Labour's Wrongs and Labour's Remedy

altllough constituted differently from the political unions,and worltirlg I)y other means, 11:u.l the same ultimateobject in view :IS the latter, namely, the parlial ameliorationof the condition of the working class as a rv~rlti~~~class. But wltile the political unions sought to obtainbenefit in a gradu:il wltt intlirect manner, b~reducingtaxation, and by otller means, the trades' u~lions endeavometlto accomplish the wished-for entl immediately anddirectly, by compelling the capitalist and the employer toreftlnd, in the shape of increased wages, a part of that vastamount of ~vealtll \rrhich tllcy were arir~ually dra\cing fromtllc worlting classes: tlley were endeavorwing, in fact, toact soniewl~at upon tlle ~)rinciplc of equal cxcltanges, byol)tainitlg the frill vallle of their I;:l)o~ir.r 17 lle great body of the worltir~g ~I~ISSCS believet1 thattheir 1;ite trades' ~lniorls woultl be omnil)otctlt in effectingtheir tlelivcrance from the tlomit~iotl of tlle capit;llist ; for;I Illore powerful cr~gine was never made use of by tlle 1)rodtrcers.From there being many trades united together,ant1 supporting each otl~er, when one struclt a blow attyranny, that blow fell with tlte accumulated monetaryforce of the nrhole mass. But, whether victorious ordefeated, the workman was alilie involvetl in losses and indifljculties-all his eflorts for the permanent bettering ofItis condition were i~leffectual-and this vast confederationupas at length brolten up, and dissolved into its primitivetrade societies. Tl~ese have conti~lr~etl, at times, a desultoryand unequal contest wit11 cal)ital-sometimes withpartial success, but oftener wit11 defeat arltl ruin. TIlecal)italist and the employer have always ultimately bcentoo strong for them ; and tratles' unions have beconic,iclnongst the enemies of the rvorliing CI:ISS, a bye-wrortl ofcaution or contempt-a record of the \~ealincss of Labour\r hen op~~osed to Capital-:in indestructible nlemento ofthe evil ~vorlting of the present system in regard to thetwo great classes which now compose society.illany reasons are given to account for the dissolutionand destruction of tlie trades' unions. There was illnumerous czises abject poverty amongst multitudes of themembers ; and, in some instances, there was treachery androljhery on the part of leaders, \rlliclr naturally bceot suspicionant1 (listrust. nfuch tyranny antl it,justlce wasinflicted by both sides on indiviilrlal \vorlting men andindividual capitalists, and much precious ~vealtll wasted byeach to no good purpose. But, \rhatever may have bcenthe more immediate and apparent cause of fi~ilore, it iscertain, from the nature of tlle wrong, that it was not possiblefor the remedy of the trades' unions to succeed anybetter than tile remedy of the politicians. Neitller partywent far enough. The same primitive cause has th~rartedthe endeavours and blighted the energies of both. Theevils to be remedied flomed naturally froln, and weredependent upon, the social system anri tlre principle of1rnequa1and as neitller politic;~l llor trades'unions tor~~lled the system or the principle, they could notpossibly touch the wrong cont~ected with tllem.Unsntistied ;llil;e \vitll the result obtaitlctl b!r both pliticaland tr;ldes' ~lllions, a orti ti on of tlle worl