Molders' Union changed policies. The "International " operative foundry, Sylvis' pet child, had gone to pieces, and the tide turned against co-operative ventures in general. The Workingman's Advocate reported: "The legislation of the moulders in this session undoes much that was considered good under the administration of the lamented Sylvis," 17 and further that "Saffin- a thorough trades-unionist," formerly recording secretary under Sylvis, was chosen president. During the three following years the moulders, while fully sharing in the prosperity, lost their place as the paramount national trade union, and came to be overshadowed by others, especially the Crispins. THE MACHINISTS AND BLACKSMITHS If the moulders were the highest expression of practical militancy in the movement of the period, the machinists occupied in it the place of idealists and theorists. Beginning with the upward swing during the early sixties and ending with the melancholy years of the late seventies when the rising star of the Knights of Labor was the only cheerful appearance on the labour horizon, it was always a machinist who pointed the way for the general labour movement. Fincher, the versatile labour journalist, Ira Steward, the eight-hour idealist, and Powderly, the exponent of the ideas of the American mechanics of the sixties during a later and more confused period, mark the theoretical ascendency of the machinists. With the best minds in the trade devoting themselves to the general movement of labour reform, it is not surprising that the machinists' union, for a long time, lagged behind others in the everyday practical struggle for betterment in the trade. During the War the machinists were the beneficiaries of the universal prosperity like any other trade. A true index of the success of the activity of the machinists' national union may be found in the activities of the employers' associations in the trade. A secret circular 18 issued by the "Association of Engineers of New York" includes a preamble and resolution adopted 17 July 23, 1870. 18 Quoted in Fincher's, Dec. 5, 1863. at their regular monthly meeting held November 27, 1863. In this preamble they announced that they were opposed to every combination which has for its object the regulation of wages," and that they resolved to refuse to raise the wages of machinists for thirty days. In a separate resolution they let it be known that "for the next ninety days, the proprietors of each establishment represented in this Association refuse to employ any machinists other than those now employed in their respective establishments excepting any one who shall bring a recommendation or statement from his present employer that he has been honourably discharged." The only machinists exempted from this blacklist were recent immigrants. The special cause of the whole announcement was a demand for higher wages on the part of the New York machinists, who were organised under the name, "Finishers' Protective Union." Representatives of nineteen New York firms signed the circular, and the secretary, W. A. Searer, was ordered to print 250 copies for the use of the members of the Association. These resolutions were likewise adopted by the iron manufacturers of Boston and vicinity, as their "future rule of action," and were signed by the representatives of twenty-two Boston firms.19 February 15, 1864, the international secretary of the Machinists and Blacksmiths Union issued a proclamation 20 to the membership throughout the continent of North America, calling upon them to be in readiness to act with their brother workmen in New England, where the employers had adopted measures to keep down wages. "The employer will not hire an applicant," said this official, "unless he can produce a recommendation from his last employer stating that the latter is content to allow him to leave his employ. And further the recommendation must state the wages the applicant has been receiving, also what his general character is." During the years of depression after the end of the War the machinists' national organisation suffered a much greater setback than the moulders' or even some of the national unions of more recent origin. The demand for a universal eight-hour law then suddenly came to the forefront in the general labour 19 Reprinted entire fifteen months later in the Boston Daily Evening Voice, Mar. 11, 1865. 20 Fincher's, Feb. 20, 1864. movement and, since the leading machinists were the original spokesmen of that movement, the activities of the union in the purely economic field were allowed to decline. It was, therefore, not until the return of prosperity that the machinists' national union, now under different leaders, took on new vigour. In 1872 the American Workman reported that "the Machinists and Blacksmiths' National Union has had a year of great prosperity. Something less than a hundred new unions have been established, thus trebling the membership in twelve months, while the trade journal has 2,500 subscribers and a surplus of $8,000 has accumulated in the treasury." 21 THE PRINTERS The extension of the market for their product brought into existence the iron moulders' union. The extension of the market, not for what labour produced but for what it sold, namely, labour, brought into existence the National Typographical Union. The typographical union appeared as early as 1850. The desire to prevent the movement of printers from one locality to another brought about an elaborate system of "conditional membership." At the convention of 1864 President Carver presented a scheme which met the approval of the delegates. A conditional membership card was prepared, the holder of which did not belong to a union, but it entitled him to the membership and good offices of all the unions under the jurisdiction of the National Typographical Union. On the other hand he had solemnly to pledge his honour to "maintain and enlarge the union influence which exists in this country and by similar efforts to influence fellow craftsmen to avail themselves of the privilege of membership," and also, "not to respond to any advertisement for printers from a locality where there is a union without having first ascertained . . . that such response would not be incompatible with the interests of the craft." Such a card could be obtained by the payment of one dollar. It entitled the bearer to the privileges above mentioned 21 Jan. 6, 1877. for one year, when it could be renewed upon payment of another dollar and so on for each succeeding year. For the purpose of bringing the scheme into operation the country was divided into seven districts: New York, New England, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, and California. Each local union was required to amend its constitution so as to levy upon each member a ten-cent monthly tax which should constitute a "conditional membership fund.' The union in each district which had the largest number of members in good standing was to elect a "district canvasser," whose duty it was to supervise his territory.22 At the session of 1865 it was reported that only five unions applied for certificates of conditional membership. It was thought that, because the power to do the active work was delegated to the largest local within the district, others failed to do their duty. The act was therefore amended so that each local was constituted a district whose jurisdiction extended to one-half the distance between it and the next union. But that did not bring better results. In the conventions of 1866 and 1867 no material progress was reported. In 1868 the conditional membership was not even mentioned and no trace of it is found thereafter. The prevalence of a localist tendency among the printers is further illustrated by the vicissitudes of the proposal for a national strike fund. The typographical was the only large union which failed to create such a fund. It had been urged for many years and in the convention of 1866 the secretarytreasurer in his annual report said, "It is just now, more than ever before, the great desideratum. . . . Others have already tried it successfully, why cannot we establish the same object. 99 23 . . The various subordinate unions are the treasurers of their own contributions . . . collected in the same manner as the regular dues, and reserved for the specific object. . . A resolution was adopted at this convention that the delegates upon returning home should lay this matter before their respective locals and report the result to the national president who in 22 National Typographical Union, Proceedings, 1864, p. 81. 23 National Typographical Union, Proceedings, 1866. turn should report the action taken at the next annual convention. The result of the vote reported showed all unions voting in favour of it with the exception of Cincinnati and of Philadelphia. The latter gave no specific reasons. Cincinnati argued that to make the fund valuable it would have to be very large and, since the union was not incorporated, no legal responsibility would attach to the treasurer for money placed in his hands; that it would be necessary to clothe the dispenser of the fund with power to pass on the legality of strikes before rendering assistance; that vesting power in a central head would be detrimental to the interests of those engaged in a strike on account of the time that would elapse before the central could be heard from. Cincinnati was powerful enough to swing the convention her way and the question was laid over to the next session, which was to adopt or reject it by a vote of delegates. The convention of 1868 met and the proposition with other matters was referred to a committee. It received a favourable report. The objection now raised by the opposition was that it was not introduced in the manner provided by the constitution. It was then placed before the committee of the whole which reported that it be spread on the minutes for consideration at the next session. This was the regular constitutional procedure for all amendments that they lie over for one year. At the 1869 convention the committee in charge failed to report it back, and in 1870 it reported favourably upon it but added that the time was not sufficient to discuss it and recommended that it lay over to the next meeting. In 1871 a motion was adopted that such a fund was inexpedient. This persistent localism of the printers is especially interesting in view of the several attempts towards a more or less widely extended employers' association. In May, 1864, a union printer from Albany, New York, declared that "a powerful organisation exists among the newspaper publishers of this and Western States, having for one of its objects the extinction of Typographical Unions. The simultaneous introduction of female compositors at various |