holding and keeping out of work or at work a majority of the members of an organization.

The democratic spirit of the trade union, while showing itself most clearly in the local unions, is found in every part of the organization up to the office of president. The majority of officials of trade unions receive salaries which are much smaller than those paid for like abilities in the business world, and the method of life of many trade union leaders is not fundamentally different from that of their constituents in the mine and at the forge and bench. No union official can prevent or seek to prevent free access to his person by any member of the union, and an official of a union, cven if he had the means, would not maintain a standard of living which would tend to separate him in thought and feeling from the men over whom he is placed. In the political world the old-time democratic simplicity has largely worn away, and the President of the United States or the Governor of a state can no longer maintain the simple manners of the days of Jefferson. The president of a labor organization, however, even though the members of his union-with their families-number a million, must combine with an executive ability, which will enable him to perform the thousand and one duties of his office, the willingness to give a respectful hearing at all times to any individual unionist.

There exists in the trade union world, as in the political world, though by no means to the same extent, a certain danger of the building up of inside rings and the creation of a boss system. This danger is not immediate or imminent, but even as a remote possibility, it merits the thought ful consideration of unionists. At the present time our political system is threatened by the existence of rings securing their power by means of preying upon, or being bribed by, large corporations, and receiving contracts, favors, or direct gifts from the money of the city or state. It is essential to the democratic spirit and continued prosperity of labor organizations that no such state of affairs be permitted in the trade union world. There are many reasons why the danger is much smaller than in the political field. In the first place, there is as a rule no means of coercing or taxing an un

willing majority of unionists. Even a respectable minority of workingmen could, by secession from a boss-ridden union, utterly destroy it, and thus end the power of an unscrupulous dictator. A trade union "boss," moreover, would not have the power which a political boss has, of using the entire machinery of a state for enforcing his demands. The essential equality of the members of a trade union, and, further, the comparative absence of conflicting desires and ideals, would not be favorable to the tyranny of a boss, which usually represents the subjection of certain classes in society to the rule and dictation of others.

Notwithstanding the remote possibility of bossism in the trade union movement, however, no effort should be neglected to make the assurance of perfect freedom, democracy, and autonomy within the union doubly sure. By this I do not mean that power should not be vested in the hands of a few men, since this is necessary to energetic and successful action, especially in times of crises or emergencies; but the machinery of the union should be of such a nature that the fullest publicity may be given to the acts of its officers, or at all events such acts should be subject to review by officials independently elected. Wherever possible, matters of great moment and importance-unless they involve special and technical knowledge -should be referred to the vote of the members. The referendum should be extended as far as practicable, in order to allow a constant expression of the will of each individual member. Finally and above all, every individual member of every trade union should on every possible occasion register his vote. The prosperity and good government of all institutions depend upon the intelligent interest of all members. The non-attendance of union members at trade union elections is as dangerous as the nonattendance of qualified voters at the polls, or at the primaries of the political parties.

CHAPTER LI

"THE UNIVERSAL VITAL PROBLEM OF THE WORLD"

An Army of Unionists. What Unionism has Done. The Future of Trade Unionism. Labor Expensive and Effective. The Wage Earner of Tomorrow. Pleasure in Work. The Treatment of the Incapables. Trade Unionism a Phase of the Organization of Labor. The Universal Vital Problem of the World.

THE

HERE are at present from two and a half to three million trade unionists in the United States. These men, though divided according to trades or industries, are united by more or less common ideals and aspirations and are struggling towards a common goal. Back of these unionists are millions of other workingmen more or less in sympathy with the unionists, and back of these is the vast working population of the United States.

The great new fact of American labor is its organization. The workingman has risen from his knees and now stands upon his feet; he has joined with his fellow-workmen, and has obtained, as a right and not as a privilege, higher wages, shorter hours, and better conditions of life and labor. Finally, through the trade agreement, he has secured the right to be consulted as to the conditions under which his work shall be carried on. The union has meant an improvement in the manner of life of the workman and a revolution in industry from autocratic to democratic government.

In the future, the union movement will mean even more than at present. Trade unionism in the United States is still in its infancy; American labor is still far from being organized. In the future, as in the past, labor organized will exert itself in making labor expensive and efficient. (The progress of society depends upon this development. It is only where labor is dear and the product of labor cheap that a high state of civilization is possible. If the trade union movement is permanently successful, it will be so only by compelling the constant invention of improved means and methods of production and the continual saving of labor. Labor must become

a thing too valuable to be wasted, and as society advances wages will increase, hours of work still further decrease, and the most elaborate machinery will be introduced to save labor. Trade unionism by making labor valuable and expensive will compel employers to save it wherever possible and will make the competition among workmen one of efficiency and not of cheapness.

There is no limit to the possibility of advance in this direction. With every year, the productive power of society will advance, and the remuneration of the workman will increase. Wages will rise not through the expropriation of the capitalist but through the increase in production. By political action, the trade unions will be able to equalize the burdens and benefits of government and will be able to lessen the power of monopoly to extort an unfair share of the products of labor. The remuneration of labor will increase relatively to the reward of capital, and, absolutely, it will increase (normously. Just how the workingman will eventually come into his own is a question which trade unionists do not feel called upon to answer. The first steps in this progress are clear, but the latter part of the journey is veiled. in the obscurity of the distant future. Whether or not this ideal will be attained by socialism or by an improvement of the present state of society, whether it will be secured by the abrogation or by the elevation of the wage contract, is a problem which is not yet ready to present itself. The unionist does not cross bridges until he reaches them. It is conceivable that the highest attainable form of society may be reached without any fundamental change in its political and economic structure. The wage earner of tomorrow may possess a comfortable house, ample leisure, an excellent education, a high social position; he may be a man of culture and refinement, and still a wage earner. The productive capacity of modern society, as improved by machinery and by the application of science, is almost boundless, and the problem of providing an ample revenue for all members of society may very well be solved in the future. A few generations ago it would have seemed ridiculous for bricklayers to secure through organization a remuneration of sixty-five cents an hour; and it is not impossible that within

a few generations the skilled workmen will through their unions secure a minimum wage equivalent in purchasing power to several dollars per hour in the currency of to-day. Commodities will continue to become cheaper and labor or personal service dearer. The cheapness of things and the dearness of men are the goal toward which trade unionism and society itself should steer.

The distin

With a reduction in hours and an increase in remuneration of labor the workingman should find an increased pleasure in his work. guishing characteristic of modern life is the joy of service. The skilled workers to a certain extent, and in nuch greater measure the professional classes, even now derive more pleasure from their work than from their recreation. The employer who works more hours per day than any man in his employ obtains a zest and a pleasure from his work greater almost than any other satisfaction in life. It may easily come to pass that with the progress of the age a man will secure through trade unionism absolute pleasure from five or six hours of work. The result of this will be to render the recreation of such a man saner, better, and nobler than heretofore. A workman jaded by excessive toil will seek pleasure in the most banal or degrading amusements. The man, whose work is his pleasure, will make his pleasure his work, and the men will have a life outside the factory. Time was when the pursuit of arms was the chief concern of a nation. The time will also pass when the desire or necessity for earning enough to subsist upon will be the chief concern of the people of a country. There was a time when education was a thing to be feared, when children crept unwillingly to school and came from it gladly, but it is now becoming a pleasure even to the smallest of little children. Through a reduction in the hours of labor, an improvement in factory conditions, an increased right to share in the control of his labor, a diminution in the fear of discharge or dismissal, and a lessening of the compulsion under which men labor, work may become less onerous and be converted into a pleasure.

I do not believe, as many seem to do, that the work of the majority of men will with increasing civilization become more artistic and more in