisfy our moral striving after personal freedom and co- operation one with another. NATIONAL GUILDS MOVEMENT IN GREAT BRITAIN ' The objects of the national guilds movement in Great Brit- ain, as defined in the constitution of the National Guilds League, are "the abolition of the wage system, and the establishment by the workers of self-government in industry through a dem- ocratic system of national guilds working in conjunction with a democratic State." The leading ideas of the movement are therefore those of democratic organization and self-government in the industrial sphere. National guildsmen look forward to the time when the various industries and services will be ad- ministered each by its guild, or association organized for com- mon service, and including the whole necessary personnel of the industry concerned. This movement is only a few years,, old ; but it has made considerable headway among the manual workers, and to at least an equal extent among many classes of professional and technical workers. By Marxian Industrial Unionists and others of the extreme left wing of labor, it is indeed sometimes de- nounced as a bourgeois movement of counter-revolutionary tendency. This criticism comes principally from those who re- fuse to recognize the importance of technical and professional elements in the industrial system, or hold that the existing technicians and professionals are "'adherents of capitalism," and that it is necessary to make a clean sweep of them in prepara- tion for a new order ushered in by a proletarian dictatorship. National guildsmen differ widely in their outlook on the social and economic question as a whole. Faith in national guilds as a form of economic organization is compatible with many degrees of reformist or revolutionary opinion. There are all sorts among guildsmen, from the extreme right, which Iroks to a gradual development of guilds by the consent of the more progressive . employers, to the extreme left, which corresponds closely in method and outlook to the Marxian Industrial Union- ists. Neither of these attitudes, however, represents the main, > By G. D. H. Cole. Monthly Labor Review. U- S. Bureau Labor Statistics. 9:24-32. July, 1919. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 159 or even a considerable, body of guild opinion, -which must be sought in views falling between the two extremes. Origin and Development of National Guilds Movement It will be easier to explain the present orientation of the national guilds movement if we begin with a short account of its origin and development. It has only gradually attained to its present scope and character, and a number of different and even diverse influences have contributed to its formation. Its earliest manifestation is attributable to Mr. Arthur J. Penty. whose book on The Restoration of the Guild System was pub- lished in England in 1906. About the same time, Mr. A. R. Qjage, then as now editor of the New Age, contributed to the Fortnightly Review an article on the same subject. Mr. Orage was, and has remained, in close touch with Mr. Penty; but in his hands the guild doctrine soon began to follow a new line of development. In 1908, Mr. S. G. Hobson, a former member of the Fabian Society, who had left that body after an unsuc- cessful attempt to launch a scheme for independent Socialist political representation, became associated with Mr. Orage on the New Age. Shortly after this, a series of articles written by Mr. Hobson with the collaboration of Mr. Orage, most of which were subsequently reprinted in the book National Guilds : an Enquiry into the Wage- System and the Way Out, began to appear. "This series of articles really gave the national guild.s movement its definite shape, and made it for the first time a practical and constructive force. The essential feature introduced by Messrs. Hobson and Orage — the feature which gave the national guilds movement its characteristic turn — p5s the definite association of the idea of industrial self-government with the existing structure of the British trade-union movement, and the definite attempt to formulate a proposal for the conversion of trade-unions into guilds, that is, of protective organizations of wage or salary earners into managing and controlling organizations, including the whole necessary personnel of ind ustry^ This does not mean that the full implications of this association of ideas were at this stage completely thought out, or that the practical steps for the accomplishment of the change were clearly proposed. It means only that the vital idea of national guilds appeared for i6o SELECTED ARTICLES the first time, and that the way was thus made clear for fur- ther developments. Indeed, at this stage the appeal of the national guilds idea was almost purely intellectual. No propaganda was proceeding outside the columns of the New Age, and the circulation of that journal was almost wholly confined to a section of the "intel- ligentsia." The great bulk of the Socialist and trade-union movements remained unaffected; only in the university Socialist societies and among middle-class Socialists and professionals did the idea make any progress. It had its partisans among the younger members of the Fabian Society; but the great bulk of that society, and practically all the official leaders of the labor and Socialist movement, were at this time definitely hostile. In the industrial labor movement as a whole, this period was one of great and growing unrest. From 1910 onward to the outbreak of the war unrest grew steadily and many great strikes took place, including the great railway and transport strike of 191 1 and the mining strike of 1912. This spirit of unrest led to a ferment of ideas in the labor world. Before 1910 the Socialist Labor Party and the Industrial Workers of Great Britain (offshoots of the American S. L. P. and De Leonite I. W. W.) had been active in Scotland and some dis- tricts of the North of England; but the atmosphere was un- favorable, and they made little progress. From 191 1 onward the conditions were far more favorable; but the leadership of the left wing passed rather to movements under the influence of French Syndicalist ideas. The Industrial Syndicalist Educa- tion League, led by Mr. Tom Mann, had a considerable tran- sient success, and closely related to it were the various amal- gamation committees and other "rebel" bodies which are the ancestors of the "rank and file" movements of to-day. In South Wales, the Marxians through the Industrial Democracy League and the Miners' Unofficial Reform Committee gained ground considerably, while the foundation of the Central Labor Col- lege and the Plebs League gave the Marxians a means of prop- aganda on a national scale. Only at a later period, from 1916 onward, did the big growth of the Marxian Socialist Labor Party begin. At the beginning of igi4M r. W. Mellor, since general sec- retary of the National Guilds League, and the writer began to develop guild ideas by regular articles in the Daily Herald, the object of these articles being to popularize guild propaganda MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS i6i and to bring it into the closest possible relation to the every- day work of the trade-union movement. Toward the end of 1914, despite the outbreak of war, it was felt that the time was ripe for a further development, and a small private conference was held in December at Storrington in Sussex, at which a long statement was drawn up formulating unanimous conclusions on the theory of national guilds and the steps necessary for their attainment. This conference was followed a month or two later by a second conference at Oxford, where it was definitely de- cided to proceed to the formation of a propagandist organiza- tion for spreading the guild idea. A third and considerably larger conference was held in London at Easter, 1915, and at this conference the National Guiia's League ~was definitely founded. IVork of the National Guilds League Since that time the spread of the guild idea has been rapid in the trade-union world, among Socialists, and also among the professional classes. The National Guilds League has di- rected its principal propaganda toward the trade-union world; but everywhere its groups include not only trade-unionists but also professional men, teachers, journalists, and even employ- ers. It has never been, and has never sought to be, a large organization. It has concentrated its propaganda work entirely upon the question of industrial and professional self-govern- ment, and its aim has been to enroll persons willing to work for the guild idea with a full understanding of its principles. Its influence has therefore been out of all proportion to its numerical strength; the influence of the National Guilds League has spread far and wide, while its actual membership still re- mains at a few hundreds. It has the advantage of possessing among its members a considerable proportion of fairly well- known writers, and in consequence it is enabled to spread its influence over a wide field. A few instances will serve to explain the extent and char- acter of this influence. The new secretary of the Miners' Fed- eration of Great Britain, Mr. Frank H. Hodges, is a guilds- man. Before attaining to his present position he moved, at the 1918 miners' conference, a resolution calling for the redrafting of the mines nationalization bill on guild lines. This was car- ried, and the miners proceeded to redraft their bill accordingly. Early in 1919 they were called upon to lay their proposals be- i62 SELECTED ARTICLES fore the coal commission. Their principal witness was Mr. W. Straker, another guildsman, secretary of the Northumberland Miners' Association, who presented before the commission a scheme for guild control. Mr. R. H. Tawney, another guilds- man, is a member of the coal commission, together with Mr. Hodges. Thus, while there are comparatively few actual miner members of the National Guilds League, the policy of the league has to a great extent secured the support of th< Miners' Federation. The case is the same with the railway men. The programs both of the National Union of Railw^ymen and of the Railway Clerks' Association are closely in conformity with the proposals of the National Guilds League, both alike aiming at the imme- diatetlTational ownership of the industry and at the establish- ment of a system of joint control by the trade-unions and the Statej The programs of the p ost o ffice trade-unions are even more closely allied to national guilds, and in this case there is a close association between the two movements. A somewhat different instance is that of the National Union of Teachers, which has just carried a national guilds amend- ment,*mbved by Mr. W. W. Hill, an active guildsman, by an overwhelming majority. In yet another sphere, the annual con- ference of the Independent Labor Party has just redefined its objects so as to bring" them into conformity with guild ideas. Of course, it must not be imagined that the majority of • British workers, manual or professional, are national guilds- men, or have ever heard of national guilds. The success of guild propaganda comes largely from the fact that it is working with the grain, and that circumstances are forcing the industries of Great Britain in the direction of guild organization. The conscious guildsman is still a rarity ; but, with or without guilds- men, the guild idea continues to make headway in theory and practice alike. Industrial Self-Government It is now time to say more about the content and meaning of this idea of which we have so far been describing the exter- nal manifestations. Its central doctrine, as we have seen, is that the various industries and services ought to be democrat- ically administered by those who work in them. It is, in fact, an attempt to apply to the industrial sphere the principles of MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 163 democracy and self-government which, in theory at least, are accepted as applying in the sphere of political government. Guildsmen begin with an analysis of the existing industrial system from the standpoint of the wage worker. Their initial dogma is one which Mr. Gompers and others have made famil- iar (though with a different meaning) in the United States, nt is that the labor of a human being is not a commodity or arti- cle of commerce, and that the present wage system, in treating labor as a commodity, is guilty of a violation of human justice and of human needs. Guildsmen point out (in common with Marx and many other writers) that the theory of the wage sys- tem is that the worker sells his labor power in return for a wage, and in so doing surrenders all claim not only to the product of his labor, but also to the control of the manner in which his labor is used. It is true that this theory is not fully realized in fact, because the collective intervention of trade- unions in industrial affairs does give the workers, in varying degrees, a considerable control over the manner in which their labor is used. This control, however, is purely negative; it amounts at most to a veto upon the employers' proposals for the use of labor, and not to any positive control by the work- ers over the conditions of their industry. It therefore neces- sarily tends to be restrictive rather than directive in its operationj TKis system, and indeed the whole existing industrial order, rests upon the willingness of the workers, or the compulsion upon the workers, to go on working for a wage. As soon as the workers refuse to work for wages, and are strong enough to implement their refusal, the wage system necessarily collapses. The vulnerable point of the capitalist system is therefore to be found in its dependence upon the acquiescence of labor. The ^ "way out" of the wage system, in the view of the national guilds writers, lies, then, in a refusal by the workers to work for wages.' This implies a growth in power and consciousness on the part of labor, and a transference of the "'control of labor" from the employers to the trade-unions. Guildsmen therefore work for a monopoly of labor and the creation of a blackleg-proof trade-union organization, both ly~a widening of trade-union membership among the manual workers, and by a progressive inclusion in the trade-unions of the workers con- cern-ed in management, technicians, professionals and super- visors.! i64 SELECTED ARTICLES I The problem, however, is not merely one of widening trade- union membership. It also involves a reorganization of trade- union structure and policy. Guildsmen desire that trade-unions should direct their policy expressly to the securing of control over industry through the control of laborj They envisage the strategy of trade-unionism as a constant encroachment upon the sphere of control at present occupied by the employer or his representatives. Two-iagtances will serve to indicate the gen- eral lines of this policy. In the first place, foremen and other supervisors are at present appointed and paid by the employer, and are often compelled to resign trade-union membership, or at least active membership, on their appointment. Guildsmen desire that foremen and other direct supervisors of labor should be chosen (subject to qualifications for the post) by the work- ers, and that they should be members of the trade-unions in- cluding these workers. Moreover, guildsmen desire that such supervisors should be paid by the union and not by the em- ployer. Indeed, they desire that all workers should be in this position, the union making a collective contract with the em- ployer for the whole of the labor employed, and then paying the various individuals, including the supervisors, out of the sum realized. This might operate either under a time-work, or under a collective piecework, system. Secondly, guildsmen lay great stress upon the development of workshop^ orgagization as an integral part of trade-union machinery. They see in the shop steward and the trade-union works committee the germ of an organization capable of as- suming control of the productive processes in the workshop. They have therefore devoted considerable attention to the growth of this movement, and have endeavored to bring out the importance of giving to it, as far as possible, a construc- tive character. At the same time, they have urged the impor- tance of giving to workshop machinery a greater recognition and a more assured place in trade-union organization. In par- ticular, they have emphasized the need for using workshop machinery as a means of fitting the trade-unions for assuming the function of industrial management. Of course, the greatest banriet.-tp-rr^i^^^ient in the lines suggested above is recognized by guildsmen as lying in the present chaotic and sectional organization of British trade- unionism. They are therefore advocates of union by industry, and of the systematic amalgamation of trade-unions on Indus- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS i6s trial lines. They recognize that it is impossible for the work- ers to assume any considerable measure of control while they are divided among a large number of sectional, and often com- peting or overlapping, unions, so that in any particular estab- lishment the workers employed often belong to as many as a dozen separate societies and sometimes to many more. A real policy of control clearly implies the unification of forces, and guildsmen have therefore been prominent in the movement for amalgamation, and also for the organization of the salaried employees tin trade-unions and, wherever possible, their fusion in one society with the manual workers. Nationalization of Industry Some of the measures suggested above are directed pri- marily to the assumption of control in cases in which industries continue to be privately owned. Guildsmen, however, are op- posed to private ownership of industry,, and sirongfy in favor of public ownership. Of course this does not mean that they desire to see industry bureaucratically administered by State departments. (They aim at the control of industry by national guilds including the whole personnel of the industry. But they do not desire the ownership of any industry by the workers employed in it. Their aim is to establish industrial democracy by placing the administration in the hands of the workers, but at the same time to eliminate profit by placing the ownership in the hands of the public, ^hus the workers in a guild will not be working for profit. The prices of their commodities and indirectly at least the level of their remuneration will be sub- ject to a considerable measure of public control, j The guild system is one of industrial partnership between the workers and the public, and is thereby sharply distinguished from the proposals known as "Syndicalist." Immediately, guildsmen press for the nationalization or mu- nicipalization of the ownership of every industry or service which can be regarded as ripe for public ownership, and espe- cially of such great public service as mines, railways, and other transport, shipbuilding, and electricity. At the same time, in connection with any such measure of nationalization, they aim at the immediate establishment of a system of joint control, in order that the workers may at once assume the fullest share in the administration that is immediately practicable. For in- i66 SELECTED ARTICLES stance, in the case of the mines, guildsmen suggest as an im- mediate measure administration by a mining council half of which will represent the mining trade-unions, the other half being appointed by the State from technical experts and, per- haps, from persons chosen to represent consumers. This would not, of course, mean the setting up of a mining guild; but it would, in the opinion of guildsmen, be a long step toward the creation of such a body. Theoretical Aspects of National Guilds Movement Turning now to some of the more theoretical aspects of the national guilds system; As explained at the outset, the govern- ment idea of national guilds is that of industrial self-govern- ment and democracy. Guildsmen hold that democratic principles are fully as applicable to industry as to politics. Indeed, they feel that political institutions can never be really or fully dem- ocratic unless they are combined with democratic institutions in the industrial sphere. Their contention is that true democ- racy must really be functional democracy, in the sense that a democratic commonwealth can only be based on the democratic organization of all its parts. From the standpoint of the indi- vidual citizen this means that he should be self-governing in relation to the various functions which he performs — self- governing in his economic life as a producer as well as in his life as a member of the State or local authority. The basic argument put forward by national guildsmen is a two-fold argument. It is at once human and economic. On the human side, it urges that human freedom, in the sense of self-government, is an ultimate good; and that any system that does not assure this self-government has to incur the blame of inhumanity. The human argument is that men ought to be self-governing, quite apart from the economic consequences of self-government. The ec onomic arp' iimfnt is rather more complicated. It is that the "Sest way of getting industry efficiently organized is to rely on the good will, and to enlist to the full the co-opera- tion, of the persons employed in it. This general argument, moreover, is strongly reinforced by a reference to the immedi- ate economic situation. Guildsmen point out that the control over labor hitherto exercised by the capitalist under the existing system is breaking down; its operation is already subject to MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 167 considerable limitations, and its progressive limitation is pro- ceeding at an increasing rate. The continuance of capitalist industry and of the wage system is thus becoming constantly more precarious, more liable to interruptions by labor troubles, and more seriously menaced with absolute stoppage. Guilds- men contend that before the existing system completely breaks down, it is necessary to begin its replacement by a democratic system, and that this replacement must begin at once if an intervening period of anarchy, following upon a complete break- down of the wage system, is to be avoided. Above everything else, the guildsman contends that the future of society can be assured only by the adoption of an economic system based on trust of the individual worker and on the enlistment of human co-operation in industry by the progressive establishment of democratic forms and methods of administration. MANAGEMENT SHARING (a) Shop Committees COMMITTEE SYSTEM IN AMERICAN SHOPS' Before the United States went into the war there were very few shop committee systems in American industrial plants. Outstanding, however was the "plan of representation" of the Colorado Fuel & Iron Company instituted by the Rockefeller interests as a result of the sincere attempt to find some way to eliminate sources of friction between the men and the man- agement in their great Western properties. This plan was in- augurated in 1915. Some four years prior to this time, Hart, Schaffner and Marx (1911) had entered into an agreement with the unions which called for the establishment of a very thorough system of representation and adjudication. The White Motor Company put a less elaborate plan into effect in 1915, and here and there other companies are to be found adopting the principle of collective bargaining, worked out in more or less detail. In 1892 Mr. H. F. J. Porter, industrial engineer, introduced democratic principles into the management of one of the smaller Westinghouse companies, and, of course, the "protocols" in the cloak and suit industries in New York and elsewhere dated back to 1915 or earlier. With the entrance of the United States into the war the Federal Government, taking the role of stabilizer and acceler- ator of war production, turned to the principle of the shop committee as one which should be introduced into practice at this critical time. The National War Labor Board, the United States Shipping Board, the War Labor Policies Board and other governmental agencies promoted the establishment of shop committees and other forms of collective bargaining wherever the Government entered into industrial controversies either as an employer or as an arbitrator. There was thus established a body of experience, which, in spite of its war-time origin, has I B; W. L. Stoddard. From an article in Industrial Management. 57:473-6. June, 1919. 170 SELECTED ARTICLES given leaders of industry and leaders of labor something con- crete to study and observe. Experience in England Of course, the experience of England during the war was of immense value to America. No discussion of the shop com- mittee is complete without reference to the famous reports of the Whiteley Committee and of the Garton Foundation which laid the basis for the new structure of industrial government which is rapidly taking form in Great Britain. The principles on which this movement is based were probably never better nor more succinctly expressed than in these paragraphs from the Garton Foundation report: (a) The first necessity of the Industrial Situation is greater efficiency of production. In order to meet the difficulties created by_ the war, to make good the losses of capital, and to raise the standard of living amongst the mass of our people, we must endeavor to increase both the volume and the quality of output. (b) In order that this result may be obtained without detriment to the social welfare of the community, it must be sought for rather in imi)roved organization and the elimination of waste and friction, than in adding to the strain on the workers, and must be accompanied by a change of atti- tude and spirit which will give to industry a worthier and more clearly recognized ^lace in our national life. (c) This can only be accomplished if the sectional treatment of in- dustrial questions is replaced by the active cooperation of labor, manage- ment and capital to raise the general level of t>roductive capacity, to mam- tain a high standard of workmanship, and to improve working conditions. (d) It is essential to the securing of such cooperation that labor, as a party to industry, should have a voice in matters directly concerning its special interests, such as rates of l>ay and conditions of employment. _ It is necessary to create adequate machinery both for securing united action in the pursuit of common ends and for the equitable adjustment of joints which involve competing interest. This machinery must be sufficiently powerful to enable both sides to accept its decisions with confidence that any agreement arrived at will be generally observed. These observations and recommendations apply with almost equal truth and force to the United States. Indeed, the re- port of the Garton Foundation has already met with high ap- proval from leaders of labor and industry, and it may be said with reasonable accuracy that, generally speaking, the best opinion is in favor of their application, in spirit if not in whole or in part to the industrial situation in this country. For the moment the question of union versus unorganized labor has sunk into insignificance. The appalling menace of Bolshevism has called a truce to the internecine strife between capital and labor, and our energies are bent rather to the task of co- operation instead of competition, to the task of "getting to- gether" and pulling together against a common enemy in the shape of anarchy, instead of continuing the old warfare. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 171 Possible Development of Shop Co-numittee System Strictly speaking, the shop committee is only one item in the new program of industrial peace, but so far it is the item which has made itself most widely and most favorably known here. I think that it is not looking very far ahead to picture the development in thousands of factories of shop committee systems by means of which men and management are daily brought into close contact to solve together certain mutually important problems of management. Sooner or later there will spring up joint industrial councils covering either the nation or a smaller local area or both; and presently we may find a semi- permanent national council composed of the leaders of labor and of industry, representative of all labor and all industry. This may be some years in the making, but it is surely on its way. Even to-day in the building trades there is under con- sideration a plan for a joint national council composed of four representative labor men and four representatives of such or- ganizations as the American Contractors' Association, the Amer- ican Institute of Architects, and so on. My information is that this plan is practically certain of adoption. What is this shop committee system, which is the basis of it all? It takes many forms, but its essential principles seem to me to be these: The shop committee, or a shop committee system, is a sys- tem of government set up in a plant by mutual consent and after common study on the part of employer and employed, the main object of it being to bring about well-ordered personal and official relations between truly representative representa- tives of the partners in any given industry — the employers and the employees. In developing a typical or ideal shop commit- tee system, a joint committee of men and management dis- trict the plant, dividing it into convenient administrative units whose size may vary from 50 to 200 or 300 employees; provide for the secret, uninfluenced election by the employees of rep- resentative committees for these units ; provide for an appeal to a general committee; agree on rules and procedure for the working of the system; and devise, though this is usually the duty of the management alone, for an appointive representa- tion of the management to meet jointly with representatives 172 SELECTED ARTICLES and committees of the men for the settlement of ordinary and extraordinary grievances, often including a general revision of the wage scale, questions of employment, and so on. The basis of the shop committee system is mutuahty of interest or partnership — democracy in industry. How the Committee System Was Installed Let me illustrate this by a concrete example: In a certain large industrial plant employing some 10,000 men and women, there has recently been introduced a shop committee system. This system was worked out in conference by the management and a committee of employers, sitting with an administrator of the National War Labor Board which had made an award decreeing a shop co,mmittee system. The plant was first divided into some 60 sections, varying in size from 75 to over 300 em- ployees working at more or less the same craft or occupation. These sections were then grouped, two to five in a group, into "shop," the "shops" representing similar or allied manufacture and having in a^ddition a geographical reason for their exist- ence. Each section at a secret election, attended by the em- ployees alone, chose two representatives. Each shop chose from the sectional representatives three men and women to serve on the joint shop committee, and all the sectional representatives, meeting and voting at a convention, elected the employee mem- bers of the general adjustment committee. The management at the same time appointed its representatives to meet with the employee representatives, thus completing the system. One would find difficulty in laying down any hard and fast rules for the definition of a shop committee system. The Whitley report very wisely avoided detailed discussion of shop committees, and contented itself with outlining functions and defining principles, rather than rules. A shop committee system must fit the peculiar local conditions of the plant in which it is to operate. In some plants it must necessarily be elaborate, and in others simple. But to succeed in any plant a shop committee system must be based on full, frank and free discussion between men and management, and animated by the spirit of actual co- operation. The object is cooperation, the breaking down of autocratic management, the establishment of a measure of in- dustrial democracy, the giving of the responsibility and privi- lege of management in part into the hands of the employees. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I73 Types of Shop Committees Several type forms of shop committee systems are springing up in this country. It is impossible in the space of this article to catalog or describe them all, but I wish to call attention to three which are of importance. One may be called the War Labor Board type; a second is the Rockefeller type; a third is patterned after the United States Government. Let us take the last first. The William Demuth Company of New York City has a plan of this sort. There is a cabinet, a senate and a house of representatives. The cabinet consists of Mr. Demuth and his executives. The senate consists of about 30 foremen from the various departments. The house of representatives consists of employees elected by the body of employees — the "people." Each department elects one representative, and the senate has one senator from each department. Any question may be brought up in either body. When an issue cannot be settled by agree- ment of house, senate and cabinet, it goes to a judicial council or board of conciliation composed of one man selected by the employer, one by the employee, and one selected by these two. Plans of this type appear to operate successfully, though in one or two plants the upper body or senate has been abandoned in favor of the scheme of direct contact between representa- tives of the men and foremen. What I have called the Rockefeller type is exemplified in the works of the Standard Oil Company at Bayonne, N. J. The works are divided into divisions, not necessarily along craft or occupational lines, but including in one division several crafts. Each division is represented by at least two representa- tives, elected secretly, and there is at least one representative to every 150 employees. The representatives deal with the management in discussing problems which arise in the plant. This t3T)e of shop committee is very simple and is not adapted to factories where the employees, either through a high de- gree of organization, or otherwise, are insistent on strict craft representation.' The War Labor Board plan is more flexible than either of these. Its essential features are thus described in an official statement on procedure in the election of shop committees : Shop committees shall be selected to meet with an equal or a lesser ntimber of representatives to be selected by the employer. Each depart- ment or section of the shop shall be entitled to one committeeman for each 174 SELECTED ARTICLES one hundred employees employed in the department or section. If in any department or section there shall be employees in excess of any even hun- dred, then an additional committeeman may be elected provided the addi- tional employees beyond the even hundred shall be fifty or more; if less than fifty, no additional representation shall be allowed. As an example: In a department or section employing 330 men, three committeemen will be cleced; in a department employing 37s men, four committeemen will be elected. It is also suggested by the War Labor Board, and this sug- gestion is of the greatest practical value, that "the committees shall not only be of manageable size, . . . but shall give definite proportional representation to as many occupational or other natural groups, including women, as may be possible. . . . While it is manifestly impossible for every minor occupation or minor department to be represented upon shop committees, it is possible to do justice in every case, provided the local situation is understood, and only when it is understood." Primary Considerations and Principles From this rough analysis certain primary considerations stand out. One, of course, is that the actual choosing of rep- resentatives of the employees to deal with employees is a mat- ter solely to be done by the employees. This principle is com- mon to all the varieties of shop committee systems.- Another consideration is that provision must be made for the interchange of ideas between the men and the management. This princi- ple is likewise basic and common to all types, but in the different types described it is evident that different methods and degrees of joint counsel are obtained. A frequent criticism of the Rockefeller scheme as illustrated in the Bayonne plan is that the employees are not sufficiently represented; that is to say, they do not have enough repre- sentatives, and the representatives are chosen from blocks of employees, so to speak, rather than from the trades or crafts. It is probable that such a scheme is desirable in a relatively new system and in plants where the men are not well educated. A criticism of the type of plan such as we see in the Demuth factory is that instead of a two-chamber system of government, a single chamber, or a single set, of joint committees is prefer- able. The analogy with the United States Government is, fur- thermore, open to criticism. In the United States Government both the Senate and the House represent the people, whereas in the shop committee system based on the Federal Government the Senate represents the employer, and the house the employee MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I7S or people. The War Labor Board plan, lastly, is so much more flexible than either of these types that it is not subject to the same criticism. In fact, the War Labor Board plan seems to the writer to be the best of all, because it is based on the demo- cratic principle of self-determination; that is to say, of adapt- ing the system of government to the environment. In addition, this plan recognizes a fundamental fact when it declares that due consideration must be given to craft groupings. Plants Having Shop Committees When all is said and done, it must be remembered that the shop committee is an institution of recent growth in the United States and that it is in process of finding itself. For the infor- mation of those who are interested in looking into the many and interesting problems which arise in this movement, I have prepared the following list of plants having some kind of shop committee system, more or less fully developed. The War Labor Board systems were installed in 1918. Wherever possi- ble, I have given the approximate date of installation of the other plans: Plans installed by the National War Labor Board Bethlehem Steel Co., South Bethlehem, Pa. Corn Products Refining Co., four plants. Granite City, 111., Argo, 111., Pekin, 111., and Edgewater, N. J. General Electric Co., two plants, Pittsfield, Mass., and Lynn, Mass. Maryland Pressed Steel Co., Hagerstown, Md. Mason Machine Works, Taunton, Mass. Munition Establishments at Bridgeport, Conn., sixty-five in number. Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Smith & Wesson Co., Springfield, Mass. Standard Wheel Co., Terre Haute, Ind. Waynesboro, Pa., machine shops. Willys-Overland Plant, Elyria, Ohio. In addition, the War Labor Board ordered shop committee systems in the Virginia Bridge and Iron Co., Roanoke, Va. ; the Southern California Iron and Steel Co., Los Angeles, Calif. ; the Worthington Pump and Machinery Corporation and the Power and Mining Works, Cudahy, Wis.; the New York Cen- 176 SELECTED ARTICLES tral Iron Works, Inc., Hagerstown, Md.; the Savage Arms Corporation, Utica, N. Y., and others. The plans first listed are apparently the most elaborate. Other Plans Colorado Fuel and Iron Co., Colorado, 1915. Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey, Bayonne, N. J., 1918. International Harvester Co., Chicago, 111., several plants, 1919. Demuth Manufacturing Co., New York City, 191 7. Packard Piano Co., Fort Wayne, Ind. 1913. Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrow's Point, Md., 1918. Printz-Biederman Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1913. Morris Herman & Co., Newark, N. J. Irving-Pitt Manufacturing Co., Kansas City, Mo., 1917. American Rolling Mills Co., Middletown, Ohio, 1904. Browning Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1917. Acme Wire Co., New Haven, Conn., 1918. Dennison Manufacturing Co., Framingham, Mass., 1918. Dutchess Manufacturing Co., Poughkeepsie, N. Y., 1918. Globe Wernicke Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, 1918. Hart Schaffner & Marx, Chicago, 111., 191 1. Hickey-Freeman Co., Rochester, N. Y. Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1918. The Joseph & Feiss Co., Cleveland, Ohio. Leeds Northrup Co., Philadelphia, Pa., 1918. Procter and Gamble Co., Ivorydale, Ohio, 1917. White Motor Co., Cleveland, Ohio, 1915. Hercules Powder Co., Kenvil, N. J., 191 7. Sidney Blumenthal Co., Shelton, Conn., 191 7. Morse Dry Dock Co., Brooklyn, N. Y., 1916. Garner Print Works, Wappinger Falls, N. Y., 1918. Sprague Electric Works, Bloomfield, N. J., 1918. Midvale Steel and Ordnance Co., and subsidiaries, Johns- town, Pa., 1918. Shipyards wherever covered by Government awards, 1918. Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen, Portland, Ore. (headquarters), igi8. With the spreading of this movement toward representa- tion in industry it is imperative that some central body, possi- bly a government agency, should act as a bureau of information MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS i77 so that students of the shop committee may be able to secure information without duplication of effort and unnecessary re- search. Relations of Unions to Shop Committees So far I have not spoken of the union in relation to the shop committee. This opens up a large field of discussion which it is unnecessary to enter at this time. It should be said, however, that in union shops where the men and the manage- ment deal with each other through union representatives, the shop committee system is already operating, in spirit and to a degree in fact. But it is the belief of many advocates of the shop committee idea that union recognition does not always do away with the necessity for a shop committee system. Such has been found to be the case in Great Britain where, owing to the stress of the war, the union mechanism was proved to be unadaptable to the problems of intensive management brought about by the war. War-worn England, facing internal revolution while in the midst of the greatest struggle of all time against autocratic domination of the world, turned to the basic principles of the shop committee and the joint industrial council as the only possible road toward industrial peace and prosperity. For- tunately we in this country have not faced the peril which Eng- land had to face. But that is no reason why we should not study with the profoundest interest both the English theory and practice of effecting co-operation between labor and cap- ital as well as the theory and practice which America is de- veloping in her own way. (b) Workshop Councils WORKSHOP COMMITTEES' Preface to English Edition Some time ago I was asked to prepare a memorandum on the subject of Workshop Committees, for presentation to the British Association, as a part of the report of a special sub- committee studying industrial unrest. The following pages con- *By C. G. Renold. Surrey. 41: Sec. i. October 5, 19:8. 178 SELECTED ARTICLES tain the gist of that memorandum, and are now issued in this form for the benefit of some of those interested in the prob- lem who may not see the original report. I have approached the subject with the conviction that the worker's desire for more scope in his working life can best be satisfied by giving him some share in the directing of it; if not of the work itself, at least of the conditions under which it is carried out. I have tried, therefore, to work out in some detail the part which organisations of workers might play in works administration. And believing as I do, that the exist- ing industrial system, with all its faults and injustices, must still form the basis of any future system, I am concerned to show that a considerable development of joint action between management and workers is possible, even under present con- ditions. Many of the ideas put forward are already incorporated to a greater or lesser degree in the institutions of these works, but these notes are not intended, primarily, as an account of our experiments, still less as a forecast of the future plans of this firm. Our own experience and hopes do however, form the basis of much here written, and have inevitably influenced the general line of thought followed. C. G. Renold, Hans Renold Limited, Manchester. Burnage Works. Introduction Throughout the following notes it is assumed that the need is realised for a new orientation of ideas with regard to indus- trial management. It is further assumed that the trend of such ideas must be in the direction of a devolution of some of the functions and responsibilities of management on to the work- ers themselves. These notes, therefore, are concerned mainly with considering how far this devolution can be carried under present conditions, and the necessary machinery for enabling it to operate. Before passing, however, to detailed schemes, it is worth considering briefly what the aims of this devolution are. It must be admitted that the conditions of industrial life fail to satisfy the deeper needs of the workers, and that it is this failure, even more than low wages, which is responsible for much of their general unrest. Now the satisfaction to be MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS I79 derived from work depends upon its being a means of self- expression. This again depends on the power of control ex- ercised by the individual over the materials and processes used, and the conditions under which the work is carried out, or in the case of complicated operations, where the individual can hardly be other than a "cog in the machine," — on the will- ingness, understanding, and imagination with which he under- takes such a role. In the past the movement in industry, in this respect, has been all in the wrong direction, namely, a continual reduction of freedom, initiative, and interest, involv- ing an accentuation of the "cog-in-the-machine" status. More- over, it has too often produced a "cog" blind and unwilling, with no perspective or understanding of the part it plays in the gen- eral mechanism of production, or even in any one particular series of operations. Each successive step in the splitting up and specialising of operations has been taken with a view to promoting efficiency of production, and there can be no doubt that efficiency, in a material sense, has been achieved thereby, an3 the productivity of industry greatly increased. This has been done, however, at the cost of pleasure and interest in work, and the problem now is how far these could be restored, as, for instance, by some devolution of management responsibility on to the work- ers, and how far such devolution is possible under the com- petitive capitalist system, which is likely to dominate industry for many long years to come. Under the conditions of capitalist industry any scheme of devolution of management can only stand provided it involves no net loss of productive efficiency. It is believed, however, that even within these limits, considerable progress in this di- rection is possible, doubtless involving some detail loss, but with more than compensating gains in general efficiency. In this connection it must be remembered that the work of very many men, probably of most, is given more or less unwillingly, and even should the introduction of more democratic methods of business management entail a certain amount of loss of mechanical efficiency, due to the greater cumbersomeness of democratic proceedings, if it can succeed in obtaining more willing work and co-operation, the net gain in productivity would be enormous. Important and urgent as is this problem of rearranging the machinery of management to enable responsibility and i8o SELECTED ARTICLES power to be shared with the workers, another and preliminary step is even more pressing. This is the establishing of touch and understanding between employer and employed, between management and worker. Quite apart from the many real grievances under which workers in various trades are suffering at the present time, there is a vast amount of bad feeling, due to misunderstanding, on the part of each side, of the aims and motives of the other. Each party, believing the other to be always ready to play foul, finds in every move easy evidence to support its bitterest suspicions. The workers are irritated beyond measure by the inefficiency and blundering in organisa- tion and management which they detect on every side, and knowing nothing of business management cannot understand or make allowance for the enormous difficulties under which em- ployers labour at the present time. Similarly, employers are too ignorant of trade union affairs to appreciate the problems which the present "lighting transformation" of industry pre- sent to those responsible for shaping trade union policy; nor is the employer generally in close enough human touch to re- alise the effect of the long strain of war work, and of the harassing restrictions of personal liberty. More important therefore than any reconstruction of man- agement machinery, more important even than the remedying of specific grievances, is the establishing of some degree of ordinary human touch and sympathy between management and men. This also has an important bearing on any discussion with regard to developing' machinery for joint action. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the hopefulness of any such attempt lies, not in the perfection of the machinery, nor even in the wideness of the powers of self-government granted to the workers, but in the degree to which touch and, if possible, friendliness can be established. It should be realised, for in- stance, by employers, that time spent on discussing and ven- tilating alleged grievances which turn out to be no grievances, may be quite as productive of understanding and good feeling as the removal of real grievances. Passing now to constructive proposals for devolution of management, the subject is here dealt with mainly in two stages. Under Section I., some of the functions of management which most concern the workers are considered, with a view MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS i8i to seeing how far the autocratic (or bureaucratic) secrecy and exclusiveness which usually surround business management, as far as workers are concerned, is really unavoidable, or how far it could be replaced by democratic discussion and joint action. The conclusion is that there is no reason inherent in the nature of the questions themselves why this cannot be done to a very considerable extent. Section II deals with the second stage referred to, and considers the machinery needed to make such joint action, as is suggested in Section I, workable — a very different matter from admitting that in itself it is not impossible ! The ap- parent complication of such machinery is doubtless a diflSculty, but it is not insuperable, and is in practice less formidable than it seems at first sight. It must be realised, however, that the degree of elaboration of the machinery for joint working, adopted by any particular industry or firm, must be in rela- tion to the elaboration of the existing management system. It would be quite impossible for many of the requirements of dis- cussion and joint action suggested to be adopted by a firm whose ordinary business organisation was crude, undeveloped, and unsystematic. This point is more fully dealt with in this section. Section III contains a summary of the scheme of Commit- tees contained in Section II, showing the distribution to each committee of the various questions discussed in Section I. In Section IV some comments are made, based on actual experience of an attempt to institute machinery of the kind discussed, and some practical hints are given which may be of assistance to others. SECTION I Scope of Workers' Shop Organisations; Management Questions Which Could Be Devolved, Wholly or in Part It is proposed ip this section to consider the activities which organisations of workers within the workshop might under- take without any radical reorganisation of -industry. What functions and powers, usually exercised by the management, could be devolved on to the workers, and what questions, usu- ally considered private by the management, could be made the subject of explanation and consultation? The number of such questions as set out in this section may appear very formid- i82 SELECTED ARTICLES able, and is possibly too great to be dealt with, except by a very gradual process. No thought is given at this stage, how- ever, to the machinery which would be necessary for achiev- ing so much joint working, the subject being considered rather with a view to seeing how far, and in what directions, the inherent nature of the questions themselves would make it possible or advisable to break down the censorship and secrecy which surround business management. In the list which follows, obviously not all questions are of equal urgency, those being most important which provide means of consultation and conciliation in regard to such mat- ters as most frequently give rise to disputes, namely, wage and piece-rate questions, and to a lesser degree, workshop practices and customs. Any scheme of joint working should begin with these matters, the others being taken over as the machinery settles down and it is found practicable to do so. How far any particular business can go will depend on the circumstances of the trade, and on the type of organisation in operation. Through machinery for conciliation in connection with ex- isting troubles, such as those mentioned, must be the first care, some of the other matters suggested in this section — e.g., safety and hygiene, shop amenities, etc. — should be dealt with at the earliest possible moment. Such subjects, being less contro- versial, offer an easier means of approach for establishing touch and understanding between managers and men. The suggestions in this section are divided into two main groups, but this division is rather a matter of convenience than an indication of any vital difference in nature. The sug- gestions are arranged in order of urgency, those coming first where the case for establishing a workers' shop organization is so clear as to amount to a right, and passing gradually to those where the case is more and more questionable. The first group, therefore, contains all those items where the case is clearest and in connection with which the immediate bene- fits would fall to the workers. The second group contains the more questionable items, which lie beyond the region where the shoe actually pinches the worker. These questions are largely educational, and the immediate benefit of action, con- sidered as a business proposition, would accrue to the manage- ment through the greater understanding of management and business difficulties on the part of the workers. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 183 I. Questions in connection with which Shop Organisa- tions WOULD PRIMARILY BENEFIT THE WORKERS This group deals with those matters where the case for es- tabUshing shop organisations, to meet the need of the workers, is clearest. (a) Collective Bargaining There is a need for machinery for carrying this function of the trade union into greater and more intimate workshop detail than is possible by any outside body. A workshop or- ganisation might supplement the ordinary trade union activities in the following directions: — 1. Wages. (Note. — General standard rates would be fixed by negotiation with the trade union for an entire district, not by committees of workers in indi- vidual works.) To ensure the application of standard rates to individuals, to see that they get the benefit of the trade union agreements. When a scale of wages, instead of a single rate, applies to a class of work (the exact figure varying according to the experience, len^h of service, etc., of the worker) to see that such scales are applied fairly. To see that promises of advances (such as those made, for instance, at the time of engagement) are fulfilled. To see that apprentices, on completing their time, are raised to the standard rate by the customary or agreed steps. 2. PiECE-WoBK Rates (It is assumed that the general method of rate fixing — f. 0., the adop- tion of time study or other method — would be settled with the local trade unions.) To discuss with the management the detailed method of rate fix- ing, as applied either to individual jobs or to particular classes of work. Where, there is an agreed relation between time rates and piece rates as, for instance, in engineering, to see that individual piece rates are so set as to yield the standard rate of earning. To discuss with the management reduction of piece rates where these can be shown to yield higher earnings than the standard. To investigate on behalf of the workers complaints as to in- ability to earn the standard rate. For this purpose all the data and calculations, both with regard to the original setting of the rate and with regard to time booking on a particular job, would have to be open for examination. Note. — It is doubtful whether a shop committee, on account of its cumbersomeness, could - ever handle detail, individual rates, except where the jobs dealt with are so large or so standardized as to make the number of rates to be set per week quite small. A better plan would be for a representative of the workers, preferably paid by them, to be attached to the rate-fixing department of a works, to check all calculations, and to look after the workers' interests generally. He would report to a shop committee, whose discussions with the management would then be limited to questions of principle. 3. Watching the Application of Special Legislation, Awakds, ob Ageeemehts E. G., Munitions of war act, dilution, leaving certificates, etc. Recruiting, exemptions. After-war arrangements, demobilisation of war industries, restora- tion of trade union conditions, etc. 4. Total Hours of Wobk To discuss any proposed change in the length of the standard week. This could only be done by the workers' committee of an individual 184 SELECTED ARTICLES firm, provided the change were within the standards fixed by agree- ment with the local union of those customary in the trade. 5. New Pbocess or Change of Process Where the management desire to introduce some process which will throw men out of employment, the whole position should be placed before a shop committee to let the necessity be understood, and to allow it to discuss how the change may be brought about with the least hardship to individuals. 6. Grades of Worker for Types of Machine ' Due to the introduction of new types of machines, and to the splitting up of processes, with the simplification of manipulation some- times entailed thereby, the question of the grade of worker to be em- ployed on a given type of machine continually arises. Many such questions are so general as to be the subject of trade union nego- tiation, but many more are quite local to particular firms. For either kind there should be a works committee within the works to deal with their application there. (b) Grievances The quick ventilating of grievances and injustices to indi- viduals or to classes of men, is of the greatest importance in securing good feeling. The provision of means for voicing such complaints acts also as a check to petty tyranny, and is a valuable help to the higher management in giving an insight into what is going on. A shop committee provides a suitable channel in such cases as the following : — Alleged petty tjrranny by foremen. Hard cases arising out of too rigid application of rules, etc. Alleged mistakes in wages or piece work payments. Wrongful dismissal, e. g., for alleged disobediance, etc., etc. In all cases of grievances or complaints it is most important that the body bringing them should be of sufficient weight and standing to speak its mind freely. (c) General Shop Conditions and Amenities On all those questions which affect the community life of the factory, the fullest consultation is necessary, and consid- erable self-government is possible. The following indicate the kind of question : — I. Shop Rules Restriction of smoking. Tidiness, cleaning of machines, etc. Use of lavatories and cloakrooms. Provision, care and type of overalls. Time-booking arrangements. Wage-paying arrangements, etc., etc. z. Maintenance of Discipline It should be possible to promote such a spirit in a works that, not only could the workers have a say in the drawing up of Shop Rules, but the enforcing of them could also be largely in their hands. This would be particularljr desirable with regard to: — Enforcing; good time-keeping. Maintaining tidiness. Use of lavatories and cloakrooms. Promoting a high standard of general behaviour, etc., etc. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 185 3. Working Conditions Meal hours, starting and stopping times. Arrangements for holidays, etc. Arrangement of shifts, night work, etc. 4. Accidents and Sickness Safety appliances and practices. Machine guards, etc. Administration of First Aid. Rest room arrangements. Medical examination and advice. 5. Dining Sesvice Consultation re requirements. Criticisms of and suggestions re service. Control of discipline and behaviour. Seating arrangements, etc. 6. Shop Comfokt and Hygiene Suggestions re temperature,, ventilation, washing accommodation, drying clothes, etc. Provision of seats at work, where possible. Drinking water supply. 7. Benevolent Work Shop collections for charities or hard cases among fellow workers. Sick club, convalescent home, etc. Saving societies. (d) General Social Amenities A works tends to become a centre of social activities hav- ing no direct connection with its work, for example: — Works picnics. Games, e. g., cricket, football, etc. Musical societies. Etc., etc. These should all be organised by committees of the workers and not by the management. 2. Questions on Which Joint Discussion Would Primar- ily BE of Advantage to the Management In this group are those questions with regard to which there is no demand put forward by the workers, but where discus- sion and explanation on the part of the management would be desirable, and would tend to ease some of the difficulties of management. The institution of works committees would facilitate discussion and explanation in the following in- stances : — (o) Interpretation of Management to Workers In any case of new rules or new developments, or new workshop policy, there is always the greatest difficulty in get- ting the rank and file to understand what the management is "getting at." However well-meaning the change may be as regards the workers, the mere fact that it is new and not understood is likely to lead to opposition. If the best use is made of committees of workers, such changes, new develop- i86 SELECTED ARTICLES ments, etc., would have been discussed, and explained to them, and it is not too much to expect that the members of such committees would eventually spread a more correct and sym- pathetic version of the management's intentions among their fellow-workers than these could get in any other way. (6) Education in Shop Processes and Trade Technique The knowledge of most workers is limited to the process with which they are concerned, and they would have a truer sense of industrial problems if they understood better the gen- eral technique of the industry in which they are concerned, and the relation of their particular process to others in the chain of manufacture from raw material to finished article. It is possible that some of this education should be under- taken by technical schools, but their work in this respect can only be of a general nature, leaving still a field for detailed teaching which could only be undertaken in connection with an individual fifm, or a small group of similar firms. Such education might well begin with the members of the commit- tee of workers, though if found feasible it should not stop there, but should be made general for the whole works. Any such scheme should be discussed and worked out in conjunc- tion with a committee of workers, in order to obtain the best results from it. (c) Promotion It is open to question whether the filling of any given va- cancy could profitably be discussed between the management and the workers. In connection with such appointments as shop foremen, where the position is filled by promoting a workman or "lead- ing hand," it would at least be advisable to announce the appointment to the workers' committee before making it gen- erally known. It might perhaps be possible to explain why a particular choice had been made. This would be indicated fairly well by a statement of the quaUties which the manage- ment deemed necessary for such a post, thereby tending to head off some of the jealous disappointment always involved in such promotions, especially where the next in seniority is not taken. It has of course been urged, generally by extremists, that workmen should choose their own foremen by election, but MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 187 this is not considered practical politics at present, though it may become possible and desirable when workers have had more practice in the exercise of self-management to the limited degree here imposed. One of the difficulties involved in any general discussion of promotions, is the fact that there are so many parties con- cerned, and all from a different point of view. For example, in the appointment of a foreman, the workers are concerned as to how far the new man is sympathetic and helpful, and inspiring to work for. The other foremen are concerned with how far he is their equal in education and technical attain- ments, social standing, length of service, i.e., as to whether he would make a good colleague. The manager is concerned, among other qualities, with his energy, loyalty to the firm, and ability to maintain discipline. Each of these three parties is looking for three different sets of qualities, and it is not often that a candidate can be found to satisfy all. Whose views then should carry most weight — the men's, the other foremen's, or the manager's? It is quite certain, however, that it is well worth while mak- ing some attempt to secure popular understanding and approval of appointments made, and a worker's committee offers the best opportunity for this. It would be possible to discuss a vacancy occuring in any grade with all the others in that grade. For example, to dis- cuss with all shop foremen the possible candidates to fill a vacancy among the foremen. This is probably better than no discussion at all, and the foremen might be expected, to some extent, to reflect the feeling among their men. Here again, the establishing of any such scheme might well be dis- cussed with the committee of workers. (d) Education in General Business Questions This point is still more doubtful than the preceding. Em- ployers continually complain that the workers do not under- stand the responsibilities and the risks which they, as employ- ers, have to carry, and it would seem desirable therefore to take some steps to enable them to do so. In some directions this would be quite feasible, e.g.: 1. The reasons should be explained and discussed for the establishment of new works departments, or the re-organisation of existing ones, the relation of the new arrangement to the general manufacturing policy being demonstrated. i88 SELECTED ARTICLES 2. Some kind of simplified works statistics might be laid before a com- mittee of workers. For example: Output. Cost of new equipment installed. Cost of tools used in given period. Cost of raw material consumed. Number employed. A.mount of bad work produced. 3. Reports of activities of other parts of the business might be laid before them. (i) From the commercial side, showing the difficulties to be met, the general attitude of customers to the firm, etc. (2) By the chief technical departments, design office, laboratory, etc., as to the general technical developments or difficulties that were being dealt with. Much of such work need not be kept secret, and would tend to show the workers that other factors enter into the pro- duction of economic wealth besides manual labour. 4. Simple business reports, showing general trade prospects, might be presented. These are perhaps most difficult to give in any intelligible form, without publishing matter which every management would object to showing. Still, the attempt would be well worth making, and would show the workers how narrow is the margin between financial success and failure on which most manufacturing businesses work. Such statistics might, perhaps, ^be expressed not in actual amounts, but as proportions of the wages bill for the same period. SECTION II Types of Organisation Having dealt in the previous section with the kinds of questions, which, judged simply by their nature, would admit of joint discussion or handling, it is now necessary to consider what changes are needed in the structure of business manage- ment to carry out such proposals. The development of the nec- essary machinery presents very considerable difficulties on ac- count of the slowness of action and lack of executive pre- cision which almost necessarily accompany democratic organi- sation, and which it is the express object of most business organisations to avoid. The question of machinery for joint discussion and action is considered in this section in three aspects : — 1. The requirements which such machinery must satisfy. 2. The influence of various industrial conditions on the type of machinery likely to be adopted in particular trades or works. 3. Some detailed suggestions of shop committees of varying scope. I. Requirements to be Satisfied (a) Keeping in Touch with the Trade Unions It is obvious that no works committee can be a substitute for the trade union, and no attempt must be made by the em- ployer to use it in this way. To allay any trade union suspi- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 189 cion that this is the intention, and to ensure that the shop committee links up with the trade union organisation, it would be advisable to see that the trade union is represented in some fairly direct manner. This is specially important for any com- mittee dealing with wages, piece work and such other working conditions as are the usual subject of trade union action. In the other direction, it will be necessary for the trade unionists to develop some means of working shop committees into their scheme of organisation, otherwise there will be the danger of a works committee, able to act more quickly through being on the spot, usurping the place of the local district com- mittee of the trade unions. (6) Representation of all Grades The desirability of having all grades of workers represented on works committees is obvious, but it is not always easy to carry out owing to the complexity of the distribution of labour in most works. Thus, it is quite common for a single depart- ment, say in an engineering works, to contain several grades of workers, from skilled tradesmen to labourers, and possibly women. These grades will belong to different unions, and there may even be different, and perhaps competing, ' unions represented in the same grade. Many of the workers also will not be in any union at all. (c) Touch with Management As a large part of the aim of the whole development is to give the workers some sense of management problems and point of view, it is most desirable that meetings between works committees and management should be frequent and regular, and not looked on merely as means of investing grievances or deadlocks when they arise. The works committee must not be an accidental excrescence on the management structure, but must be worked into it so as to become an integral part, with real and necessary functions. (d) Rapidity of Action Delays in negotiations between employers and labour are a constant source of irritation to the latter. Every effort should be made to reduce them. Where this is impossible, due to the complications of the questions involved, the works committee should be given enough information to convince it 190 SELECTED ARTICLES of this, and that th^ delay is not a deliberate attempt to shirk the issue. On the other hand, the desire to attain rapidity of action should not lead to haphazard and "scratch" discussions or negotiations. These will only result in confusion, owing to the likelihood that some of those who ought to take part or be consulted over each question will be left out, or have in- sufficient opportunity for weighing up the matter. The pro- cedure for working with or through works committees must, therefore, be definite and constitutional, so that, everyone /knows how to get a grievance or suggestion put forward for consid- eration, and everyone concerned will be sure of receiving due notice of the matter. The procedure must not be so rigid, however, as to preclude emergency negotiations to deal with sudden' crises. 2. Influence of Various Industrial Conditions on the Type of Organisation of Shop Committees There is no type of shop committee that will suit all conditions. Some industries can develop more easily in one direction and some in another, and in this subsection are pointed out some of the conditions which are likely to influence this. (o) Type of Labor The constitution of works committees, or the scheme of committees, which will -suitably represent the workers of any particular factory, will depend very largely on the extent to which different trades and different grades of workers are in- volved. In the simplest kind of works, where only one trade or craft is carried out, the workers, even though of different degrees of skill, would probably all be eligible for the same trade union. In such a case a purely trade union organisa- tion, but based of course on works departments, would meet most of the requirements, and would probably, in fact, be al- ready in existence. In many works, however, at least in the engineering in- dustry, a number of different "trades" are carried on. For instance, turning, automatic machine operating, blacksmithing, pattern-making, foundry work, etc. Many of these trades are represented by the same trade union, though the interests of MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 191 the various sections are often antagonistic, e.g., in the case of turners and automatic machine operators. Some of the other trades mentioned belong to different unions altogether. In addition to these "tradesmen," will be found semi-skilled and unskilled laborers. For the most part these will belong to no union, though a few may belong to labouring unions which, however, have no special connection with the engineering un- ions. In addition to all these, there may be women whose position in relation to men's unions is still uncertain, and some of whose interests will certainly be opposed to those of some of the men. The best way of representing all these different groups will depend on their relative proportion and distribution in any given works. Where women are employed in any consider- able numbers it will probably be advisable for them to be rep- resented independently of the men. For the rest it will prob- ably be necessary to have at least two kinds of works commit- tes : one" representing trade unionists as such, chosen for con- venience by departments, the other representing simply works departments. The first would deal with wages and the type of question usually forming the subject of discussion between employers and trade unions. The other would deal with all other workshop conditions. The first, being based on trade unions, would automatically take account of distinctions be- tween different trades and different grades, whereas the sec- ond would be dealing with those questions in which such dis- tinctions do not matter very much. (6) Stability and Regularity of Employment Where work is of an irregular or seasonal nature and work- ers are constantly being taken on and turned off, only the very simplest kind of committee of workers would be possible. In such industries probably nothing but a trade union organisa- tion within the works would be possible. This would draw its strength from the existence of the trade union outside, which would, of course, be largely independent of trade fluc- tuations, and would be able to reconstitute the works commit- tee as often as necessary, thus keeping it in existence, even should most of the previous members have been discharged through slackness. (c) Elaboration of Management Organisation The extent to which management functions can be dele- 192 SELECTED ARTICLES gated, or management questions and policy be discussed with the workers depends very largely on the degree of complete- ness with which the management itself is organised. Where this is haphazard and management consists of a succession of emergencies, only autocratic control is possible, being the only method which is quick-acting and mobile enough. Therefore, the better organised and more constitutional (in the sense of having known rules and procedures) the management is, the more possible is it for policy to be discussed with the workers. 3. Some Schemes Suggested The following suggestions for shop organization of workers are intended to form one scheme. Their individual value, however, does not depend on the adoption of the scheme as a whole, each being good as far as it goes. (a) Shop Stewards Committee As pointed out in the last sub-section, in a factory where the trade union is strong, there will probably be a shop stew- ards or trade union committee already in existence. This is, of course, a committee of workers only, elected generally by the trade union members in the works, to look after their in- terests and to conduct negotiations for them with the man- agement. Sometimes the stewards carry out other purely trade union work, such as collecting subscriptions, obtaining new members, explaining union rules, etc. Such a committee is the most obvious and simplest type of works committee, and where the composition of the shop is simple, i.e., mainly one trade, with no very great differences in grade, a shop stewards committee could deal with many of the questions laid down as suitable for joint handling. It is doubtful, however, whether a shop stewards commit- tee can, or should, cover the full range of workers' activities, except in the very simplest type of works. The mere fact that, as a purely trade union organisation, it will deal pri- marily with wages and piece-work questions, will tend to in- troduce an atmosphere of bargaining, which would make the discussion of more general questions very difficult. Further, such a committee would be likely to consider very little else than the interests of the trade union, or of themselves as trade unionists. While this is no doub'. quite legitimate as regards MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 193 such questions as wages, the more general questions of work- shop amenities should be considered from the point of view of the works as a community in which the workers have com- mon interests with the management in finding and maintain- ing the best conditions possible. Moreover, in many shops, where workers of widely differing grades and trades are em- ployed, a shop stewards committee is not likely to represent truly the whole of the workers, but only the better organised sections. The shop stewards committee, in the engineering trade at least, is fairly certain to constitute itself without any help from the management. The management should hasten to rec- ognize it, and give it every facility for carrying on its busi- ness, and should endeavor to give it a recognised status and to impress it with a sense of responsibility. It would probably be desirable that shop stewards should be elected by secret ballot rather than by show of hands in open meeting, in order that the most responsible men may be chosen, and not merely the loudest talkers or the most popu- lar. It seems better, also, that stewards should be elected for a certain definite term, instead of holding office, as is some- times the case now, until they resign, leave the firm, or are actually deposed. The shop stewards committee, being pri- marily a workers' and trade union affair, both these points are outside the legitimate field of action of the management. The latter's willingness to recognize and work through the commit- tee should, however, confer some right to make suggestions even in such matters as these. The facilities granted by the management might very well include a room on the works premises in which to hold meet- ings, and a -place to keep papers, etc. If works conditions make it difficult for the stewards to meet out of work hours, it would be well to allow them to hold committee meetings in working hours at recognised times. The management should also arrange periodic joint meetings with the committee, to enable both sides to bring forward matters of discussion. The composition of the joint meeting between the commit- tee of shop stewards and the management is worth considering shortly. In the conception here set forth the shop stewards committee is a complete entity by itself; it is not merely the workers' section of some larger composite committee of man- agement and workers. The joint meetings are rather in the 194 SELECTED ARTICLES nature of a standing arrangement on the part of the manage- ment for receiving deputations from the workers. For this purpose the personnel of the management section need not be fixed, but could well be varied according to the subjects to be discussed. It should "always include, however, the highest executive authority concerned with the works. For the rest, there might be the various departmental managers, and, some- times, some of the foremen. As the joint meeting is not an instrument of management, taking decisions by vote, the num- ber of the management contingent does not really matter be- yond assuring that all useful points of view are represented. Too much importance can hardly be laid on the desirability of regular joint meetings, as against ad hoc meetings called to discuss special grievances. According to the first plan, each side becomes used to meeting the other in the ordinary way of business, say once a month, when no special issue is at stake, and no special tension is in the air. Each can hardly fail to absorb something of the other's point of view. At a special ad hoc meeting, on the other hand, each side is apt to regard as its business, not the discussion of a question on its merits, but simply the making out of a case. And the fact that a meeting is called specially means that expectations of results are raised among the other workers, which make it difiicult to allow the necessary time or number of meetings for the proper discussion of a complicated question. Where women are employed in considerable numbers along with men, the question of their representation by stewards be- comes important. It is as yet too early to say how this situa- tion can best be met. If tiiey are eligible for membership of the same trades unions as the men, the shop stewards commit- tee might consist of representatives of botli. But, considering the situation which will arise after the war, when the inter- ests of the men and of the women will often be opposed, this solution does not seem very promising at present. Another plan would be for a separate women's shop stew- ards committee to be formed, which would also meet the man- agement periodically and be, in fact, a duplicate of the men's organization. It would probably also hold periodic joint meet- ings with the men's committee, to unify their policies as far as possible. This plan is somewhat cumbersome, but seems to be the only one feasible at present on account of the diverg- ence of interest and the very different stage of development in organisation of men and women. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 195 (6) Social Union Some organisation for looking after recreation is in exist- ence in many works, and if not, there is much to be said for the institution of such a body as the social union here described. Although the purpose which calls together the members of a works committee is, of course, not the fostering of social life and amenities, there is no doubt that members of such communities do attain a fuller life and more satisfaction from their association together, when common recreation is added to common work. It may, of course, be urged against such a development of community life in industry, that it is better for people to get away from their work and to meet quite an- other set in their leisure times. This is no doubt true enough, but the number of people who take advantage of it is probably very much less than would be affected by social activities con- nected with the works. The development of such activities will, in consequence, almost certainly have more effect in spreading opportunities for fuller life than it will have in re- stricting them. Moreover, if the works is a large one, the differences in outlook between the various sections are perhaps quite as great as can be met with outside. For this reason the cardinal principle for such organisations is to mix up the different sections and grades, especially the works and the office departments. The sphere of the social union includes all activities other than those affecting the work for which the firm is organised. This sphere being outside the work of the firm, the organisa- tion should be entirely voluntary and in the hands of the work- ers, though the management may well provide facilities such as rooms and playin'g fields. Two main schemes of organisation are usual. In the first a general council is elected by the members, or, if possible, by all the employes, irrespective of department or grade. This council is responsible for the general policy of the social union, holds the funds, and undertakes the starting and supervising of smaller organisations for specific purposes. Thus, for each activity a club or society would be formed under the auspices of the council. The clubs would manage their own affairs and make their own detail arrangements. It is most desirable that the social union should be self- supporting as far as running expenses go, and should not be subsidized by the management, as is sometimes done. A small 196 SELECTED ARTICLES subscription should be paid weekly by every member, such sub- scription admitting them to any or all clubs. The funds should be held by the council, and spent according to the needs of the various clubs, not according to the subscriptions trace- able to the membership of each. This is very much better than making the finances of each club self-supporting, since it emphasizes the "community" feeling, is very simple, and enables some forms of recreation to be carried on which could not possibly be made to pay for themselves. The second general type of social union organisation in- volves making the clubs themselves the basis. Each levies its own subscriptions and pays its own expenses, and the secre- taries of the clubs form a council for general management. This is a less desirable arrangement because each member of the council is apt to regard himself as there only to look after the interests of his club, rather than the whole. The starting of new activities is also less easy than under the first scheme. (c) Welfare Committee The two organisations suggested so far, viz., shop stewards committee and social union, do not cover the whole range of functions outlined in Section I. In considering how much of that field still remains to be covered, it is simplest first to mark off, mentally, the sphere of the social union, viz., social activ- ities outside working hours. This leaves clear the real prob- lem, viz., all the questions affecting the work and the conditions of work of the firm. These are then conceived as falling into two groups. First there are those questions in which the in- terests of the workers may be opposed to those of the em- ployer. These are concerned with such matters as wage and piece rates, penalties for spoiled work, etc. With regard to these, discussion is bound to be of the nature of bargaining, and these are the field for the shop stewards committee, ne- gotiating by means of the periodical joint meetings with the management. There remains, however, a second class of question, in which there is no clash of interest between employer and employed. These are concerned mainly with regulating the "community life" of the works, and include all questions of general shop conditions and amenities, and the more purely educational matters. For dealing with this group a composite MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 197 committee of management and workers, here called the Welfare Committee, is suggested. This would consist of two parts: 1. Representatives elected by workers. 2. Nominees of the management. The elected side might well represent the offices, both tech- nical and clerical, as well as the works, and members would be elected by departments, no account being taken of the various grades. Where women are employed it would probably be desirable for them to elect separate representatives. If they are in departments by themselves, this would naturally happen. If the departments are mixed, the men and women of such departments would each send representatives. The trade union or unions most concerned- with the work of the firm should be represented in some fairly direct way. This might be done in either of two ways: 1. If a shop stewards committee exists, it might be asked to send one or more representatives. 2. Or each of the main trade unions represented in the works might elect one or more representatives to represent their members as trade unionists. The management section should contain, in general, the highest members of the management who concern themselves with the running of the works; it would be no use to have here men in subordinate positions, as much of the discussion would deal with matters beyond their jurisdiction. Moreover, the opportunity for the higher management to get into touch with the workers would be too important to miss. It is doubt- ful whether there is any need for the workers' section of the welfare committee to meet separately, though there is no objec- tion to this if thought desirable. In any case a good many questions can be handed over by the joint meeting to sub- committees for working out, and such sub-committees can, where desirable, consist entirely of workers. It may be urged that the welfare committee is an unneces- sary complication, and, either that its work could be carried out by the shop stewards committee or that the work of both could be handled by a single composite shop committee of management and workers. In practice, however, a committee of the workers, sitting separately to consider those interests that are, or appear to be, opposed, with regular deputations to the management, and a composite committee of workers and management sitting together to discuss identical interests would seem the best solution of a difficult problem. 198 SELECTED ARTICLES Everything considered, therefore, there seems, in many works at least, to be a good case for the institution of both organisa- tions, that of shop, stewards and that of the welfare committee. The conditions making the latter desirable and possible would seem to be: — 1. A management sufficiently methodical and constitutional to make previous discussion of developments feasible. 2. The conditions of emplojrment fairly stable. 3. The trades and grades included in the shop so varied and in- termixed as to maice representation by a committee of trade union shop stewards incomplete. SECTION ni Summary and Conclusion of Sections I and II Gathering together the views and suggestions made in the foregoing pages, it is felt that three separate organisations within the works are necessary to represent the workers in the highly developed and elaborate organisms which modern fac- tories tend to become. It is not sufficient criticism of such a proposal to say that it is too complicated. Modern industry is complicated and the attempt to introduce democratic ideas into its governance will necessarily make it more so. As already pointed out, the scheme need not be accepted in its entirety. For any trade or firm fortunate enough to operate under simpler conditions than those here assumed, only such of the suggestions need be accepted as suit its case. The scope of the three committees is shown by the follow- ing summary: (o) Shop Stewards Committee Sphere. Controversial questions where interest of employer and worker are apparently opposed. CoNSTiTUTiOH. Consists of trade unionist workers elected by works departments. Sits by itself, but has regular meetings with the management. Examples of Questions Dealt With: Wage and piece rates. The carrying out of trade union agreements. Negotiations re application of legislation to the workers rep- resented, e. g., dilution, exemption from recruiting. The carrying out of national agreements re restoration of trade union conditions, demobilisation of war industries, etc. Introduction of new processes. Ventilation of grievances re any of above. Etc., etc. (,h)Welfare Committee Spheee. "Community" questions, where there is no clash between interests of employer and worker. Constitution. _ Composite committee of management and workers, with some direct representation of trade unions. Sits as one body, with some questions relegated to sub-corn- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 199 mittees, consisting either wholly of workers or of workers and managementi according to the nature of the case. Examples of Questions Dealt With: Shop rules. Such working conditions as starting and stopping times, meal hours, night shift arrangements, etc. Accident and sickness arrangements. Shop comfort and hygiene. Benevolent work such as collections for charities, hard cases of illness or accident among the workers. Education schemes: Trade technique. New works developments. Statistics of works activity. Business outlook. Promotions — explanation and, if possible, consultation. Ventilation of grievances re any of above, (c) Social Union Sphere. Social amenities, mainly outsida working hours. Constitution. Includes any or all grades of management and workers. Governing body elected by members irrespective of trade, grade, or sex. EXAUPLXS or ACTIVITXXS: Institution of clubs for sports — cricket, football, swimming, etc. Recreative societies — orchestral, choral, debating, etc. Arranging social events — picnics, dances, etc. Provision of games, library, etc., for use in meal hours. Administration of club rooms. (c) Industrial Councils THE WHITLEY SCHEME^ At the outbreak of war organisation on the part of em- ployers and workpeople existed in varying degrees in the dif- ferent industries of the country. In such industries as coal mining and cotton both employers and workpeople were highly organised. In other industries the employers' associations and the trade unions were less powerful; and in some trades, if they existed at all, they exercised relatively little influence. In a number of the better organised trades the employers' asso- ciations and trade unions concerned established conciliation or arbitration boards. This joint machinery was called into ex- istence in order to provide a medium for the discussion aiid settlement of industrial disputes; but the work of these bodies was carried on often in an atmosphere of disagreement, be- cause in practice the chief work of the Boards was the settle- ment of industrial disputes which had reached an acute stage or at least might reasonably be expected to result in a stoppage ^ Reconstruction Problems, Pamphlet No. xS. British Ministr7 of Reconstruction, March 20, 19x9. 200 SELECTED ARTICLES of work. Although the Boards were formed for the purpose of providing an adequate machinery for negotiating the settle- ment of industrial difficulties, in some cases at least they be- came the normal means whereby other questions affecting both employers and employees were discussed. During the war steps have been taken in the direction of extending the number of questions on which general consulta- tion is desirable, and the proposals of the Committee presided over by Mr. J. H. Whitley, M. P., the Deputy Speaker, were made with a view to establishing joint bodies for purposes of consultation and decision on matters of common interest. This Committee, officially known as the Committee on Re- lations between Employers and Employed, was set up by the Cabinet Committee on Reconstruction:-^ (i) To make and consider suggestions for securing a per- manent improvement in the relations between employ- ers and workmen. (2) To recommend means for securing that industrial conditions affecting the relations between employers and workmen shall be systematically reviewed by those concerned, with a view to improving conditions in the future. The Committee came to the unanimous conclusion that the relations of employers and employed could be improved only by the establishment of organisms for free discussion between the two parties in industry. It was necessary to create an at- mosphere in which men with opposing views and opposing interests might find it possible to meet. Controversial issues would then be seen in their proper proportion, and the various, perhaps less important, points on which there could be agree- ment might be considered. For such reasons as these the Com- mittee suggested the formation in each industry of a national Joint Industrial Council. Each Council was to consist of rep- resentatives of Employers' Associations and representatives of Trade Unions. It was, therefore, intended- that not individuals but organisations should be represented on the industrial coun- cils, and it was clearly perceived that on such councils there would be two sides. It was never intended that the trade unions should be weakened by the admission of representatives of non-unionists; and it was not supposed that the two sides in a council would fly apart into individual groups which would obscure the difference between the employers and the employed. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 201 On the other hand the proposals of the Whitley Committee make a very great advance on all pre-war joint organisations. The Industrial Council obviously creates an atmosphere in which the interests of all concerned in an industry might be considered without regard to possible disputes. A good coun- cil would initiate and promote development in the industry. It would be a training ground for managerial ability among the workers' representatives and an occasion for the employers to come into closer contact with their workpeople. The complete plan of organisation proposed by the Commit- tee is applicable only to those industries in which there is effec- tive organisation amongst both employers and employed. Whilst under ideal conditions it might be urged that the fabric should be built up from the individual workshop, the need for some immediately practicable scheme and the existence of national trade unions and employers' associations rendered it inevitable that in general a beginning should be made by the establish- ment of an industrial council covering the whole industry. Nevertheless, it is important that the discussion of the problems of an industry should be brought within the range of all those engaged in the industry. , There are, moreover, a number of problems which are local rather than national in character, and in any case it is clear that national agreements need to be interpreted to meet the circumstances prevailing in the different areas where an industry is carried on. The Com- mittee, therefore, suggested that in addition to the national council for an industry, there should be district councils es- tablished on the same general plan. With a view to the speedy settlement of minor difficulties, which if not dissipated may give rise to industrial trouble on a large scale, it was necessary to promote organisation within the individual workshop, mine, or factory. The Committee, therefore, also suggested that the organisation of an industry would not be complete unless there existed in individual firms machinery for consultation and discussion between the man- agement and the workpeople. It is not possible to determine in the abstract the distribu- tion of functions between a national industrial council, the dis- trict councils, and the works committees ; nor is it possible to lay down exactly what the functions of the triple organisation should cover. They may be as wide or as narrow as the organ- isations concerned choose to make them. 202 SELECTED ARTICLES Amongst the functions agreed upon by joint industrial coun- cils which have already come into existence are the following: — 1. To secure the largest possible measure of joint action between employers and workpeople for the development of the industry as a part of national life and for the improvement of the conditions of all engaged in that industry. 2. Regular consideration of wages, hours and workinf con- ditions in the industry as a whole. 3. The consideration of measures for regularising produc- tion and employment. 4. The consideration of the existing machinery for the set- tlement of differences between different parties and sections in the industry, and the establishment of machinery for this purpose where it does not already exist, with the object of se- curing the speedy settlement of difficulties. 5. The consideration of measures for securing the inclu- sion of all employers and workpeople in their respective asso- ciations. 6. The collection of statistics and information on matters appertaining to the industry. 7. The encouragement of the study of processes and design and of research, with a view to perfecting the products of the industry. 8. The provision of facilities for the full consideration and utilisation of inventions and any improvement in machinery or method, and for the adequate safeguarding of the rights of the designers of such improvements, and to secure that such im- provement in method or invention shall give to each party an equitable share of the benefits financially or otherwise arising therefrom. 9. Inquiries into special problems of the industry, includ- ing the comparative study of the organisation and methods of the industry in this and other countries, and, where desirable, the publication of reports. The arrangement of lectures and the holding of conferences on subjects of general interest to the industry. 10. The improvement of the health conditions obtaining in the industry, and the provision of special treatment where necessary for workers in the industry. 11. The supervision of entry into, and training for, the industry, and co-operation with the educational authorities in arranging education in all its branches for the industry. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 203 12. The issue to the press of authoritative statements upon matters affecting the industry and of general interest to the community. 13. Representation of the needs and opinions of the indus- try to the Government, government departments and other authorities. 14. The consideration of any other matters that may be referred to it by the Government or any government department. 15. The consideration of the proposals for district councils and works committees put forward in the Whitley Report, having regard in each case to any such organisations as may already be in existence. 16. Co-operation with the joint industrial councils for other industries to deal with problems of common interest. The national councils so far established have been the re- sult of conferences between representatives of the two sides and joint committees have drawn up constitutions for the pro- posed councils. These constitutions in the different industries vary in details, but they all follow the same general principles. There is no uniform method for the formation of joint industrial councils, and in future the larger industries, in which there is now no such council, may evolve some organisation on the same lines but by some new method. Naturally, there can be no rules for the formation of what is a purely voluntary body. It may be presumed, however, from the experience of the past two years that councils are formed by the following method. Representative men either on the employers' or on the workers' side or on both sides agree that the organisation of their industry needs development. Any person or group of persons can, of course, apply to the Ministry of Labour for suggestions as to joint bodies in industry, and a conference of representatives of associations and trade unions in the industry is then called. Such a conference generally appoints a small sub-committee, which drafts a constitution for the National Joint Industrial Council. The representatives of the industry themselves have to decide who shall be regarded as forming part of the industry and what organisations shall be represented. When the constitution has been approved by a meeting repre- sentative of the whole industry, the Ministry of Labour is gen- erally approached in order that the Government may give ''rec- ognition" to the Council. Recognition indicates chiefly that all government departments will communicate with the industry 204 SELECTED ARTICLES through the Joint Industrial Council, and it is also an indication that the Ministry of Labour regards the Council as sufficiently representative of all the chief interests in the industry. It fol- lows that no recognition could be given unless the industry were sufficiently organised for the vast majority of employers and employed to be included in associations or trade unions. Constitution and Functions The Council is formed by equal numbers of representatives of employers' associations and of trade unions, elected for an agreed period, generally a year. The Council appoints committees for special purposes and persons with special knowl- edge may be co-opted as members of these committees. If there is a chairman of the Council who is an employer, the vice-chairman is naturally a trade unionist; but some councils have preferred to elect an independent chairman, and the other officers of the Council, treasurer, secretary, etc., are arranged for in the usual manner. Voting is generally so regulated that no resolution can be regarded as carried unless it has been approved by a majority of the members present on each side of the Council. We may now turn to the work which a council does. The general intention in setting up a council for any industry will be already evident from what has been said above, and the joint conferences of employers and workers who have formed indus- trial councils have generally defined the work of their council as follows : — The Council should have under consideration the wages, hours and working conditions in the industry. It should also take measures to promote the regularising of employment and production, for by such measures the period of slackness in trade and of unemployment or under employment may be avoided. Thus, an industrial council should consider unem- ployment and would naturally be active not only in the main- tenance of its workers during unemployment, but also in the prevention of the unemployment of large numbers. It is now known that by organisations of an industry unemployment in times of slack trade can be very much kept down. The coun- cil would promote organisation also by taking measures to secure that all employers in the industry belonged to an em- ployers' association and all workers to a trade union. In any industry in which machinery for the settlement of MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 205 disputes does not already exist an industrial council would establish such machinery. The council would promote indus- trial research, secure the use of new inventions and see that full advantage from any such developments should be shared by all who are dependent on the industry for their living. In all contact with the Government the industrial council would naturally stand for the whole industry and it would pre- sent the views of the industry to the Government. Other functions are given to some industrial councils by their founders, such as the promotion of education, the collec- tion of statistics of wages, and average percentages of profits on turnover, but these functions are not given to all councils. This description of functions is based upon actual consti- tutions of councils which have been already established. The work already done by councils is included under some of the subjects enumerated; for example, the industrial councils for electrical contracting, match manufacture and the silk indus- try, have actually agreed to a 47 hour-week. District Councils So far we have spoken of a national council representing the whole of an industry, but to be complete the organisation of an industry must be local as well as national. The circum- stances may vary much from district to district, and therefore it is suggested that in appropriate cases district councils should set up under the National Joint Industrial Council. The area for a district council would naturally be defined by the National Council, and the membership would be on the same plan in both. The purposes for which a district council exists are, for example, to take executive action in carrying out in the district any decisions of the National Council. Hours, wages and working conditions, working rules, overtime, juven- ile labour and the shift system, are all subjects on which a district council may be more closely in contact than a National Council. The district council should also be able to co-ordinate the local workshop practices. Works Committee The final element in the completed structure of joint con- sultation in industry is to be found in the works themselves. 2o6 SELECTED ARTICLES The chief purpose in view is that the workers should be given a wider interest in and a greater responsibility for the condi- tions under which their work is carried on. A works commit- tee will, therefore, minimise friction and misunderstanding, and it will see that the collective agreements reached on district or national councils are enforced in the works. The workers' side of a works committee should be all members of trades unions, and they should represent the different departments within the works as well as the .different sections of workers concerned. Representatives should be elected for a definite term of six or twelve months, and the workers' side should have its own chairman or secretary. It is thought that from five to twelve members should be elected in accordance with the size or complexity of the works. On the side representing the management there need not be so many members, but they should include the managing directors or works manager. The works committee usually meet at regular intervals of two or four weeks, and the meetings are held during working hours. Any grievance may be reported by any of the workers to their representative on the committee, and if their repre- sentative cannot himself reach a settlement in the matter, it may be referred to the committee itself. The functions usually given by agreement to works com- mittees are the issue and revision of works rules, the arrange- ment of working hours, breaks, etc., the form in which wages are paid, the settlement of grievances, questions of "v/elfare" such as the provision of meals, drinking waters etc., questions of timekeeping, of bullying, etc., the training of apprentices, entertainments and sports. Thus, the workers will take the responsibility for the organisation of their working life and they will not feel the place in which they work to be so much foreign ground. It is well known that works committees existed long before the war, and, therefore, they are not in any way the result of suggestions of the Whitley Committee. A full account of their history and recent development is given in a pamphlet on works committees, published by the Ministry of Labour. "^ The Whitley Committee, however, supported the promotion of such organisation in contact with the actual working conditions in industry, and clearly the scheme for joint industrial councils could not be effective unless the actual workers in the shops or ^Industrial Reports, No. i (Ministry of Labour, price id.). MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 207 factory were given some power of presenting their views in regard to working conditions. Councils Already Formed When the Government accepted the policy suggested by the Whitley Committee, the Ministry of Labour was entrusted with the promotion of joint industrial councils, and up to the pres- ent date twenty-six such councils have been formed. There are now joint industrial councils for the following industries : — baking, bedstead making, bobbins, chemicals, china clay, fur- niture, gold, silver and allied trades, hosiery, made-up leather goods, matches, paint and varnish, pottery, rubber, sawmilling, silk, tin-plate, vehicle building. In addition to this Joint Committees are at present engaged in drafting constitutions in the following fourteen industries: — Boot and shoe manufacture, needles and fish-hooks, news- papers, shipping, carpets, coir matting, commercial road trans- port, electricity supply, flour milling, non-trading municipalities, printing, roller engraving, tramways, surgical instruments. Some one and a half million workpeople are employed in the industries in which joint industrial councils are already set up. If to that there is added the number of people em- ployed in the industries for which joint committees are now drafting constitutions, or where constitutions have already been approved though the first meeting of the councils has not been held, we get a total of some two and a half millions. It may also be noted that preliminary negotiations have already taken place in a considerable number of other industries, and though in these cases the proceedings have not yet reached the stage at which a draft constitution is being considered, there is no doubt that in a considerable number of them councils will be established in the near future. To the list already given there has to be added the indus- trial establishments of the Government. In this case negotia- tions are already far advanced, the Di-afting Committee, com- posed of representatives of the trade unions and the govern- ment departments, being engaged upon the details of a consti- tution. It is also to be noted that an Inter-Departmental Com- mittee has been considering the application of the Whitley Report to the administrative and clerical grades of the civil 208 SELECTED ARTICLES service, and that in the near future the same methods of joint negotiations will be applied to them also. It will be seen that six of the largest trades of the country are not included in the lists given above, viz. : — Shipbuilding, cotton, coal-mining, iron and steel, engineering, and railways. In each of these cases special difficulties exist, and it has been found, not unnaturally, that the larger the industry the greater the difficulties that have to be overcome, owing to the com- plexity of its existing organisation and the difficulty of recon- ciling the views of the various bodies concerned, where they have not previously been accustomed to working together. It is, therefore, to be expected that the largest industries will be the last to adapt themselves to the new scheme, and it has also to be remembered that these are the industries which are already the best organised, and therefore have the least need of the new machinery. On the other hand, none of them has at present any joint body with functions as wide or a consti- tution so definite as those of the joint industrial councils which have been formed. In the cotton trade, however, the Cotton Control Board, a joint committee of employers and workpeople, carried out the most difficult task of regulating the industry in the face of the great difficulties which have beset it during the War. The Cotton Control Board, though set up for a partic- ular purpose, did in fact perform most of the functions of a joint industrial council. Since the Board ceased to be a stat- utory body, its membership has been extended. The question of the formation of a joint industrial council for the industry is now being placed before the Board. The Shipbuilding in- dustry also set up a national joint committee to deal with the various problems arising out of the War in the industry. Un- der its auspices district and yard committees were formed in certain areas. In the case of Coal-mining a start was made by the formation of joint district Committees and joint pit com- mittees in the Lancashire area. Each drafting committee was free to select whatever form of constitution and whatever objects seemed best to it, but in order to assist them in their work the Ministry prepared a model constitution based on the suggestions made in the Whitley Report itself? which has usually served as a basis for discussion. Although the constitutions which have been drafted naturally vary considerably, the keynote of all of them is the advance- ment of the industry and the improvement of the conditions MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 209 of all engaged in it by means of joint action between employ- ers and workpeople, and by their association in its government. The objects which appear in the various constitutions taken together include practically every kind of question connected with industry. It will be seen that the councils intend to undertake a thor- ough revision of the conditions under which the industry has hitherto been carried on and to attempt a readjustment of them in such a way as to promote greater prosperity for all concerned and a real intimacy of co-operation between employ- ers and workpeople in its government. Some instances of the work actually accomplished by joint industrial councils will serve to indicate that these aspirations are not meant to remain as merely pious hopes, but that steps are already being taken to translate them into practice. Work Done by Councils The Baking Industrial Council has set up several district councils ; it has made a working agreement giving improved conditions and a considerable advance in wages to the opera- tives in the trade. .The Industrial Council for Building has appointed a committee to report on scientific management and reduction of costs, and has made reports on interrupted appren- ticeships. At the request of the Home Office the Council has appointed a committee to deal with the prevention of accidents. The Industrial Council for Chemicals has made arrange- ments for dealing with disputes, including a panel of arbi- trators who act in rotation. The China Clay Council has arrived at a wages agreement. The Council for Electrical Contracting has fixed a 47-hour working week, with pay on the basis of a S3-hour week. It has decided to call a meeting of non-unionists employed by associated firms to induce them to join unions. The Furniture Industrial Council has proposed a scheme for a conciliation board which has received the approval of the con- stituent associations on the Council. It has successfully medi- ated in local disputes, settled rates for upholsterers in the London area, and agreed on ten district councils, of which one has been already set up. The Hosiery Council has increased the bonus for opera- tives, and the Scottish Section has reached an agreement on hours. The Council for Matches has arranged a 47-hour week 210 SELECTED ARTICLES without reduction in wages; it has set up a London District Committee and Works Committee in every firm but one. The Pottery Council has circulated a memorandum to the trade on health conditions. The Rubber Council has agreed on a 47-hour week, payment to be made on the basis of a S4-hour week or whatever the working hours were in the district. The Council for Saw Milling has agreed on a 47-hour week, and the Council for Silk has agreed on a 49-hour week, with no reduction of time or piece rates. The Council for Vehicle Building has agreed on a national minimum wage of is. 6d. an hour for skilled men, with corresponding rates for semi-skilled men and labourers; it has also agreed on a 47-hour week without reduc- tion in wages except in the case of firms working more than 54 hours a week. Many other problems are under discussion, which will prob- ably result in action being taken: and, obviously, the record of the work done must be considered with due regard to the fact that the Councils have only recently come into existence, while the circumstances of war-time made it difficult to take action on some issues. General Principles It will be understood from what has been already said that an industrial council is not formed by the State or the Govern- ment. It is a purely voluntary body and it contains no repre- sentatives of the Government. The persons connected in any ■ industry are quite free to choose whether or not they will form an industrial council, and no pressure is needed by the Gov- ernment on any industry. The functions of the Ministry of Labour in this regard are confined to making suggestions and giving general assistance to those who desire to form Indus- trial Councils and for this purpose the Ministry organises con- ferences and issues relevant material. An official of the Ministry of Labour acts in liaison with every industrial council which has been formed. The Government is not, of course, uninterested in. the forma- tion of these councils. Industry is becoming every day a. more urgent problem, and it is more and more necessary for the Government of the day to know the view of those immediately concerned in the several trades of the country. An industrial council is, therefore, useful to the Grovemment in providing MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 211 one voice for the industry concerned. Such a council can pre- sent the views of all those employed in the industry, and it can suggest or promote any further legislation which may be necessary. On the other hand if the Government desires anything done by an industry, an industrial council may be the best instrument through which it may be done. Thus, the resettlement of workers and the regularisation of employment may be referred by the Government to industrial councils. The whole scheme is flexible. It is not a rigid programme for every industry and it is capable of endless variations to suit particular circumstances. There are many problems which arise when it is desired to establish an industrial council; for example, the problem of the extent and boundaries of an in- dustry. There are many trades which seem to belong to more than one industry, and some industries, such as engineering, seem to be too complex to be treated as a single industry. Again, what in the abstract appears to be one industry may have very distinct branches in different parts of the country, and generally the organisation of employers' associations and of trades unions cuts across the boundaries of many industries. All these facts necessitate adjustment and compromise; the conditions and circumstances affecting an industry and espe- cially the state of organisation among employers and workers must be fully investigated before any application can be made of the ideas of the Whitley Committee and clearly some indus- tries may not be suitable for joint industrial councils. On the other hand the idea of joint discussion of non-controversial issues may affect many trades and industries in which no council is set up. Further problems arise as to the position of clerical and supervisory staffs, the rights of a district council in regard to the functions of the national council, the treatment of employ- ers who are not members of any association, the interests of non-unionists in the workshops, and many other such points. But all these problems can be solved by due consideration of particular circumstances; and indeed experience has already proved what can be done. Councils and Trade Boards Joint industrial councils differ in many important respects 212 SELECTED ARTICLES from such bodies as trade boards : their relation and their dif- ferences are fully explained in the pamphlet on the subject published by the Ministry of Labour (Industrial Reports, No. 3, Industrial Councils and Trade Boards). Here it is only necessary to emphasise some of the chief points of difference. A trade board is a statutory body whose decisions are made binding by law; but an industrial council is a voluntary body with no statutory powers. A trade board is set up by the Gov- ernment in the case of trades which are not completely organ- ised and in which the wages appear to be exceptionally low. It contains members appointed by the Government, but all mem- bers of an industrial council are elected by associations in the industry. The subjects usually dealt with by an industrial council are wider than those usually dealt with by a trade board; and a trade board usually represents a section rather than the whole of an industry. The new Trade Boards Act of 1918, however, adds considerably to the possible functions of a trade board, and makes it possible to increase the number of trade boards more rapidly than under the old system. Interim Industrial Reconstruction Committees In many industries there has been delay in setting up indus- trial councils. The circumstances of war-time made it difficult for some industries to organise rapidly; and yet it was essential that these industries should have some joint bodies to speak for them and to act within such industries on the problems of resettlement and reconstruction. The following is a list of industries in which interim indus- trial reconstruction committees have been formed since March 22nd, 1918: — Artificial stone, basket-making, blacksmiths and farriers, brass and copper (advisory), brush-making, catering, clay industries, cocoa, chocolate, sugar, confectionery and jam, cooperage, cutlery, envelopes and manufactured stationery, fer- tilisers (including sections for basic slag, sulphate of ammonia and fish guano), furniture removing, gas mantles, glass, gloves, lead manufactures, leather production, lock, safe and latch, music trades, non-ferrous mines, optical instruments, packing, paper-making, patent fuel, petroleum lamps, polish (boot and floor), quarrying, railway carriage and wagon building, sugar refining, wholesale clothing (women's trade, light section), wire drawing, zinc and spelter. These bodies have done much work MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 213 during their short existence, and they have formed the initial movement for future joint industrial councils. The future of the whole organisation of industry is still undecided. There may be a very great and important develop- ment of the ideas and suggestions expressed in the reports of the Whitley Committee, but that is a matter of prophecy. What has been described in this pamphlet is historical fact, and it is sufficient to indicate how joint consultation between employers and workers may promote the best interest of all concerned. FUNCTIONS AND CONSTITUTION OF DISTRICT COUNCILS AND OF WORKS COMMITTEES' District Councils The Whitley report states that : The National Joint Industrial Council should not be regarded as com- plete in itself: What is needed is a triple organization — in the work- shops, the districts, and nationally. Moreover, it is essential that the organization at each of these stages should proceed on a common principle, and that the greatest measure of common action between them should be secured. With this end in view, we are of opinion that the following proposal should be laid before the National Joint Industrial Councils. That district councils representative of the trade-unions and of employers' associations in the industry should be created or developed out of the existing machinery for negotiation in the various trades. It is clear that the Whitley report contemplates wherever possible that the joint industrial council should be established in the first instance, and that this national council should as soon as possible consider the question of the formation of district councils. In almost all the constitutions of joint coun- cils hitherto submitted to the Minister of Labor, the following appears among the more specific objects of the joint industrial council : The consideration of the proposal for district councils as put forward in the Whitley report, having regard in each case to any such organiza- tion as may already be in existence. At the request of several of the joint industrial councils already formed, the Ministry of Labor has drawn up the follow- ing memorandum on the constitution and functions of district councils, which is to be regarded as putting forward not hard- and-fast rules, but suggestions which may serve as a basis for discussion when the question of district councils is being con- sidered by joint industrial councils. The underlying principle ^From Industrial Reports. No. 4. British Ministry of Labour, 214 SELECTED ARTICLES of the Whitley report is that the constitution and functions not only of the joint industrial council but also of the district councils should be left to be determined by the industries them- selves in accordance with their special conditions and circum- stances. A. — Functions of District Councils The main functions of district councils would be as follows: 1. To consider any matters that may be referred to them by the National Joint Industrial Council, and to take executive action within their district in connection with decisions arrived at and matters deputed to them by it. 2. To make recommendations to the National Joint Indus- trial Council. 3. To consider any matters of interest to their district, in- cluding matters referred to them by works committees, and to take executive action with regard to matters that affect only their particular district, subject to the right of the national council to veto any such action if it be found to involve the interests of other districts. The following may be regarded as among the more specific functions falling under this head (No. 3) : (o) The regular consideration of hours, wages, and work- ing conditions, including the codification, unification, and amend- ment of working rules relating to holidays, juvenile labor, overtime, the shift system, etc. (N. B. — Special attention is called to the fact that no executive action should be taken upon these matters if such action is likely to involve the inter- ests of other districts. In any cases of doubt, the district council should consult the national council before taking action.) (6) The coordination of local workshop practice. (c) General district matters relating to welfare work. (rf) The provision of faciUties for the full consideration and utilization in inventions, and any improvement in machin- ery or method, and for the adequate safeguarding of the rights of the designers of such employments, and to secure that such improvement or invention shall give to each party an equitable share of the benefits (financially or otherwise) arising there- from. (g) The improvement of health conditions obtaining in MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 215 the industry and the provision of special treatment, where necessary, for workers in the industry. (/) The supervision of entry into, and training for, the industry and co-operation with the educational authorities in arranging education in all its branches for the industry. (g) The arrangement of lectures and the holding of con- ferences in the district on subjects of general interest to the industry. 4. Co-operation with the district councils for other indus- tries to deal with problems of common interest. 5. Where no adequate machinery exists for the settlement of differences between different parties and sections of the industry, to consider any such differences as can not be set- tled within an individual factory or workshop, and to refer to the national council any such matters upon which the district council fails to come to a decision. B. — Constitution of District Councils 1. Areas of district councils. — It would clearly be the work of the National Joint Industrial Council in consultation with the existing local associations to define the suitable areas to be covered by district councils. It is suggested that a district council should not cover a larger area than is compatible with decentralized action. 2. Membership. — The council shall consist of mem- bers, appointed as to one-half by associations of employers and as to the other half by trade-unions. Members of the national council shall be ex officio members of the district coun- cil in their area. Associations of employers. No. of representatives. (I) (2) (3) (1) (2) (3) Total Trade-tmions. Total 2i6 SELECTED ARTICLES (N. B. — When the question of membership is under consid- eration the national council will have to consider carefully the question of linking up district councils with works committees, if and when such exist. Provision might be made in the con- stitution for a certain proportion of members of the district council to be representatives elected from a conference of works committees if and when a sufficient number of works com- mittees are set up within the area of the district council. The national council should also consider the advisability of link- ing up the district councils with the local advisory committees appointed by the Ministry of Labor to advise the local employ- ment exchanges, especially on matters connected with demobil- ization.) 3. Reappointment. — The representatives of the said associa- tions and trade-unions shall retire annually and shall be eligible for reappointment by their respective associations and unions. Casual vacancies shall be filled by the association concerned, which shall appoint a member to sit until the end of the cur- rent year. 4. Committees. — The district council may delegate special powers to any committee it appoints. The reports of all com- mittees shall be submitted to the district council for confirma- tion, except where special powers have been delegated to the committee, and the district council shall have power to appoint on committees, or to allow committees to add such persons of special knowledge, not being members of the council, as may serve the special purposes of the district council. 5. Officers. — It might be advisable under this head to fol- low the method adopted in the constitution of the correspond- ing National Joint Industrial Council. 6. Meetings of the district council.— Tht ordinary meet- ings of the district council shall be held as often as necessary and not less than once a quarter. The annual meeting shall be held at least 14 days before the annual meeting of the Na- tional Joint Industrial Council. A special meeting of the coun- cil shall be called within days of the receipt of a requisition from one-third of the members of the council. The matters to be discussed at such meetings shall be stated upon the notice summoning the meeting. 7. Voting. — The voting, both in council and in the commit- tees, shall be by show of hands or otherwise, as the district council may determine. No resolution shall be regarded as MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 217 carried unless it has been approved by a majority of members present on each side of the district council. 8. Quorum. — The quorum shall be members on each side of the council. 9. Finance. — It might be advisable to adopt the method laid down in the constitution of the corresponding National Joint Industrial Council. 10. Minutes. — Copies of the minutes of all meetings of dis- trict councils shall be forwarded to the joint secretaries of the national council within one week of the meeting. Note The relation of district councils to the National Joint Indus- trial Council and to the Government. The functions and constitution of district councils shall be submitted to the national council for their approval, and copies of such constitutions and the membership of the various dis- trict councils should be sent by the National Joint Industrial Council to the Ministry of Labor. Any communications addressed to Government departments by district councils must not be sent direct, but through the national industrial council. Works Committees The differing circumstances of different industries make it impossible to devise any scheme suitable to every industry. Again, the type of works committee suitable will vary with the size of the firm and the form taken by organization among the employees. In preparing a scheme, therefore, the machinery outlined in the following suggestions may require to be adapted in greater or less degree if the general objects for which works committees are recommended are to be attained. These general objects are : 1. That the workpeople should be given a wider interest in, and greater responsibility for, the conditions under which their work is performed. 2. That the regulations contained in collective agreements drawn up by district and national authorities be enforced in the works. 2i8 SELECTED ARTICLES 3. That friction and misunderstanding be prevented so far as possible. The attainment of these objects demands the establishment of recognized means for consultation between management and workpeople. At the same time anything that is done — whether or not it is embodied in the works rules drawn up by the works committee — ^must be consistent with the principles of the col- lective agreements accepted by the district and national author- ities. For this reason stg)s should be taken to secure the closest possible connection between the works committee and the dis- trict and national councils. Constitution (i) The works joint committee shall be composed of (o) representatives of the workpeople and (6) representatives of the management. In considering questions of membership it will be found more convenient to treat (a) and (6) separately. (a) Workers side of joint committee. (i) The number of representatives will vary with the size and the complexity of the particular works. Some number from S to 12 is suggested as likely to suit most circumstances. (ii) The members of the workers side should be trade- union representatives. The national and district councils are based solely upon the representation of organizations. In the case of the works, in order to secure cohesion of policy as between" the works committee and the district and national councils, it is advisable that the works committee should normally be based on a rec- ognition of the workpeople's organizations. But, in particular factories where the workmen are not strongly organized or where the functions of the works com- mittee are such as to require the presence of workers who are not organized, it may be found necessary to depart from the principle laid down above. In these circumstances, however, the shop stewards, or other trade-union representatives in the works should be consulted on all questions affecting district or national agreements. Any deviation from the general scheme should be adopted only after approval by the industrial council on a consideration of the merits of the case. (iii) The representation should normally be on the basis MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 219 of departments, due allowance being made for the various sections of workers engaged in any department. In order that this may not sometimes necessitate a com- mittee of unwieldly size, it is suggested that for large or com- plex works the workers' side of the joint committee should be appointed by and from a larger body of workers' representatives elected from the various departments. (iv) The representatives should be appointed for a definite term of office — 6 or at most 12 months — and should be eligible for reelection. (v) The election should be by ballot or by departmental (or sectional) meetings especially convened for the purpose. (vi) The workers' side should appoint a chairman and a secretary. (vii) On any representative leaving the employment of the firm or resigning his position as member a successor shall be appointed in the ordinary way by the department or section concerned, to hold office for the remainder of the term. (6) Management side of joint committee. (i) Certain members of the managerial staff should form a constant nucleus of the management side. (See 4 below.) (ii) The number required for (i) will vary, but two, three, or four is suggested as a suitable number. To have an equal number of members on the two sides would in most works be impracticable, and, in view of the suggested procedure, is unnecessary. (See, in particular, para- graph (11) under Procedure below.) (iii) This number should be made up of such individuals as a managing director, the works manager, and, where there is such an official, the labor or welfare superintendent. (2) The joint committee will be composed of the individ- uals in (o) (i) and (fc) (i) coming together in joint meeting. (3) The joint committee should appoint a chairman and a vice chairman (one from each side). Each side should appoint its own secretary. (4) Either side shall have the right to add to its number representatives of the particular departments or sections of departments affected by a question under discussion and not directly represented on the committee. The addition shall be made only for the period during which the question affecting the particular departments or sections of departments is before the committee. 220 SELECTED ARTICLES (S) The recognized district official of any trade-union or employers' association concerned may attend any meeting in an advisory capacity. Note (i). — It may be found necessary to leave certain ques- tions to be settled not by the whole works committee, but by a subcommittee of it on which the workers' representatives are drawn only from the particular department or section directly concerned, for example, a piecework question in one depart- ment of a works which is mainly on time work. The size of the works, also, is a factor which must be taken into account in considering the need for subcommittees. In some instances departmental subcommittees and in others functional subcom- mittees {e. g., a "safety" committee or a welfare committee) may best suit the circumstances. Even where definite subcom- mittees are not arranged for, work of the same kind as these would perform may often be carried out by consultation be- tween the representatives of the management and the secretary of the workers' side along with the representatives of a de- partment. Note (2). — In large works it will probably be found desir- able to establish departmental committees, with a works com- mittee representative of all the departments chosen from the departmental committees. In such cases, the functions of the departmental committees will be confined to matters affecting the department only, whilst the works committee will consider questions affecting more than one department or the whole works. The workers' side of a departmental committee should be so elected as to give representation to each of the various sections of workers engaged in the department. Procedure (i) Meetings of the joint committee shall be held at regu- ( two 1 lar intervals of ) r „^ J weeks. The meetings shall be held during working hours. (2) Special meetings of the joint committee shall be called at hours' notice on a request on behalf of one side by its secretary to the secretary of the other side. (3) The agenda of business shall be submitted by the sec- retaries to each member of the committees at least hours before a meeting, except in the case of special meetings. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 221 (4) No business other than that appearing on the agenda shall be transacted at any meeting unless both sides agree to its introduction. (5) When an individual workman desires to bring any question before the committee he should report to his depart- mental or sectional representative, who in the case of griev- ances shall endeavor to reach a settlement. Failing a settle- ment, the representative shall inform the workers' secretary. The latter shall endeavor to arrange a settlement. Failing a settlement, the question shall come before the joint committee. (6) In the course of his duties the secretary of the work- ers' side should have the right to enter any department in the works, and the representative of any department or section the right to enter the department in which the secretary is at work. (7) Facilities should be provided for meetings of the workers' side of the committee in the works, normally after working hours or during meal hours. (8) The workers' representatives should be paid at their ordinary rate for time spent at meetings of the joint committee. (9) Duplicate books of minutes should be kept, one by the secretary of each side. (10) Copies of the minutes of all meetings of the joint committee must be sent to the secretaries of the district coun- cil within seven days of the date of meeting. (11) Decisions shall be arrived at only by agreement be- tween the two sides. (12) In the event of any matter arising which the commit- tee can not agree upon, the officials of the trade-union or unions concerned shall negotiate with the firm or, if desired, with the officials of the employers' association. The question may therefore be referred by either side to the district council. (13) The works committee shall not have any power to come to an agreement inconsistent with the powers or decisions of the district or national councils or 'with any agreement be- tween a trade-union and the employers' association. Further, any agreement come to by a works committee may at any time be superseded by the district or national council or by agree- ment between a trade-union and the employers' association. Functions The list of functions outlined below is not meant to be 222 SELECTED ARTICLES exhaustive. Almost every industry has rules or customs which arise from the particular conditions under which the work of the industry is carried on {e.g., the payment of "dirty money," provision of tools, allowances for working away from the works or from home, allowances on standard district piece prices for deficiencies in material or machinery, etc.). In a well- regulated industry many such matters will be subject to district or national agreements, and the powers of a works committee will be limited in the same manner as they will be in regard to the more general questions of district or national agreement (standard rates, piece prices, normal hours, overtime, etc.). No attempt has been made to include such questions as arise only in some industries, for which each national council con- cerned will have to decide upon a method of regulation, in- cluding the powers to be vested in works committees. In regard to any function, the powers of a works committee will be controlled in accordance with paragraph (13) under procedure. (1) The issue and revision of works rules. (2) The distribution of working hours, breaks, time re- cording, etc. (3) The payment of wages (time, form of pay ticket, etc.), explanation of methods of payment, the adjustment of piece prices, subject to district or national agreements, records of piece prices, deductions, etc. (4) The settlement of grievances. (5) Holiday arrangements. (6) Questions of physical welfare (provision of meals, drinking water, lavatories, and washing accommodations, cloak- rooms, ventilation, heating and sanitation, accidents, safety ap- pliances, first aid, ambulance, etc.). (7) Questions of discipline and conduct as between man- agement and workpeople (malingering, bullying, timekeeping, publicity in regard to rules, supervision of notice boards, etc.). (8) Terms of engagement of workpeople. (g) The training of apprentices and young persons. (10) Technical library, lectures on the technical and social aspects of the industry. (11) Suggestions of improvements in method and organiza- tion of work, the testing of suggestions. (12) Investigation of circumstances tending to reduce effi- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 223 ciency or in any way to interfere with the satisfactory working of the factory. (13) Collections (for clubs, charities, etc.). (14) Entertainments and sports. (15) The provision of facilities for the workers' side of the joint committee (or of a departmental committee, if any) to conduct its own work. JOINT INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS AND TRADE BOARDS' (a) Joint Industrial Councils By far the most important development of industrial or- ganisation since the appearance of the first edition of this Memorandum has been the publication of the reports of the Reconstruction Sub-Committee on relations between employ- ers and employed, presided over by the Right Hon. J. H. Whit- ley, M.P., and the formation of joint standing industrial coun- cils in several important industries, on the lines advocated by that Committee. In view of the importance of the "Whitley Scheme," and its strong resemblance to the proposals contained in this Memorandum, it seems desirable to give some account of the reports themselves and of the action which has been taken to give efiEect to them. The terms of reference to the Whitley Committee were: — (i) To make and consider suggestions for securing a per- manent improvement in the relations between employ- ers and workmen. (2) To recommend means for securing that industrial con- ditions affecting the relations between employers and workmen shall be systematically reviewed by those concerned, with a view to improving conditions in the future. In March, 1917, the Committee submitted an Interim Report, recommending the establishment in all well-organised trades of joint standing industrial councils, representative of em- ployers and employed, and in July of that year a circular let- ter was addressed by the Ministry of Labour to all the prin- cipal employers' associations and trade unions, asking for their ^Froffl Memorandum on the Industrial Situation After tlie War. Garton Foundation Report. Revised Ed. London, 1919. 224 SELECTED ARTICLES views on the Report. By October, 191 7, so many favourable replies had been received to this letter that the War Cabinet decided to adopt the Report as part of its reconstruction policy and instructed the Ministry of Labour to afford assistance and advice, where desired, in the formation of joint industrial councils. In October, 1917, a "Second Report on Joint Stand- ing Industrial Councils" was presented, further elaborating the scheme. The machinery suggested by the Whitley Reports is based on the principle of devolution. The Committee recommended that in addition to the national councils, representing the whole industry, there should be created joint district councils and works committees, subsidiary to the national councils. The dis- trict councils would deal with questions or aspects of ques- tions having a local character; the works committees would deal with all questions domestic to a particular establishment. It is an essential feature of the scheme that the constitution of the national and district councils, of the works committees, and of all sub-committees of any of these bodies, shall be based upon the principle of equal representation and status of employers and employed. A typical council will thus consist of an equal number of representatives appointed by the em- ployers' associations and the trade unions, the chairman being usually appointed alternately from the employers' and the work- ers' representatives. The exact lines on which works commit- tees are formed will vary according to the conditions of the various industries, but in each case the lines adopted will rep- resent the result of agreement between the employers' associa- tions and the trade unions. The method of voting in each case is left to be agreed by the parties concerned. In the councils hitherto formed it has usually been decided that before a reso- lution can be carried it must be approved by a majority vote of both the employers' and, the workers' representatives, voting separately. This method has the advantage of avoiding any suspicion that either party might gain control of the council for its own ends by talking over one or two representatives of the other side. It has the further advantage that this absence of suspicion would probably lead to fuller and more frank discussion ; as neither employers' nor workers' representatives would hesitate to express their own views upon the merits of the case when they knew that they could only carry their opinions into effect by securing a majority of both sides, and MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 225 that no stigma of treachery could attach to the expression of minority views. On the other hand, it has been suggested that this method has the appearance of emphasising a merely sec- tional line of cleavage, and that a sufficient guarantee of con- fidence would be secured by stipulating that the number of representatives of labour and management voting on any ques- tion should always be equal, whatever the numbers present. This is, however, a question which each industry will naturally settle for itself in the light of its own special circumstances and requirements. In the same way each industry will settle for itself whether the representatives of management and labour are to be directly appointed by the employers' associations and trade unions, selected by the district councils, or elected by ballot, each electoral district returning one representative of management and one of labour. Whatever methods of representation and voting be adopted, it seems to be essential that special consideration should be given to the position of foreman and others occupying similar posts. These men are sometimes members of the unions and sometimes not. In some cases they have their own unions. Their functions partake partly of those specially belonging to management, partly of those belonging to labour. Their posi- tion in the works is one of great importance and they may become either a substantial aid or a serious obstacle to progress. The steps taken to ensure their representation will vary in each industry, but it would be a very serious weakness in the scheme if they were left out. Moreover, their presence as "'crossbench members" might be of considerable assistance in avoiding a purely sectional line of cleavage and substituting for it a new line based on principles and opinion. The Ministry of Labour are willing to afford to all national councils recognised by the Ministry, the assistance of a repre- sentative appointed by them to act as a liaison officer between the council and the various government departments. The ac- ceptance of such assistance is purely voluntary, and a nominee of the Ministry will only be appointed at the request of the Council. A majority of the councils hitherto formed have, however, made this request. The nominee of the Ministry has no voting power, but acts simply as an intermediary between the council and the departments. With regard to the scope of the councils, the Ministry of 226 SELECTED ARTICLES Labour has made the following suggestions with regard to subjects to be considered by the councils: (i) Means to secure the largest possible measure of joint action between employers and workpeople for the de- velopment of the industry as a part of national life and for the improvement of the conditions of all engaged in the industry. (2) Regular consideration of wages, hours, and working conditions in the industry as a whole. (3) The consideration of measures for regularising produc- tion and employment. (4) The consideration of the existing machinery for the settlement of differences between different parties and sections in the industry, and the establishment of ma- chinery for this purpose where it does not already exist, with the object of securing the speedy settle- ment of difficulties. (5) The collection of statistics and information on matters appertaining to the industry. (6) The encouragement of the study of processes and design and of research, with a view to perfecting the products of the industry. (7) The provision of facilities for the full consideration and utilisation of inventions and any improvement in machinery or method, and for the adequate safeguard- ing of the rights of the designers of such improve- ments, and to secure that such improvement in method or invention shall give to each party an equitable share of the benefits financially or otherwise arising there- from. (8) Inquiries into special problems of the industry, includ- ing the comparative study of the organisation and methods of the industry in this and other countries, and, where desirable, the publication of reports. (9) The improvement of the health conditions obtaining in the industry, and the provision of special treatment where necessary for workers in the industry. (10) The supervision of entry into, and training for, the industry, and co-operation with the educational author- ities in arranging education in all its branches for the industry. (11) The issue to the press of authoritative statements upon MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 227 matters affecting the industry of general interest to the community. (12) Representation of the needs and opinions of the indus- try to the Government, government departments, and other authorities. (13) The consideration of any other matters that may be referred to it by the Government or any government department. (14). The consideration of the proposals for district coun- cils and works committees, put forward in the Whitley Report, having regard in each case to any such organ- isations as may already be in existence. The following have also been included among the functions of the Council in some of the provisional constitutions : (i) The consideration of measures for securing the inclu- sion of all employers and workpeople in their respec- tive associations, (ii) The arrangement of lectures and the holding of con- ferences on subjects of general interest to the industry, (iii) Co-operation with the joint industrial councils for other industries to deal with problems of common interest. Demobilisation and resettlement, the training of disabled soldiers and sailors, the position of returning apprentices, the priority of release of pivotal men from the army and navy, education, and the rationing of raw materials, are among the subjects which have already been taken into consideration by councils formed under this scheme. It is the intention of the Government to treat a council which is recognised by the Ministry of Labour, as the standing con- sultative committee to the Government, and the normal channel through which it will seek the advice of those engaged in the industry. In this scheme of industrial organisation there are three points which seem to call for special emphasis. In the first place, the scheme goes a long way towards se- curing industrial autonomy. It is true that the decisions of a national industrial Council will have no statutory force; but inasmuch as they will represent the considered opinion of the employers' associations and the trade unions, they will, in prac- tice, be binding upon the industry as a whole, and will be capa- ble of enforcement. It will, therefore, be possible for the in- dustry itself to deal effectively with its own problems, thus 228 SELECTED ARTICLES relieving the congestion of the Parliamentary machine, and ensuring the consideration of industrial questions by those who are intimately acquainted with both the business and the hu- man side of industry itself. At the same time the relations between the industrial council and the Government will ensure full weight being given to the opinions of those engaged in the industry, in the drafting of any legislation affecting their inter- ests. It will also enable the Government to bring to the con- sideration of the Council, for the purpose of guiding ■ their decisions, considerations of national welfare — social or economic — which might possibly be overlooked by a purely industrial body. In the second place, the machinery is de-centralized and elastic. The provision for district councils and works com- mittees is of the utmost importance, inasmuch as it ensures the direct discussion and settlement of local and domestic questions by those whom they immediately concern. This has two very important results. On the one hand it will avoid delay in the consideration of such questions and prevent the machinery of the national council from being clogged by an accumulation of detail work. On the other hand, it will give to the workers in any particular area or workshop that direct participation in the control of conditions immediately affecting their daily life, which is the essential foundation of intelligent and self-respecting citizenship. The relations between the national councils, the district coun- cils, and the works committees will, of course, be close. In addition to dealing with local or domestic questions, it will be competent for a works committee to send up suggestions af- fecting the industry as a whole to the district council, which, in its turn, would pass them on for consideration to the na- tional council, which would either take action thereon itself or, if necessary, request the Government to do so. In the same way, any measure proposed by the national council or suggested to the national council by the Government could be referred for observations to the district councils and works commit- tees. The scheme thus combines, to a very great extent, the advantages of centralised organisation and of democratic devo- lution, while it affords also the amplest opportunity for the expression of minority views. Moreover, it is obvious that the possibilities of future de- velopment are very wide. It is true that the scheme for the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 229 establishment of joint industrial councils does not involve any immediate fundamental change in the existing industrial sys- tem, and does not indicate any preconceived new system as the ultimate goal of progress. They do, however, provide a simple and elastic machinery by which all* the parties to any industry can be brought together for constructive co-operation in the development of individual concerns and of the industry as a whole. They set no limit to the transformation which may eventually be effected; but they ensure that new methods of industrial organisation can be tested by experiment, and adopted or rejected in accordance with the teaching of experience. Proposals can be thoroughly thrashed out and considered in the light of the knowledge and ideas brought to bear upon them by all sides before they are put into actual practice; and in the meantime, the ordinary work of the councils and com- mittees will create an atmosphere of broader sympathies and clearer understanding in which the discussion of new issues can be carried on with a better prospect of general agreement and wise decision. On these lines of unfettered, organic devel- opment, based on experience and actuated by a new -spirit of co-operation and public service, it should be possible to obtain an industrial order satisfying the universal desire for a fuller, happier and more stable development of national and individual life. There is a great advantage in so framing our immediate programme that it shall neither involve the dangers of a step in the dark, nor shut the door on future development, nor confine the possibilities of progress to any single channel. In the third place — and this is the most important point of all — the object of the councils is not merely to settle or even to avert disputes, but to secure constructive co-operation in the improvement of Industry on its social as well as on its economic side. This purpose is manifest in the suggestions for the agenda of the councils above quoted and is implied through- out the reports of the Whitley Committee. But it is nowhere so well expressed as in the proposals for the Builders' National Industrial Parliament, which was already in process of forma- tion at the time when the first Whitley Report appeared, and was based to some extent upon the suggestions contained in this Memorandum. In these proposals, which were unanimously accepted by both the trade unions and the employers' federa- tion, the object of the Builders' Parliament is said to be: "To promote the continuous and progressive improvement of the 230 SELECTED ARTICLES industry, to realise its organic unity as a great public service, and to advance the well-being and status of all connected with it." . . . "The spectacle of organised management and labour uniting their constructive energies upon a great pro- gramme of reorganisation and advance might transform the whole atmosphere of our industrial life. ... It would raise the whole status of the industry and give to its members a new pride in their work as a splendid public service. It would tend to break down the barriers that have so long confined and impoverished the national life and would promote the development of a real team spirit." In this spirit the Builders' Parliament rejects altogether questions of arbitration and conciliation, for which machinery already exists in the industry, and includes in its Agenda not only such matters as the regularisation of wages, technical training, and research, but also industrial control and status of labour, and "closer association between commercial and aesthetic requirements." With the object of facilitating experiment and progress, they suggest the development of two codes — a com- pulsory code, binding upon all members of the industry and dealing with agreed minimum standards, and a voluntary code "built up from the recommendations of the improvements com- mittee for the voluntary, and perhaps experimental, adoption of progressive employers.'' The last suggestion appears to be well worth consideration by other industrial councils, as it would be of great assistance in allowing action to be taken a little in advance of that general level of agreement required for a compulsory code. It is obvious that the possibilities of the Whitley Councils will depend upon the spirit in which they are created. If they are regarded merely as machinery for the settlement of dis- putes, or even as a means of increasing industrial efficiency, with the object of obtaining a larger sum for distribution as wages and profits, they will not take us very far. If, on the other hand, they are inspired by a genuine desire to raise the whole level of industrial effort — to enable industry to perform better service to the community, and to render the work of each man engaged in it a more satisfactory expression of his powers and personality — they may effect nothing less than a transformation of industrial and of national life. They will do little if the representatives of the employers' associations and the trade unions meet as the exponents of separate inter- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 231 ests with no other object than that of effecting a compromise between their competing claims. They will do much if the members of the councils and committees learn to regard them- selves as representatives of industry as a whole, concerned with both its economic and its human side and ready to follow the path of progress in whatever direction it may lead. It would be unwise to expect too much at the start. Much of the early work of the councils must necessarily be con- cerned with questions of constitution and machinery, and even when these preliminary questions have been settled, there are many initial difficulties to be overcome and many old prejudices to be laid aside before the councils can develop their maximum utility. It is of the utmost importance that neither in the for- mation of councils nor in their activities should any attempt be made to force the pace. It is essential to the success of the scheme that it should depend upon the voluntary initiative of all concerned. The formation of a council under pressure and without the full and free approval of the employers' associations and the trade unions would inevitably frustrate the very pur- poses for which the councils are formed. On the other hand, the problems of demobilisation and the return to peace condi- tions supply an irresistible argument for the formation of councils in all industries which are sufficiently organised to permit of their establishment, and the Ministry of Labour de- serves the thanks of the whole community for its proved willing- ness to render advice and assistance in this respect. Further, the immediate problems arising from the return to peace con- ditions will afford ample opportunity for the councils to prove their usefulness, and will enable both parties to the scheme to familiarise themselves with its working and to obtain that clearer understanding of each other's position which is essential to its success. While the decision of the Ministry of Labour to treat recog- nised national councils as the permanent channel of communi- cation with the industries adds greatly to the value of the councils, it would be a mistake to lay too much emphasis on this official relationship. The great advantage of the scheme is the opportunity offered to industry to work out its own salvation, in the light of its own special knowledge. At the same time it must be recognised that there is a cer- tain danger in this industrial autonomy. The possibility of employers and employed in any industry combining to exploit 232 SELECTED ARTICLES consumers or to put pressure upon the Government for the pro- motion of sectional interests must not be overlooked It is true that the Government has the power of refusing to give legislative sanction to the proposals of the councils; but this hardly meets the whole difficulty. It seems inevitable that if joint industrial councils become common, some central organ- isation, representative of all important industries, should be created for the purpose of co-ordinating the action of the vari- ous councils and adjusting the competing claims of overlapping or inter-connected industries. In such case it will be necessary very carefully to consider and define the powers of such central organisation and its relation to Parliament, in order to guard against the possibility of steps being taken by this functional body or by the industrial councils, which might prove detri- mental to the interests of the general public, or to national life in its social aspects. (b) Trade Boards It is obvious that the machinery above described can only be applied successfully in the case of industries which are al- ready well organised and in which organisation has reached an approximately equal level of development among the em- ployers and the workers. Unless this condition is fulfilled the councils cannot be truly representative, nor can the two parties meet on an equal footing. For this reason the Ministry of Labour will treat as "recognised" councils to be consulted on all questions affecting the industry, only those councils which are set up in trades already well organised on both sides. In the case of industries in which organisation is non- existent, imperfectly developed, or unequal, the Whitley Com- mittee recommended an extension of the system of trade boards. The suggestion was originally made that in cases where organisation, although inadequate, was already in exist- ence, trade boards should be combined with a modified form of joint industrial councils; but this proposal has now been abandoned. It is still considered possible that the establishment of a trade board, in addition to a joint industrial council, may be necessary in well-organised but badly paid industries; but in general the functions of trade boards will be restricted to those industries in which organisation is not sufficiently devel- oped to justify "recognition" of an industrial council. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 233 The recommendations of the Whitley Committee with regard to trade boards have been given effect by the Trade Boards Act, 1918. The scope of the trade boards with regard to wages and piece-rates was described in that paragraph: it re- mains to describe their constitution and their other functions. A Trade Board is a statutory body constituted in accordance with regulations made in pursuance of the Trade Boards Acts, and its authorised expenses are defrayed by the State. The regulations may provide either for the election of representa- tives of employers and workers, or for their nomination by the Minister of Labour; but inasmuch as the Boards are usually created in unorganised or incompletely organised trades, the method of nomination is usually adopted. Full weight is given to the recommendations of such employers' associations and trade unions as exist in the industry; but members are also nominated to represent processes and districts not covered by the existing organisations, including homeworkers. In addition, a Trade Board comprises a small number (usually three) of neutral "appointed" members who can perform the function of conciliators and prevent a deadlock. Inasmuch as the mini- mum rates settled by the Board are enforceable by law, the demarcations of the industries covered are very carefully and precisely defined. In addition to the regulation of wages, the scope of action of the Trade Boards has now been extended to cover many of the functions exercised by a joint industrial council in fully organised industries. The Boards have power to attach con- ditions to the employment of apprentices or learners for the purpose of ensuring that they shall receive adequate and effec- tive instruction. They have an indirect control over hours of labour by their power to fix overtime rates; for by fixing such rates at a high level they can make it unremunerative for em- ployers to work excessive hours. In addition, they are em- powered to report and make recommendations on any matter affecting working conditions in the industry, and it is provided that such recommendations shall be forthwith taken into con- sideration by any Government department to which they are referred. It will be seen that the constitution and scope of the trade boards differs widely from that of the joint industrial councils. The trade boards are not, like the councils, voluntary organi- sations set up by the industry itself, representative solely of 234 SELECTED ARTICLES the employers' and workers' organisations, and independent of state control. Moreover, although their functions have been considerably extended by the Act of 1918, their primary func- tion is still the fixing of minimum wage rates. Useful and im- portant as their work must be in raising the level of wages and conditions in badly organised trades, they can never take the place of the joint industrial councils as a medium of construc- tive co-operation between the parties to Industry. It is prob- able, however, that the establishment of trade boards may in many cases act as a spur to those engaged in the industry to bring their organisation up to the level which would render it possible to form a joint industrial council and approach the Ministry of Labour with a request for recognition. To the Final Report of the Whitley Committee, five mem- bers of the Committee appended a reservation setting forth that industrial councils and trade boards, while likely to "afford an atmospherfe generally favourable to industrial peace and progress," cannot, in their opinion, "be expected to furnish a settlement for the more serious conflicts of interest involved in the working of an economic system primarily governed and directed by motives of private profit." In this reservation we may fully concur without necessarily sharing the views as to economic organisation by which it ap- pears to have been inspired. It has already been urged in this Memorandum that the replacement of the existing industrial system, based on private enterprise, by a system of guild or state ownership, is in the main a question of practical expedi- ency, to be decided as such. It has further been suggested that in the index function of profits and prices, and in other factors and conditions of industrial life, there exist strong reasons against hasty or too confident generalisation as to the bene- fits of such a change. But whether the existing system be retained, modified, or abolished, industry will fall short of playing its proper part in the life either of the individual or of the nation, so long as it is "primarily governed and di- rected" by the motive of personal advantage — ^whether that motive find expression in the desire to extort profit without rendering equivalent service, or in the acceptance of a standard rate of remuneration without conscientious performance of the work for which it is paid. Against the operation of this motive no economic system can, in itself, afford a guarantee; for, however far it may prove practical to control profits or wages, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 23s it is not possible to compel the exercise by any man of his full powers of hand or brain. Any genuine renaissance of industrial life must depend upon the permeation of industry as a whole by the idea of co-operation for public service as the dominant motive of industrial activity. It is the chief virtue of the proposals outlined in the Whitley Reports, and the chief claim which can be made for the similar proposals contained in this memorandum, that they would encourage and facilitate this transformation of motive, whether it is found desirable to replace or to preserve the existing economic system. THE INDUSTRIAL COUNCILS OF GREAT BRITAIN' Readers whose knowledge of the industrial situation in Great Britain is confined to the speeches of Cabinet Ministers and the comments of the daily press are apt to imagine that a new heaven and a new earth are being created by some mag- ical process initiated by the Whitley Report. Joint Standing Industrial Councils representing employers and employed, so the press and the politicians inform us, are being set up almost every day, and a new spirit of fellowship and good will is ani- mating masters and workmen alike. I can only say that I have sought for this new spirit, and I have not found it. Joint Standing Industrial Councils are indeed being established in considerable numbers ; but most of the vital industries have hitherto shown no anxiety to establish them, and, even where they have been established, there is not much evidence of the "new spirit" of which we hear so much. In fact, the Whitley Report, loudly as it has been acclaimed in governmental cir- cles, has almost entirely failed to stir the world of Labor. In some industries, notably on the railways and in the big engi- neering group, it has been definitely rejected. In other cases it has been accepted as a useful piece of machinery, but with- out any particular enthusiasm, and certainly with no idea that it provides a panacea for all industrial troubles. The only case in which its adoption has been urgently pressed by the work- ers is that of State employees, and in this instance the urgency arises largely from the desire to use it as a means of securing full recognition and the right of collective bargaining. »By G. D. H. Cole. Dial. 66:171-3. February 22, 1919. (Mr. Cole IS an exponent of the Guild Socialists Movement.) 236 SELECTED ARTICLES The first Whitley Report, to which the later Reports are hardly more than supplements, proposes that in the better or- ganized industries Standing Joint Industrials Councils should be set up nationally in each industry, with District Councils and Works Councils under them. The National and District Councils are to consist of an equal representation from Em- ployers' Associations on the one side and from Trade Unions on the other. They are to be voluntary in character, and the endowing of their decisions with any legal power is to be a matter for further consideration. The State is not to be represented, and is to appoint a chairman only when requested to do so by the Council itself. At the same time the Govern- ment has announced its intention of recognizing the Councils as advisory bodies representing the various industries, and of consulting them on matters affecting their interests. In all this there is nothing in the smallest degree revolu- tionary. In most industries in Great Britain there have long existed regular means of joint negotiation and consultation between employers and employed. In some cases these have taken the form of Boards of Conciliation with agreed rules and methods of procedure; in others there have been merely regular arrangements for periodic conference. The important point is that, in the majority of organized industries, recogni- tion of Trade Unionism and frequent negotiation between Trade Unions and Employers' Associations have long been the rule. The Whitley Report does not in reality carry matters very much further, though at first sight it may seem to do so. It hints again and again that one of its principal reasons for urging the establishment of Joint Industrial Councils is in or- der to satisfy the demand of the workers for a greater con- trol over industry; but the actual constitutions of the Whit- ley Councils which have been established do nothing at all to make this aspiration a fact. They provide, indeed, for joint consideration of questions affecting the industry; but they do nothing to affect the final and exclusive control of the em- ployer over the way in which he runs his business. I am not complaining, or saying that they could do more. I am merely criticizing the prevalent view that the Whitley Report makes a new and revolutionary departure in the sphere of industrial relations. It does not: it only regularizes and formalizes a process which has long been going on in most of our principal MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 237 industries, and one which would have continued whether there had been a Whitley Report or not. In fact, the control of industry cannot be altered merely by the setting up of a few Joint Committees. The control of industry rests on the eco- nomic power of those who control it; and only a shifting of the balance of economic power will alter this control. Such a shifting of power may be, and I believe is, in progress at the present time; but it is quite independent of such events as the issuing and adoption by the Government of the Whitley Re- port. The view most current among Trade Unionists — that the Whitley Report does not matter much one way or the other — is certainly the right one. Nevertheless, though it is not likely to produce large per- manent results, the Report has for the time being attracted a good deal of attention. Official Trade Unionism, represented by the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, accepted it without enthusiasm and subject to its remaining purely voluntary. Even official Trade Unionism will not toler- ate compulsory arbitration in any form, except under protest as a war measure. Unofficial rank and file Trade Unionism, represented by the shop stewards' movement and other agencies, roundly denounced "Whitleyism" as an attempt to sidetrack the growing movement of the class-conscious workers towards the control of industry. "Whitleying away our strength," one rank and file critic entitled his article upon the Report, and went on to urge that the capitalists, fearing the rising tide of rank and file committees, had inspired the Report in the hope of substituting for them joint committees of masters and men, and so depriving them of their dynamic and revolutionrry character. The National Guilds League, also representing the left wing, declared against the underlying assumption of the Report that industrial peace is possible and desirable under capitalism, and pointed out that, whatever the merits or de- merits of joint committees, they cannot provide the dynamic for securing control, or offer any alternative to workshop agi- tation and workshop organization for the purpose of a gradual assumption of control by the workers. Other critics, largely among State Socialists, dwelt rather on the dangers of Whit- leyism to the consumer and the risk of establishing a common solidarity between employers and workers in a particular in- dustry against the public — a risk also noted by the Guild 238 SELECTED ARTICLES Socialists. In fact, everywhere the left wing, and often a part of the right also, rejected the Whitley proposals. What, then, of the Whitley Councils and other bodies on similar lines, which are being established? The first thing to notice about them is that many of them affect only small and often ill-organized groups. The Whitley Committee itself rec- ommended the establishment of Joint Industrial Councils only in those industries in which employers and employed were comparatively well organized. For the industries in which or- ganization was weak, it recommended the establishment of Trade Boards under the act recently passed to extend the scope of the original Trade Boards Act of 1909. Nevertheless, Whit- ley Councils have been established in a number of industries which cannot by any means be regarded as well organized. Instances of this are the Pottery Council and the Match Mak- ers' Council. Moreover, Councils are being set up for certain small sectional trades which can hardly by any stretch of imagination be regarded as industries. The Bobbin Industrial Council and the Spelter Industrial Council are notable exam- ples of this undue tendency to sectional organization. On the other hand. Councils have been or are being set up in a number of important industries, including the woolen, printing, build- ing, baking, and other industries. In addition to the Industrial Councils set up under the Whitley scheme, the Government, through the Ministry of Re- construction, has established a number of Interim Reconstruc- tion Committees, principally in industries in which the forma- tion of Industrials has not been found possible, but also in some cases for small or almost unorganized industrial groups, such as needles and fishhooks, and furniture removing and warehousing. Altogether there are about twenty Industrial Councils now in existence, and a considerably larger number of Interim Reconstruction Committees. No steps have yet been taken to extend the Trade Boards Act to new trades, unless not very definite promises to distributive workers, to tobacco workers, and to one or two other groups are treated as steps in this direction. It is too early yet to say what the new Industrial Councils are likely to do when they get to work. Their constitutions are, as a rule, drawn so as to embrace a large variety of pur- poses, without giving much indication of the course which they will actually pursue. One significant clause, which occurs in MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 239 the constitution of several Councils, makes it one of the ob- jects to maintain selling prices at a level which will secure reasonable remuneration to both employers and employees. This recalls the professed objects of many trusts and employ- ers' combinations too closely to require detailed criticism; but it is important to note it because it is clearly based on the assumption of a common interest between employers and work- ers in a particular industry — a common interest which clearly may easily become anti-social in its effects, and in any case runs counter to the Socialist theory of a common solidarity of all workers irrespective of craft or industry. Apart from this provision the constitutions contain few notable features, except that in many cases the provision for District Councils and, still more, for Works Committees is allowed to fall very much into the background. All the constitutions provide for regular discussion on matters affecting the industry, and for cummunication with the authorities on questions of legislation affecting the industry; but it is too soon to see how this con- sultation will work in practice. Apart from the Whitley Councils, there are a number of agencies at work with the declared object of promoting indus- trial peace. The Industrial Reconstruction Council exists mainly in order to push the ideas of the Whitley Report, and sometimes seems to acquire in the process an almost official status. The so-called "Reconstruction Society" is merely the old Anti-Socialist Union suitably disguised. The National Alli- ance of Employers and Employed is, directly or indirectly, an offshoot of the big employers' Federation of British Indus- tries, and includes many prominent employers and a few well- known Trade Unionists of the right wing, among them Mr. Havelock Wilson and Mr. John Hodge. This body has so far devoted itself mainly to the question of demobilization, urging that the reconstruction of industry should be undertaken co- operatively by employers and Trade Unions with the minimum of Government interference. The Industrial League is a less formal propagandist body with much the same objects as the National Alliance. None of these bodies has secured much Trade Union backing, except among the Labor leaders of the extreme right wing. In fact all these movements for indus- trial co-operation are of little effect in relation to the really vital problems of industrial reconstruction. Whatever joint machinery may be set up, it seems unlikely that the gulf be- 240 SELECTED ARTICLES tween employers and workers will be in any way bridged. In almost every industry of importance the workers are already busy formulating extensive programs, embodying demands which will hardly be granted without a struggle. The railway- men have already put forward their National Program, which includes not only the eight-hour day and heavy demands for wage increases, but also a definite claim for an equal share in the control of the railway service. The promise of the eight- hour day, already given by the Government, has staved off the crisis for the moment but has done nothing really to solve the problem. The engineering and shipyard trades, which have just received the forty-seven hour week, have an extensive list of further demands in preparation. The miners in most of the coalfields are already putting forward comprehensive pro- grams. The cotton workers have just come through a wage crisis, and are about to put forward a claim for a substantial reduction in hours. The transport workers are formulating a series of national demands for the various sections of their membership. Nor is the position in these industries peculiar. Almost every group of workers has a long list of grievances and demands which have been perforce laid aside during the war, and all these may be expected to emerge during the next few months. The existence of Whitley Councils or Recon- struction Committees will do nothing to alter the character of the economic conflict which seems to be impending. I do not mean, of course, that the British workers are class- conscious revolutionaries aiming definitely at the overthrow of the existing industrial order. Nor do I mean that all, or even the majority, of the demands which they are making will re- sult in strikes. Most of them will probably be settled by negotiation, unless a general upheaval occurs. This however is nothing new. The strike has never been more than an oc- casional weapon, and the fact that a dispute is settled without a stoppage does not alter the fact that the terms of settlement usually depend on the relative economic strength of the par- ties. My point is that all the talk about industrial peace and all the action in setting up new machinery will be found to have made very little difference when it is actually put to the test. Employers and workers will continue to differ about their relative status in industry and about their respective shares of its fruits; and they will continue to settle their differences mainly by the balancing of economic forces, whether the bal- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 241 ancing is done by negotiation or by the open force of strike or lock-out. In fact the tendency is to attach far too much importance to joint machinery such as that which is recom- mended in the Whitley Reports, and to forget that no amount of machinery can alter the essential facts of the economic situation. BOLSHEVISM CONSTITUTION OF THE RUSSIAN SOCIALIST FEDERAL SOVIET REPUBLIC The following translation of the Constitution of the Rus- sian Soviet Republic is made from an official printed text embodying the latest revisions, and required by law to be posted in all public places in Russia. Resolution of the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Adopted on July 10, igi8 The declaration of rights of the laboring and exploited people (approved by the third All-Russian Congress "of Soviets in January, 1918), together with the Constitution of the Soviet Republic, approved by the fifth Congress, constitutes a single fundamental law of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Re- public. This fundamental law becomes effective upon the publication of the same in its entirety in the "Izvestia of the All-Russian General Executive Committee." It must be published by all organs of the Soviet Government and must be posted in a prominent place in every Soviet institution. The fifth Congress instructs the People's Commissariat of Education to introduce in all schools and educational institu- tions of the Russian Republic the study and explanation of the basic principles of this Constitution. ARTICLE ONE Declaration of Rights of the Laboring and Exploited People Chapter One I. Russia is declared to be a Republic of the Soviets of > Reprinted by the Nation. 244 SELECTED ARTICLES Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies. All the central and local power belongs to these Soviets. 2. The Russian Soviet Republic is organized on the basis of a free union of free nations, as a federation of Soviet national republics. Chapter Two ■ 3. Bearing in mind as its fundamental problem the aboli- tion of the exploitation of men by men, the entire abolition of the division of the people into classes, the suppression of ex- ploiters, the establishment of a Socialist society, and the vic- tory of socialism in all lands, the third All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies fur- ther resolves : (a) For the purpose of attaining the socialization of land, all private property in land is abolished, and the entire land is declared to be national property and is to be apportioned among agriculturists without any compensation to the former owners, in the measure of each one's ability to till it. (b) All forests, treasures of the earth, and waters of gen- eral public utility, all equipment whether animate or inanimate, model farms and agricultural enterprises, are declared to be national property. (c) As a first step toward complete transfer of owner- ship to the Soviet Republic of all factories, mills, mines, rail- ways, and other means of production and transportation, the Soviet law for the control by workmen and the establishment of the Supreme Soviet of National Economy is hereby con- firmed, so as to insure the power of the workers over the exploiters. (d) With reference to international banking and finance, the third Congress of Soviets is discussing the Soviet decree regarding the annulment of loans made by the Government of the Czar, by landowners and the bourgeoisie, and it trusts that the Soviet Government will firmly follow this course until the final victory of the international workers' revolt against the oppression of capital. (e) The transfer of all banks to the ownership of the Workers' and Peasants' Government, as one of the conditions of the liberation of the toiling masses from the yoke of capital, is confirmed. (f) Universal obligation to work is introduced for the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 245 purpose of eliminating the parasitic strata of society and or- ganizing the economic life of the country. (g) For the purpose of securing the working class in the possession of complete power, and in order to eliminate all possibility of restoring the power of the exploiters, it is decreed that all workers be armed, and that a Socialist Red Army be organized and the propertied class disarmed. Chapter Three 4. Expressing its fixed resolve to liberate mankind from the grip of capital and imperialism, which flooded the earth with blood in its present most criminal of all wars, the third Congress of Soviets fully agrees with the Soviet Government in its policy of abrogating secret treaties, of organizing on a wide scale the fraternization of the workers and peasants of the belligerent armies, and of making all efforts to conclude a general democratic peace without annexations or indemnities, upon the basis of the free determination of peoples. 5. It is also to this end that the third Congress of Soviets insists upon putting an end to the barbarous policy of the bourgeois civiUzation which enables the exploiters of a few chosen nations to enslave hundreds of millions of the working population of Asia, of the colonies, and of small countries generally. 6. The third Congress of Soviets hails the poUcy of the Council of People's Commissars in proclaiming the full inde- pendence of Finland, in withdrawing troops from Persia, and in proclaiming the right of Armenia to self-determination. Chapter Four 7. The third AU-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies believes that now, during the progress of the decisive battle between the proletariat and its exploiters, the exploiters should not hold a position in any branch of the Soviet Government. The power must belong entirely to the toiling masses and to their plenipotentiary rep- resentatives — the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies. 8. In its effort to create a league — free and voluntary, and for that reason all the more complete and secure — of the work- 246 SELECTED ARTICLES ing classes of all the peoples of Russia, the third Congress of Soviets merely establishes the fundamental principles of the Federation of Russian Soviet Republics, leaving to the workers and peasants of every people- to decide the following question at their plenary sessions of their Soviets, namely, whether or not they desire to participate, and on what basis, in the Fed- eral Government and other Federal Soviet institutions. ARTICLE TWO General Provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic Chapter Five 9. The fundamental problem of the constitution of the Russian Socialist- Federal Soviet Republic involves, in view of the present transition period, the establishment of a dictatorship of the urban and rural proletariat arid the poorest peasantry in the form of a powerful AU-Russian Soviet authority, for the purpose of abolishing the exploitation of men by men and of introducing socialism, in which there will be neither a division into classes nor a state of autocracy. 10. The Russian Republic is a free Socialist society of all the working people of Russia. The entire power, within the boundaries of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, belongs to all the working people of Russia, united in urban and rural Soviets. 11. The Soviets of those regions which differentiate them- selves by a special form of existence and national character may unite in autonomous regional unions, ruled by the local Congress of the Soviets and their executive organs. These autonomous regional unions participate in the Rus- sian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic upon a federal basis. 12. The supreme power of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic belongs to the AU-Russian Congress of Soviets, and, in periods between the convocation of the Congress; to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. 13. For the purpose of securing to the workers real free- dom of conscience, the church is to be separated from the state and the school from the church, and the right of religious and anti-religious propaganda is accorded to every citizen. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 247 14. For the purpose of securing freedom of expression to the toiUng masses, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Re- public abolishes all dependence of the press upon capital, and turns over to the working people and the poorest peasantry all technical and material means for the publication of newspapers, pamphlets, books, etc., and guarantees their free circulation throughout the country. 15. For the purpose of enabling the workers to hold free meetings, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic offers to the working class and to the poorest peasantry furnished halls, and takes care of their heating and lighting appliances. 16. The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, having crushed the economic and political power of the propertied classes, and having thus abolished all obstacles which interfered with the freedom of organization and action of the workers and peasants, offers assistance, material and other, to the workers and the poorest peasantry in their effort to unite and organize. 17. For the purpose of guaranteeing to the workers real access to knowledge, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Re- public sets itself the task of furnishing full and general free education to the workers and the poorest peasantry. 18. The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic consid- ers work the duty of every citizen of the Republic, and pro- claims as its motto: "He shall not eat who does not work." 19. For the purpose of defending the victory of the great peasants' and workers' revolution, the Russian Socialist Fed- eral Soviet Republic recognizes the duty of all citizens of the Republic to come to the defence of their Socialist Fatherland, and it therefore introduces universal military training. The honor of defending the revolution with arms is accorded only to the workers, and the non-working elements are charged with the performance of other military duties. 20. In consequence of the solidarity of the workers of all nations, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic grants all political rights of Russian citizens to foreigners who live in the territory of the Russian Republic and are engaged in work and who belong to the working class._ The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic also recognizes the right of local Sovi- ets to grant citizenship to such foreigners without complicated formality. 21. The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic offers 248 SELECTED ARTICLES shelter to all foreigners who seek refuge from political or religious persecution. 22. The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, recog- nizing the equal rights of all citizens, irrespective of their racial or national connections, proclaims all privileges on this ground, as well as oppression of national minorities, to be contrary to the fundamental laws of the Republic. 23. Being guided by the interests of the working class as a whole, the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic deprives all individuals and groups of rights which could be utilized by them to the detriment of the Socialist Revolution. ARTICLE THREE Organisation of the Soviet Power A. Organization of the Central Power Chapter Six The All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants', Cossacks', and Red Army Deputies 24. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets is the supreme power of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 25. The AU-Russian Congress of Soviets is composed of representatives of urban Soviets (one delegate for 25,006 vot- ers), and of representatives of the provincial (Guhernia) con- gresses of Soviets (one delegate for 125,000 inhabitants). Note I : In case the Provincial Congress is not called be- fore the AU-Russian Congress is convoked, delegates for the latter are sent directly from the County (Ouesd) Congress. Note 2 : In case the Regional (Ohlast) Congress is con- voked indirectly, previous to the convocation of the AU- Russian Congress, delegates for the latter may be sent by the Regional Congress. 26. The AU-Russian Congress is convoked by the AU- Russian Central Executive Committee at least twice a year. 27. A special AU-Russian Congress is convoked by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee upon its own initia- tive, or upon the request of local Soviets having not less than one-third of the entire population of the Republic. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 249 28. The AU-Russian Congress elects an All-Russian Central Executive Committee of not more than 200 members. 29. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee is en- tirely responsible to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. 30. In the periods between the convocation of the Con- gresses, the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee is the supreme power of the Republic. Chapter Seven The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee 31. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee is the supreme legislative, executive, and controlling organ of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 32. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee directs in a general way the activity of the Workers' and Peasants' Government and of all organs of the Soviet authority in the country, and it co-ordinates and regulates the operation of the Soviet Constitution and of the resolutions of the AU-Russian Congresses and of the central organs of the Soviet power. 33. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee consid- ers and enacts all measures and proposals introduced by the Soviet of People's Commissars or by the various departments, and it also issues its own decrees and regulations. 34. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee convokes the AU-Russian Congress of Soviets, at which time the Execu- tive Committee reports on its activity and on general questions. 35. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee forms a Council of People's Commissars for the purpose of general management of the affairs of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, and it also forms departments (People's Com- missariats) for the purpose of conducting various branches. 36. The members of the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee work in the various departments (People's Commis- sariats) or execute special orders of the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee. Chapter Eight The Council of People's Commissars 37. The Council of People's Commissars is entrusted with 250 SELECTED ARTICLES the general management of the affairs of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 38. For the accomplishment of this task the Council of People's Commissars issues decrees, resolutions, orders, and, in general, takes all steps necessary for the proper and rapid conduct of government affairs. 39. The Council of People's Commissars notifies immedi- ately the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee of all its orders and resolutions. 40. The AU-Russian Central Executive Committee has the right to revoke or suspend all orders and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars. 41. All orders and resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars of great political significance are referred for con- sideration and final approval to the AU-Russian Central Execu- tive Committee. Note: Measures requiring immediate execution may be en- acted directly by the Council of People's Commissars. 42. The members of the Council of People's Commissars stand at the head of the various People's Commissariats. 43. There are seventeen People's Commissars : (a) For- eign Affairs; (b) Army, (c) Navy, (d) Interior, (e) Justice, (f) Labor, (g) Social Welfare, (h) Education, (i) Post and Telegraph, (j) National Affairs, (k) Finances, (1) Ways of Communication, (m) Agriculture, (n) Commerce and Industry, (o) National Supplies, (p) State Control, (q) Supreme Soviet of National Economy, (r) PubUc Health. 44. Every Commissar has a Collegium [Committee] of which he is the President, and the members of which are ap- pointed by the Council of People's Commissars. 45. A People's Commissar has the individual right to de- cide on all questions under the jurisdiction of his Commissariat, and he is to report on his decision to the Collegium. If the Collegium does not agree with the Commissar on some deci- sions, the former may, without stopping the execution of the decision, complain of it to the executive members of the Coun- cil of People's Commissars or to the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee. Individual members of the Collegium have this right also. 46. The Council of People's Commissars is entirely re- sponsible to the AU-Russian Congress of Soviets and the AU- Russian Central Executive Committee. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 251 47. The People's Commissars and the Collegia of the Peo- ple's Commissariats are entirely responsible to the Council of People's Commissars and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. 48. The title of People's Commissar belongs only to the members of the Council of People's Commissars, which is in charge of general affairs of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, and it cannot be used by any other representa- tive of the Soviet power, either central or local. Chapter Nine Affairs in the Jurisdiction of the All-Russian Congress and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee 49. The All-Russian Congress and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee deal with questions of state, such as: (a) Ratification and amendment of the Constitution of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. (b) General direction of the entire interior and foreign policy of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. (c) Establishing and changing boundaries, also ceding terri- tory belonging to the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. (d) Establishing boundaries for regional Soviet unions be- longing to the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, also settling disputes among them. (e) Admission of new members to the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, and recognition of the secession of any parts of it. (f) The general administrative division of the territory of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic and the approval of regional unions. (g) Establishing and changing weights, measures, and money denominations in the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. (h) Foreign relations, declaration of war, and ratification of peace treaties. (i) Making loans, signing commercial treaties and financial agreements. (j) Working out a basis and a general plan for the national economy and for its various branches in the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. 252 SELECTED ARTICLES (k) Approval of the budget of the Russian Socialist Fed- eral Soviet Republic. (1) Levying taxes and establishing the duties of citizens to the state. (m) Establishing the bases for the organization of armed forces. (n) State legislation, judicial organization and procedure, civil and criminal legislation, etc. (o) Appointment and dismissal of the individual People's Commissars or the entire Council, also approval of the Presi- dent of the Council of People's Commissars. (p) Granting and cancelling Russian citizenship and fixing rights of foreigners. (q) The right to declare individual and general amnesty. 50. Besides the above-mentioned questions, the All-Russian Congress and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee have charge of all other affairs which, according to their de- cision, require their attention. 51. The following questions are solely under the jurisdic-. tion of the All-Russian Congress : (a) Ratification and amendment of the fundamental prin- ciples of the Soviet Constitution. (b) Ratification of peace treaties. 52. The decision of questions indicated in Paragraphs (c) and (h) of Section 49 may be made by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee only in case it is impossible to convoke the Congress. B. Organization of Local Soviets Chapter Ten The Congresses of the Soviets 53. Congresses of Soviets are composed as follows: (a) Regional : of representatives of the urban and county Soviets, one representative for 2S,ooo inhabitants of the county, and one representative for S,ooo voters of the cities — but not more than 500 representatives for the entire region — or of rep- resentatives of the provincial Congresses, chosen on the same basis, if such a Congress meets before the regional Congress. (b) Provincial (Gubemia): of representatives of urban and rural (Volost) Soviets, one representative for 10,000 inhabitants MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 253 from the rural districts, and one representative for 2,000 vot- ers in the city; altogether not more than 300 representatives for the entire province. In case the county Congress meets before the provincial, election takes place on the same basis, but by the county Congress instead of the rural. (c) County: of representatives of rural Soviets, one dele- gate for each 1,000 inhabitants, but not more than 300 delegates for the entire county. (d) Rural (Volost): of representatives of all village Sovi- ets in the Volost, one delegate for ten members of the Soviet. Note I : Representatives of urban Soviets which have a population of not more than 10,000 persons participate in the county Congress; village Soviets of districts of less than 1,000 inhabitants unite for the purpose of electing delegates to the county Congress. Note 2: Rural Soviets of less than ten members send one delegate to the rural (Volost) Congress. 54. Congresses of the Soviets are convoked by the respective Executive Committees upon their own initiative, or upon request of local Soviets comprising not less than one-third of the entire population of the given district . In any case they are convoked at least twice a year for regions, every three months for prov- inces and counties, and once a month for rural districts. 55. Every Congress of Soviets (regional, provincial, county, or rural) elects its Executive organ — an Executive Committee the membership of which shall not exceed : (a) for regions and provinces, twenty-five; (b) for a county, twenty; (c) for a rural district, ten. The Executive Committee is responsible to the Congress which elected it. 56. In the boundaries of the respective territories the Con- gress is the supreme power; during intervals between the con- vocations of the Congress, the Executive Committee is the supreme power. Chapter Eleven The Soviet of Deputies 57. Soviets of Deputies are formed; (a) In cities, one deputy for each 1,000 inhabitants; the total to be not less than fifty and not more than 1,000 members. (b) All other settlements (towns, villages, hamlets, etc.) of less than 10,000 inhabitants, one deputy for each 100 inhabi- 254 SELECTED ARTICLES tants; the total to be not less than three and not more than fifty deputies for each settlement. Term of the deputy, three months. Note: In small rural sections, whenever possible, all ques- tions shall be decided at general meetings of voters. 58. The Soviet of Deputies elects an Executive Committee to deal with current affairs; not more than five members for rural districts, one for every fifty members of the Soviets of cities, but not more than fifteen and not less than three in the aggregate (Petrograd and Moscow not more than forty). The Executive Committee is entirely responsible to the Soviet which elected it. 59. The Soviet of Deputies is convoked by the Executive Committee upon its own initiative, or upon the request of not less than one-half of the membership of the Soviet; in any case at least once a week in cities, and twice a week in rural sections. 60. Within its jurisdiction the Soviet, and in cases men- tioned in Section 57, Note, the meeting of the voters is the supreme power in the given district. Chapter Twelve Jurisdiction of the Local Organs of the Soviets 61. Regional, provincial, county, and rural organs of the Soviet power and also the Soviets of Deputies have to perform the following duties: (a) Carry out all orders of the respective higher organs of the Soviet power. (b) Take all steps for raising the cultural and economic standard of the given territory. (c) Decide all questions of local importance within their respective territories. (d) Co-ordinate all Soviet activity in their respective ter- ritories. 62. The Congresses of Soviets and their Executive Commit- tees have the right to control the activity of the local Soviets (i.e., the regional Congress controls all Soviets of the respec- tive region; the provincial, of the respective province, with the exception of the urban Soviets, etc.) ; and the regional and provincial Congresses and their Executive Committees have in MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 255 addition the right to overrule the decisions of the Soviets of their districts, giving notice in important cases to the central Soviet authority. 63. For the purpose of performing their duties, the local Soviets, rural and urban, and the Executive Committees form sections respectively. AKTICLE FOUR The Right to Vote Chapter Thirteen 64. The right to vote and to be elected to the Soviets is enjoyed by the following citizens of both sexes, irrespective of religion, nationality, domicile, etc., of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, who shall have completed their eighteenth year by the day of election: (a) All who have acquired the means of livelihood through labor that is productive and useful to society, and also persons engaged in housekeeping which enables the former to do pro- ductive work, i.e., laborers and employees of all classes who are employed in industry, trade, agriculture, etc., and peasants and Cossack agricultural laborers who employ no help for the purpose of making profits. (b) Soldiers of the army and navy of the Soviets. (c) Citizens of the two preceding categories who have in any degree lost their capacity to work. Note I : Local Soviets may, upon approval of the central power, lower the age standard mentioned herein. Note 2 : Non-citizens mentioned in Section 20 (Article Two, Chapter 5) have the right to vote. 65. The following persons enjoy neither the right to vote nor the right to be voted for, even though they belong to one of the categories enumerated above, namely: (a) Persons who employ hired labor in order to obtain from it an increase in profits. (b) Persons who have an income without doing any work, such as interest from capital, receipts from property, etc. (c) Private merchants, trade and commercial brokers, (d) Monks and clergy of all denominations. (e) Employees and agents of the former police, the gen- 256 SELECTED ARTICLES dartne corps, and the Okhrana [Czar's secret service], also mem- bers of the former reigning dynasty. (f) Persons who have in legal form been declared de- mented or mentally deficient, and also persons under guardian- ship. (g) Persons who have been deprived by a Soviet of their rights of citizenship because of selfish or dishonorable offences, for the period fixed by the sentence. Chapter Fourteen Elections 66. Elections are conducted according to custom on days fixed by the local Soviets. 67. Election takes place in the presence of an election com- mittee and the representative of the local Soviet. 68. In case the representative of the Soviet cannot for valid causes be present, the chairman of the election committee takes his place, and in case the latter is absent, the chairman of the election meeting replaces him. 69. Minutes of the proceedings and results of elections are to be compiled and signed by the members of the election com- mittee and the representative of the Soviet. 70. Detailed instructions regarding the election proceedings and the participation in them of professional and other work- ers' organizations are to be issued by the local Soviets, accord- ing to the instructions of the AIl-Russian Central Executive Committee. Chapter Fifteen The Checking and Cancellations of Elections and Recall of the Deputies 71. The respective Soviets receive all the records of the proceedings of the election. 72. The Soviet appoints a commission to verify the election. 73. This commission reports the results to the Soviet. 74. The Soviet decides the question when there is doubt as to which candidate is elected. 75. The Soviet announces a new election if the ele.QtiQij, qi one ' candidate or another cannot be determined. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 257 76. If an election was irregularly carried on in its entirety, it may be declared void by a higher Soviet authority. ^^. The highest authority in relation to questions of elec- tions is the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. 78. Voters who have sent a deputy to the Soviet have the right to recall him, and to have a new election, according to general provisions. ARTICLE FIVE The Budget Chapter Sixteen 79. The financial policy of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic in the present transition period of dictatorship of the proletariat facilitates the fundamental purpose of expro- priation of the bourgeoisie and the preparation of conditions necessary for the equality of all citizens of Russia in the pro- duction and distribution of wealth. To this end it sets forth as its task the supplying of the organs of the Soviet power with all necessary funds for local and state needs of the Soviet Republic, without regard to private property rights. 80. The state expenditure and income of the Russian So- cialist Federal Soviet Republic are combined in the state budget. 81. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets or the All-Russian Central Executive Committee determine what matters of income and taxation shall go to the state budget and what shall go to the local Soviets; they also set the limits of taxes. 82. The Soviets levy taxes only for the local needs. The state needs are covered by the funds of the state treasury. 83. No expenditure out of the state treasury not set forth in the budget of income and expense shall be made without a special order of the central power. 84. The local Soviets shall receive credits from the proper People's Commissars out of the state treasury, for the purpose of making expenditures for general state needs. 85. All credits allotted to the Soviets from the state treas- ury, and also credits approved for local needs, must be ex- pended according to the estimates, and cannot be used for any other purposes without a special order of the All-Russian Cen- tral Executive Committee and the Soviet of People's Com- missars. 2S8 SELECTED ARTICLES 86. Local Soviets draw up semi-annual and annual estimates of income and expenditure for local needs. The estimates of urban and rural Soviets participating in county congresses, and also the estimates of the county organs of the Soviet power, are to be approved by provincial and regional congresses or by their executive committees; the estimates of the urban, pro- vincial, and regional organs of the Soviets are to be approved by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Coun- cil of People's Commissars. 87. The Soviets may ask for additional credits from the respective People's Commissariats for expenditures not set forth in the estimate, or where the allotted sum is insufficient. 88. In case of an insufficiency of local funds for local needs, the necessary subsidy may be obtained from the state treasury by applying to the AU-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee or the Council of People's Commissars. ARTICLE SIX The Coat of Arms and Flag of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic Chapter Seventeen 89. The coat of arms of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic consists of a red background on which a golden scythe and a hammer are placed (crosswise, handles down- ward) in sun-rays and surroimded by a wreath, inscribed: Russian Socialist Federal RepMic Workers of the World, Unite! go. The commercial, naval, and army flag of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic consists of a red cloth, in the left corner of which (on top, near the pole) are in golden characters the letters R. S. F. S. R., or the inscription : Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic. Chairman of the fifth AU-Russian Congress of Soviets and of the AU-Russian Central Executive Committee- J. Sverdlov. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 259 Executive Officers— All-Russian Central Executive Commit- tee: T. I. Teodorovitch, F. A. Rosin, A. P. Rosen- holz, A. C. Mitrofanov, K. G. Maximov. Secretary of the All-Russian Central Executive Commit- tee — V. A. Avanessov. EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER TO AMERICAN WORKINGMEN FROM THE SOCIALIST SOVIET REPUBLIC OF RUSSIA' He is no Socialist who cannot understand that one cannot and must not hesitate to bring even that greatest of sacrifice, the sacrifice of territory, that one must be ready to accept even military defeat at the hands of imperialism in the interests of victory over the bourgeoisie, in the interests of a transfer of power to the working-class. For the sake of "their" cause, that is for the conquest of world-power, the imperialists of England and Germany have not hesitated to ruin a whole row of nations, from Belgium and Servia to Palestine and Mesopotamia. Shall we then hesitate to act in the name of the liberation of the workers of the world from the yoke of cap- italism, in the name of a general honorable peace; shall we wait until we can find a way that entails no sacrifice ; shall we be afraid to begin the fight until an easy victory is assured; shall we place the integrity and safety of this "fatherland" created by the bourgeoisie over the interests of the international so- cialist revolution? * * + When the robber-barons of German imperialism threw their armies into defenseless, demobilized Russia in February 1918, when Russia had staked its hopes upon the international soli- darity of the proletariat before the international revolution had completely ripened, I did not hesitate for a moment to come to certain agreements with French Monarchists. The French captain Sadoul, who sympathized in words with the Bolshe- viki while in deeds he was the faithful servant of French im- perialism, brought the French officer de Lubersac to me. "I 'By NicoUi Lenine. The Class Straggle, December, 191S. 26o SELECTED ARTICLES am a Monarchist. My only purpose is the overthrow of Ger- many," de Lubersac declared to me. "That is self understood (cela va sans dire)," I replied. But this by no means prevented me from coming to an understanding with de Lubersac con- cerning certain services that French experts in explosives were ready to render in order to hold up the German advance by the destruction of railroad lines. This is an example of the kind of agreement that every class-conscious worker must be ready to adopt, an agreement in the interest of Socialism. We shook hands with the French Monarchists although we knew that each one of us would rather have seen the other hang. But temporarily our interests were identical. To throw back the rapacious advancing German army we made use of the equally greedy interests of their opponents, thereby serving the inter- ests of the Russian and the international socialist revolution. In this way we furthered the cause of the working-class of Russia and of other countries; in this way we strengthened the proletariat and weakened the bourgeoisie of the world by mak- ing use of the usual and absolutely legal practice of manoeuver- ing, shifting and waiting for the moment the rapidly growing proletarian revolution in the more highly developed nations had ripened. We are accused of having brought devastation upon Russia. Who is it that makes these accusations? The train-bearers of the bourgeoisie, of that same bourgeoisie that almost com- pletely destroyed the culture of Europe, that has dragged the whole continent back to barbarism, that has brought hunger and destruction to the world. This bourgeoisie now demands that we iind a different basis for our Revolution than that of destruction, that we shall not build it up upon the ruins of war, with human beings degraded and brutalized by years of warfare. O, how human, how just is this bourgeoisie! Its servants charge us with the use of terroristic methods. — Have the English forgotten their 1649, the French their 1793? Terror was just and justified when it was employed by the bourgeoisie for its own purposes against feudal domination. But terror becomes criminal when workingmen and poverty stricken peasants dare to use it against the bourgeoisie. Ter- ror was just and justified when it was used to put one ex- ploiting minority in the place of another. But terror becomes horrible and criminal when it is used to abolish all exploit- ing minorities, when it is employed in the cause of the actual MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 261 majority, in the cause of the proletariat and the semi-prole- tariat, of the working-class and the poor peasantry. The bourgeoisie of international imperialism has succeeded in slaughtering 10 millions, in crippling 20 millions in its war. Should our war, the war of the oppressed and the exploited, against oppressors and exploiters cost a half or a whole million victims in all countries, the bourgeoisie would still maintain that the victims of the world war died a righteous death, that those of the civil war were sacrificed for a criminal cause. But the proletariat, even now, in the midst of the horrors of war, is learning the great truth that all revolutions teach, the truth that has been handed down to us by our best teachers, the founders of modern Socialism. From them we have learned that a successful revolution is inconceivable unless it breaks the resistance of the exploiting class. When the workers and the laboring peasants took hold of the powers of state, it became our duty to quell the resistance of the exploiting class. We are proud that we have done it, that we are doing it. We only regret that we did not do it, at the beginning, with sufficient firmness and decision. We realize that the mad resistance of the bourgeoisie against the socialist revolution in all countries is unavoidable. We know too, that with the development of this revolution, this resistance will grow. But the proletariat will break down this resistance and in the course of its struggle against the bourgeoisie the proletariat will finally become ripe for victory and power. Let the corrupt bourgeois press trumpet every mistake that is made by our Revolution out into the world. We are not afraid of our mistakes. The beginning of the revolution has not sanctified humanity. It is not to be expected that the working classes who have been exploited and forcibly held down by the clutches of want, of ignorance and degradation for cen- turies should conduct its revolution without mistakes. The dead body of bourgeois society cannot simply be put into a coffin and buried. It rots in our midst, poisons the air we breathe, pollutes our lives, clings to the new, the fresh, the living with a thousand threads and tendrils of old customs, of death and decay. Mistakes are being made by our peasants who, at one stroke in the night from October 25 to October 26, (Russian Calen- dar) igi7, did away with all private ownership of land, . and 262 SELECTED ARTICLES are now struggling, from month to month, under the greatest difficulties, to correct their own mistakes, trying to solve in practice the most difficult problems of organizing a new so- cial state, fighting against profiteers to secure the possession of the land for the worker instead of for the speculator, to carry on agricultural production under a system of communist farming on a large scale. Mistakes are being made by our workmen in their revolu- tion activity, who, in a few short months, have placed prac- tically all of the larger factories and workers under state ownership, and are now learning, from day to day, under the greatest difficulties, to conduct the management of entire in- dustries, to reorganize industries already organized, to over- come the deadly resistance of laziness and middle-class reac- tion and egotism. Stone upon stone they are building the foundation for a new social community, the self-discipline of labor, the new rule of the labor organizations of the working- class over their members. Mistakes are being made in their revolutionary activity by the Soviets which were first created in 1905 by the gigantic upheavel of the masses. The Workmen's and Peasants' Soviets are a new type of state, a new highest form of Democracy, a particular form of the dictatorship of the proletariat, a mode " of conducting the business of the state without the bourgeoisie and against the bourgeoisie. For the first time democracy is placed at the service of the masses, of the workers, and ceases to be a democracy for the rich, as it is, in the last analysis, in all capitalist, yes, in all democratic republics. For the first time the masses of the people, in a nation of hundreds of millions, are fulfilling the task of realizing the dictatorship of the proletariat and the semi-proletariat without which Social- ism is not to be thought of. Let incurable pedants, crammed full of bourgeois democratic and parliamentary prejudices, shake their heads gravely over our Soviets, let them deplore the fact that we have no di- rect elections. These people have forgotten nothing, have learned nothing in the great upheaval of 1914-1918. The com- bination of the dictatorship of the proletariat with the new democracy of the proletariat, of civil war with the widest ap- plication of the masses to political problems, such a combina- tion cannot be achieved in a day, cannot be forced into the battered forms of formal parliamentary democratism. In the MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 263 Soviet Republic there arises before us a new world, the world of Socialism. Such a world cannot be materialized as if by magic, complete in every detail, as Minerva sprang from Jupiter's head. While the old bourgeoisie democratic constitutions, for in- stance, proclaimed formal equality, and the right of free as- semblage, the constitution of the Soviet Republic repudiates the hypocrisy of a formal equality of all human beings. When the bourgeoisie republicans overturned feudal thrones, they did not recognize the rules of formal equality of monarchists. Since we here are concerned with the task of overthrowing the bourgeoisie, only fools or traitors will insist on the formal equality of the bourgeoisie. The right of free assemblage is not worth an iota to the workman and to the peasant when all better meeting places are in the hands of the bourgeoisie. Our Soviets have taken over all usable buildings in the cities and towns out of the hands of the rich and have placed them at the disposal of the workmen and peasants for meeting and organi- zation purposes. That is how our right of assemblage looks — for the workers. That is the meaning and content of our Soviet, of our socialistic constitution. And for this reason we are all firmly convinced that the Soviet Republic, whatever misfortune may still lie in store for it, is unconquerable. We are in a beleaguered fortress, so long as ilo other inter- national socialist' revolution comes to our assistance with its armies. But these armies exist, they are stronger than ours, they grow, they strive, they become more invincible the longer imperialism with its brutalities continues. Workingmen the world over are breaking with their betrayers, with their Gom- pers and their Scheidemanns. Inevitably labor is approaching communistic Bolshevistic tactics, is preparing for the prole- tarian revolution that alone is capable of preserving culture and humanity from destruction. We are invincible, for invincible is the Proletarian Revo- lution. LENINE AND HIS PROGRAM '■ It is not my intention to summon this man of hate, who lived only for civil war and for the joy of shedding blood, be- fore the bar of justice. The future will do this, if, indeed, it 'By Henri Croisier. Livins Age. 300:577-82. Mardi 8, 1919. 264 SELECTED ARTICLES is not already done before these lines appear. His deeds of blood, rise before him and shape themselves into the most crushing indictment which ever could be brought against a man. It is difficult to judge him with impartiality. Lenine has done too much harm, he has wakened the instincts of anger and hatred of even those who accepted his regime of 'justice and social equality' with resignation. If I undertake the criti- cism of his work, I shall try to write objectively, to forget the days I spent at Petrograd, those ten months of arbitrary deal- ing and outrageous vexations; I shall lay aside all that might reveal my hate for this egalitarian ruffian; I shall try, how- ever, to show the limits of that 'liberal spirit' which our ideo- logues are conferring upon him, and to expose the pretended messiah and infatuated pontiff of those without a country or a belief. Moreover, if I am to believe the echoes that I hear, I shall only be following in the footsteps of those moderate Socialists who see in Lenine 'only a grotesque destroyer, a doctrinaire hostile to orderly evolution, the bitter and brutal fanatic who has done his best to discredit that communism to which even the wisest of democratic minds were turning.' I shall hold to this definition in my study of his work. I know nothing more striking than his life history, nothing more human and tragic. Marked as if by destiny from child- hood, he pursues alone, hidden behind pseudonyms, a bloody, grandiloquent and impossible dream. His thought has but one aim, the letting loose of universal uproar. But this irreducible enemy of society, this bigoted defender of the proletariat, knows nothing whatsoever of that life which he aims to rebuild upon new foundations, his journeys to foreign lands have taught him nothing about the mentality of those peoples whom he pretends to understand; he has had no comprehension of their ideals. His famous Letter to American Workingmen, his Counsels and Instructions for Swiss Comrades, are better fitted to rouse indignation than the masses; his science is a purely bookish affair with all the gaps which this fact connotes; his brain, imperfectly furnished, is but a kind of chaotic and in- tellectual hostelry. He takes illusion for reality. Lenine is a man of one idea and one dream. His biography helps us to a better understanding of him. Unlike the majority of Russian revolutionists, Vladimir Ouli- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 265 anof (N. Lenine) was born in the Orthodox faith. He saw the light of day on the 23d of April, 1870, at Simbirsk, in which his father held the post of director general of primary schools. According to the testimony of his comrades at the lycee, Oulianof was a model pupil, the upholder of the honor of the class. Little, sickly, awkward, red-haired and with gimlet eyes, already unsociable, he ransomed his physical defects by solid moral and intellectual qualities. A solitary and a dreamer, they knew that he burned with a hidden flame, but no one foresaw that this flame would one day set fire to Russia and the world. His love of discussion had already marked him. out as an able debater; he mastered the professor every time the latter wan- dered into a digression. Not to be beaten on any point, first in all things, he proved, nevertheless, dead to art; a fact which is quite sufficient to explain the vulgarity of his ideas and of the total absence of sesthetic feeling in them; he pretends to replace form with formulas. A graduate, he goes to Kazan to begin his law studies. His dream goes with him. He soon becomes the most famous and perhaps the most listened-to propagandist in the University. In 1887 his brother is hanged for having plotted against the person of Alexander III. The proceedings include our hero who is unconditionally expelled. All his life long he will cher- ish the hatred born of this experience and spit it in the face of the world. Forced from his work, he enters upon his real vocation, he begins a commentary of Karl Marx's Capital and Lasalle's works. His cult for Karl Marx has something psychically strange about it; he does not make himself his defender or his intellectual son, but his bulldog. For him Das Kapital is no longer the work of an economist; the political testament of a closet philosopher, it is the 'Political Gospel of the Future' all in capital letters. A false aphorism 'Workingmen have no country,' gives him an excuse for discussing his theory of internationalism. On the pretext that Marx recommended 'the union of instruction with production,' he speaks imperturbably, of 'free, obligatory, general instruction of the polytechnique type,' this to be dealt out to children of both sexes up to seventeen years. Five years later we find him at Petersburg establishing contact with the labor groups. Soon he becomes the very soul 266 SELECTED ARTICLES of the 'Federation of the Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class,' which he founds in 1895. His activity is feverish: propagandist, agitator, lecturer, publicist, clandestine printer, one finds him everywhere, under assumed names. He dwells in his communist Nirvana, and sows those aphorisms and notions which are later to be a part of the credo of Bol- shevism. Under the name of Toumine, he fights against the conciliating and bourgeois tendencies of the Socialists of the time. Then he is arrested, and sent to Siberia. And away he goes, with his dream and his fury of bitterness. It is from a jail that he develops party tactics, following what he calls the principles of international Socialism. Released, he goes abroad, prepared for his role on the world stage. We find him at the head of the journal Iskra (The Spark) and the review Zaria {The Dawn) in both of which he thunders against the 'soft opportunism' of the econo- mists of the Russian revolutionary party. The year 1903 marks a stage in his life; he is consecrated high chief. At the sec- ond conference of the party, he declaims against the concilia- tory policy of Plekhanof, representative of the minority (in Russian, menchenstivo) and after the division which followed, he became a leader of the majority (bolchenstivo), hence Bolsheviki. The attempted revolution of 1905 finds him once more in Russia. It is he who engineers the elections to the second imperial Douma, and to the Socialist congress of London. But soon he is pointed out to Stolypine, victorious Tsarism forces him once more into exile; he goes to a foreign land, and as a member of the Central Committee, becomes one of the standard bearers of world Socialism. Till 1914, he guides from afar the political lines of the Petersburg journals Pravada and Prosviechenie. The great revolution finds him in Switzerland. We all know how, as an ambassador of Wilhelm's, he had the honor of a special carriage in which to cross Germany. His last words at Selemont to the comrades Grimm and Flatten have the inso- lence of a defiance. "I am going to prove to you how a man can make history." Although there was as yet no question of Bolshevism, Petro- grad acclaimed with music, Lenine and his aids; a proof, this, of the mental aberration into which those revolutionaries had strayed who are to-day washing their hands free of all guilt. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 267 Moreover, by this we know that it was not Lenine who de- stroyed the internal structure of the Russian State. Such a belief is false. He only trampled on what had already been broken down, the army had been for a long time disorganized, and Prikase No. i was soon to destroy it utterly; more than 10,000 officers had already paid with their lives for their de- votion to duty; the propaganda of Lenine simply converted this force into a band of pillaging brigands. The Fleet — ^it soon became of use only as an illustration that boats will float; the depots of the Baltic, Kronstadt itself, were but empty walls, the lust for pillage had done its work, the officers, drowned by hundreds under the ice of the Gulf of Finland were no longer by to call the men to their duty; from the beginning Lenine was closely bound to these sailor mutineers who, decked like loose women, stinking of cheap brandy and blood, made themselves the champions of the fouler work of Bolshevism. The Ministry? The Agrarian Question? There, too, the hour of the hunt had sounded; Lenine, lacking hounds, was soon to unleash his wolves and hyenas. The program applied by Lenine in Russia is not the work of a day; it is the result of many international social democratic conferences. It is in truth a kind of reversal to primitive times, a general earthquake whose results it is impos- sible to predict. I hasten to add that this program is based on false principles and outworn aphorisms. Lenine, a Russian and a former subject of the Tsars, was to introduce into this program an extreme element, a class despotism of the most brutal type. Here are the leading ideas of this famous program. Bourgeois capitalism is exploiting more and more the mass of the proletariat. Industrial superproduction, far from ben- efiting the workingman, tends rather to his enslavement. If we would remedy these evils, we must bear in mind: In replacing private property intended for the production and the circulation of products by common property, and in introducing an organized social system of production intended to secure the well-being of society, the social revolution of the proletariat will suppress the division of society by classes, and by so doing will liberate all oppressed humanity; this will be the end of all exploitation of one class by another. The condition governing such a social revolution is the dic- tatorship of the proletariat, that is to say, the conquest of 268 SELECTED ARTICLES political power by the proletariat, a thing which will permit it to overcome the resistance of all its exploiters. In taking upon itself the task of making the proletariat capable of accomplishing its great historic mission, international Socialism organizes the proletariat into an independent political party opposed to all bourgeois parties, guides all the manifestations of the class struggle, teaches the proletariat the irreconcilable contradiction between its interests and those of its exploiters, and illumines the masses concerning the historic importance and the neces- sary conditions of the coming social revolution. The accomplishment of this task first requires : 'An immediate break with the bourgeois process of paralyz- ing Socialism which has turned the higher parties of official Socialism from their duty. This process of paralyzing is sus- tained on the one hand by social-chauvinism, word socialism, which, by its rallying cry, "the defense of the home land," pro- tects the interest of its own bourgeois brigands; on the other hand by the soidisant "centre"' groups which are allied with the social patriots, etc. ^ . .' Secondly : 'The proletariat party cannot be satisfied with the parlia- mentary and bourgeois republic, which, the world over, pre- serves and strives to preserve the monarchic instruments for the oppression of the masses — viz., the police: the army and the privileged bureaucracy.' Finally : 'The party struggles for the republic' of the proletariat and the peasantry in which the police and the army will be sup- pressed and replaced by the general arming of the people. All persons occupying a public post shall be liable to removal at any instant at the demand of a majority of their electors, the salaries paid to these people, without a single exception, shall not exceed the salary of a good workingman.' This is but the general, the universal program, the can- vas on which each country, each State, according to its exist- ing constitution, will draw in the lines necessary to the applica- tion of the social program in its entirety. It is here that Lenine begins to go astray; we are led to doubt his intelligence. Russia, mediaeval and feudal, half By- zantine, half Asiatic, but represented in the ranks of the social democracy by the most irreconcilable of extremists, now pre- tends to catch up with the world by the elaboration of a pro- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 269 gram, of maximum claims which will leave far behind, in the audacity of its conceptions, those programs developed by the most cultivated nations. Of such a nature is the table of commandments which stands to-day in Moscow, base of the actual Russian confusion. If that body of law has served as a base for the reputation of Lenine, let us hasten to say that never was a reputation more unstable, more usurped. One asks one's self how a man of talent could so mistake the dis- tance that lay between the ci-devant Russia and the ideal of his dreams. Lenine has shown a kind of lack of appreciation of realities, a certain aberration of common sense which would shame the last of the titular counselors of the ex-empire of the Tsars ! He is muddling along in a Utopia ; only Lenine could have the courage to find, all at once and with one stroke of the pen, a definite solution of the troubles of Russia and of all the world, a remedy for those most complex social and economic disorders which for three hundred years have trou- bled a nation of a hundred and twenty-four million souls. His brain must be closed to the knowledge of evolution to give birth to such an absurd notion of the State; and take note, that he appears to be the last to doubt of the success and the realization of his dream. 'We are invincible even as the world- wide proletarian revolution itself is invincible!" Nevertheless, his failure is to-day seen everywhere. Like all tyrants, Lenine is deceived by his acoljrtes; his empire exists no longer; prince of a band of light-fingered illuminati, he is hardly the chief of several oases bound together by telegraph wires and specks of mud and blood! Here are some extracts from the program of the Bol- sheviki, or, more properly the Social-Democrat Worker's Party of Russia. I cannot, unhappily, give them in extenso; such a proceeding would require too much space. I shall hold to the important matters. The Constitution of the democratic Republic of Russia should guaran- tee among other things: 1. The autocracy of the people. 2. The general electoral right, equal and direct for all men and women citizens who have reached the age of eighteen years. The ballot to be secret. 3. Proportional representation at all elections. 4. Both delegates and elected candidates of office to be liable to in- stant removal at the demand of a majority of their electors. .5. Local self-governments to be instituted, self-government for all regions presenting special conditions of life or whose population is of a special nature. 6. Suppression of all local or regional authorities named by the State. 7. Unlimited liberty {sic.) of conscience, speech, the press, etc. 'Letters to American Workingmen. 270 SELECTED ARTICLES 8. Acknowledgment of all local languages, suppression of any obli- gatory national language. 9. Acknowledgement of the right of all the nations which form the Russian Empire to separate themselves and forin their own States. The Russian Peoples Republic should draw to itself other peoples aiid na- tionalities not by violence but by the spontaneous expression of a common will towards the creation of a common State. 10. Separation of the Church from the State and of the School from the Church, complete laicization of the school system. IX. As a fundamental necessity to the democratization of the na- tional budget, the party demands the suppression of all indirect taxes and the introduction of a progressive tax on all incomes and inheritances; moreover, the development of capitalism and the disorder created by the imperialist war leads the party to demand the nationalization of banks, capitalist syndicates, etc. In the hope of suppressing the 'slavery' which still weighs upon the peasant, and of developing freely the class war in rural districts (sic.) the party desires 1. The immediate confiscation of lands belonging to the upper land- holding class— thus the lands of _ the Crown, the Church, etc. 2. The immediate transmission of all lands to the hands of Peasants* Councils. 3. The further nationalization of all lands in the State; this na- tionalization to mean the transmission of the property right of these lands to the State which shall have the authority to divide these lands among democratic elements. 4. That the initiative of the peasants who have in certain localities gathered together the instruments of production — ^ploughs, agricultural machines, etc. — and have handed them over to a central committee, should be sustained. 5. That the proletarians and demi-proletarians of the rural regions should be encouraged to demand the transformation of the farms of the gentlemen landholders into model farms run for the public by councils of rural workmen. Such is the famous program. It is not necessary to study it long in order to discover its omissions. But let us first put them aside and try rather to arrive at a well-knit idea of the ensemble of the Bolshevist program. Once you have grasped it, you will be struck by its purely Utopian character; note how it reeks of hatred; it is the hatred of Lenine which is at work, not that of the Russian masses whom he has massacred by the thousand just to harden his Red Guards; the progratn scarcely hides that spirit of vengeance bred from a sickly sen- timentalism and devout commiseration for the martyrdom of a people, a martyrdom far more illusory than real, yet savagely held to by generations of dreamers who invented the 'religion of suffering.' Let us now try to get at the heart of the system. It reveals a new conception of the State which one may call the Bolshevik idea, a narrow, unilateral, inhuman system which may be thus expressed. 'If the State has been the means by which the bourgeoisie oppresses the proletariat, the prole- tariat, arrived at political power, will use the State to oppress the bourgeoisie.' MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 271 Intransigent and intolerant in its false simplicity, this con- ception of the State admits no mediating idea, no notion of equilibrium or compromise. Speak not of democracy or even of classic Socialism — ^these ideas, no matter how wide or how generous they may be, will mean to Lenine and his friends only enslavement by the bourgeoisie. No; for the bourgeois State, source of all evil, shall be substituted the proletariat State, the source of all that is beautiful and good, and that State shall be given maximum powers. There is in this notion a filtered cynicism which I do not relish. I know that Lenine adds that the Socialist State shall have such a role only during the period of transition, that is, during the dictatorship of the proletariat, and that the State will once more become the regulator of the political and economic life of the country once the difference between classes no longer exists. And this, to my mind, is only another proof of the legislator's naivete; he believes in the possibility of dissolving such a difference. Must we tell him that the bourgeoisie, though financially ruined, will not abdicate its moral and in- tellectual superiority? I offer as testimony many examples ob- served in Soviet Russia in which the middle classes, turned into bootblacks, errand runners, porters, and trench diggers, have from the very first overwhelmed their professional rivals, while the proletarians, transmogrified into public officials and factory managers, have pitiably failed, betrayed by their .inca- pacity and the accusation of their conscience. UNDER WHICH KING, BEZONIAN?' The economic program [of the Bolsheviks] is the ex- treme form of Marxian socialism — a theory that has been dis- cussed for two generations in thousands of volumes, so that we must assume it to be clear in outline for all intelligent readers. Its fundamental conception is, of course, a reorgan- ization of society on such a basis that there shall be no private or individual property in land or any of the means of produc- tion, and no other form of income than that paid by the state for productive services rendered to the state. Therefore there will be no rent, no profits, and no interest — and also no wages, *By Henry C. Emery. From an article in Yale Review. 8:680-93. July, 1919. 272 SELECTED ARTICLES in the sense of wages paid by one private individual to another. What is new and startling about the program of the Bol- sheviks is that they do not predict this system as something to be brought about in a distant future by economic evolution, but that they propose to bring it about at once by force. And they not only propose to do it, they are actually trying it out. We confront then this simple fact, that the long predicted has at last occurred. The war of the classes has begun. This is the one great dramatic fact about what is called Bolshevism. Furthermore, there is no profound significance in its ap- pearance first in Russia rather than elsewhere. It happened that the great war had in that country its earliest and most disastrous disintegrating effect. Somewhat to their own sur- prise the militant leaders of the social revolution found in Russia the best soil for the seed of their doctrine and the best opportunity for its application by force. The easiest and most shallow way to brush aside this new doctrine — or rather this new incarnation of an old doctrine — is to say that it is "'un- American." Of course it is un-American, just as it is un- English, un-French, un-German, and un-Russian. It is alto- gether un-national. Lenine happens to be a Russian, and the movement has so far assumed an established form only in Russia, but Bolshevism was not devised as a system of govern- ment peculiarly fitted to Russia — or for Russia only — nor is it a natural product of Russian character or of Russian institu- tions. Indeed, many students of the movement believe that Russia is the least fitted of all great countries for the enduring continued success of such an experiment and that while Bol- shevism advances in other countries, it will give way first in Russia. The thought is expressed both by the critics of the movement and by its friends. It is even said that Lenine him- self shares this opinion. Recognizing then that Bolshevism is a cumulation of a rev- olutionary world movement rather than the natural outcome of a purely Russian revolution, it will make the situation clearer to recall a few dates of world importance. The year 1815 marks the end of a great period of national conflicts, the course of which had been determined by the rivalry of nations for conquest and power. A world exhausted by war settled down to an era of peace and retrenchment, and of industrial expansion. This period lasted for fifty years, and during it men's minds turned more to new problems of social reconstruo MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 273 tion, brought about by the new economic conditions. In 1848, Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto with the startling new summons, "Proletarians of all Countries United." After a momentary spasm of excitement, the world went on its way, leaving socialism to develop as a system of philosophy for academic discussion. The kernel of the new socialism was that "all history is a history of class struggle," that consequently the idea of class consciousness must be kept vividly before the minds of the masses, and that ultimately by the working of inevitable forces the system of capitalistic production based on private property must break down. The propertied classes might sputter at such a teaching, but as long as its leaders confined themselves to predicting an economic collapse by the action of natural causes, they were not molested. In the meantime a new era of nationaUsm began. Wars, national rivalries, national expansion, and more wars followed each other. The most striking features of this new era were the formation of the German Empire, and the war of the nations through which we have passed. The socialistic theory of history, namely, that all history is a history of class strug- gle, was patently false. The consciousness of national con- flict was stronger than the consciousness of class conflict. Not a few earnest socialists, when the test came, found themselves far better patriots than they knew, and more deeply moved by the appeal of patriotism than by the appeal of class loyalty. None the less, the socialistic theory of class struggle, though false as an explanation of all the phenomena of history, con- tained a very solid fact. A brilliant writer modified the original statement of the Communist Manifesto by saying that all his- tory is a history of national struggle or class struggle — a con- test either for the feeding-place (national aggrandizement) or for a share of the fodder (class war). In this brutal form the idea is again extreme and the facts of history have to be distorted too much to make them fit the formula. Yet the struggle of human groups is a struggle for power, and the two most important and abiding forms which such grouping takes are national or racial groups on the one hand and class groups on the other. We have just been through the most stupendous experience of national struggle in all history. At its com- pletion we are facing the first thoroughly self-conscious con- flict of the other kind on anjrthing approaching the same scale. 274 SELECTED ARTICLES Whether it also will prove "stupendous," the future historian must decide. The patent fact — which we must not for a moment lose sight of — is that it has come. It is no longer possible to treat the conflict as something academic or vague or wild. The worthy people who told us that to talk about class interest, class solidarity, class war, is unmoral or irreligious are about as useful in their criticism to-day as were the good people who told us that a war of conquest in these enlightened times was impossible, when the Germans marched into Belgiiun. The fact is that in a great area — once a proud empire — the government has been seized by men claiming to represent a self-conscious proletariat. This government boasts of being a class government, it makes and enforces laws, it abolishes property, and what is more it raises and maintains armies greater than the world had known before 1914, and it wages war both defensive and offensive. Objection may be taken to the above statements on the ground that they are extravagant or aim at the sensational. Consequently, I wish to make perfectly clear what I mean and what I do not mean. By saying that the class war has begun, I mean that a certain group of men have declared war against the organized state of society as now constituted on a basis of free enterprise and private property, and that in the name of the proletariat they have seized and control a vast territory, where they defend their own system by arms against outside attack and send forth great armies to con- quer other territory. This seems to be a patent fact. I do not mean that class war has begun in the sense that now the die is cast, that this class war must be waged throughout the world. This would be to repeat the very boastings of the Bolsheviks in all countries. Our American Bolsheviks assert it as true of America already. They hope to see a similar successful resort to force here. It is not here yet, and I do not for a moment believe there will be even a beginning here. I do not believe that labor is going to follow these would-be leaders. Consequently, when I say that there is already war, I do not mean war between labor and capital, or war between the proletariat and the ruling classes; I mean simply that there is war between the Bolsheviks, on the one hand, and the farm- ers, laborers, capitalists, and plain citizens, on the other, who MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 275 believe that individual free enterprise and private property are the necessary basis of the state. Others will perhaps contend that I am exaggerating even the attitude of the Bolsheviks, but surely all I have said is asserted over and over with passionate fervor by their lead- ers. It is not an unfair indictment — it is merely a recognition of their own claim within certain limits. These limits are the limits of geographical fact. In Russia the leaders of Bolshevism have established their power and have waged war. In a minor degree, Bolshevism has been tried in Bavaria, in Hungary, and elsewhere. Wherever it appears it is an international movement. Russian "veterans" are sent to incite class war, or to support it wherever it has broken out. The Bolsheviks of all countries recognize one another as allies against . a common enemy. It is easy on this side of the Atlantic to say that what Lenine and Trotzky do is purely a Russian affair, but it is not easy to say so in Germany or Austria, in Scandinavia or Roumania. It is Lenine himself who has most consistently declared that the war cannot be confined to one country; that the Russian Bolshevik campaign is a mere incident, and that it is doomed to failure unless the rest of the world can be conquered by his ideas. But the class war does not exist here despite the claims of our American Bolsheviks. One or two editors or agi- tators cannot declare a war; the leader of a million armed troops can do so. It is just as befogging to our minds to deny that the class war is on anywhere, as to assert that it has begun everywhere. American Bolsheviks are hoping for a time when it will really begin here. In using the phrase "American Bolsheviks" one must be very specific. The term is appUed loosely in these days, usually through a combination of ignorance and prejudice. It is easy to call a dissatisfied striker or a radical editor a Bolshevik, but it is very silly to do so. The term Bolshevik has a perfectly clear meaning, and we ought to confine it where it belongs. The editors of "The New Republic" are no more Bolshevik than the editor of "The Wall Street Journal." But the editor of "The Liberator" is. The I. W. W. is a straight Bolshevik organization, declaring as its first article of faith that there can be no truce between labor and capital— that it is a war to the death between the two classes. Eugene Debs is the one great American hero to Bolsheviks the world over. One does not have to go to Rus- 276 SELECTED ARTICLES sia to study the doctrine of Bolshevism — one goes there only to study it in action. Now, there is one very admirable thing about Debs and Max Eastman, as about Lenine and Trotzky. One knows where they stand and what they are striving for. There is amazingly little hypocrisy or camouflage about them. If anyone says that they are sentimental idealists aiming to reform our im- perfect system of society, and that they are, therefore, entitled to the sympathy of the "liberal-minded," they themselves would be the first to laugh with scorn or protest with passion. The so-called "parlor Bolshevik" is treated with greater disdain by real Bolsheviks than by the Tories themselves. The true Bol- shevik asks for no sympathy from liberals or others. He does not aim at reform of an imperfect system, but at the over- throw of the whole existing order. "It is true, your honor,'' said Debs, when sentenced, "I am opposed to our system of government." When Professor Irving Fisher made a fine ap- peal to the economists of the country to realize their solemn obligation, in these troublous times, to' stand fearlessly for justice. Max Eastman replied that Professor Fisher had quite missed the point. They want no "justice" as that word is understood by any adherents of the present legal foundations of society. "Justice itself is on trial," he said. What the revolutionist wants is not justice but power, and he is serving notice that he means to take it. As I have already said, there is something which challenges our intellectual respect in the bold, clear-cut, declarations of true Bolsheviks whether Russian or American. They know which side of the fence they are on, and they want everyone else to know it. If one wishes to know what Bolshevism really is, one should read not what is said about them by the non-Bolsheviks, whether those who denounce them or those who have a strange sympathy for them. One should read what they themselves say about themselves — about their aims and their program. A clever woman with whom I discussed Bolshevism, and who claims to sympathize with it, expressed surprise that I should be a regular reader of "The Liberator." I told her that I read it to keep the issue perfectly clear in my mind and to avoid the risk of having any foolish sympathy with Bolshevism from a misunderstanding of its real nature. "Oh yes," she replied, "just as I read the 'Times' to make sure not to lose my sympathy with it!" MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 277 Strangely enough, many educated people express a sympa- thy with Bolshevism in Russia who assert that they do not want it in America. This is perhaps the enchantment lent by distance. The true Bolshevik does not mean to keep it dis- tant if it can possibly be brought nearer. And furthermore, if the principles of Bolshevism can be made to work with practical success anywhere — which seems to me impossible for centuries to come, at least — they certainly could be made to work successfully in a developed industrial and democratic state like ours more quickly than in Russia. The practical operation of Bolshevism requires a great capacity for industrial organization like ours with a militaristic discipline like that of the Germans. Russia would seem to be the last place in which to think it might succeed. If we once get firmly in mind the ruthless logic of the theory of the Bolsheviks, based upon this concept of war, many things become clear that otherwise seemed confusing. The clarifying process works in two ways. It clears up many of their actions towards other classes, and towards the world at large, and it clears up our own confused state of mind as to what should be our attitude towards them. The Bolsheviks suppressed the Constituent Assembly and refused to refef the problem of their rule to a popular refer- endum. This irritates good Americans who believe in democ- racy and universal suffrage. But the Bolsheviks abhor what we call democracy, and do not accept universal suffrage as the proper method of settling class affairs. The question whether they are favored by a "majority" is unimportant to them. Some of their defenders vaunt the "democratic" character of their Soviets, with direct representation, immediate recall, and the like. But this is a mere blind to irritate their demo- cratic opponents or to stir doubt in their hearts. There is no free election, no possibility of an anti-Bolshevik ticket. The reason is quite clear. To the Bolshevik a state of war exists. The proletarian class is out to take the power by force through- out the world. If in some particular country such as Russia, or in some particular section of Russia, those who do not sup- port Bolshevism are in the majority, they are to be suppressed. This is perfectly logical when we start with the assumption of a world-wide war of the classes. It is as logical as sup- pressing any area or class in our own country which favors the enemy in war time. 278 SELECTED ARTICLES The Bolsheviks disfranchise the propertied classes. They go farther in theory and propose to abolish the propertied classes, either by abolishing property or destroying its own- ers. This, however, cannot be done at one stroke, and in the transition period there remain some who live from something beside the direct and immediate pay for their services, from interest or rent profits (whether past or present). Such peo- ple are enemies of the new order. Of course, they are dis- franchised. One does not give the vote to an enemy in time of war. Some people are misled into thinking that this means that they disfranchise everyone either with brains or a clean collar. This is not true. Professors, engineers, managers may receive pay, even large pay, for their services, and have the franchise, if they accept the Bolshevik dogma that no man shall derive an income except from his Own labor. This fran- chise means, however, only a vote for rival Bolshevik candi- dates. Bolshevism itself is above the franchise. _ The Bolshevik leaders have a certain respect for kings and capitalists as one may have respect for an open and ruthless enemy. They are less bitter against a Grand Duke than against Kerensky or Breshkovskaya ; less bitter against the Kaiser than against Scheidemann and Ebert; less bitter against Clemenceau than against Branting; less bitter against the hionopoUst than against the trade-union leader. The reason is that all socialists or labor leaders who still compromise with the institution of property and the wage system are traitors to the cause of the proletariat. When war has been declared treason is the dead- liest crime. The traitor suffers a more terrible fate than the leader of the enemy forces. Were Lenine given' twenty-four hours of power in this country, on whom would the hand of punishment fall first? Not on Rockefeller because he has the most money, nor on Wilson because he is head of the state, but on Gompers because in the eyes of the Bolsheviks he is the arch-enemy of his own class. The Bolsheviks held an American Consul, Roger Treadwell, prisoner for months. It is reported that to appeals for his release they said they would let him go if we would release Mooney. At first this seems a piece of sheer insolence, of for- eign interference with our own administration of justice by our own courts. But if we look at it from the point of view of the class war, it is quite consistent. The Bolsheviks recog- nize no national boundaries. There are as many fronts in MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 279 this war as there are countries. According to their claims the proletariat is arrayed around the globe against the forces of property. It happens that in Tashkent the Bolsheviks held as prisoner a representative of the "established order." It hap- pens that in California the representatives of the established order have put in prison a Bolshevik, What seems to us pre- posterous, namely an exchange of such prisoners, seems to them simple and logical, and it is logical if we once grant the premises. The Bolsheviks suppress freedom of speech and freedom of the press with' an iron hand. This is inconsistent with their protestations, when they were a minority in opposition, but an inconsistency quite common to all revolutions. There is, how- ever, no inconsistency with their theory. Once granted the major premise, that an expression of belief in a. system of pri- vate property, or an advocacy of private initiative in industry, constitutes a seditious utterance against the Bolshevik state, . and the ruthless suppression of all utterances favoring the American type of democracy becomes an intelligible part of their whole fierce logic. A clear recognition of these facts clarifies our ideas as to what position we may or should take towards Bolshevism. Plainly there can be no half-way position. The Bolsheviks themselves have adopted the slogan that he who is not with them is against them. Every conscientious man must face this challenge for himself and choose accordingly. One must be prepared either to throw in one's lot, at all sacrifice, with the red revolution, or to exert all one's efforts to oppose it. This will be a hard saying to many. There are those who have a morbid dread of finding themselves on the conservative side. They have always taken great pride in being in the vanguard of the "forward" movement. Their greatest fear is that they will be classed as reactionaries ; this feeling is quite intelligible and in some cases arises from noble senti- ments of sympathy. But the time has come when many of them must recognize that the so-called forward movement has been such a rapid movement that a position in the front guard means nothing less than allegiance to the cause of red revolu- tion by force of arms. If they are not prepared to go this far, they must be reconciled to hear themselves classed as con- servatives and reactionaries. No one should be afraid to have epithets htlrled against him by the enemy. 28o SELECTED ARTICLES It may be objected that such a position leaves no room at all for an enlightened liberalism between revolutionary radical- ism and tory reactionism. This, however, is not the fact. To make the choice, once for all, to devote oneself to fighting the Bolshevik regime, and the spread of its doctrines, does not mean that one is driven into the camp of those who oppose any change in the existing order and block every agitation for reform. There is nothing in this choice to make the words agitation and agitator offensive. The question is only as to what the agitation is for. There is, indeed, grave danger that the forces of the enemy will be increased by the stupid tactics of those who cannot see the difference between the main issue and the minor issues. The main issue is quite simple. A Bolshevik is a man who believes in the overthrow of the institution of private property by force of arms. The definition is so clear-cut that there is no occasion to misuse the word. Unfortunately, the really reactionary person cannot refrain from calling everyone a Bolshevik who is less reactionary than himself, whether he is a laborer striking for higher wages, a trade unionist demanding recognition of the union, or an editor denouncing mob violence against radical meetings. Such indiscriminate denunciation by the reactionaries obviously does an immense amount of harm to the very cause which the reactionary desires to champion. It is equally obvious that it is perfectly useless to tell him so. All agitation for change will continue to be denounced, but such agitation will always exist. The duty of every fair- minded man is to refuse to have his mind clouded either by the unintelligent opponent of Bolshevism, who includes under that name everything radical, or by the equally unintelligent, but more soft-hearted, sympathizer who tries to make the Bol- shevik out as something quite different from what he is or from what he claims to be. One thing is clear. The Bolsheviks by their own avowal have outlawed themselves. They despise democracy as we un- derstand the term. They demand no amelioration of condi- tions. They do not ask for justice. They avow their contempt for "due processes of law." Very well, then, the gauntlet being thrown down, we cannot refuse to see it. The first result is that any appeal in behalf of recognizing their ''rights" loses all meaning. The word "right" has a legal significance, and they assert themselves outside and above ex- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 281 isting law. The question is not one of "rights" or of "justice," which have no meaning apart from definite conceptions of law and the social order which the Bolshevils;s discard. It becomes merely a question of policy — a difficult question, which can- not be discussed here. The main thing now is to recognize that the Bolsheviks of Russia have no "rights" in the matter of maintaining their form of government. The argument that we must recognize the right of the Russians to settle their own form of government does not hold in this case at all. It is not only because the present government is government by ter- rorism, and the very phrase "the rights of terrorism" is self- contradictory nonsense. The fundamental fact is that by its very essence Bolshevism is a world movement. It is an attack on all governments. The Bolsheviks did not merely rebel against the governments of Nicholas or Kerensky. They declared war against the basic legal institutions of all civilized states. They aim to overthrow these institutions everywhere. They do this in some cases by subsidies; in some cases by the spread of their agents; in some cases by resort to arms. The question then as to whether, or in what measure, intervention by arms is desirable or wise is merely a question of sound tactical judg- ment. It is not a question of anybody's "rights." It does not follow that because the Bolsheviks have re- sorted to force, that force is the best weapon to employ against them. But it also does not follow that it is not the best weapon. It is frequently said that one cannot fight ideas with bayonets— or as Talleyrand said "one can do everything with bayonets except sit on them permanently." This is a profound truth, no doubt. But when ideas and bayonets join forces it may be that they must be opposed by other bayonets as well as other ideas. How best to fight destructive ideas is a problem that cannot be solved by any one formula. The situation has to be faced and solved differently, in different places, and at different times. It requires the wisest statesmanship. Unfor- tunately, up to now the statesmanship of the world has been absorbed in international questions of another character. A pathetic lack of statesmanship has been shown regarding the Russian and Bolshevik problem. The policy actually pursued appears to have been the worst possible, judging from results. Whether there has been too much intervention, or too little, can be vigorously disputed by men of equal judgment, who are agreed on the object to be achieved. There is also to be 282 SELECTED ARTICLES considered the effect of a policy of force not only on the ter- ritory when it is applied, but on the countries applying it. The same problem, of policy arises regarding the attitude towards avowed Bolsheviks at home. This also will be hotly debated. Shall it be a policy of suppression or of pitiless pub- licity? Shall we punish with rigor, or attempt to convince by education? All these questions are questions of policy only. There always remains the danger, however, that in these dis- putes we shall forget what the new war is about; what the issues are, and who is on our side and who against us. To call one another names, to denounce one another's motives, is to weaken ourselves in the face of a common enemy. We become angry with one another when we should co-operate to the utmost. The trade unions of the country may prove the best fighting troops. They can do more to stem the tide of Bol- shevism than any number of Defense Societies. There is the utmost need that all different groups fighting for the same cause should show due consideration for differ- ences in judgment, and should pay due tribute to loyalty of motive in all cases. At the same time we should clarify our minds as to where the real issue lies, and we should know at what point sympathy must cease. Let every thoughtful man of liberal views search his heart as to whether or not he is giving sympathy to the self-declared forces of destruction. On this point there must be no wavering or doubt. He who is not against Bolshevism is with Bolshevism. The time has come for each to answer the question, "Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die." RUSSIA'S STRUGGLING FORCES' During the first days of the Russian revolution you found all classes of Russian society among the persons celebrating liberty. The great landlord, Jutschkoff, and the reactionary, Pruiskevisch, compelled the Tsar to sign his abdication, and brought this document, with the zeal of real revolutionists, to the people. The great landlords, the military men, the whole civil service, were on hand during these first days. They all swore loyalty to the revolution, and proffered their services * By K. J. Ledoc, From an article in the Living Age. 302:261-6. August 2, 1919. (Mr. Ledoc discusses BolsheviBm from a Socialist's point of view.) MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 283 to the nation. Many dreamers thought that Russia would pre- sent an example of a new world order, that the aristocratic bourgeoisie would work hand in hand with the proletariat for- the common welfare of mankind. But matters took a different turn. When a mighty storm raises a river so that it over- flows its banks and rushes headlong toward the sea, it carries with it in its violent course, stones, sand, and other objects, which would never move from their places of their own mo- mentum. Stones cannot swim. The moment the storm has stopped and the flood subsides these things sink to the bottom and become an obstacle in the channel of the river. The river cannot flow unobstructed until they have been removed, and they will never swim again. We see the same thing in Russia in the case of the army classes, the landlords, the bureaucracy, and their dependents. The storm of the revolution swept them off their feet, and they greeted the red flag with rejoicing. But they never con- ceived that a revolution meant a new social order. In their ignorance they thought that those days in March, 1917, had merely changed the color of the coat of paint upon the edifice of government and that its inner structure would be unaffected. But the proletariat in factory and workshop and in field and farm, which had labored and sacrificed and bled a quarter of a century for the revolution, saw nothing in the overthrow of the Romanoff dynasty unless something more was accom- plished, and urged on by the momentum of the moment, it continued its revolutionary efforts. That was too much for the landlords, the bureaucrats, and the army officers. They saw that the proletariat really wanted to socialize the country, and they comprehended that militarism and democracy cannot be reconciled in a democratic nation. Therefore, they cast the god of Liberty into the fire and returned to their overthrown gods of absolutism. The revolt of Korniloff in September, 191 7, started the thing. The landlords, the army officers, and all other hangers- on were the active element in the counter-revolution. Their battle-cry was: 'Restoration of the monarchy and a complete abolition of all the liberties attained by the revolution.' In the same way that they fought to restore the Tsar they also fought for the return of the land to its former owners. They did not recognize the right of the Russian people to self- administration. They would have nothing to do with freedom 284 SELECTED ARTICLES of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of movement. They would not recognize the right of the workingmen to organize and strive for their own economic betterment. They were reactionaries to the core, and when we read in the news- papers to-day that they have changed their colors and want to set up a liberal government as soon as they have crushed Bolshevism, they are lying — and democratic Russia knows they are lying. Unhappily, the powers to whom they are appealing for assistance do not know also that they are lying. It is a great misfortune that just at this time these reaction- ary forces should be so prominent in the struggle against Bol- shevism. But they are no less reactionary. Their names, Krasnof, Denikin, Kolchak, and Skoropadsky are well known. They have fought against Bolshevism long enough to make it very strange that they have won no ground but are rather losing it, or suffering, like Skoropadsky, a complete defeat. Why is this so? It is because Russian democracy does not trust them and will not help them overthrow Bolshevism in or- der to set up reaction in its place. Let us discuss what they have actually d6ne. Skoropadsky, the typical representative of the landlord class, and himself the owner of more than 300,000 acres of land in Poltava, during his eight months' rule in Ukraina did everything that could be done to deliver this beautiful country over to Bolshevism. He took away from the peasants the land which they had seized a year earlier at the time of the revolution. He sent punitive expeditions throughout all the provinces. They were composed of former officers and policy employees and constables, and they were led by the great landlords of their respective dis- tricts. They flogged the peasants and levied contributions upon them to the amount of all that the landlords had lost in the course of the revolution. Every labor and Socialist newspaper was suppressed by Skoropadsky and other newspapers were strictly censored. The very first manifesto issued by Skoro- padsky repealed all the laws and liberties that had gone into force during the revolution. Every trace of local self-govern- ment in- city and village was abolished and political authority was placed in the hands of Skoropadsky's personal agents. Furthermore, in the course of his rule every well-known dem- ocratic leader in the Ukraine was arrested and many were shot. The cabinet consisted principally of great landlords, generals, and other gentlemen of arbitrary precedents from the time of MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 285 The cabinet consisted principally of great landlords, generals, and other gentlemen of arbitrary precedents from the time of the Tsar. No concession was made to democracy. Every at- tempt to assert the rights of free men was bloodily suppressed. That was the glorious rule of the law-and-order government, and it ended just as might be expected — with Bolshevism. Krasnof, the Cossack general of the Don, followed faithfully in the footsteps of Skoropadsky. Even the most remote re- lation to the revolution was made a crime in the Don district. Yes, even official prayers for the Tsar were reintroduced. All of the laws of the old monarch were restored. An attempt was made to re-establish the same restrictions for the Jews that Nicholas had abolished when the war broke out. When Rod- zianko, the Conservative president of the old Duma, issued an appeal for a union on the basis of a constitutional monarchy, he was expelled from the Don district by Kolchak for his 'revolutionary' ideas! Kolchak has been fighting the Bolsheviki for more than a year without winning any ground. On the contrary, he was defeated not long ago. Why is this? Because democracy cannot fight in the ranks of Kolchak, whose gov- ernment and purposes merely nourish new civil war. General Denikin, who is often lauded as the savior of Rus- sia, has formed an army composed almost entirely of former officers, brought up in the service of the Tsar and deprived of a career by the revolution. They hate democracy, and they are fighting for a social order which will guarantee them the privileged position which they formerly enjoyed under the Tsar. They have flocked to the standards of Denikin, because he promises them all their old glory. And remarkable as it may seem, those brothers in arms who are not fighting with them are now leading the Red army in the ranks of the Bolsheviki. But these others are still loyal to despotism, only they have chosen the despotism of ' the Bolsheviki instead of the mon- archy. Wherever Denikin controls all civic freedom disappears. He even attempted to overthrow the Kuban democracy, but failed and was driven out of that region. When Denikin mobilized the people of his district by force, the men who reported, as soon as they got their weapons, de- serted. It was Denikin's army that, last November, killed twenty-six students of Kief University and wounded sixty oth- ers because they were celebrating peacefully the German revo- lution in the university building. Denikin's victory means for 286 SELECTED ARTICLES Russian democracy merely a protraction of the period of civil war. It has happened repeatedly that when he has won a suc- cess at the front a revolt has broken out at his rear. In addition, there was another army opposed to the Bolshe- viki which was composed of democratic elements — of the pro- letariat and the intellectuals. There was the array of the con- stitutional convention, headed by the Ufa directory. It fought successfully against Bolshevism, cut it off from Siberia, and seriously, threatened Moscow from the east. Some prospect existed of really defeating Bolshevism here. In truth the sit- uation for the Bolsheviki was at no time so critical as last summer when the Ufa army was planning to establish con- nections with the democratic army in northern Russia. But at this moment the situation was rescued for the Bolsheviki by one of their enemies, and the bitterest enemy of democracy in Russia, Admiral Kolchak. He stuck a knife into democracy from behind, imprisoned the Ufa directory and dispersed the members of the constitutional assembly. He abolished all civic liberties and placed the people under a military dictatorship. The democratic front was broken and a way opened for the Bolsheviki armies to the Urals. Consequently, the Bolsheviki are not holding the regions that the armies of the constitutional assembly formerly held. Admiral Kolchak is a bureaucrat of the old school. He will have nothing to do with democracy. He crushed it pitilessly on the eve of its victory because democ- racy was something worse in his eyes than Bolshevism. Upon the whole, the battle fronts opposed to the Bolsheviki — excepting the northern front, commanded by Chaikovsky, and the western and the southwestern fronts — consist principally of reactionaries, great land owners, army officers, and bureau- crats of the old Russians. They fought for counter-revolu- tionary ideas. Therefore, their number is small and their suc- cess negligible. Their victory is no less feared by democratic Russia than Bolshevism itself. Were they really to win they would erect a military dictatorship, restore the old order and destroy all the fruits of the Russian revolution. But since the clock of history cannot be turned back their rule could not be permanent. Hatred would again flare up in Russia, fan revolts, and prepare new civil wars. The success of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia is not based upon an uprising of a whole proletariat which was pos- sessed of Bolshevik faith and offered its life to attain these MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 287 ideals. The revolution in Russia was victory over a govern- ment that had sacrificed its authority for the time being. The demand was for peace and bread. The question of commun- ism was a secondary matter. The working people of Russia wanted peace, and the result was that even the proletariat that was not Bolshevik was friendly to the Bolshevik revolt at first. Subsequently the proletariat permitted the Bolsheviki to disperse the constitutional assembly, because the latter, regard- less of the popular will, wanted to continue the war. Conse- quently, Bolshevism had on its side at first idealists, who be- lieved that the time had come for a new social order, and were willing to accompany the Bolsheviki a certain distance to see their ideals realized, and part of the proletariat, which co- operated with it in carrying out its communist ideas, and finally a large faction of the agricultural and industrial proletariat, which was willing to remain neutral for a period. It should be emphasized that a greater part of the Russian proletariat, although it never believed communism would succeed, never- theless hoped that the experiment might produce some good results, which would ultimately lead to a just social system. Here again history has been a thorough teacher. It has taught the Russian proletariat that good intentions do not modify the course of evolution. The proletariat has paid very dearly for this lesson. But it now knows that the course of social and economic evolution follows stern natural laws, and that a millennium cannot be attained until the country is prepared for it. The Bolsheviki honestly tried to create this ideal status of society, and they cannot attribute their failure to the fact that they did not have complete power to apply its theories. It is true that the educated classes and some of the working people did not join the Bolsheviki, but the latter frankly assumed that they were a minority when they made themselves dictators. They started with communism and ended with despotism. They began their activity as a proletarian party. Now, they are a separate group, distinct from every other class of society. I cannot describe the blunders of the Russian Communist party nearly as forcibly as their own leaders have done, but their deviations from their own programme are not yet fully realized by most people. Consequently I shall say a word regarding them. Russia's land question was settled by the Bolsheviki in a 288 SELECTED ARTICLES manner that contradicted their own principles. The Commun- ists constantly preached that the land must be socialized. But the decrees upon the subject issued by the people's commis- sioners merely confirmed the acts of the peasants, who had long previously divided up the land among themselves without paying any regard to Socialist or Communist theories. The result is that the members of the landless country proletariat, having received only a diminutive allotment, are not independ- ent proprietors, since they have not enough land to support themselves. On the other hand, they have now lost their for- mer freedom of movement. The result is that the land reform has created a new system. The middle class peasants quietly rent the land of their poorer neighbors, and the latter are cultivating their own soil as wage hands. The Bolshevik land reform proved a great failure. Deep and bitter indignation against Bolshevism spread through the country. Last autumn when the Bolsheviki began to send food expeditions into the country the breach between them and the peasantry became an open one. To-day, practically all the country population of Russia is united against Bolshevism. Just now its method of resistance is rather passive, but for that reason no less effective. Its weapons are partly economic. Last autumn so little land was planted that it is safe to assume that the wheat and rye harvest next summer will scarcely feed the peasants themselves in Central Russia. No surplus whatever will remain for the townspeople. Neither was there any ploughing to speak of in the autumn of 1918, and the climatic conditions of Russia are such that it is impossible to get a satisfactory harvest unless the land is ploughed in the autumn as well as in the spring. Here we see the peasantry and the rural laboring classes re- sisting Bolshevism by preparing to starve it. The city proletariat has tolerated Bolshevik experiments longer. In many instances non-Bolsheviki helped the Bolshe- viki, seriously desiring to see their ideals put to the test. Now after sixteen months of Bolsheviki reforms Russian industry is absolutely ruined. Very few people are now employed in the shops and factories of the city proletariat. Those that still operate are being supported artificially and have no sound vi- tality. There is hardly a factory which is paying its own way. Since they have been nationalized they continue with the aid of government subsidies. But most of them are shut up. They have been pillaged and their machinery wrecked. The prole,-. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 289 tariat is unemployed and forced to migrate out of the cities to get bread and labor. The whole socialization of industry and banking and com- merce and other branches of business life were doomed to failure from the outset. Everything was regulated by decrees issued by theorists without previous consultation with experts from the industries aflfected, and without any prior investiga- tion or practical knowledge of the real situation. When they nationalized the banks they annulled private deposits, and fac- tories had great difficulty in getting even money enough to pay wages. Allotments of money for their necessary operating expenses were not obtained until weeks and months after they were requested. Inevitably the whole manufacturing world was paralyzed. The new' system of administering manufactur- ing establishments completed the ruin. Experienced managers were removed and committees appointed in their place consist- ing mainly of good agitators for Bolshevism but mighty poor managers. Very soon these committees developed into a bu- reaucratic institution incapable of rendering positive aid but powerful enough to settle the fortunes of the workingmen. As an outcome, instead of nationalizing the instruments of production in Russia, Bolshevism has destroyed them and pre- cipitated the proletariat into misery and despair. The Russian proletarians cannot claim to be as well trained and independent as their western brethren. They have not the same ability to analyze and to test things out. When they get an idea they obstinately try to apply it at once. They did not want to fight, and neither Milyukof nor Kerensky nor Plechinof nor Kropot- kin could make them fight any longer. Now they have gone to the other extreme and are intensely embittered by their re- cent experience. Unemployment, hunger, sickness, suffering, and warfare are the gifts of Bolshevism. So the people are now raising themselves slowly, but threateningly, against Len- ine and Trotzky. The situation in the Bolshevik camp has changed. The anti-Bolshevik proletariat is in the majority, while the former Bolshevik proletariat is ready to witness the overthrow of Bolshevism with indifference. The movement against it is growing and gaining strength. The city prole- tarians and the educated classes, the country laborers and all the democratic elements are rallying their forces and preparing to cast down Bolshevism. You hear of strikes now and then and of revolts and mutinies throughout Central Russia. These 290 SELECTED ARTICLES are merely the trials of strength of the proletariat. The re- bellious element is multiplying and winning adherents from circles that were but a short time ago the body-guard of Bol- shevism. There are already many formerly Bolshevik fac- tories, and entire regions, which are feared to-day by the Bol- shevik leaders as hostile to them. In this manner another front has been erected against Bolshevism, a democratic front, real and powerful, although we cannot draw its strategic lines upon the map. It is the supreme danger for Bolshevism, because it has been organ- ized within its own ranks and among its former adherents. This front is making no dramatic gestures before the world, but it is the front that ultimately will conquer and subdue Bolshevism. In my opinion the situation in Russia is hastening to a cli- max. Before many months Bolshevism will collapse. It is more likely that it will voluntarily surrender. But it will not surrender to reactionary militarism or to an intimidated bour- geoisie fighting it from abroad. Bullets and swords cannot kill Bolshevism, even though all the world outside of Russia rise against it. Democracy at home will force Bolshevism to surrender and will then organize a new Russia — a democratic Russia. RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONISTS AGAINST BOLSHEVISM' Confronted with the fact that at present two extreme tendencies are raging in Russia, one worse than the other, Bolshevism and the reaction of the Black tiundreds, and knowing that Russia can be regenerated onl^ through freedom and popular rule, we must wage an open war against the Bolsheviki of the Left and the Right. We must eliminate both of these elements that are destroying Russia's existence and freedom, and thereby make possible the speediest application of the principles laid down by the Great Revolution of March 1917. We must adopt the following program: (i) The reestablishment of all civic liberties; (a) freedom of speech, (b) of the press, (c) of assembly, (d) of associations, (e) inviolability of person, residence and mail, (f) freedom of religion, — on the basis of the temporary laws passed by me Russian Provisional Government. (2) The reestablishment of municipal and rural (Zemstvo) self- government on the basis of the laws passed by the Russian Provisional Government. (3) The summoning in the briefest possible time of an All-Russian Constituent Assembly on the basis of the election law promulgated by the Provisional Government. * From an article by Catherine Breshkovsky. Struggling Russia. 1 :52' April la, 10 19. This represents the views of famous revolutionists like Bourtzev, Kropotkin, Tchaykovsky and others. MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 291 (4) The proclamation of Russia as a democratic^ federated Republic. (5) The resumption of the work of the Committees assigned to pre- pare the plans for the organization of regional Dumas (Siberia, Ural, Northerh provinces. Southern Provinces, etc.)* and the renewal of the functioning of the Regional Governments. (6) The recognition of the transition of the land to the toiling masses, pending the final solution of the land problem by the Constituent Assembly, and the transfer of the administration of agrarian affairs to the proper Zemstvo institutions. (7) The recognition of the nationalization of forests, waters and the substrata of the soil, pending action by the Constituent Assembly. (8) The State control of industry in cooperation with the Zemstvos and workers' organizations. (9) Decisive encouragement and help to Cooperatives and to the Zemstvos by the Government. The immediate organization of trade and industry. (10) Autonomy for nationalities in Russia on the basis of the laws passed by the Russian Provisional Government. (n) The recognition of the separation of Church from State. (12) The organization of an eflfective Army on the basis of the soldier's retention of his rights as a man and a citizen. (13) The declaration as null and void of all the decrees of the Bol- sheviki, with the adoption of a policy of gradual transition from condi- tions under their regime to the newly moulded forms, on the basis of temporary regulations to be ordained either by the future Provisional Government or hj the Constituent Assembly. (14) Immediate amnesty to all political prisoners, if their offenses have no taint of criminality. The time for despotism and the suppression of the ideas and strivings of the people towards a decent human life is gone forever. We cannot save Russia without sincere service to the ideals of freedom. We are prepared to give her all freely, unhesitatingly and without fear of sacrifice. BOLSHEVIKI AS CAPITALISTS* Writing recently to the Morning Post on Russian affairs, I quoted the Bolshevik politician Chudskayeff's heretical opinion that soviet nationalization would after all prove to be only "nonsense." The reasons for M. Chudskayeff's view I gave with facts and figures. The Supreme Council of National Econ- omy, which is the ultimate authority in these grave matters, is now rushing headlong into a new system, which indicates that though one cannot undo "nonsense" already done, one may correct it. The new move is back toward capitalism, not in- deed to what Lenine in an excellent speech calls "the predatory side of capitahsm," but toward "the, by us, unfortunately, neg- lected organizatory side." In other words, private individuals are still to be forbidden to make profits, but the methods by which these private individuals made profits in pre-Bolshevik days are to be restored, and the profit is to be turned into the pocket of the State. And even, it seems, large incomes are sometimes to be tolerated, for Lenine, in his New Problems of 'From the Living Age. 301:760-2. June 21, 1919. 292 SELECTED ARTICLES Soviet Power, admits that an expert factory director may be paid as much as 100,000 rubles a year. "State capitalism," the form which was emphatically rejected by the majority of the recently-dispersed German Socializa- tion Commission, is Bolshevism's latest expedient. It means the exploitation of workmen to an extent to which they were not exploited by the least merciful private capitalists in mod- ern times. Further, it is directly contrary to the Syndicalist- Bolshevik trend elsewhere in Europe. While industrial work- men in Norway are demanding the elimination from their col- lective wage agreements of the provision that the employer "directs and distributes work,'' the Russian Supreme Council of Economy is depriving the workmen of their supposed elemen- tary right to "direct and distribute work." But necessity knows no law. The last Russian newspapers received by me contain abundant evidence that only by compromising with "Capitalism," by becoming plus capitaliste que les capitalistes, can the Gov- ernment of People's Commissaries survive — if it can survive at all. For instance, the new half-yearly budget (January- June, 1919) shows that the estimated expenditure is 49,100,- 000,000 rubles,, as compared with 17,602,727,444 rubles for the corresponding half of 1918. And there are other facts. The official Ekonomitcheskaya Zhizn states that in some cities the population is so badly off for metal goods that they pull down wooden houses for the sake of the nails, screws, locks, the roofing-lead, and the drain- age pipes. Nails, says this journal, cost 700 rubles per pound; tinned kitchen utensils average 450 rubles per pound; enameled iron utensils, 600 rubles per pound; and the thin brass plates, usually about eighteen inches square, which are nailed to dwell- ing-room floors in front of Dutch stoves, change hands at 270- 300 rubles each. The raw materials — pig-iron and copper — used in the construction of a locomotive at the Putiloff works cost 170,000 rubles. But, according to M. Hessen, formerly editor of the Riech, the one locomotive started since Bolshevism seized power is not yet finished. There is plenty more material as to the complete collapse of nationalized industry. And it is the same with nationalized trade. The Bolshevik Commissary, Molotoff, complained to the party conference at Petrograd that of the state stores in Petrograd 380 are closed and sealed. The cause everywhere is idleness, or, as it is politely ex- pressed, "fall-off in per capita production." This is the motive MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 293 which has induced Lenine, backed, it seems here, by Trotzky, Chicherin, and Lunacharsky, to resort to capitalistic methods. The move has gone so far that the less compromising Bolshe- viki — Kameneff, Zinovieff, and, it seems, the Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution — have begun to regard Lenine and his friends as themselves "counter-revolutionaries." When Lenine in January restored freedom of trade except in bread, salt, sugar, and vegetable fats, the ultra-Communist news- papers of Petrograd openly attacked him as a traitor to the Bolshevik cause. And there is the same tendency now. It be- gan when Lenine in the pamphlet mentioned demanded severe factory discipline, the subordination of employees to expert managers and technicians, piece-work, payment by results, and even the "Taylor system," which the enslaved workman of back- ward Western Europe has managed to resist. "Whereas until now," said Lenine, "the workmen have been autocratic masters of the factories and workshops, the interests of the revolution and of the workmen themselves demand the absolute submis- sion of employees to the manager of each industrial enter- prise." And Trotzky, in a speech which I have not seen, but which is quoted in the Berlin Vorwarts, said that: All your elected committees, even though they contain the working- class' best representatives . . . cannot replace a single technical expert with special school training. . . . The working-class must now understand when it is necessary to submit to the expert ... no capable and talented expert can do his work if he is made subordinate to a committee of work- ingmen who do not know the expert's work. No one can accuse the Bolsheviki of lack of daring. When they decided "Self-Government in the Factory" had failed they set about establishing the alternative, "Autocracy in the Fac- tory," with unshrinking zeal. As far as one can judge from scattered references in the irregularly received Bolshevik news- papers, two systems were adopted. In some factories the de- tested piece-work is enforced, and in some the old system of payment by hour, day, or month is retained, combined with the new rule of a minimum output and a premium payment for output above the minimum. Workmen who fail to reach the minimum are dismissed or reduced to a lower wage scale. The minimum output and premium-payment system has been intro- duced into the Tula small-arms and cartridge works and into several Moscow factories, including boot and clothing works. According to the Golos Rossiyi, the innovation produced "con- sternation and a sentiment of revolt." This is natural enough, 294 SELECTED ARTICLES for I find in the official Ekonomitcheskaya Zhizn that "idling was universal" and that the employees refused to understand that "production is the imperative interest of the proletariat," and, as I wrote in my last letter on Russian Nationalization, the workmen usually managed to do as they like, and even to draw pay while they were on strike. All this changed — at least in certain works. It appears there were some protest strikes, but the remorseless Soviets, in the best "capitalistic" tradition, put on the hunger screw, and payment by piece, and the almost equally infamous minimum output and premium-payment sys- tem, are now in force. And with the inevitable result. The workmen began to work — pretty badly, one may suspect, but much better than be- fore. In Tula, according to the Labor leader Tomsky's state- ment to M. Puntervold, a Norwegian lawyer-Socialist who visited Moscow, there was an increase of 50 per cent in the production. M. Puntervold got other statements as to the favorable influence on output. The official Ekonomitcheskaya Zhisn records also a heavy increase per capita productivity in metallurgical works. "In some men for the first time was ob- served even a zeal to earn as much money as possible." But the new discipline was strict, much stricter than the "self- limitation on comradely initiative," which Trotzky required. When in the Third Moscow Clothing Factory "comradely initia- tive" took the form of insistence by the employee's committee on dismissal of an unpopular but efficient chief, Red Guards were marched into the factory and the workmen were marched out. Long ago the Soviets forbade strikes, calling them a form of treason against the proletariat. But all along strikes took place, and they take place even now. The "capitalistic" innova- tion here introduced is merely that strikers are no longer paid. And the Supreme Council has dared to decree prolonged lock- outs. Lately the 2,000 workmen of the nationalized Bogatyr Rubber Works defied orders and struck repeatedly because the State employer paid them only 1,000 rubles a month, whereas, their former private employers had paid them 1,500. The State employer settled the question by closing the factory down. And the State has also practically annihilated the trades unions. That is, it has absorbed them, or taken them upder its protec- tion and tamed them, quite in the way of Plehve, Trepoff, and other stalwarts of autocracy, who by this means tried to divert MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 295 working-class movements into harmless channels. The Bolshe- vik State has succeeded in identifying the labor unions with the State industrial control; and the humble function of the unions to-day is to increase production, and thus support the State in its struggle against the industrial worker's idleness and license. The "Manchester Labor Union," as the Bolshevik Kozelieif derisively calls the Western-European type of trades union borrowed by Russia after the revolution, has vanished forever. Instead, there is a paternal and wholly consistent State industrial despotism. Or rather that is the aim. The new system has been only partially carried through. But its success so far indicates that Bolshevism will persevere. BOLSHEVISM CONVICTED OUT OF ITS OWN MOUTH* The Bolshevik Program Like the German propaganda, the pro-Bolshevik agitation makes very grave blunders — even from the standpoint of its own interests. The pro-Bolshevists, for example, are making claims on behalf of the Bolsheviki, which the latter them- selves deny. In America, the Russian Bolshevists are represented as be- ing democrats; in Russia, Lenine and his followers lose no occasion to repudiate democracy, both in word and in deed. Our quotations will show that the very basis of Bolshevism consists in the repudiation of democracy! In America, the Bolsheviki are represented as having given land to a landless peasantry; in Russia, the Bolsheviki attrib- ute nearly all of their troubles to the fact that there has been very little land (not in peasant hands before the revolution) to give — a fact which will also be demonstrated later by quo- tations from the Bolsheviki themselves. In America, the Bolsheviki are represented as being pacifists ; Lenine and Trotzky have neglected no opportunity to denounce bourgeois pacifism and to assert that they are in favor of a holy war against any and all non-Bolshevik governments wher- ever such a war has a chance of success. In America, the Bolsheviki are represented as favoring in- . » From an article by William English Walling. National Civic Federa- tion Review. 4:7-9. January 10, 1919. 296 SELECTED ARTICLES dividual liberty; in Russia, the Bolsheviki absolutely repudiate such regard for personal liberty as being a "bourgeois doctrine and practice." In America, Lenine is presented as being a hundred per cent Socialist; in Russia, Lenine presents himself as being one hundred per cent anti-Socialist, that is, a "'communist," opposed to the Socialist International. In May, 1917, the first or non-Bolshevik revolution was already sufficiently developed to enable Lenine to define the application of his doctrine to the new political situation in which Russia found itself. From the New International (April, 1918), an American Bolshevik publication, we quote the following paragraph of a long article by Lenine: The word democracy csinnot be scientifically applied to the Communist Party. Since March, 1917, the word democracy is simply a shackle fast- ened upon the revolutionary nation and preventing it from establishing boldly, freely and regardless of all obstacles, a new form of power; the council of Workmen's, Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, harbinger of the abolition of every form of authority. Shortly after the Bolsheviki came into power, Lenine defined the new "dictatorship" of the proletariat as follows: Just as 150,000 lordly landowners under Tsarism dominated the 130,000,000 of Russian peasants, so 200,000 members of the Bolshevik Party are imposing their proletarian will on the mass, but this time in the interest of the latter. In order to understand thoroughly the extent and precise grounds of Lenine's repudiation of democracy, let us quote his denunciation of the rival faction of the Social Democratic or Workingmen's Party, namely, the Mensheviki: In its class composition this party is not Socialist at all. It does not represent the toiling masses. It represents fairly prosperous peasants and workingmen, petty traders, many small and some even fairly large capit- alists, and a certain number of real but gullible proletarians who have been caught in the bourgeois net. We are progressing into the Lenine psychology. Even "a fairly prosperous" workingman is not a "proletarian." In a political catechism prepared in the summer of 1917 Lenine asks the question. Is it necessary to convoke the Con- stituent Assembly, and answers, "Yes, and as soon as possi- ble." This demonstrates that the Bolsheviki did not dare to oppose the idea of a democratic Constituent Assembly and did not intend to oppose it if they could gain control of it. It was only because they found the overwhelming majority of the peasants and a large part of the working people against them that they dispersed the Constituent Assembly and established MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 297 the "Soviet" doctrine. What this doctrine is we may see from an examination of the Soviet constitution adopted at the fifth Pan-Russian Congress of Soviets. In the preamble, the Soviets state that they propose "to put an end to every ill that oppresses humanity." The Soviets necessarily proceed to a very extreme policy to carry such a program into effect, declaring for "a dictatorship of the pro- letariat and the poorest peasantry.'' Here the cat is out of the bag. Not even "the poor peas- antry" can be relied on. Only a very vaguely defined class of "the poorest peasantry'' is trusted to support the dictatorship of the city working classes, which in Russia do not represent more than ten or twelve per cent of the population. Furthermore, a very large proportion of this working class, as we shall show below is anti-Bolshevik. The utter impossibility of defining the "poorest peasantry" leads the Soviet Congress to adopt another anti-democratic expedient for preventing the Russian people from controlling Russia — for disfranchising the peasantry representing eighty- four per cent of the population. This expedient is very simple. Each Bolshevik workingman (the non-Bolsheviki being excluded by methods described below) is given the same vote as five peasants ! The following is Article One of Section 8 of the Soviet Constitution : The Fan-Russian Congress of Soviets consists of representatives of the urban Soviets (one delegate for each 25,000 votes) and representatives of the government congresses (one delegate for each 125,000 voters). No discussion of the Soviet program will be complete with- out stating its position on international affairs. The Soviet proposes a world-wide war against all non-Soviet govern- ments, whenever and wherever such a war promises success — and the wars they have actually waged show what they will do if they get the chance. Bolshevism in Practice We have given sufficient Bolshevik evidence on the Bolshe- vik program. Let us now turn to the practical working out of the program, which is a far different thing. Certain new converts to Bolshevism have been circulating the entire Bolshevik program, together with their plans for the transformation of industry, government, education, literature, music and art as if the mere publication of Lenine's ukases 298 SELECTED ARTICLES were, equivalent to the complete accomplishment of the stu- pendous changes proposed! We have already quoted expres- sions of Lenine's showing the breakdown of his program in its most fundamental point, namely, the effort to secure the sup- port of the peasantry. We shall now quote Trotzky and Gorky as to the failure of Bolshevism in other directions. Gorky is undoubtedly the greatest literary figure among the Bolsheviki. It is true that his paper was forbidden for a long period and that he was for a time practically out of that move- ment. But he has re-entered it recently and has been given an important position by the Bolsheviki. They not only accept him once more as one of their leaders, but are boasting about his return to the fold. The motives for this return we do not know. Possibly Gorky desired to stay in Russia and to keep his head on his shoulders. Possibly he was influenced by the considerable power given him in matters pertaining to literature and education. It needs the pen of a master writer like Gorky to describe the practical workings of Bolshevism. And he has done a good job! We shall now reproduce quotations from Gorky's principal articles about the Bolsheviki — with the minimum of editorial comment necessary to bring out the importance of the points raised. Nikolai Lenine is the Kaiser, the Pope and the Karl Marx of the Bolshevik movement. His doctrines and ukases are ab- solute. No instance is on record where his doctrines or authority have been impugned. In his works Lenine defends not only a dictatorship of the proletariat, but a highly cen- tralized revolutionary movement with one man at the top. Gorky's description of Lenine therefore becomes extremely important. We see him from the point of the great Russian Bolshevik writer as a sort of Calvin or Loyola, a fanatic, a man who is willing to put his theories into effect regardless of the cost in human life and regardless of the opposition of the overwhelming majority of the population. Gorky on Lenine Lenine is one of the most remarkable men of the Socialist "Interna- tional." He is very intelligent,, ind possesses all the qualities of a "chief," including the absolute moral indifference which is often necessary for such a part. On occasions he does not lack a certain sentimentalism, but, at the same time, he has no pity for the mass of the people. And he believes that he has the right to make this terrible experiment on the Russian people. Weary of the war, and very unhappy, this people has already paid for Lenine's "experience" with thousands and thousands of lives. It MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 299 will still cost it tens of thousands more. But this atrocious tragedy never makes Lenine hesitate, for he is the slave of dogma, and his partisans are his slaves. , „ , , , r t- t i Lenine does not know the people. But he does know — from his books ^how to arouse the masses and how to excite their worst instincts. The working classes are to Lenine what minerals are to the metallurgist. Can a Socialist-Nationalist state be made of this mineral? Indeed no, and Lenine doubts it. But why not try? What does Lenine risk if the at- tempt does not come off? Nothing much. This description of Gorky's is all the more important be- cause he himself shares a very large part of the Bolshevik theories — he opposes only the violent and autocratic methods of Lenine. In another article in his paper, the Novoya Zhism, Gorky resumes his analysis of Lenine's' cruel and despotic actions. Let us note that Gorky realizes fully that Bolshevism and the Soviets have become identical. This is important, for the pro-Bolsheviks of the New Republic and other similar American publications have endeavored to secure the recogni- tion of the Bolsheviki by the round-about method of demand- ing the recognition of the Soviets — insisting that they are still two separate and distinct things ! Gorky says : Here begins the line of sharp division between myself and the chaotic, topsy-turvy activities of the Soviets. I regard intellectual Bolshevism to be of great value to the aspiring Russian soul. This intellectual Bol- shevism or Bolshevism of ideas could train the Russian soul to boldly de- mand its own, stir it to readiness for struggle and activity, awaken this indolent spirit to the sense of initiative, and especially give it form and life. But the practical Bolshevism of the anarchistic-communalistic visionaries which emanates from the Smolny Institute is injurious to Russia, and, above all, to the laboring class. The Soviets regard Russia as so much material for experiments. The Russian people is to them like the horse to the bacteriologist who injects the animal with the bacillus of typhus in order to produce the antitoxin. It is with this kind of brutality and( this form of disregard of consequences that the Soviets treat the Russian peo- ple, without giving the least thought to the possibility that the tortured and half-starved creature may die in the process. The social revolution that is planned can never be realised under the present conditions of life in Russia, for the reason that it is not possible to turn overnight into Soviets eighty-five per cent of the population of the country, which consists of peasants, living together with about twenty million of nomads from alien races. My own opinion is that the Soviets are undermining and destroying the working class of Russia. They are setting up formidable towers of fear- ful and senseless complications that will stand in the ^ath of the work- ing class. Deaf to the voice of reason, they are bringing into existence unheard of insurmountable difficulties for the whole of the future course of the proletarians in their efforts to advance the progress of the war. The Bolshevik Program "Written on Water" Gorky says that there is practically no relation^ whatever between Bolshevik professions and Bolshevik practice. The professions are themselves sufficient to arouse the last degree of hostility on the part of every democrat — as we have shown above in quoting the Bolshevik's own statements. The practice 300 SELECTED ARTICLES is infinitely worse. As Gorky says, the Bolshevik actuality can have no relation whatever with any sort of idealism — not even with the perverted, reactionary and anti-democratic idealism of the Bolsheviki themselves. Gorky says : The proletarian is the bearer of a new culture, in these words were incorporated the beautiful dream concerning the triumph of righteousness, reason and love, the dream of the triumph of man over the beast. In the struggle for the realization of this dream thousands of men of all classes gave up their lives. Now the proletarian is at the helm, he has secured the coveted freedom to labor and create freely. It is now in order and pertinent to -ask: "How does this labor and the proletarian's freedom to create express itself?" The decrees of "the Government of People's, Commissioners" are no more than newspaper feuilletons, no more, no less. It is that sort of literature which is writ- ten on water, and even though a real idea is now and then given ex- pression to, the present circumstances forbid the realisation of any idea. What new things, then, is the revolution bringing? How is it trans- forming the bitter realities of Russian life? How much light is it bring- ing into the darkened lives of the Russian people? For the period of the revolution ten thousand lynchings have already been accounted for. This is how democracy is meeting out judgment upon those who have in some way sinned against the new order. During the days of the progress of drunkenness human beings were shot down like dogs and the cold-blooded destruction of human lives came to be a commonplace daily occurrence. In the newspaper "Pravda" the pogroms of the drunken mobs are written up as the "provocative acts of the bourgeois" which is clearly a misrepresentation, the employment of a pretty phrase which can only lead to the further shedding of blood. Theft and robbery are increasing from day to day. The practice of the art of taking bribes is becoming more and more widely introduced and our new officials are already as well trained in the art cts those who served under the Czar's government. The dubious individuals who have assembled around the Smolny Institute do not even hesitate to intimidate the fright- ened citizens. The coarseness of the representatives of the government of the "People's Commissioners" have aroused universal protest, and yet these representatives speak in grieved tones. The various petty officials who hover about the Smolny Institute appear to be drunk with a sense of con- quest and regard the citizens as if they were the conquered, acting even as the misguided police of former days were in the habit of acting. They shout and scold and give commands to every one, just as of yore the village sheriffs would treat the inhabitants of the obscurest rural districts in Kanotop or Tchsuloma, and all this is done in the name of the "prole- tarian," in the name of the "social revolution." But in reality it rep- resents only the triumph of the beast over man, the ascendancy of the Asiatic spirit which still dwells among us, the ugly growth upon our soul. Where, then, is that spirit which expressed itself in "the idealism of the Russian workingman'* whom Carl Katusky has so enthusiastically eulo- gized ? Where is that which is supposed to be incorporated in the morality of socialism — the new morality? I expect that one of our "realists in politics" will answer me con- temptuously with the usual phrase: "What is it you wish? Do yotl not realize that this is the revolution?" Not I do not recognise the unmistakable signs of the social revolution in this association of zoological instincts. It is a combination of the feel- ings of our lower selves, without^ socialism, without the spirit of socialism, without the psychology of socialism. The Demoralization of the Masses Through Bolshevism It cannot be said that Bolshevism has had no effect upon the Russian masses. No free election or any other evidence MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 301 has indicated that the Bolsheviki have a majority in Russia, or even in the big cities where they are strongest. But the power that they hold through their control of the arsenals, the food supply, the railways, the firing squads and the secret police has enabled them to have an immense effect — of a deleterious kind. (They rule precisely as the Czar did. There can be no question that Nicholas II had 90 per cent, if not 95 per cent of the peo- ple against him. Yet the helplessness of a disarmed peasantry scattered over two Continents allowed him to continue his rule.) The effect of Bolshevism on the masses is described by Gorky as follows : All the observers of the village today are unanimously of the opinion that the i)rocess of disintegration and demoralization is proceeding there with irresistible force. Having plundered the estates of the landowners, having shared out among themselves or simply destroyed the dead and living stocks on those estates, having even taken to pieces the buildings, the peasants are now preparing for war against one another for the division of the spoil. To this is added the calamity of famine. In some districts the population has long ago constuned all the available stocks of corn, including seed-corn; while in others the peasants, having had a good harvest, are hiding corn and even burying it in order ■ not to share it with their starving neighbors. All this must lead, and in some places has already led, to a war of all against all, and to the most senseless chaos and uni- versal destruction and murder. In a bitter passage, terrible in its irony, Gorky concludes : Yes, the process of self-discipline among the masses is proceeding with gigantic strides. The revolutionary army garrison at Sebastopol has al- ready undertaken the last final struggle with the bourgeoisie. Without much ado they decided simply to massacre all the bourgeoisie who lived within their reach. They decided and did it. At first they massacred the inhabitants of the two most bourgeois streets in Sebastopol; then the same operation, in spite of the resistance of the local Soviet, was extended to Simferopol, and then the turn came to Eupatoria. Apparently similar radical methods of class-war will soon be applied to Greater Russia, for we have already Mr. Bleichmann (the lea MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 33? phones and public utilities generally, opening up of land to co-operative and small holdings, and payment of the war debt by a direct tax on incomes and inheritances. "Common owner- ship of the means of production" is also set down in the pro- gram, T)ut is not sufficiently emphasized to warrant the conclu- sion that the authors seriously contemplate the early establish- ment of complete socialism. The State Federation of Labor of Ohio calls for a legal minimum wage, insurance against sickness, accidents, and un- employment, old-age pensions, heavy taxation of land values, and reclamation and leasing of swamp lands ; and Government ownership and management of railroads, telegraphs, telephones, merchant marine, coal and metal mines, oil and gas wells, pipe lines, and refineries. The Chicago Federation of Labor has organized an Inde- pendent Labor Party and adopted a platform of "14 points." The principal demands are an eight-hour day and a minimum family living wage; reduction of the cost of living through co-operative enterprises and methods ; Government prevention of unemployment and insurance on life, limb, health, and prop- erty; Government ownership and operation of railways and all other public utilities, steamships, stockyards, grain elevators, and "basic natural resources" ; and payment of the war debt by taxes on incomes and land values and by appropriation of all inheritances in excess of $100,000. In some of its general ex- pressions, such as "the nationalization and development of basic natural resources,'' this platform is the most radical of the three labor pronouncements. British Quaker Employers Probably the most definite and comprehensive statement from the opposite industrial class was put forth several months ago by a group of 20 Quaker employers in Great Britain. In out- line their program is as follows : A family living wage for all male employees, and a secondary wage in excess of this for workers having special skill, training, physical strength, re- sponsibility for human life; the right of labor to organize, to bargain collectively with the employer, and to participate in the industrial part of business management; serious and prac- tical measures to reduce the volume and hardship of unem- ployment; provisions of such working conditions as will safe- guard health, physical integrity and morals ; the reduction, so 338 SELECTED ARTICLES far as practicable, of profits and interest until both the basic and the secondary wage has been paid, and transfer to the community of the greater part of surplus profits. The spirit and conception of responsibiUty that permeate every item of the program are reflected in this statement : "We would ask all employers to consider very carefully whether their style of living and personal expenditure are restricted to what is needed in order to insure the efiicient performance of their functions in society. More than this is waste, and is, moreover, a great cause of class divisions." American Employers The only important declaration by representatives of the employing class in the United States was given out December 6 by the convention of the National Chamber of Commerce. Compared with the program of the British Quakers, it is ex- tremely disappointing. By far the greater part of it consists of proposals and demands in the interest of business. It op- poses Government ownership of railroads, telegraphs, and tel- ephones; calls for moderation in taxation, and demands a modification of the Sherman antitrust law. While it com- mended the program of John D. Rockefeller, jr., on the rela- tions that should exist between capital and labor, it took away much of the value of this action by declining to indorse the specific methods which that gentleman proposed for carrying his principles into effect. The most important and progres- sive general statements made by Mr. Rockefeller are that in- dustry should promote the advancement of social welfare quite as much as material welfare and that the laborer is entitled to fair wages, reasonable hours of work, proper working con- ditions, a decent home, and reasonable opportunities of recrea- tion, education, and worship. The most important specific method that he has recom- mended for bringing about harmony between employers and employees is adequate representation of both parties. Appar- ently the National Chamber of Commerce is not yet ready to concede the right of labor to be represented in determining its relations with capital. An Interdenominational Statement In Great Britain an organization known as the Interdenom- inational Conference of Social Service Unions, comprising lo MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 339 religious bodies, including Catholics, spent more than a year formulating a statement of social reconstruction. (See the summary and analysis contained in the Catholic Social Year Book for 1918.) This statement deals with principles, evils, and remedies. Presuming that Christianity provides mdispens- able guiding principles and powerful motives of social reform, it lays down the basic proposition that every human being is of inestimable worth and that legislation should recognize per- sons as more sacred than property; therefore the State should enforce a minimum living wage, enable the worker to obtain some control of industrial conditions, supplement private in- itiative in providing decent housing, prevent the occurrence of unemployment, safeguard the right of the laborer and his fam- ily to a reasonable amount of rest and recreation, remove those industrial and social conditions which hinder marriage and encourage an unnatural restriction of families, and afford ample opportunities for education of all children industrially, cultur- ally, religiously, and morally. On the other hand, rights im- ply duties, and the individual is obliged to respect the rights of others, to cultivate self-control, to recognize that labor is the law of life, and that wealth is a trust. Finally, the statement points out that all social reform must take as its end and guide the maintenance of pure and wholesome family life. Such in barest outline are the main propositions and prin- ciples of this remarkable program. The text contains adequate exposition of the development and application of all these points and concrete specifications of the methods and measures by which the aims and principles may be brought into effect. In the latter respect the statement is not liable to the fatal ob- jection that is frequently and fairly urged against the reform pronouncements of religious bodies; that they are abstract, platitudinous, and usually harmless. The statement of the in- terdenominational conference points out specific remedies for the evils that it describes, specific measures, legislative and other, by which the principles may be realized in actual life. Especially practical and valuable for Catholics are the expla- nations and modifications supplied by the Year Book of the Catholic Social Guild. No Profound Changes in the United States It is not to be expected that as many or as great social changes will take place in the United States as in Europe. 340 SELECTED ARTICLES Neither our habits of thinking nor our ordinary ways of life have undergone a profound disturbance. The hackneyed phrase, "Things will never again be the same after the war," has a much more concrete and deeply felt meaning among the Euro- pean peoples. Their minds are fully adjusted to the convic- tion and expectation that these words will come true. In the second place, the devastation, the loss of capital and of men, the changes in individual relations, and the increase in the ac- tivities of government have been much greater in Europe than in the United States. Moreover, our superior natural advan- tages and resources, the better industrial and social condition of our working classes still constitute an obstacle to anything like revolutionary changes. It is significant that no social group in America, not even among wage earners, has produced such a fundamental and radical program of reconstruction as the labor party of Great Britain. A Practical and Moderate Program No attempt will be made in these pages to formulate a comprehensive scheme of reconstruction. Such an undertak- ing would be a waste of time as regards immediate needs and purposes, for no important group or section of the American people is ready to consider a program of this magnitude. At- tention will therefore be confined to those reforms that seem to be desirable and also obtainable within a reasonable time, and to a few general principles which should become a guide to more distant developments. A statement thus circumscribed will not merely present the objects that we wish to see attained, but will also serve as an imperative call to action. It will keep before our minds the necessity for translating our faith into works. In the statements of immediate proposals we shall start, wherever possible, from those governmental agencies in operation during the war. These come before us with the prestige of experience and should therefore receive first con- sideration in any program that aims to be at once practical and persuasive. The first problem in the process of reconstruction is the industrial replacement of the discharged soldiers and sailors. The majority of these will undoubtedly return to their previous occupations. However, a very large number of them will either find their previous places closed to them or will be eager to MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 341 consider the possibility of more attractive employments. The most important single measure for meeting this situation that has been suggested is the placement of such men on farms. Several months ago Secretary Lane recommended to Congress that returning soldiers and sailors should be given the oppor- tunity to work at good wages upon some part of the millions upon millions of acres of arid, swamp, and fut-over timber lands, in order to prepare them for cultivation. President Wilson in his annual address to Congress indorsed the proposal. As fast as this preliminary task has been performed the men should be assisted by Government loans to establish themselves as farmers, either as owners* or as- tenants having long-time leases. It is essential that both the work of preparation and the subsequent settlement of the land should be effected by groups or colonies, not by men living independently of one another and in depressing isolation. A plan of this sort is al- ready in operation in England. The importance of the project as an item of any social-reform program is obvious. It would afford employment to thousands upon thousands, would greatly increase the number of farm owners and independent farmers, and would tend to lower the cost of living by increasing the amount of agricultural products. If it is to assume any con- siderable proportions, it must be carried out by the Govern- ments of the United States and of the several States. Should it be undertaken by these authorities and operated on a sys- tematic and generous scale, it would easily become one of the most beneficial reform measures that has ever been attempted. United States Employment Service The reinstatement of the soldiers and sailors in urban in- dustries will no doubt be facilitated by the United States Em- ployment Service. This agency has attained a fair degree of development and efficiency during the war. Unfortunately there is some danger that it will go out of existence or be greatly weakened at the end of the period of demobilization. It is the obvious duty of Congress to continue and strengthen this im- portant institution. The problem of unemployment is with us always. Its solution requires the co-operation of many agen- cies and the use of many methods, but the primary and indis- pensable instrument is a national system of labor exchanges acting in harmony with State, municipal, and private employ- ment bureaus. 342 SELECTED ARTICLES Women War Workers One of the most important problems of readjustment is that created by the presence in industry of immense numbers of women who have taken the places of men during the war. Mere justice, to say nothing of chivalry, dictates that these women should not be compelled to suffer any greater loss or inconvenience than is absolutely necessary, for their services to the Nation have been second only to the services of the men whose places they were called upon to fill. One general principle is clear: No female worker should remain in any occupation that is harmful to health or morals. Women should disappear as quickly as possible from such tasks as conducting and guarding street cars, cleaning locomotives, and a great number of other activities for which conditions of life and their physique render them unfit. Another general principle is that the proportion of women in industry ought to be kept within the smallest practical limits. If we have an efficient national employment service, if a goodly number of the re- turned soldiers and sailors are placed on the land, and if wages and the demand for goods are kept up to the level which is easily attainable, all female workers who are displaced from tasks that they have been performing only since the beginning of the war will be able to find suitable employments in other parts of the industrial field, or in those domestic occupations which sorely need their presence. Those women who are en- gaged at the same tasks as men should receive equal pay for equal amounts and qualities of work. National War Labor Board One of the most beneficial governmental organizations of the war is the National War Labor Board. Upon the basis of a few fundamental principles, unanimously adopted by the representatives of labor, capital, and the public, it has pre- vented innumerable strikes and raised wages to decent levels in many different industries throughout the country. Its main guiding principles have been a family living wage for all male adult laborers, recognition of the right of labor to organize and to deal with employers through its chosen representatives, and no coercion of nonunion laborers by members of the union. The War Labor Board ought to be continued in existence by Congress and endowed with all the power for effective action MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 343 that it can possess under the Federal Constitution. The prin- ciples, methods, machinery, and results of this institution con- stitute a definite and far-reaching gain for social justice. No part of this advantage should be lost or given up in time of peace. Present Wage Rates Should Be Sustained The general level of wages attained during the war should not be lowered. In a few industries, especially some directly and peculiarly connected with the carrying on of war, wages have reached a plane upon which they can not possibly continue for this grade of occupations. But the number of workers in this situation is an extremely small proportion of the entire wage-earning population. The overwhelming majority should not be compelled or suffered to undergo any reduction in their rates of remuneration, for two reasons: First, because the average rate of pay has not increased faster than the cost of living; second, because a considerable majority of the wage earners of the United States, both men and women, were not receiving living wages when prices began to rise in 1915. In that year, according to Lauck and Sydenstricker, whose work is the most comprehensive on the subject, four-fifths of the heads of families obtained less than $800, while two-thirds of the female wage workers were paid less than $400. Even if the prices of goods should fall to the level on which they were in 191S — something that can not be hoped for within five years — the average present rates of wages would not exceed the equivalent of a decent livelihood in the case of the vast ma- jority. The exceptional instances to the contrary are practically all among the skilled workers. Therefore wages, on the whole, should not be reduced even when the cost of living recedes from its present high level. Even if the great majority of workers were now in receipt of more than living wages, there are no good reasons why rates of pay should be lowered. After all, a living wage is not necessarily the full measure of justice. All the Catholic au- thorities on the subject explicitly declare that this is only the minimum of justice. In a country as rich as ours there are very few cases in which it is posible to prove that the worker would be getting more than that to which he has a right if he were paid something in excess of this ethical minimum. Why, then, should we assume that this is the normal share of almost 344 SELECTED ARTICLES the whole laboring population? Since our industrial resources and instrumentalities are sufficient to provide more than a liv- ing wage for a very large proportio;i of the workers, why should we acquiesce in a theory which denies them this meas- ure of the comforts of life? Such a policy is not only of very questionable morality but is unsound economically. The large demand for goods which is created and maintained by high rates of wages and high purchasing power by the masses is the surest guaranty of a continuous and general operation of industrial establishments. It is the most effective instrument of prosperity for -labor and capital alike. The only persons who would benefit considerably through a general reduction of wages are the less efficient among the capitalists and the more comfortable sections of the consumers. The wage earners would lose more in remuneration than they would gain from whatever fall in prices occurred as a direct result of the fall in wages. On grounds both of justice and sound economics we should give our hearty support to all legitimate efforts made by labor to resist general wage reductions. Housing for Working Classes Housing projects for war workers which have been com- pleted, or almost completed, by the Government of the United States have cost some forty million dollars and are found in II cities. While the Federal Government can not continue this work in time of peace, the example and precedent that it has set and the experience and knowledge that it has developed should not be forthwith neglected and lost. The great cities in which congestion and other forms of bad housing are dis- gracefully apparent ought to take up and continue the work, at least to such an extent as will remove the worst features of a social condition that is a menace at once to industrial efficiency, civic health, good morals, and religion. Reduction of the Cost of Living During the war the cost of living has risen at least 75 per cent above the level of 1913. Some check has been placed upon the upward trend by Government fixing of prices in the case of bread and coal and a few other commodities. Even if we believe it desirable, we can not ask that the Government con- tinue this action after the articles of peace have been signed, for neither public opinion nor Congress is ready for such a MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 345 revolutionary policy. If the extortionate practices of monopoly were prevented by adequate laws and adequate law enforce- ment, prices would automatically be kept at as low a level as that to which they might be brought by direct Government de- termination. Just what laws, in addition to those already on the statute books, are necessary to abolish monopolistic extor- tion is a question of detail that need not be considered here. In passing, it may be noted that Government competition with monopolies that can not be effectively restrained by the ordi- nary antitrust laws deserves more serious consideration than it has yet received. More important and more effective than any Government regulation of prices would be the establishment of co-opera- tive stores. The enormous toll taken from industry by the vari- ous classes of middlemen is now fully realized. The astonish- ing difference between the price received by the producer and that paid by the consumer has become a scandal to our indus- trial system. The obvious and direct means of reducing this discrepancy and abolishing unnecessary middlemen is the op- eration of retail and wholesale mercantile concerns under the ownership and management of the consumers. This is no Utopian scheme. It has been successfully carried out in Eng- land and Scotland through the Rochdale system. Very few serious efforts of this kind have been made in this country be- cause our people have not felt the need of these co-operative enterprises as keenly as the European working classes, and because we have been too impatient and too individualistic to make the necessary sacrifices and to be content with moderate benefits and gradual progress. Nevertheless, our superior en- ergy, initiative, and commercial capacity will enable us, once we set about the task earnestly, even to surpass what has been done in England and Scotland. In addition to reducing the cost of living, the co-operative stores would train our working people and consumers generally in the habits of saving, in careful expenditure, in business methods, and in the capacity for co-operation. When the work- ing classes have learned to make the sacrifices and to exercise tfie patience required by the ownership and operation of co- operative stores, they will be equipped to undertake a great variety of tasks and projects which benefit the community im- mediately and all its constituent members ultimately. They will then realize the folly of excessive selfishness and senseless in- 346 SELECTED ARTICLES dividualistn. Until they have acquired this knowledge, train- ing, and capacity, desirable extensions of governmental action in industry will not be attended by a normal amount of success. No machinery of Government can operate automatically, and no official and bureaucratic administration of such machinery can ever be a substitute for intelligent interest and co-opera- tion by the individuals of the community. The Legal Minimum Wage Turning now from those agencies and laws that have been put in operation during the war to the general subject of labor legislation and problems, we are glad to note that there is no longer any serious objection urged by impartial persons against the legal minimum wage. The several States should enact laws providing for the establishment of wage rates that will be at least sufficient for the decent maintenance of a family, in the case of all male adults, and adequate to the decent support of fe- male workers. In the beginning the minimum wages for male workers should suffice only for the present needs of the fam- ily, but they should be gradually raised until they are adequate to future needs as well; that is, they should be ultimately high enough to make possible that amount of saving which is necessary to protect the worker and his family against sick- ness, accident, invalidity, and old age. Social Insurance Until this level of legal minimum wages is reached the worker stands in need of the device of insurance. The State should make comprehensive provision for insurance against ill- ness, invalidity, unemployment, and old age. So far as pos- sible the insurance fund should be raised by a levy on industry, as is now done in the case of accident compensation. The industry in which a man is employed should provide him with all that is necessary to meet all the needs of his entire life. Therefore, any contribution to the insurance fund from the general revenues of the State should be only slight and tem- porary. For the same reason no contribution should be exacted from any worker who is not getting a higher wage than is required to meet the present needs of himself and family. Those who are below that level can make such a contribution only at the expense of their present welfare. Finally, the administration of the insurance laws should be such as to MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 347 interfere as little as possible with the individual freedom of the worker and his family. Any insurance scheme, or any administrative method, that tends to separate the workers into a distinct and dependent class, that offends against their do- mestic privacy and independence, or that threatens individual self-reliance and self-respect, should not be tolerated. The ideal to be kept in mind is a condition in which all the work- ers would themselves have the income and the responsibility of providing for all the needs and contingencies of life, both present and future. Hence all forms of State insurance should be regarded as merely a lesser evil, and should be so organized and administered as to hasten the coming of the normal condition. The life insurance offered to soldiers and sailors during the war should be continued, so far as the enlisted men are con- cerned. It is very doubtful whether the time has yet arrived when public opinion would sanction the extension of general life insurance by the Government to all classes of the community. The establishment and maintenance of municipal health in- spection in all schools, public and private, is now pretty gener- ally recognized as of great importance and benefit. Municipal clinics where the poorer classes could obtain the advantage of medical treatment by specialists at a reasonable cost would likewise seem to have become a necessity. A vast amount of unnecessary sickness and suffering exists among the poor and the lower middle classes, because they can not afford the ad- vantages of any other treatment except that provided by the general practitioner. The service of these clinics should be given gratis only to those who can not afford to pay. Labor Participation in Industrial Management The right of labor to organize and to deal with employers through representatives has been asserted above in connection with the discussion of the War Labor Board. It is to be hoped that this right will never again be called in question by any considerable number of employers. In addition to this, labor ought gradually to receive greater representation in what the English group of Quaker employers have called the "indus- trial" part of business management — "the control of processes and machinery; nature of product; engagement and dismis- sal of employees; hours of work, rates of pay, bonuses, etc.; welfare work; shop discipline; relations with trade-unions." 348 SELECTED ARTICLES The establishment of shop committees, working wherever pos- sible with the trade-union, is the method suggested by this group of employers for giving the employees the proper share of industrial management. There can be no doubt that a frank adoption of these means and ends by employers would not only promote the welfare of the workers but vastly improve the relations between them and their employers, and increase the efficiency and productiveness of each establishment. There is no need here to emphasize the importance of safety and sanitation in work places, as this is pretty generally recognized by legislation. What is required is an extension and strengthening of many of the existing statutes, and a better administration and enforcement of such laws everywhere. Vocational Training The need of industrial or, as it has come to be more gen- erally called, vocational training is now universally acknowl- edged. In the interest of the Nation, as well as in that of the workers themselves, this training should be made substantially universal. While we can not now discuss the subject in any detail, we do wish to set down two general observations. First, the vocational training should be offered in such forms and conditions as not to deprive the children of the working classes of at least the elements of a cultural education. A healthy democracy can not tolerate a purely industrial or trade edu- cation for any class of its citizens. We do not want to have the children of the wage earners put into a special class in which they are marked as outside the sphere of opportunities for culture. The second observation is that the system of vocational training should not operate so as to weaken in any degree our parochial schools or any other class of private schools. Indeed, the opportunities of the system should be extended to all qualified private schools on exactly the same basis as to public schools. We want neither class divisions in education nor a State monopoly of education. Child Labor The question of education naturally suggests the subject of child labor. Public opinion in the majority of the States of our country has set its face inflexibly against the continuous employment of children in industry before the age of i6 years. Within a reasonably short time all of our States, except some MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 349 stagnant ones, will have laws providing for this reasonable standard. The education of public opinion must continue, but inasmuch as the process is slow the abolition of child labor in certain sections seems unlikely to be brought about by the leg- islatures of those States, and since the Keating-Owen Act has been declared unconstitutional there seems to be no device by which this reproach to our country can be removed except that of taxing child labor out of existence. This method is em- bodied in an amendment to the Federal revenue bill, which would impose a tax of 10 per cent on all goods made by children. Probably the foregoing proposals comprise everything that is likely to have practical value in a program of immediate social reconstruction for America. Substantially all of these methods, laws, and recommendations have been recognized in principle by the United States during the war, or have been indorsed by important social and industrial groups and organ- izations. Therefore they are objects that we can set before the people with good hope of obtaining a sympathetic and practical response. Were they all realized a great step would have been taken in the direction of social justice. When they are all put into operation the way will be easy and obvious to still greater and more beneficial results. Ultimate and Fundamental Reforms Despite the practical and immediate character of the pres- ent statement, we can not entirely neglect the question of ulti- mate aims and a systematic program ; for other groups are. busy issuing such systematic pronouncements, and we will all need something of the kind as a philosophical foundation and as a satisfaction to our natural desire for comprehensive state- ments. It seems clear that the present industrial system is destined to last for a long time in its main outlines. That is to say, private ownership of capital is not likely to be supplanted by a coUectivist organization of industry at a date sufficiently near to justify any present action based on the hypothesis of its arrival. This forecast we recognize as not only extremely probable but as highly desirable; for, other objections apart, socialism would mean bureaucracy, political tyranny, the help- lessness of the individual as a factor in the ordering of his own hfe, and in general social inefficiency and decadence. 350 SELECTED ARTICLES Main Defects of Present System Nevertheless, the present system stands in grievous need of considerable modifications and improvement. Its main de- fects are three: Enormous inefficiency and v\raste in the pro- duction and distribution of commodities; insufficient incomes for the great majority of wage earners, and unnecessarily large incomes for a small minority of privileged capitalists. The evils in production and in the distribution of goods would be in great measure abolished by the reforms that have been out- lined in the foregoing pages. Production will be greatly in- creased by universal living wages, by adequate industrial edu- cation, and by harmonious relations between labor and capital on the basis of adequate participation by the former in all the industrial aspects of business management. The wastes of commodity distribution could be practically all eliminated by co-operative mercantile establishments and co-operative sell- ing and marketing associations. Cooperation and Copartnership Nevertheless, the full possibilities of increased production will not be realized so long as the majority of the workers re- main mere wage earners. The majority must somehow be- come owners, or at least in part, of the instruments of pro- duction. They can be enabled to reach this stage gradually through co9perative productive societies and copartnership ar- rangements. In the former the workers own and manage the industries themselves; in the latter they own a substantial part of the corporate stock and exercise a reasonable share in the management. However slow the attainment of these ends, they will have to be reached before we can have a thoroughly effi- cient system of production, or an industrial and social order that will be secure from the danger of revolution. It is to be noted that this particular modification of the existing order, though far-reaching and involving to a great extent the aboli- tion of the wage system, would not mean the abolition of private ownership. The instruments of production would still be owned by individuals, not by the State. Increased Incomes for Labor The second great evil, that of insufficient income for the majority, can be removed only by providing the workers with MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 351 more income. This means not only universal living wages, but the opportunity of obtaining something more than that amount for all who are willing to work hard and faithfully. All the other measures for labor betterment recommended in the preceding pages would likewise contribute directly or in- directly to a more just distribution of wealth in the interest of the laborer. Abolition and Control of Monopolies For the third evil mentioned above, excessive gains by a small minority of privileged capitalists, the main remedies are prevention of monopolistic control of commodities, adequate Government regulation of such public-service monopolies as will remain under private operation, and heavy taxation of incomes, excess profits, and inheritances. The precise methods by which genuine competition may be restored and maintained among businesses that are naturally competitive can not be discussed here, but the principle is clear that human beings can not be trusted with the immense opportunities for oppression and extortion that go with the possession of monopoly power. That the owners of public-service monopolies should be re- stricted by law to a fair or average return on their actual in- vestment has long been a recognized principle of the courts, the legislatures, and public opinion. It is a principle which should be applied to competitive enterprises likewise, with the qualification that something more than the average rate of return should be allowed to men who exhibit exceptional effi- ciency. However, good public policy, as well as equity, demands that these exceptional business men share the fruits of their efficiency with the consumer in the form of lower prices. The man who utilizes his ability to produce cheaper than his com- petitors for the purpose of exacting from the public as high a price for his product as is necessary for the least efficient business man is a menace rather than a benefit to industry and society. Our immense war debt constitutes a particular reason why incomes and excess profits should continue to be heavily taxed. In this way two important ends will be obtained — the poor will be relieved of injurious tax burdens and the small class of specially privileged capitalists will be compelled to return a part of their unearned gains to society. 352 SELECTED ARTICLES A New Spirit of Vital Need "Society," said Pope Leo XIII, "can be healed in no other way than by a return to Christian life and Christian institu- tions." The truth of these words is more widely perceived to-day than when they were written, more than 27 years ago. Changes in our economic and political systems will have only partial and feeble efficiency if they be not reinforced by the Christian view of work and wealth. Neither the moderate reforms advocated in this paper nor any other program of bet- terment or reconstruction will prove reasonably effective with- out a reform in the spirit of both labor and capital. The la- borer must come to realize that he owes his employer and society an honest day's work in return for a fair wage and that conditions can not be substantially improved until he roots out the desire to get a maximum of return for a minimum of service. The capitalist must likewise get a new viewpoint. He needs to learn the long-forgotten truth that wealth is steward- ship; that profit making is not the basic justification of busi- ness enterprise; and that there are such things as fair profits, fair interest, and fair prices. Above and before all, he must cultivate and strengthen within his mind the truth which many of his class have begun to grasp for the first time during the present war, namely, that the laborer is a human being, not merely an instrument of production, and that the laborer's right to a decent livelihood is the first moral charge upon in- dustry. The employer has a right to get a reasonable living out of his business, but he has no right to interest on his in- vestment until his employees have obtained at least living wages. This is the human and Christian, in contrast to the purely commercial and pagan, ethics of industry. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RECON- STRUCION OF THE AMERICAN FEDERA- TION OF LABOR, AS INDORSED BY THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL' The world war has forced all free peoples to a fuller and deeper realization of the menace to civilization contained in autocratic control of the activities and destinies of mankind. 1 From Report. Hearings, Committee on Education and Labor, V. S. Senate on Senate Resolution 382. January 4, 19 19. Washington, Pv Q, MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 353 It has caused a world-wide determination to overthrow and eradicate all autocratic institutions, so that a full measure of freedom and justice can be established between man and man and nation and nation. It has awakened more fully the consciousness that the prin- ciples of democracy should regulate the relationship of men in all their activities. It has opened the doors of opportunity through which more sound and progressive policies may enter. New conceptions of human liberty, justice, and opportunity are to be applied. The American Federation of Labor, the one organization representing labor in America, conscious that its responsibilities are now greater than before, presents a program for the guid- ance of labor, based upon experience and formulated with a full consciousness of the principles which have successfully guided American trade-unionism in the past. Democracy in Industry Two codes of rules and regulations affect the workers — the law upon the statute books and the rules within industry. The first determines their relationship as citizens to all other citizens and to property. The second largely determines the relationship of employer and employee, the terms of employment, the conditions of la- bor, and the rules and regulations affecting the workers as employees. The first is secured through the application of the methods of democracy in the enactment of legislation, and is based upon the principle that the laws which govern a free peo- ple should exist only with their consent. The second, except where effective trade-unionism exists, is established by the arbitrary or autocratic whim, desire, or opinion of the employer and is based upon the principle that industry and commerce can not be successfully conducted un- less the employer' exercises the unquestioned right to establish such rules, regulations, and provisions affecting the employees as self-interest prompts. Both forms of law vitally affect the workers' opportunities in life and determine their standard of living. The rules, reg- ulations, and conditions within industry in many instances af- fect them more than legislative enactments. It is, therefore, essential that the workers should have a voice in determining 354 SELECTED ARTICLES the laws within the industry and commerce which affect them equivalent to the voice which they have as citizens in determin- ing the legislative enactments which shall govern them. It is as inconceivable that the workers as free citizens should remain under autocratically made law within industry and com- merce as it is that the Nation could remain a democracy while certain individuals of groups exercise autocratic powers. It is, therefore, essential that the workers everywhere should insist upon their right to organize into trade-unions and that effective legislation should be enacted which would make it a criminal offense for any employer to interfere with or hamper the exercise of this right or to interfere with the legitimate activities of trade-unions. Unemployment Political economy of the old school, conceived by doctrin- aires, was based upon unsound and false doctrines and has since been used to blindfold, deceive, and defeat the workers' demands for adequate wages, better living and working condi- tions, and a just share of the fruits of their labor. We hold strictly to the trade-union philosophy and its de- veloped political economy based upon demonstrated facts. Unemployment is due to underconsumption. Underconsump- tion is caused by low or insufficient wages. Just wages will prevent industrial stagnation and lessen periodical unemployment. Give the workers just wages, and tlieir consuming capacity is correspondingly increased. A man's ability to consume is controlled by the wages received. Just wages will create a market at home which will far surpass any market that may exist elsewhere and will lessen unemployment. The employment of idle workmen on public work will not permanently remove the cause of unemployment. It is an ex- pedient at best. There is no basis in fact for the claim that the so-called law of supply and demand is natural in its operations and impossible of control or regulation. The trade-union movement has maintained standard wages, hours, and life in periods of industrial depression and idle- ness. These in themselves are a refutation of the declared immutability of the law of supply and demand. There is in fact no such condition as an iron law of wages MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 355 based upon a natural law of supply and demand. Conditions in commerce and industry, methods of production, storing of commodities, regulation of the volume of production, banking systems, the flow and direction of enterprise influenced by com- binations and trusts have effectively destroyed the theory of a natural law of supply and demand as had been formulated by doctrinaire economists. Wages There are no means whereby the workers can obtain and maintain fair wages except through trade-union effort. There- fore, economic organization is paramount to all their other activities. Organization of the workers leads to better wages, fewer working hours, improved working conditions. It develops in- dependence, manhood, and character ; it fosters tolerance and real justice and makes for a constantly growing better economic, social, and political life for the burden-bearing masses. In countries where wages are best, the greatest progress has been made in economic, social, and political advancement, in science art, literature, education, and in the wealth of the people generally. All low wage paying countries contrasted with America is proof for this statement. The American standard of hfe must be maintained and im- proved. The value of wages is determined by the purchasing power of the dollar. There is no such thing as good wages when the cost of living in decency and comfort equals or ex- ceeds the wages received. There must be no reduction in wages — in many instances wages must be increased. The workers of the Nation demand a living wage for all wage earners, skilled or unskilled — a wage which will enable the worker and his family to live in health and comfort, pro- vide a competence for illness and old age, and afford to all the opportunities of cultivating the best that is within mankind. Hours of Labor Reasonable hours of labor promote the economic and social well-being of the toiling masses. Their attainment should be one of labor's principal and essential activities. The shorter workday and a shorter week make for a constantly growing higher and better standard of productivity, health, longevity, morals, and citizenship. 3S6 SELECTED ARTICLES The right of labor to fix its hours of work must not be ab- rogated, abridged, or interfered with. The day's working time should be limited to not more than eight hours, with overtime prohibited, except under the most extraordinary emergencies. The week's working time should be limited to not more than five and one-half days. Women as Wage Earners Women should receive the same pay as men for equal work performed. Women workers must not be permitted to perform tasks disproportionate to their physical strength or which tend to impair their potential motherhood and prevent the continua- tion of a nation of strong, healthy, sturdy, and intelligent men and women. Child Labor The children constitute the nation's most valuable asset. The full responsibility of the Government should be recognized by such measures as will protect the health of every child at birth and during its immature years. It must be one of the chief functions of the nation through effective legislation to put an immediate end to the exploitation of children under i6 years of age. State legislatures should protect children of immature years by prohibiting their employment, for gain, under i6 years of age and restricting the employment of children of at least i8 years of age to not more than 20 hours within any one week and with not less than 20 hours at school during the same period. Exploitation of child life for private gain must not be per- mitted. Status of Public Employees The fixing of wages, hours and conditions of labor for pub- lic employees by legislation hampers the necessary exercise of organization and collective bargaining. Public employees must not be denied the right of organiza- tion, free activities, and collective bargaining, and must not be limited in the exercise of their rights as citizens. Co-operation To attain the greatest possible development of civilization it is essential, among other things, that the people should never MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 357 delegate to others those activities and responsibilities which they are capable of assuming for themselves. Democracy can function best with the least interference by the State compati- ble with due protection to the rights of all citizens. There are many problems arising from production, trans- portation, and distribution which would be readily solved by applying the methods of co-operation. Unnecessary middlemen who exact a tax from the community without rendering any useful service can be eliminated. The farmers through co-operative dairies, canneries, pack- ing houses, grain elevators, distributing houses, and other co- operative enterprises, can secure higher prices for their products and yet place these in the consumer's hands at lower prices than would otherwise be paid. There is an almost limitless field for the consumers in which to establish co-operative buy- ing and selling, and in this most necessary development the trade unionists should take an immediate and active part. Trade-unions secure fair wages. Co-operation protects the wage earner from the profiteer. Participation in these co-operative agencies must of necessity prepare the mass of the people to participate more effectively in the solution of the industrial, commercial, social, and polit- ical problems which continually arise. The People's Final Voice in Legislation It is manifestly evident that a people are not self-governing unless they enjoy the unquestioned power to determine the form and substance of the laws which shall govern them. Self- government can not adequately function if there exists within the nation a superior power or authority which can finally determine what legislation enacted by the people, or their duly elected representatives, shall be placed upon the statute books and what shall be declared null and void. An insuperable obstacle to self-government in the United States exists in the power which has been gradually assumed by the Supreme Courts of the Federal and State Governments, to declare legislation null and void upon the ground that, in the court's opinion, it is unconstitutional. It is essential that the people, acting directly or through Congress or State legislatures, should have final authority in determining which laws shall be enacted. Adequate steps must be taken, therefore, which will provide that in the event of a 358 SELECTED ARTICLES supreme court declaring an act of Congress, or of a State legislature, unconstitutional and the people acting directly or through Congress, or a State legislature, should reenact the measure, it shall then become the law without being subject to annulment by any court. Political Policy In the political efforts, arising from the workers' necessity to secure legislation covering these conditions and provisions of life not subject to collective bargaining with employers, or- ganized labor has followed two methods, one by organizing political parties, the other by the determination to place in public office representatives from their ranks; to elect those who favor and champion the legislation desired, and to defeat those whose policy is opposed to labor's legislative demands, regardless of partisan politics. The disastrous experience of organized labor in America with political parties of its own amply justified the American Fed- eration of Labor's nonpartisan political policy. The results secured by labor parties in other countries never have been such as to warrant any deviation from this position. The rules and regulations of trade unionism should not be extended so that the action of a majority could force a minority to vote for or give financial support to any political candidate or party to whom they are opposed. Trade-union activities can not re- ceive the undivided attention of members and officers if the exigencies, burdens, and responsibilities of a political party are bound up with their economic and industrial organizations. The experiences and results attained through the nonparti- san political policy of the American Federation of Labor cover a generation. They indicate that through its application the workers of America have secured a much larger measure of fundamental legislation, establishing their rights, safeguarding their interests, protecting their welfare, and opening the doors of opportunity than have been secured by the workers of any other country. The vital legislation now required can be more readily se- cured through education of the public mind and the appeal to its conscience, supplemented by energetic independent political activity on the part of trade-unionists than by any other method. This is and will continue to be the political policy of the American Federation of Labor, if the lessons which labor MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 359 has learned in the bitter but practical school of experience are to be respected and applied. It is, therefore, most essential that the officers of the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, the officers of the affiliated organiza- tions. State federations and central labor bodies and the en- tire membership of the trade union movement should give the most vigorous application possible to the political policy of the A. F. of L. so that Labor's friends and opponents may be more widely known, and the legislation most required readily secured. This phase of our movement is still in its infancy. It should be continued and developed to its logical conclusion. Government Ownership Public and semipublic utilities should be owned, or operated and regulated, by the Government in the interest of the public. Whatever final disposition shall be made of the railways of the country in ownership, management or regulation, we insist upon the right of the workers to organize for their common and mutual protection and the full exercise of the normal ac- tivities which come with organization. Any attempt at the denial by governmental authority of the rights of the work- ers to organize, to petition, to representation and to collec- tive bargaining, or the denial of the exercise of their political rights is repugnant to the fundamental principles of free citi- zenship in a republic and is destructive of their best interest and welfare. The Government should own and operate all wharves and docks connected with public harbors which are used for com- merce or transportation. The American Merchant Marine should be encouraged and developed under governmental control and so manned as to insure successful operation and protect in full the beneficent laws now on the statute books for the rights and welfare of seamen. The seamen must be accorded the same rights and privileges exercised by the workers in all other employments, public and private. Waterways and Water Power The lack of practical development of our waterways and the inadequate extension of canals have seriously handicapped water traffic and created unnecessarily high cost for transpor- tation. In many instances it ha§ established artificial restric- 36o SELECTED ARTICLES tions which have worked to the serious injury of communities, owing to the schemes of those controlUng a monopoly of land transportation. Our navigable rivers and our great inland lakes should be connected with the sea by an adequate system of can- als, so that inland production can be more efEectively fostered, the costs of transportation reduced, the private monopoly of transportation overcome and imports and exports shipped at lower costs. The Nation is possessed of enormous water power. Legis- lation should be enacted providing that the Governments, Fed- eral and State, should own, develop, and operate all water power over which they have jurisdiction. The power thus gen- erated should be supplied to all citizens at rates based upon cost. The water power of the Nation, created by nature, must not be permitted to pass into private hands for private exploi- tation. Regulation of Land Ownership Agriculture and stock raising are essential to national safety and well-being. The history of all countries, at all times, in- dicates that the conditions which create a tenant class of ag- riculturists work increasing injury to the tillers of the soil. While increasing the price of the product to the consumer these conditions at the same time develop a class of large land own- ers who contribute little, if anything, to the welfare of the community but who exact a continually increasing share of the wealth produced by the tenant. The private ownership of large tracts of usable land is not conducive to the best interests of a democratic people. Legislation should be enacted placing a graduated tax upon all usable lands above the acreage which is cultivated by the owner. This should include provisions through which the ten- ant farmer, or others, may purchase land upon the lowest rate of interest and most favorable terms consistent with safety, and so safeguarded by governmental supervision and regulation as to give the fullest and freest opportunity for the development of land-owning agriculturists. Special assistance should be given in the direction of allot- ments of land and the establishment of homes on the public domain. Establishment of Government experimental farms and meas- ures for stock-raising instruction, the irrigation of arid lands MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 361 and reclamation of swamp and cut-over lands shoud be under- taken upon a larger scale under direction of the Federal Gov- ernment. Municipalities and States should be empowered to acquire lands for cultivation or the erection of residential buildings which they may use or dispose of under equitable terms. Federal and State Regulation of Corporations The creation by legislative enactment of corporations, with- out sufficient definition of the powers and scope of activities conferred upon them and without provisions for their ade- quate supervision, regulation, and control by the creative body, has led to the development of far-reaching abuses which have seriously affected commerce, industry, and the masses of the people through their influence upon social, industrial, commer- cial, and political development. Legislation is required which will so limit, define, and regulate the powers, privileges, and activities of corporations that their methods can not become detrimental to the welfare of the people. It is, therefore, es- sential that legislation should provide for the Federal licens- ing of all corporations organized for profit. Furthermore, Federal supervision and control should include the increasing of capital stock and the incurring of bonded indebtedness with the provision that the books of all corporations shall be open at all times to Federal examiners. Freedom of Expression and Association The very life and perpetuity of free and democratic insti- tutions are dependent upon freedom of speech, of the press, and of assemblage and association. We insist that all restric- tions of freedom of speech, press, public assembly, association, and travel be completely removed, individuals and groups being responsible for their utterances. These fundamental rights must be set out with clearness and must not be denied or abridged in any manner. Workmen's Compensation Workmen's compensation laws should be amended to pro- vide more adequately for those incapacitated by industrial accidents or occupational diseases. To assure that the insur- ance fund derived from commerce and industry will be paid in full to injured workers State insurance must supplant, and 362 SELECTED ARTICLES prohibit the existence of, employers' liability insurance operated for profit. Immigration Americanization of those coming from foreign lands, as well as our standards of education and living, are vitally af- fected by the volume and character of the immigration. It is essential that additional legislation regulating immigra- tion should be enacted based upon two fundamental proposi- tions, namely, that the flow of immigration must not at any time exceed the Nation's ability to assimilate and Americanize the foreigners coming to our shores and that at no time shall immigration be permitted when there exists an abnormal de- gree of unemployment. By reason of existing conditions we urge that immigration into the United States should be prohibited for a period of at least two years after peace has been declared. Taxation One of the Nation's most valuable assets is the initiative, energetic, constructive, and inventive genius of its people. These qualities when properly applied should be fostered and protected instead of being hampered by legislation, for they constitute an invaluable element of progress and material development. Taxation should, therefore, rest as lightly as possible upon constructive enterprise. Taxation should provide for full con- tribution from wealth by a tax upon profits which will not discourage industrial or commercial enterprise. There should be provided a progressive increase in taxes upon incomes, in- heritances, and upon land values of such a nature as to render it unprofitable to hold land without putting it to use, to afford a transition to greater economic quality and to supply means of liquidating the national indebtedness growing out of the war. Education It is impossible to estimate the influence of education upon the world's civilization. Education must not stifle thought and inquiry, but must awaken the mind concerning the application of natural laws and to a conception of independence and prog- ress. Education must not be for a few but for all our people. While there is an advanced form of public education in many States there still remains a lack of adequate educational facili- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 363 ties in several States and communities. The welfare of the Republic demands that public education should be elevated to the highest degree possible. The Government should exercise advisory supervision over public education and where neces- sary maintain adequate public education through subsidies without giving to the Government power to hamper or inter- fere with the free development of public education by the several States. It is essential that our system of public educa- tion should ofifer the wage-earners' children the opportunity for the fullest possible development. To attain this end State colleges and universities should be developed. It is also important that the industrial education which is being fostered and developed should have for its purpose not so much training for efficiency in industry as training for life in an industrial society. A full understanding must be had of those principles and activities that are the foundation of all productive efforts. Children should not only become famil- iar with tools and materials but they should also receive a thor- ough knowledge of the principles of human control, of force and matter underlying our industrial relations and sciences. The danger that certain commercial and industrial interests may dominate the character of education must be averted by insisting that the workers shall have equal representation on all boards of education or committees having control over vo- cational studies and training. To elevate and advance the interests of the teaching pro- fession and to promote popular and democratic education, the right of teachers to organize and to affiliate with the movement of the organized workers must be recognized. Private Employment Agencies Essentials in industry and commerce are employee and em- ployer, labor and capital. No one questions the right of organ- ized capital to supply capital to employers. No one should question the right of organized labor to furnish workers. Pri- vate employment agencies abridge this right of organized labor. Where Federal, State, and municipal employment agencies are maintained they should operate under the supervision of joint committees of trade-unionists and employers, equally represented. Private employment agencies operated for profit should not be permitted to exist. 364 SELECTED ARTICLES Housing Child life, the workers' physical condition, and public health demand that the wage earner and his family shall be given a full opportunity to live under wholesome conditions. It is not only necessary 'that there shall be sanitary and appropriate houses to live in but that a sufficient number of dwellings shall be available to free the people from high rents and over- crowding. ' The ownership of homes, free from the grasp of exploitive and speculative interests, will make for more efficient workers, m"Dre contented families, and better citizens. The Government shcJuld, therefore, inaugurate a plan to build model homes and establish a system of credits whereby the workers may borrow monp^ at a low rate of interest and under favorable terms to build their own homes. Credit should also be extended to voluntary iionprofit making housing and joint tenancy asso- ciations. States and municipalities should be freed from the restrictions preventing their undertaking proper housing pro- jects and should be permitted to engage in other necessary enterprises relating thereto. The erection and maintenance of dwellings where migratory workers may find lodging and nour- ishing food during periods of unemployment should be encour- aged and supported by municipalities. If need should arise to expend public funds to relieve unemployment the building of wholesome houses would best serve the public interests. Militarism The trade-union movement is unalterably and emphatically opposed to "militarism" or a large standing army. "Militar- ism," is a system fostered and developed by tyrants in the hope of supporting their arbitrary authority. It is utilized by those whose selfish ambitions for power and worldly glory lead them to invade and subdue other peoples and nations, to destroy their liberties, to acquire their wealth, and to fasten the yoke of bondage upon them. The trade-union movement is con- vinced by the experience of mankind that "militarism" brutal- izes those influenced by the spirit of the institution. The finer elements of humanity are strangled. Under "militarism" a deceptive patriotism is developed in the people's minds, where men believe that there is nobility of spirit and heroism in dying for the glory of a dynasty or the maintenance of institutions MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 365 which are inimical to human progress and democracy. "Mili- tarism" is the application of arbitrary and irresponsible forces as opposed to reason and justice. Resistance to injustice and tyranny is that virile quality which has given purpose and effect to ennobling causes in all countries and at all times. The free institutions of our country and the liberties won by its founders would have been impossible had they been un- willing to take arms and if necessary die in the defense of their liberties. Only a people willing to maintain their rights and defend their liberties are guaranteed free institutions. Conditions foreign to the institutions of our country have prevented the entire abolition of organized bodies of men trained to carry arms. A voluntary citizen soldiery supplies what would otherwise take its place, a large standing army. To the latter we are unalterably opposed as tending to establish the evils of "militarism." Large standing armies threaten the existence of civil liberty. The history of every nation demonstrates that as standing armies are enlarged the rule of democracy is les- sened or extinguished. Our experience has been that even this citizen soldiery, the militia of our States, has given cause at times for grave apprehension. Their ranks have not always been free from undesirable elements, particularly the tools of corporations involved in industrial disputes. During industrial disputes the militia has at times been called upon to support the authority of those who through selfish interests desired to enforce martial law while the courts were open and the civil authorities competent to maintain supremacy of civil law. We insist that the militia of our several States should be wholly organized and controlled by democratic principles so that this voluntary force of soldiery may never be diverted from its true purpose and used to jeopardize or infringe upon the rights and liberties of our people. The right to bear arms is a funda- mental principle of our Government, a principle accepted at all times by free people as essential to the maintenance of their liberties and institutions. We demand that this right shall remain inviolate. Soldiers and Sailors Soldiers and sailors, those who entered the service in the Nation's defense, are entitled to the generous reward of a grateful Republic. The necessities of war called upon millions of workmen to 366 SELECTED ARTICLES leave their positions in industry and commerce to defend, upon the battle fields, the Nation's safety and its free institutions. These defenders are now returning. It is advisable that they should be discharged from military service at the earliest pos- sible moment; that as civilians they may return to their re- spective homes and families and take up their peace-time pur- suits. The Nation stands morally obligated to assist them in securing employment. Industry has undergone great changes due to the dislocation caused by war production and transportation. Further read- justments in industry and commerce must follow the rehabili- tation of business under peaceful conditions. Many positions which our citizen soldiers and sailors filled previous to enlist- ment do not exist to-day. It would be manifestly unjust for the Government after having removed the worker from his position in industry and placed him in military service to discharge him from the Army or Navy without having made adequate provision to assist him in procuring employment and providing sustenance until em- ployment has been secured. The returned citizen soldier or sailor should not be forced by the bitter urgent necessity of securing food and clothing to place himself at a disadvantage when seeking employment. Upon their discharge, transportation and meals should be supplied to their places of residence. The monthly salary pre- viously paid should be continued for a period not to exceed 12 months if employment is not secured within that period. The Federal and State employment bureaus should be di- rected to co-operate with trade-union agencies in securing em- ployment for discharged soldiers and sailors. In assisting the discharged soldier and sailor to secure employment, Govern- ment agencies should not expect them to accept employment for less than the prevailing rate of wages being paid in the industry. Neither should any Government agency request or require such discharged men to accept employment where a trade dispute exists or is threatened. Nor should the refusal on the part of any of these discharged soldiers or sailors to accept employment where trade disputes exist or are threat- ened or Vvhen less than the prevailing wage rate is offered deprive them of a continuance of their monthly pay. Legislation also should be enacted which will give the Nation's defenders the opportunity for easy and ready access MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 367 to the land. Favorable inducements should be provided for them to enter agriculture and husbandry. The Government should assume the responsibility for the allotment of such lands and supply the necessary capital for its development and cultivation, with such safeguards as will protect both the Gov- ernment and the discharged soldier and sailor. Conclusion No element in our Nation is more vitally concerned with the problems of making for a permanent peace between all nations than the working people. The opportunities now be- fore us are without precedent. It is of paramount importance that labor shall be free and unhampered in shaping the princi- ples and agencies affecting the wage-earners' condition of life and work. By the light that has been given to it the American Federa- tion of Labor has attracted to its fold over three millions of wage-earners and its sphere of influence and helpfulness is growing by leaps and bounds. By having followed safe and sound fundamental principles and policies, founded on free- dom, justice, and democracy, the American trade-union move- ment has achieved successes of an inestimable value to the masses of toilers of our country. By adhering to these prin- ciples and policies we can meet all problems of readjustment, however grave in importance and difficult of solution, with a feeling of assurance that our efforts will be rewarded by a still greater success than that achieved in the past. Given the whole-hearted support of all men and women of labor our organized labor movement with its constructive pro- gram, its love of freedom, justice, and democracy will prove the most potent factor in protecting, safeguarding, and pro- moting the general welfare of the great mass of our people during this trying period of re'construction and all times here- after. The American Federation of Labor has attained its present position of dignity and splendid influence because of its ad- herence to one common cause and purpose; that purpose is to protect the rights and interests of the masses of the workers and to secure for them a better and a brighter day. Let us therefore strive on and on to bring into our organizations the yet unorganized. Let us concentrate our efforts to organize all the forces of wage earners. Let the Nation hear the united 368 SELECTED ARTICLES demand from the laboring voice. Now is the time for the workers of America to come to the stand of their unions and to organize as thoroughly and completely and compactly as is possible. Let each worker bear in mind the words of Longfellow : "In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle. Be a hero in the strife.'' Respectfully submitted. John P. Frey, Chairman. B. M. Jewell. John Moore. G. W. Perkins. Matthew Woll, Secretary. THE INTERNATIONAL CHARTER OF LABOR' Under the wage system, the capitalists seek to increase their profit in exploiting the workers by methods which, unless the exploitation is limited by international action of the work- ers, would lead to the physical, moral and intellectual decay of the workers. The emancipation of labor can be entirely realized only by the abolition of the capitalist system itself. Meanwhile, the resistance of the organized workers can lessen the evil; thus the worker's health, his family life and the possibility of bet- tering his education, can be protected in such fashion that he may fulfill his duties as a citizen in the modern democracy. The capitalist form of production produces a competition in the various countries which puts the backward countries in a state of inferiority to the more advanced. The need of a normal basis for international labor legisla- tion has become doubly urgent as a result of the terrific upset and enormous ravages which the popular forces have suffered because of the war. We regard the present remedy of this 'Survey, 41:857. March i;, 1919. (Adopted by the International Trade Union Conference and by the International Socialist Conference meeting at Berne, February, 1919)- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 369 situation to be the constitution of a league of nations applying an international labor legislation. The International Trade Union Conference met at Berne and asks the league of nations to institute and apply an inter- national system fixing the conditions of labor. The present conference supports the decisions of the Trades Union Conference of Leeds (191 7) and Berne (1918), and asks that their essential provisions, already applied in several coun- tries, be applied internationally and be inscribed in the treaty of peace as an international charter of labor, as follows: (i) The conference considers primary instruction obligatory in all countries; pre-apprenticeship and general industrial training should be established everywhere. Higher schooling should be free and accessible to all, special aptitudes and aspi- rations not being blocked by the material conditions of life in which the children may be placed. Children below fifteen shall not be employed in industry. (2) Children from fifteen to eighteen shall not be employed more than six hours per day, with one and one-half hours rest after four hours of work. For two hours per day both sexes shall take technical continuation courses to be established for them between six in the morning and eight at night. The employment of children shall be prohibited (a) between eight at night and six in the morning; (b) Sundays and holi- days; (c) in unhealthy industries; (d) in underground mines. (3) Women workers shall have a Saturday half -holiday and shall work only four hours that day; exceptions which are necessary in certain industries being compensated by a half- holiday some other day in the week. Women workers shall not work at night. Employers shall be forbidden to furnish home work after the regular hours of labor. Women shall not be employed in dangerous industries where it is impossible to create sufficiently healthy conditions, as, for instance, in mines where the handling of harmful mat- ters is injurious to the health of weak constitutions. The employment of women for four weeks before and six weeks after maternity shall be forbidden. A system of maternity insurance shall be established in all countries and benefits paid in case of illness. Women's work shall be free and based on the principle of equal pay for equal work. (4) The hours of labor shall not exceed 8 per day and 370 SELECTED ARTICLES 44 per week. . Night work, after eight at night and before six in the morning shall be forbidden except where the technical nature of the work makes it inevitable. Where night work is necessary, the pay shall be higher. (5) The Saturday half-holiday shall be introduced in all countries. The weekly repose shall be of at least 36 hours. When the nature of the work requires Sunday work, the weekly repose shall be arranged during the week. In industries of continuous fire, the work shall be arranged so as to give the workers holidays on alternative Sundays. (6) To protect health, and as a guarantee against accidents, the hours of labor shall be reduced at least eight hours in very dangerous industries. The use of harmful matters is forbidden wherever they can be replaced. A list of prohibited industrial poisons shall be made ; the use of white phosphorus and white lead in decoration shall be forbidden. A system of automatic coupling shall be applied internationally on the railroads. All laws and regulations concerning industrial labor shall in principle be applied to home work; the same is true for social insurance. (7) Work which may poison or injure health shall be excluded from homes. (8) Food industries, including the manufacture of boxes and sacks to contain food, shall be excluded from homes. (9) Infectious diseases must be reported in home indus- tries and work forbidden in houses where these diseases are found. Medical inspection shall be established. Lists of vsforkers employed in home industries shall be drawn up and they shall have salary-books. Committees of repre- sentatives of employers and workers shall be formed wherever home industries prevail, and they shall have legal power to fix wages. Such wage-scales shall be posted in the work-places. Workers shall have the right to organize in all countries. Laws and decrees submitting certain classes of workers to special conditions or depriving them of the right of organiza- tion shall be abrogated Emigrant workers shall have the same rights as native workers, including the right to join unions and to strike. Punishment shall be provided for those who oppose the rights of organization and association. Foreign workers have the right to the wages and conditions of labor which have been agreed upon between the unions and employers in all branches of industry. Lacking such agree- MODERN INDUSTRIAL MOVEMENTS 371 ments, they shall have the right to the wages current in the region. (10) Emigration shall in general be free. Exceptions shall be made in the following cases: (a) A state may temporarily limit immigration dur- ing a period of economic depression in order to protect the native as well as the foreign workers. (b) Any state may control immigration in the inter- est of public hygiene and may temporarily forbid it. (c) States may demand of immigrants that they be able to read and write in their own tongue — this in order to maintain a minimum of popular education and to ren- der possible the application of labor laws in industries employing immigrants. The contracting states agree to introduce without delay laws forbidding engaging workers by contract to work in other countries, thus putting an end to the abuse of private employ- ment agencies. Such contracts shall be forbidden. The contracting states agree to prepare statistics of the la- bor market based upon local reports, mutually exchanging in- formation as often as possible through a central international office. These statistics shall be communicated to the trade unions of each country. No worker shall be expelled from any country for trade union activity; he shall have the right of appealing to the courts against expulsion. If wages be insufficient to assure a normal life, and if it be impossible for employers and workers to agree, the government shall institute mixed commissions to establish minimum wages. (11) In order to combat unemployment, the trade union centers of the various countries shall maintain relations and exchange information relative to the demand and supply of labor. A system of insurance against unemployment shall be established in all countries. , (12) All workers shall be insured by the state against in- dustrial accidents. The benefits paid the injured or their de- pendents shall be fixed according to the laws of the worker's country of origin. Old age and invaKdity insurance, and insur- ance for widows and orphans, shall be established with equal benefits for natives and foreigners. A foreign worker may, on departure, if he has been victim of an industrial accident, receive a lump sum — if such an agree- 372 SELECTED ARTICLES raent has been concluded between the country where he has been working and his country of origin. (13) A special international code shall be created for the protection of seamen, to be applied in collaboration with the seamen's unions. (14) The application of these measures shall in each coun- try be confined to labor inspectors. These inspectors shall be chosen among technical, sanitary and economic experts and aided by the workers of both sexes. The trade unions shall watch over the application of the labor laws. Employers employing more than four workers speaking foreign tongues shall post the labor regulations and other important notices in the respective languages and shall at their own expense teach the language of the country to their employes. (is) To apply the international labor legislation the con- tracting states shall create a permanent commission constituted half of delegates of the states which are members of the league of nations and half of delegates of the international federa- tion of labor unions. This permanent commission shall convoke annually the del- egations of the contracting states to perfect the international labor legislation. This conference should be one-half composed of representatives of the organized workers of each country; it shall have power to make resolutions having the force of international law. The Permanent Commission shall collaborate with the In- ternational Labor Office at Bale and with the International Union of Trade Unions. INDEX Alexander III, 265 All-Russian Central Executive Com- mittee, 249, 250 All-Russian Congress of Soviets, 243, 246, 240 Amalgamated Society of Engineers, 87-91* 9S» 96* 100 American Bolsheviks, 274, 27s American Contractors' Associa- tion, 171 American Federation of Labor, 31, 33» 68» 78, no. III, 112, 313-15, 318^ 3i9» 323. 325, 352-68 American Institute of Architects, 171 American labor party, 314 American Socialist Party, 325 Anarchism, 63 Anti-Bolshevik, 277 Anti-Socialist union, 239 Arbitration boards, 88 Armenia, 245 Ashton and District Textile Manu- facturing Trades Federation, loi Asia, 245 Avanessov, V. A,, 259 Baking industrial council, 209 Balfour, Mr., 94 Bethlehem Steel Co., 125, 175 Bezonian, 271, 282 Bloomfield, Meyer, Introduction, 1-2 Bobbin industrial council, 238 Bolshevism, 170, 243-312 Bonuses for foremen, 123; For workmen, 123, 143, 146 Bourgeoisie, 260, 261, 263 Bourgeois state, 271 Bowerman, Charles, 323 Brandeis, Louis D., 126 Branting, 278 Breshkovskaya, 278 British Government, 105 British labor, 103 British Labour Party, 104, in, 112, 113, 328-9, 336 British trade unionism, 113, 159; Trade union congress, 324; Union leaders, xo6, 108, no, 142, i54» 156 Brotherhoods, Railroad, in, 142 Builders National Industrial Parlia- ment, 229, 230 California, 279 Capitalism, 104, 158 Central Labor College, 160 Cfaaikovsky, 286 Child labor, 356 Churchill Winston, no Civic Federation, 51 Class consciousness, 273 Class war, 273, 274 Clayton anti-trust law, 326 Clemenceau, 278 Clyde, the, 95; strikes, 97, 99 Cole, G. D. H., 92, 100, 112, 153, 158, 23s Collective bargaining, 143, 146, 148, 183 Colorado Fuel & Iron Co., 169, 176 Committees of workmen, 147 Committee system in shops, 169-77 Communism, 311 Communist manifesto, 273 Communist party, Russian, 287, 288, 296 Community, scientific management and, 122, 141 Compulsory arbitration, 237 Conditions of labor, 149, 150 Confederation Generale du Travail, 48. 56, 321 Congress of Soviets, 245, 246 Constituent assembly, 277, 291, 296 Control of industry, 237 Control of labor, 163 Cooperative movement, 3-34» 345- 6, 35O1 356, 357; British coop- erative movement, 3-23; Con- sumers' cooperative in U.S. 23- 3 1 ; Insurance, 12-13; Labor, attitude of, 30, 31-4J Manage- ment, 14-15; Organization, 17-19; Principles of, 23-4; Rochdale, 3, 9, 29; Stores, 7-9 Cooperative union, in Corn Products Refining Co., 175 Cost of production, 115, ri8, 119, 137 Councils and trade boards, 211, 212 Council of People's Commissars, 245, 249, 250, 252 Coventry, 102, 107 Craft unionism, 38, 47, 87, 95, 98 Croisier, Henri, 263 Daily Herald, 160 Debs, Eugene, 27s, 276 Defense societies, 282 Democratic control of industry, 90, 132 Demuth Company, William, 176 i73» 374 INDEX Denikin, 284, 285 Deportation, 100 Despatching, 124 Dictatorship of proletariat, 246 Direct action, 55-67, 80, 109 District committees, 89 District councils, 205, 213, 238, 239 Drake, Barbara, 91 Eastman, Max, 276 Ebert, 278 Economic program of Bolsheviks, 271 Efficiency, 115, 139. I79 Efficiency engineers, 150 Eight hour day, 240 Electrical trades union, 95 EUery, George, 103 Emery, Henry C, 271 Employers' Federation, 90 Employers' Parliamentary Council, 94 Employment, regularizing 141; Sta- bility of 191; Steady, 122, 202 Employment agencies, 363 Employment Service, United States, ^ 34; Engels, 273 Engineering trades, 90, 240 Engineering Employer's Federation, 100 English Wholesale Cooperative So- ciety, 5, 6, II, 14, 20-3 Fabian research department, 94 Fabian Society, 159, 160 Farnham, Dwight T., iis Fatigue, iiS, 122 Federation of British Industries, 239 Federation of Russian Soviet Re- public, 346 Filene Cooperative Association, 131 Finland, 2.^5 Fisher, IrviITg, 276 Foreman, 116-18, 120, 122, 136 Foremanship, functional, 124 Forty-seven hour week, 240 Freedom of press, 284 French federation of labor, 320, 321 French monarchists, 260 Frey, John P., 147, 368 Friendly Society, 109 Friendly Society of Ironfounders, 95 ,. . Functionalization, 133, 135-7 Garton Foundation, 94, 170, 223 General Electric Co., 175 General Federation of Labor, 48 General Federation of Trade Unions, 1 1 1 General strike, 45, 47 George, Henry, 320 George, Lloyd, 90, 97, 98, 108 Germany, 273, 275, 311 Glasgow District committee, 95 Gleason, Arthur, 87 Gompers, Samuel 31, 34, 163, 278, 318 Gorky, 298, 308 Government ownership, 359 Grievances, 184, 222 Gubernia, 248. 252 Guild Socialism, 153-67; Socialists, 87. 92; System, 153, 155, 156 Hart, Schaffner & Marx, 169, 176 Haymarket riot, 319 Health of employees, 214 Henderson, Arthur, 113, 310 Hill, W. W., 162 Hobson, S. G., 159 Hodge, John, 239 Hodges, Frank H., z6i Holder, A. E., 34 Hours of labor; 105, 121, 140, 202, 214, 222, 3SS Housing, Deficiency in, 94, 364 Hoxie, Robert F., 67, 151; Report on scientific management, 149, 150, 152 Hungary, 275 Immigration, 362 Increased output, 115, 120, 124, 125, i29i 14s Independent Labor Party, 162 Industrial councils, 199-213, .238; Building, 209; Chemicals, 209; China clay, 209; Electrical con- tracting, 209; Matches, 209, 238; Furniture, 209; Hosiery, 209; Pottery, 210, 238; Rubber, 210; Saw mill^ 210; Silk, 210; Ve- hicle building, 210; Other indus- tries, 212 Industrial democracy, 147-9, iS5* 157 Industrial Democracy League, 160 Industrial league, 239 Industrial peace, 237, 240 Industrial reconstruction, loi, 331- 72 Interim Reconstruction Committees, 238, 239 Industrial representation. See Management sharing Industrial revolution, 154 Industrial self government, 162 Industrial Syndicalist Education League, 160 Industrial unrest, commission of, in- 3uiry into, 94 ustrial unionism 35, 36-40, 98, 105; Manifesto, 36-3^; Principle of, ^9-40; Revolutionary, 40; Marxian, 158 International Union of Trade Unions, 372 Industrial Workers of the World (L W. W.), 67-86, 160, 275, 304, 306, 308; Membership of, 68; Preamble, 35-6 INDEX 375 International Trade Union Con- ference, 368, 369 Munitions Act, 88 Murpliy, J, T., loi iewell, B. M., 368 oint action, 89 oint control; 165 oint discussion, 185 oint industrial councils 200-7, 213- 17, 238; Functions of, 202-4, 213- 17, 221-3; Constitution of, 215- 17; Scope of, 223-7; Procedure, 220-1 - Jutsehkoff, 282 Kautsky, Carl, 300 Keating-Owen Act, 340 Kellogg, Paul U., 87 Kerensky, A., 278, a8i, 305 Kirkwood, David, 97, gS Knights of Labor, 47 Kolchak, 284-6 Korniloff, 283 Krasnof, 284 Labor market, 153; Power, 153, 154; As a commodity, 154; Un- skilled and skilled, 88, 89; And scientific management, 142-52 Labor parties, 313-29 Laidler, H. W., 3 Land ownership, 360 Leaving certificate, 9 1 Ledoc, K. J., 282 Legien, 321 Lenine, Nicolai, 259, 263-9, 271-8, 289, 291, 293, 295-9, 305i 306. Levine Louis, 40, 51 Liberator, the, 275, 276 Lockouts, 8^ Loyal Legion of Loggers and • Lumbermen, 176 Mahon, W. D., 34 Management, scientific, 115-52; Share in, 99, 169-241 Mann, Tom, 48, 160 MarXj Karl, 160, 265, 271, 273, 298 Marxian industrial unionists, 158 Maryland Pressed Steel Co., 175 Mason Machine Works, 175 Maximov, K. G., 259 Meller, W., 160 Militarism, 364 Miners' Federation of Great Bri- tain, 161, 162 Minimum wage, 92, 346 Ministry of Labour, 203, 204, 210, 212, 213, 216,. 223, 224, 225, 227, 231, 234 Ministry of reconstruction, 238 Mitrofanov, A. C, 259 Mooney, 278 Moore, John, 368 Munition Boards, 105 Munition trades, 95, 98 National Alliance of Employers and Employed, 239 National Federation of Women Workers, p3 National Guilds League, 160, 161, 162, 237; Work of, 161, 162 National Guilds Movement, 153-67; In Great Britain, 158-67; Origin and development, 159-61; Theo- retical asijects, 166-7 National unions, 88, 89, iii, 113, i6z, 319 National War Labor Board, 169, 172-5, 342, 347 Nationalization of Industry,^ 165 Nelson Self Help Mfg. Society, 15 New Age, the, 159 New York Central Iron Works, 175 Non-partizan League, 28 One big union, 39, 40. See also Industrial unionism Orage, A. R., 159 Oulianof. Vladimir, 264 Oldham operative cotton spinners, Parliament 104, iii, 112 Parliamentary Committee, Trades Union Congress, 237 Penty, A. J., 159 People's Commissars, 250, 292 People's Commissariat of Educa- tion, 243 Perkins, G. W., 34, 3^8 Persia, 245 Person, H. S., 131 Philadelphia Rapid Transit Co., 175 Piece work, 117, 118 Planning, 126 Plebs League, 160 Plekhanof, 266 Poltava, 284 Porter, H. F. J., 169 Power and mining works, 17s Printers' chapel, 87 Production, Social control of, 144 Proletarian revolution, 263 ; State, 271 Promotion, 186 Provincial Congress, 248 Pruiskevisch, 282 Quality of product, 116, 120, 121 Railroad brotherhoods, iii, 142 Railway clerks* association, 162 Rank and file movement, 102 Reconstruction of industry, 239 376 INDEX Reconstruction programs, 331-72; American Federation of Labor, 352-68; British Labour Party, 331-5; International Charter of Labor, 368-72; National Catho- lic War Council, 335-52; Cali- fornia State Federation of La- bor, 336-7; Ohio State Federa- tion of Labor, 337; Chicago Fed- eration of Labor, 337; National Chamber of Commerce, 347; Quaker employers, 347 Reconstruction society, 239 Revolutionary radicalism, 280 Robertson, Rt. Hon. J. M., 62 Rochdale system, 3-5, 345 Rockefeller, 278 Rodzianko, 285 Romanoff, 283 Rosenholz, A, F., 259 Rosin, F. A., 259 Roumania, 275 Routing, 124 Russell, Bertrand, 55 Russia, 271, 277, 281, 283, 284 Russian Socialist Soviet Republic, 2<^3, 244, 246, 247, 250, 251; Con- stitution, 243-59 Sabotage, 80 Savage Arms Corporation, 175 Scientific management, 115-52; Brief for, 115; Results of, 124, Z27-9, 137; Application of, 138; Effect on production and dis- tribution, 139; On workmen, 140; On health, 140; Labor and, 142- 52; Theory of, 148 Shipyard trades, 240 Shop committees^ 88, 169-99; Ex- perience in England, 170; Pos- sible development of, 171, 172; How installed, 172; Types of, 173; Principles of, 174; Con- cerns having, 175, 176; Organi- zation of, 190 Shop conditions, 184; Rules, 184; Discipline, 184 Shop foremen, j86, 187 Shop stewards, 87-1 x^, 164, 192, 193,' 196-8, 237; Significance of, 87; Rule book of, 96; Discharge of_, 96; Duties of, 96, 100; Dis- trict committee, 96; Election of, 97; Manifesto, 97 Skoropadsky, 285 Smith &_ Wesson Co., 17s Smolny institute, 308 Social Democrat Workers' Party, 269 Social insurance, 346 Socialism, 41-5, 62-4, 87, 97, 160, 161, 240, 244, 260, 261, 263 271, 247 Socialisf Labor Party, 160 Socialist Political Party of Ger- many, 321 Socialist Red army, 245 Solidarity of workers, 239 Southern California Iron & Steel Co., 175 Soviet Constitution, 243-50; Decla- ration of rights, 243; Committees, 244; General Provisions, 246; Organization of Soviet power, 248; AH Russian Central Execu- tive Committee, 240; Council of People's Commissars, 249; Juris- diction of AU-Russian Congress, 251; Local organs of Soviets, 254; Local Soviets, 252; Soviet of Deputies, 253; Right to vote, 25s; Elections, 256; Budget, 257; Coat of Arms and Flag, 258 Soviet of National Economy, 244 Soviets, 246, 248, 252, 253-8, 262, 271, 294, 297 Spargo, John, 303 Sparticism, 3Z0, 31 z Spelter industrial council, 238 Standard^ conditions, 135, 143 Standardization of work. See Sci- entific Management Standard Oil Co., Z73, Z74, Z76 Standard Wheel Co., 175 State Socialists, 237 Stoddard, W. L., 169 Stoppage of work, 101 Straker, W., Z62 Strikes and lockouts, 89, zz5, zz6 Sullivan, J. W., 34 Sullivan, James A., zo8 Supreme Council of National Econ- omy, 291 Syndicalism, 35, 40-55, 62, 64, 66, 67, z6o, 16^, 292; Syndicats, 45- 7; Standpoint of, 5z Tallyrand, 28 z Tashkent, 279 Task setting, 151 Tawney, R. H., 162 Taxation, 362 Taylor, Frederick W., Z3z, Z47, Z49 Tennant, H. J., 90 Teodorevitch, T. I., 259 Thomas, J. H., 113 Thompson, C. Bertand, 142 Time study, Z23, Z33, 134, Z47, ISO, 151 Tokoij Oscar, 302 Toumine, 266 Trade boards, 232, 233, 238 Trade unions, 91, z88, Z91, Z02-8, ZZ2, Z13; Unionism, 144, 164, 2.17, 230 Trade Union Congress, izz Treadwell, Roger, 278 Treasury agreement, 9Z, 95, 96, Z05 Triple Alliance, 57, zos Trotsky, 275, 276, 289, 293-5, 298, 302, 305, 309 Unemployment, 354 United Mine Workers, 95 INDEX 377 United States Shipping Board, 169 Univers^ suffrage, 277 Virginia Bridge & Iron Co., 175 Von Elm, 321 Wages, 97, 98, 116, 121, 124, 125, 120, 140, 143, 145, 146, 148, 183, ?02, 213, 214, 355 Wage system, 278 Walker, J. H., 34 Wall Street Journal, 27s Walling, William English, 295 Warbaase, James P., 23 War Labor Policies Board, 169 Watertown arsenal, 142 Webb, Sidney, 336 Welfare committee, 196, 198 White Motor Co., 169 Whitley, J. H., 200 Whitleyism, 237 Whitley councils, 87, 107; Com- mittees, loi; Scheme, 199-241; Report, 100 Willys Overland Co., 175 Wilson, Havelock, 239 Wilson, William B., 82 Woll, Matthew, 368 Women in industry, 92-4, 106 Workers Cooperative Movement, 3- 34 Working conditions, 185 Workmen's Compensation, 361 Workmen's and Peasants' Soviets, 244, 262 Works committees, 205, 206, 217, 239 Workshop coupctls, 177-99: Types of organizational 188; Organiza- tion, 164 > ' Worthington Pump and Machin- ery Co., I7S CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 054 508 860 fiD e. / ^^'^m$