Excerpt from Industrial Peace, Vol. 4

Like everything else in this imperfect world, Trade Unionism has its shortcomings as well as its merits. Upon the latter there is no need to expatiate, for everybody acknowledges the debt which Labour owes to the principle and practice of com bination. When, however, we come to analyse this question of industrial conscription, we shall find it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the essence of effective Trade Unionism resides in its power to coerce the individual in the interest, real or supposed, of the majority of his associated comrades. There are three stages in the development of human society. In the first stage, the crude advantage of supplanting a rival is obvious and elementary. In the second stage, the lesson is learnt that unity is strength, the group prevails against the individual, the stronger group against the weaker, and the combination of groups against the group which stands alone. But as yet the lesson has been learnt only in part, for whilst much is gained by combination, more is lost by dissension. This truth has been revealed in startling fashion, and on an immense scale, by the great war. The unification of the German Empire was a sectional achievement of the first magni tude, but it brought disaster in its train because it sought to dominate the whole world by force. Now at last we know that there is a third stage, and that, in international politics at any rate, the interest of the whole transcends the interest of the part, and that is why, sooner or later, there is going to be a League of Nations to compel even the strongest group to remember the obligations which it owes to its neighbours.

In the fields of British industry, however, we are only 1n the second stage. The third lesson is still unlearnt. Sectional amalgamation is all the vogue, and strong combinations, such as the Triple Alliance of Miners, Railwaymen and Transport Workers, are tempted to flatter themselves that they can coerce the individual until the machine is invincible, and, when this is accomplished, that they can proceed to dominate the country and impose their will upon a prostrate nation. May the example of Germany serve as a warning against any such false deductions. Initial advantages they may secure, but, in the long run, history will repeat itself, and a majority, called into being, like the Grand Alliance, by the stress of a common and imminent danger, will arise and overthrowthose who would usurp sovereign power in the interest of a minority - formidable though it may be.

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