A CRITICAL BIOGRAPHY OF EDWIN JAMES BRADY - Mallacoota ...

An essential instrument in this process of social amelioration was the community of
spirit of common men, the solidarity of those who earned their living by the sale of
their labour to others. The best expression of this spirit was unionism; it was the only
means of defence against exploitation and hardship. Not only had Brady established a
union (for warehousemen and clerical workers) but he wrote about the principles of
unionism, its necessities and advantages, on many occasions. He believed that every
person had a right and a duty to join a union because the basic concept of unionism,
like that of socialism as a whole, is basically altruistic:
One is no longer the miserable Ego, the selfish every-day sum of a narrowed
existence, but a part of a supreme organism which is moving on to the silverstarred
portals of a glowing Dream. No man can be truly contented until he
ceases to live self alone. No nation, no race, can ever be truly happy until the
individuals of which it is constituted exist each for all and all for each. 1
He gathered points of view on this topic from many sources. He began a series on
“The Rise and Progress of Trades-Unionism in New South Wales” in The Australian
Workman, 2 but the paper ceased publication before it developed past the first
instalment. One extract from Tom Mann which Brady republished stated that the
function of a union was to be more than just a wage-regulating machine; it should be
for working-man the most valuable of all institutions for gathering knowledge, for
imparting information and for discussion of matters connected with Labor which
require constant attention and upon which the success of the cause depends. 3
In his History of the A.W.U. 4 W.G. Spence outlined the development of the union
movement in response to the difficult conditions experienced particularly by the
shearers and the miners of the 1870’s and 1880’s and the ready identification of
workers with it; elsewhere he wrote:
Unionism came to the bushmen as a religion.. It had in it that feeling of
mateship which he understood already, and which always characterises the
action of one ‘white man’ to another. Unionism extended the idea, so that a
man’s character was gauged by whether he stood true to Union rules of
‘scabbed’ it on his fellows. The man who never went back on his Union is
honoured to-day as no other is honoured or respected. The man who fell once
may be forgiven, but he is not fully trusted. 5
The title of “mate” (or “comrade” as the socialists preferred) was synonymous with
that of “brother”. It is not hard to see then why Brady viewed a strong and active
trade union movement as the most essential and effective weapon which the workers
as a group could develop. He fully supported the association of mateship with its
political ideal as portrayed by William Lane in his novel, The Workingman’s
Paradise. 6 And part of the bond which united Brady, Quinn, Daley and Lawson was
this shared belief in the unity of workers to present a solid front to the threats of
exploiting employers.
1
“Humanity”, The Australian Workman, 10.10.1891, p.1.
2
19.12.1891, p. 3.
3
“Value of a Trade Union”. The Australian Workman, 5.9.1891, p. 2
4
Sydney, 1911, (1961)
5
W.G.. Spence, Australia’s Awakening (Sydney, 1909), p. 78.
6
John Miller (William Lane), The Workingman’s Paradise: An Australian Labour Novel (Sydney,
1892 (1948)).
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