against certain employers. The executive board, on investigating the matter, found that some of the material facts had not been brought before the convention; especially that another union in the same city had not consented to the boycott, and that the matter really involved a dispute between these two unions, in which the one refusing to sanction the boycott was beyond question right. The executive officers, therefore, sent a special deputy to try to bring about a settlement of the difficulty, and, when his services were rejected by the union, refused to approve the boycott. The local union continued insubordinate, declaring that the action of the convention took the question of the boycott entirely out of the hands of the executive board. Finally the executive board revoked the charter of the union, sending out a general circular to that effect, with an account of the dispute, to all the unions. The case is described in full in the annual report, but the next annual convention took no steps to override the action of the executive board.' 6. Settlement of disputes by intervention of national officers.-One of the most important results of the increased control of the executive board over the authorization of strikes has been the frequent settlement of disputes by the intervention of the board in connection with its investigation of the local conditions. The authority given to the board to appoint special deputies to visit the scene of the difficulty and investigate has been increasingly used, and their conciliatory action has become increasingly important. The first comment on this practice is contained in the report of the president for the year 1896. He declared then that the results of the appointment of such special deputies had invariably exceeded the expectations of the executive board. They had in various cases been able to prevent or settle troubles.?

Each annual report since 1896 contains accounts of a considerable number of cases in which special deputies have visited cities where strikes were impending. In many instances they report that the subordinate union rather than the employers is at fault, and by their influence they have been able to bring the union into line with the general conciliatory policy of the organization. In some instances the local unions are dissatisfied with the advice of special deputies, but the recommendations of the deputies are usually upheld by the executive board. From time to time, also, appeals are taken from the decisions of the executive board to the general annual convention. Here, again, most of the decisions of the board are sustained, although they are occasionally overruled. In still other instances the special deputies find real grievances existing, but are able, by negotiation with the employers in accordance with the conciliatory methods provided for by the rules of the bricklayers' organization, to effect a satisfactory settlement. The president and the secretary of the international union themselves at times visit the local unions and take part in negotiations with employers, or settle internal disputes within the unions.

As a result of all these endeavors on the part of the central officers to maintain peace in the ranks of the subordinate unions, general strikes of sufficient importance to warrant the support of the entire organization have been practically done away with. Moreover the number of local strikes has been very greatly decreased, and the instances in which amicable settlements of disagreements are reached by means of joint boards, or through the intervention of national officers, have greatly increased.

The officers of the organization itself appear highly satisfied with the results of their control over strikes. It is very evident that their attitude toward employers is friendly, and that they desire to settle all difficulties in an amicable manner if possible. The president and the secretary in each of their annual reports congratulate the union upon its success in avoiding strikes. Thus the report of President Klein for 1898 expresses the opinion that the general strike is really a thing of the past. The regulations of the organization over the conduct of the subordinate unions are too strong to permit financial loss to the general body through strikes on the part of local unions. The rules of the organization mean investigation, conciliation, mediation, and arbitration. The most successful mediator in the cases which can not be settled by local arrangement is the special deputy.

Secretary O'Dea also in his report for 1898 declares that the special deputies who have been employed during the year have performed their missions with fidelity, and have been successful in settling the disputes in which they have intervened.3 The present secretary, Mr. Dobson, remarked in his report of December 1, 1900, that while 55 unions had secured the 8-hour day during the preceding year, with, in most cases, an increase of pay, these gains had been made with very little serious trouble. He advised the new local unions to observe and follow the policy of the older ones, and to note their success in winning peaceful victories in respect to hours, wages, and other conditions.

1 Thirty-second Annual Report, pp. 21-34.

Rep. of President, 1896, p. 2.

Thirty-third Annual Report of President and Secretary, pp. 4, 81.

Some further account of the methods of the Bricklayers in dealing with employers, particularly in regard to formal agreements and arbitration, is given on pp. 374 ff. Hours of labor.-The union provides in its constitution that none of its members shall work more than 9 hours in 24, except in cases of extreme emergency, which must be reported to the executive board and receive its sanction. Among the powers reserved to the subordinate unions, however, is the power to designate what constitutes emergency as to working overtime." But it is further provided that no union shall allow its members to work 10 hours per day consecutively on any work merely because extra pay will be given for the tenth hour."

The executive board has also power to grant to such unions as may apply for it "the privilege to work such hours as will tend to hold and control any mason work in rolling mills, smelting works, blast furnaces, or corporation work held or controlled by scabs or nonunion men." The privilege is granted by the board reluctantly and sparingly. Members who go into a town where such a privilege has been granted must deposit their cards in the local union under penalty of a fine of $25.

The executive board may grant financial assistance to any local union which applies for it with proof that with said assistance they can secure the 8 hours without regard to wages.'

The following table is prepared from official reports of the secretary:

Number of 8-hour unions.-Bricklayers and Masons' International Union of America, March 7, 1896, and December 31, 1899.

In 1896 no union reported a day of more than 9 hours. In 1899 a single union at Lancaster, Pa., reported that its members worked 10 hours. It reported 9 hours in 1896. December 1, 1900, 172 unions out of a total of 441 were reported to have the 8-hour day.'

Wages. The following table gives the rates of wages per hour of the several local unions on March 1, 1896, and on December 31, 1899, as reported to the general secretary and tabulated by him:

Rates of wages per hour, Bricklayers and Masons' International Union of America, March 1, 1896, and December 31, 1899.

The following table gives average rates per hour by States and Provinces, each local union in a State having the same weight in determining the averages:

Average rates of wages per hour by States and Provinces.

Scabs.-The constitution of the Bricklayers defines a scab as follows: "Whenever the word 'scab' appears in this constitution it shall signify an employer or employee who has violated the laws of this or subordinate unions, whom the members of the I. U. are debarred from working for or with until he or they have complied with the laws of said union."

Official journal. The Bricklayer and Mason, the official journal of the union, is under the control of the editor, both as to its contents and as to its business management. The editor is directed to "advocate, through editorials in the journal, ideas consistent with true trade unionism." His salary is $1,500 a year, and he gives a bond of $2,000, on which the premium is paid by the organization.

UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS

AMERICA.

AND JOINERS OF

History. Two fruitless attempts were made by the carpenters, in 1854 and 1867, to establish a national union. The Brotherhood of Carpenters was established at Chicago in 1881 by 12 local unions, representing 2,042 carpenters. The first president of the brotherhood was Gabriel Edmondston, who organi ed a local federation of trades at Washington, and who was for several years secretary and then vice-president of the National Federation of Tra les, which was established in 1881. The brotherhood afterwards absorbed the United Order of Carpenters and took the name of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters of America.' The following table shows the growth of the organization:

1 Vigouroux, La Concentration des Forces Ouvrières, pp. 77, 78, 82, 87.

2 Loss.

Of the 679 unions on the rolls July 1, 1900, there were 40 working in the German language, 6 French, 2 Bohemian, 2 Jewish, 1 Scandinavian, and 1 "Latin." In distinctive trade branches there were 9 mill men's unions, 6 stair builders' unions, 1 of car builders and 1 of floor layers. In the Southern States there were 16 unions of colored carpenters.

Starting with a membership of 2,000 in 1881, the union grew steadily to nearly 6.000 in the middle of 1885. In the next year it made a great leap to a membership of about 21,500. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1890, there was another leap from about 31,500 to nearly 54,000. The panic of 1893 carried down the membership from more than 54,000 on June 30, 1893, to less than 34.000 on June 30, 1894. On June 30, 1895, the number was barely more than 25,000. There was a gradual recovery to 31,500 in the middle of 1898, and a more rapid growth to almost 40,000 in the middle of 1899; and in next year-a year of greater general prosperity-the number rose to 68,500. The Brotherhood is now one of the strongest trade unions in America.

The number of members not in good standing (owing 3 months dues) was not given in 1900. In 1899 the number was 9,847, making the total number of names on the books, June 30, 1899, 49,692. The aggregate membership on June 30, 1900, was probably not far from 80,000.

Jurisdiction disputes.-Amalgamated Society.-The Brotherhood has fought many contests. local and general, over questions of jurisdiction. It has a direct and evident rival in the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners. The Brotherhood was able to have the Amalgamated Carpenters excluded from the Federation of Labor, on grounds of unity of trade control, when they first applied for admission in 1888. It was not till 1891 that they were admitted; then the Brotherhood consented to let them in.

In spite of constant jealousy, and occasional open contests, the two organizations generally maintain a state of outward peace. In Chicago there is a carpenters' executive council, in which representatives of the Brotherhood and of the Amalgamated Association meet together. In New York there is no such formal unity; but the Amalgamated Association has acted with the Brotherhood in its recent contest with employers.

The convention of the Brotherhood in 1900 received a petition from the Buffalo delegate asking for moral and financial assistance in the conflict between the members of the Brotherhood in Buffalo and the Amalgamated Society. The convention acted favorably. It also resolved to instruct the delegates to the next convent on of the Federation of Labor to move in that body that no body of carpenters Le recognized except the United Brotherhood.

In February, 1901, the executive council of the Federation of Labor requested the two organizations of carpenters to make such changes in their laws that only one organization should have jurisdiction in any one city.

Wood Workers.-The interference between the Brotherhood and the Wood Workers is hardly less direct than that between the two unions of carpenters. As is noted below, under Membership, the Brotherhood claims jurisdiction over all men who run wood-working machinery. This is the particular province of the Wood Workers; and they in turn undertake to cover some hand work, which seems to be within the natural province of the Car enters.

The convention of the Federation of Trades and Labor Unions, in 1885, instructed I C-VOL XVII-01-9

the legislative committee to use its best efforts to organize the wood-working machine hands. A protest was made on behalf of the Furniture Workers International Union against any interference with the machine hands under its jurisdiction, and it was agreed that the resolution should be taken as referring only to machine workers on "sash, doors, blinds, wagons, etc." No protest was made on behalf of the Carpenters Brotherhood, though it was represented at the convention. As a result of the activity of organizers connected with the Federation, the Machine Wood Workers' International Union was organized in 1890.

An appeal was made to the convention of the American Federation of Labor, in 1889, to settle a dispute between the carpenters and the furniture workers of Pittsburg. The convention declined to interfere. It recommended “that organizations affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, whose trades are so closely allied as are the furniture workers and the carpenters and joiners, should, in each district, adopt a code of working rules suitable to that particular district," so that such disputes may be avoided.'

On September 21. 1894, an agreement was made between the Brotherhood and the Machine Wood Workers' International Union defining their respective jurisdictions. The next year, when the Wood Workers consolidated with the Furniture Workers and adopted the name of Amalgamated Wood Workers, it was considered that the change abrogated the agreement.

In October, 1897, after long negotiations, a new agreement was made, by which the Wood Workers were given full jurisdiction over all mill hands, except carpenters who might be at times engaged on mili work, and except millwrights and stair builders. The Brotherhood was to have sole jurisdiction over outside carpentry work and the fitting up of offices and stores.

The Brotherhood convention of 1898 abrogated all agreements made by the executive board with other wood-working organizations, and ordered that no such agreements be made in future and that no such organizations be recognized by the Brotherhood. Locals and district councils were still permitted to make local agreements with such other organizations by vote of their members.

The executive board continued to be of a less strenuous temper than the delegates to the convention. In October, 1899, it considered favorably the idea of sending a representative to the next convention of the Wood Workers, to the end that a permanent understanding may be arrived at and all existing troubles settled at the next convention of the United Brotherhood." Representatives of the Amalgamated Wood Workers presented themselves at the Brotherhood convention of 1900, and tried to come to an agreement on the basis of a division and mutual limitation of the field of work. The Wood Workers claimed, besides all work in mills, the right to put up saloon, bank, and drug-store fixtures manufactured in shops under their control. The convention refused, asserted its "jurisdiction over all carpenter wor‹ as specified in our constitution, believing that the division of control by two organizations of one trade can not be tolerated, particularly where the standard of wages of one is lower than that maintained by the other," and resolved that no agreement should be entered into with the Amalga mated Wood Wor ers. The executive board was instructed to “carry out the objects of the recommendation in each locality in such a manner as their best judgment suggests."

General principles.-The declaration of principles prefixed to the constitution declares that trades-union men, above all others, should set a good example as good and faithful workmen; urges organized labor everywhere to try to secure more stringent immigration laws, particularly against the importation of destitute laborers: condemus prison contra t labor, because it puts the criminal in competition with honorable labor for the purpose of cutting down wages, and also because it helps to overstock the labor market:" declares that the shortening of the working day increases the intelligence and happiness of the laborer, and also increases the demand for labor and the price of a day's work;" says that discussions and resolutions looking toward the securing of legislation "in favor of those who produce the wealth of the country" shall be in order at any regular meeting of the Brotherhood, but that party politics must be excluded.

A resolution was introduced in the convention of 1900 directing the delegates of the Brotherhood to the convention of the American Federation of Labor to demand that the officers of the Federation refrain from further appeals to the United States Congress, because experience had shown that such appeals were useless, and to

1 American Federation of Labor Convention Proceedings. 1889, p. 34.

The Carpenter, November, 1897,

a The Carpenter, October, 1898, p. I.

The Carpenter, November, 1899, p. 10.

Convention Proceedings, 1900, pp. 70, 71.