TRADE UNION CONGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 243, 13 October 1902, Page 2

TRADE UNION CONGRESS.

THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT OP LABOUR

THE BOER WAR AND THE

BREAD TAX

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION

THE TAFF VALE DECISION AND DIRECT LABOUR REPRESENTA-

TION.

(From Our London Correspondent.)

LONDON, September 5, 1902

The most important labour gathering- of the year, perhaps the most important ever yet held in England, is the Trades Union Congress which has been sitting in London this week. The magnitude of the interests involved and the widespread interest taken in the proceedings of the Congress, are indicated hy the fact that the delegates represented a million and a-half of workers, and that the whole of the newspapers of the United Kingdom and of the United States have given more than usual prominence in both the editorial and the news columns to the proceedings of the Congress.

The two dominant notes of those proceedings have been (1) resentment against the decisions of the Law Lords in the Tail! Vale case, and (2) a determination to effect labour reforms by means of labour representation in Parliament. As the trade union funds have been and are in daily jeopardy since the Taff Vnle decision, and as there is no higher legal tribunal by which tha.t decision may be reviewed, the obvious course is to appeal to Parliament to enact an amendment of the existing interpretation of law. This can hardly be expected from a Parliament constituted as the present one is, hence the desire of the Trades Unionists to secure direct representation of their .own class in Parliament. Dnring- the Congress it was very often suggested that by concerted action they might secure 80 to 100 seats at the next general election, but Mr Keir Hardie, ALP., was much more optimistic in his anticipations. Speaking at the Hyde Park demonstration last Sunday he said that "There were 2,000,000 trades unionists in England. .One sixpence a year from each would give an election fund' of £50,000 per year, and £50,000 would enable them to keep 200 members in Parliament, and with 200 stalwarts in the House of Commons they would not require to tramp to Hyde Park."

His idea was that the Australian precedent of a solid , independent Labour Party should be followed, and with apaprently that purpose in view he \irged the unions to put up Labour candidates —'"not Tory Labour candidates, not Liberal Labour candidates, but Labour candidates."

The President of the Congress is Mr W. Stead man, who represents the Bargemen's Union, and was formerly M.P. for Stepney, but was defeated at the last general election. He delivered an able address from the Trades Unionists' point of view, and has been generally congratulated upon 'its temperate character, even by some newspapers that are not in sympathy with its sentiments.

In the course of his address, which occupied only half an hour in delivery, and covered the whole range of trades unionist and cognate subjects for the past year, the President asserted that since the last Congress the retrospect from a Parliamentary point of. view had not been bright. Not a single measure of benefit to the working classes was put upon the Statute Book during the past session, while the Education Bill was decidedly reactionary. The bill abolished school boards, and placed the schools under the municipal and borough councils, with power to nominate a given number to form a schools committee, they in turn having the power to co-opt other members —this in itself being a blow to democratic representation, an interference with the' right of citizenship, and public control stunted and arrested. As the bill was drafted it proposed to do nothing for secondary education, it placed no responsibility for it on the authorities which it created, but restricted itself to the expression of a pious wish. The bill was, however, slightly amended in its committee stage by the introduction of provisions that would enforce the maintenance of a certain standard of efficiency in secondary education. Even,this concession gave no answer to the pressing question as to how secondary education might be brought within the reach of the children of the industrial classes. The people's food had been taxed last year, Mr Steadman went on to say, by the duty on sugar; this year it was the people's bread, an essential article of food to all, especially to the very poor, who form at least one-quarter of the whole population. By the re-imposi-tion of the Corn Tax the Government hod undone the great work of Peel, Gladstone, Cobden, and Bright. With regard to old age pensions, he maintained that in the main people are poor because of conditions over which they have no control, and that the present Government had given ample justification for the demand for old age pensions by their grants in aid to landlords and others. The housing question was now more acute than ever; municipalities were put to a disadvantage in putting part 3 of the ]800 Act into operation in consequence of the heavy price they have in most cases to pay for land, the problem would never be solved until.we had a Parliament prepared to deal in a drastic manner with the land question. After warmly denying that trade unionism is in any way destructive of British industry, Mr Steadman went on to deal -with the question of the legal status of trade unions. It was clear they had nothing to expect from the Government, not even a select committee of inquiry, and the judge-made law which Sir Robert Reid declared to be contrary to the law was still to remain. It was obscure, because of the recent decisions about picketing, and -what used to be considered legal until 1898 was now an unlawful act; peaceful persuasion ought not and should not be a breach of the law. An employer had the right to entice men away from the union; they should have the same right to entice men away from the employer. Modern industrial society is based upon

freedom, and it was a serious matter for their organisation that this should now be challenged by the law courts, as it had been in certain recent judgments. He advocated "going right out for an alteration of the law. In order to secure this we shall have to reconstitute the House of Commons." In the past trades unionists had only studied the industrial side of the question. The time had now arrived, if they were to hold their own, for them to pay more attention to the political side, and not only make themselves a great industrial but nlso n great political force in the country.

The most important business with which the congress dealt in its earlier proceedings was the consideration of Parliamentary Committee's report. Referring to the legal status of trade unions the report stated that the year "has been remarkable from a trade union point of view, occasioned by the extraordinary decision of the Law Lords, which was given last year in connection with the Taff Vale dispute. As the outcome of, and in connection with, this declaration, the trade union world has been in one continuous ferment of excitement in respect to the safeguarding of trade union funds, and the new views placed on the law of picketing. It is not too much to say that the Parliamentary Committee's attention and work have been unremittingly given to this question since the Swansea Congress."

It was explained that in order to circumvent this decision and protect their funSs, the unions had been advised to establish "subsidiary companies" under the Companies Acts, 1862 and 1890, but it had been found so cumbersome a system that it had not been proceeded with, and an appeal to Parliament to alter the law was urged instead. This is a matter which concerns trades unionism throughout the Empire, because where there is no local statute law to override the House of Lords' decision in the Taff Vale case that decision will be inevitably followed by the ■colonial courts.

In the meantime, however, the English unions are gathering some comfort from a recent decision by Mr Justice Bigham which the committee's report above referred to sajrs "seems to be a turn in the tide of the legal decisions which have been given adversely to trade unions. This is a matter for congratulation, and the South Wales miners are entitled to the gratitude of the trades unionists of the country in facing the legal .liability to the amount of £70,----000 and fighting the battle of trade unionism entirely on their own responsibility. This decision is most "►aluable, but while this is so it is not without its danger, and it will therefore be the duty of the trades, and also the congress, to watch with the utmost care and diligence every effort that is made by capitalism Avith the object of reversing the decision given by Justice Bigham."

The committee were unanimous in their strong: expressions of disapproval at the imposition of the corn tax, which their report described as being "destructive to good sound fiscal policy, contrary to the principles of free trade, aiid a determined attempt to •drive in the thin end of the wedge of the 'old protective laws which deprived the working- classes of cheap bread."

The Education. Bill was condemned in the following terms:—That, as the Government-' Jill will destroy popu-larly-constituted !bodies of education, this conference expresses its dissent to the Government policy on education; and, further, it is of opinion that the abolition of school boards will be detrimental to the interests oi' the education of the people, and will take away the advantages which the workers have in direct representation in the management of school boards.

In their final words the committee deal with the question of labour representation. They say: "It is with great satisfaction that your committee note that many of the trades are taking up very heartily the question of labour representation in the House of Commons, and are seriously considering, and in many cases have adopted, candidates to run in the interests of labour at the next general eli-ction, and also that in many of the trades funds are being provided for the support of their members when they are elected. This is a new phase and development in the labour movement, and is fruitful with hope and promise for the future. Your committee heartily agree and think it is a step in the right direction, and they trust that those trades who have not already considered this question will do so as early as possible, being convinced that this is the most practical way of giving effect to the aspirations and ideals of the labour movement, and they sincerely hope that the efforts now being made will be crowned with abundant success. The committee's report was considered paragraph by paragraph, and endorsed by the conference except in one important particular—in reference to the South African war. The reference was made only in very general terms, viz., ' _he year 1902 will be memorable for having been the year in which one of the most remarkable wars of modern times was brought to a peaceable conclusion." There did not appear to be much in that bald statement to rouse anybodyy's ire, but it aroused considerable ire on the part of those opposed to the policy of this so-called "capitalists' war," and led to the carrying of an amendment to insert the words, "and unjust," so that the paragraph in the report was made to describe tne South African campaign as "one of the most remarkable and unjust wars of modern times." The amendment was carried by 176 votes to 134 (out of a total of 490 members of the conference) and confirmed by a membership vote of 591,----000 against 314,000, out of a total membership of nearly 1,500,000. It has been explained on Dehalf of the minority that the representatives of the Miners' Federation, the biggest section of the congress did not vote, and that no record was taken of the 330,000 members uiey represent, which would account for the comparatively small voting. The reason given for this abstention was that although a majority of the miners' representatives were opposed to the amendment they did not care to give a vote on which they were not practically unanimous. The minority therefore condemn the, decision as a "snatch vote," and misleading, while the anti-war party claim it as a vindication of their contention that the people of England have been dragged against their will into an "unjust war." Not the least important among- the

lecisions of tihe conference was that .vhich was recorded yesterday against jompulsory arbitration in industrial disputes. In the debates the wellorganised trades with big reserve funds were generally against the proposal, while the weaker trades were in favour of it. Eventually the motion in favour of compulsory arbitration (which by a curious coincidence in names was moved by a Mr Seddon) was rejected by the representatives of 961,000 members of trades unions as against 303,000 in its favour.

In the course of the debate the legislation of Australia and New Zealand on this subject was frequently referred to. Mr Sexton (Dock Labourers) said that had they in Parliament the same influence that the labour party possessed in New Zealand, they might begin to think about similar legislation. In his opinion they were putting the cart before the horse. The first thing to be done was to strike at the ballot-box.

Mr O'Orady (Furnishing Trades) said that after the Taff Vale decision and a study of the Acts in New Zealand and New Soutn Wales he had been converted to an opinion in fatoh of compulsory arbitration.

rM Cummings (Boiler Makers) said that members of his trade had assured him that compulsory arbitration in New Zealand had not been to their benefit. He was not inclined, and his union was not inclined, to allow the conditions they had obtained to be submitted to any court of compulsory arbitration.

Mr Ben Tillett (Dockers) confessed that he had been disappointed in the debate. Compulsion was at the bottom of all the legislation of the pas* affecting the employment of women and children, the Factory Acts, and measures of that kind. He was certain that compulsory arbitration would como, and he looked to the time when it would be extended from industrial disputes to the questions which led to great and bloody wars. Mr Tillett's New Zealand experiences did not, however, appear to carry conviction, as was shown by a three-to-one majority against him and the resolution he supported.

In connection with the meeting of the Trades' Congress, it is interesting to note that the report o" the Executive Council of the National Free Lnhour Association has been produced for publication, although it is not to be presented to the Free Labour Congress at Leeds until October 20. The report claims that the free labour movement is making steady progress amongst all sections of wage earners, and is productive of more harmonious relations between masters and men. It is remarked in the report that trade union leaders appear 'to have been "irretrievably captured, bag and baggage, by the leading spirits of advanced socialism, with the result that the rank and file had been astutely led away in -the direction of misleading social doctrine, topsyturvey economics and fallacious industrial theories and methods from which spring violence, intimidation, boycotting, domineering, dictation, and strikes, that lead to unlawful and, in many eos^s, grossly cruel acts." Eighty-five thousand workmen of all classes have registered themselves on the books of -theassociation as free labourers, and employment i has been found for 25,121.