The Press Monday, February 14, 1927. Trade Unions.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18925, 14 February 1927, Page 8

The Press Monday, February 14, 1927. Trade Unions.

I" i- <:!c--~r .'.i >■ ;h;n thcr.j is going t'j b'- a bigger battle ov.-r it.'. l Bald" in 'in*, '-rnnicii ■intention to •• '|i fiii' and :ini'-n<l ill'' iav. _ r.••nii!.,' industrial disputes than over it.-. ii-[i;i!' l) ot 'f-. t> io !'r> ••i~..;_v j ■.*.!i .*!t :h- I I:;:, to | <Jo haw ::u! y-! ;•>!<i, but wi; knoii' in:; ,l;c |■;:J'l>o~t- o 1 niiy h-gt-'ation •'i v iij In- to separate ! tl-rr-ir , l'->!U t)' ■' 1T jf -. We i;' - i ,: ! »o ;!)«; I- :» direct rt-tlll I ■>:' '!ii. ! j•' '» 'in- public received from ' Stn!.r. ;u<.) thai. i;' the I r : ">, ■ :!i»i this:! .• • Irii miii !»\- i |> i.'.) ilo l::iri;i the'.' '>iill not have ! m 'ii |-,.i! n:: !i a- itmlr 11 n i-in - n :]i*■ -iiic'. mi'! original r , "1 ("10-c till- (ioirniliir::! (|) iiiiy kill'! to U";ik'<n tin- l.':iion> in- ■; i :, i ii iMii. A- iii'iii-lry h ••retiiUM.-d l>o''i ill 111 r • IHI'I 111 tlv II .mi nio;i, Irmlr "iron-. ivi- slimiiM .loul if ui- t ri'-< I to il>> iiitli- ■ out 'li'in, :ii" iinii-|M-ii-;ilili'. Hi'- ' -liir-. n- Mr li.il'ir. in -niil tlif othfijilny, anil aiivnin- ii'it h n | ol' history knoivs id lie lite J'lifl, the Coii);iM'ifilivr* will hf tlir last I'arty t(» iitfpinpt lo ilcstroy imirmt-iti. Tliry hnvc brm pnnijM'llrfl, by the folly rind bliniliit'ss of the Icnrlrrs ol' unioni>ni, to face the lhanklr.-> t;i.-k of cxainininfr the laws under which Ihr I'nions have prrou'ii Inictdcnl and but llipy have n long tradition of sympathy with labour as labour, and no thought or intention of checking its purely industrial aspiration*. One of the dangers of the movement as it is now conducted is that there is no provision for a secret ballot before a strike. It is very unlikely that the Government will find it practicable to order the kind of ballot we now take at Parliamentary elections, but some opportunity of expressing an opinion, without fear of subsequent victimisation, is urgently necessary in the national interests. The fact- that the Socialist vote at a General Election is seldom more than a half or one-third of the existing trade union membership is a clear enough indication that whon unionists con express their opinion freely they very often vote against their Party, and against their Party's Socialistic objective. But this immediately suggests another danger in the movement as it is at present eonducted —perhaps its worst. Only a half or a third'-of those enrolled as unionist* may vote for Socialist candidates for Parliament, but all are liable to a political levy to light the battles of those candidates. In other words, hundreds of thousands of men and women in the Homeland are compelled to support a Party to whose tenets tlu-y are fundamentally opposed. It will of course be remembered in this connexion that n Bill was brought forward by a Mr Macquiriten to end this anomaly, and was withdrawn, on broad national grounds, on the earnest request of the Prime Minister for .peace. We are sure to hear of it again. And we ore sure also to hear soon of an attempt to stop the worst abuses of picketing. Picketing on a modest scale—too modest to be oppressive or tyrannous—is rather an annoyance than a danger. " But picketing en masse* the congregating of great crowds at the entrance to a factory or the mouth of a pit is simply mob violence of a very offensive kind, and it will be very disappointing if the new Bill does not contain a clause limiting pickets to a very small number, making them absolutely illegal at a private house, and fixing heavy penalties for any advance from argument to force.