provisions such is the "Conspiracy and Protection of Property Act, 1875," for which reason it should be upheld and obeyed by all classes of workmen, both in and out of the union.

§ 25. With regard to rattening, cases have been reported which seem to show that it is not altogether abandoned at Sheffield. It is no use mincing the matter, the practice could be stamped out if the Sheffield police did their duty. By whomsoever committed, rattening is a crime-call it what you will, robbery, thieving, or stealing a man's tools-it is an offence against the law, it violates the rights of property, and is repugnant to all sense of duty, right, and freedom.

$ 26. A moral responsibility rests upon those who are opposed to this species of terrorism, to aid the police, where they can, in the detection of the criminals; if they do not, they morally become accessories to the crime, and may be in danger of being held legally answerable for the wrong done, just as much as those who actually committed the deed. If a man secretly connives at offences of this description, and in public holds up his hands with a kind of pious horror when they are discovered and brought to light, he is more than ever guilty of culpable complicity, for, in addition to having already participated in them, he adds thereto the sin of hypocrisy, by assuming a virtue and an innocence which he does not possess. It is high time that these malpractices were put an end to; they are a disgrace to the age in which we live, and a scandal to the cause of unionism, which no one with a grain of common sense can palliate or excuse.

11.-PICKETING.

§ 27. Picketing is very often represented as combining, under one term, all the elements of positive coercion. With reference to the past it may be truly said that the honours, or dishonours, were pretty evenly divided as regards undue influences, the workmen using the grosser forms of personal interference, and the masters a more covert one, but none the less real. Picketing, however, is a weapon used by the workmen only; it is very frequently resorted to in the event of a strike,

or lock-out; it is disliked and condemned by employers, justified and practised by the men; it is constantly discussed in the press, and is often the subject matter of a prosecution in our courts of law. The question is therefore of sufficient importance to entitle it to independent treatment, apart from the several matters mentioned in the preceding pages.

§ 28. Many persons are under the impression that picketing is the cause of outrage and violence, and the means by which they are effected and perpetrated. This is a gratuitous assumption; experience has proved quite the contrary; the abuses of this method of industrial warfare are exaggerated, both as to their number and character; and further, the evils sometimes associated with the practice are not necessarily incident thereto.

§ 29. I. The first question to be put, and clearly answered, is-What is picketing? The following definition is given in the report of the Royal Commission, 1869, clause 68: "Picketing consists in posting members of the union at all the approaches to the works struck against, for the purpose of observing and reporting the workmen going to or coming from the works, and of using such influence as may be in their power to prevent the workmen from accepting work there." If the word "dissuade " had been used instead of "prevent," this definition would have been a tolerably accurate one; as it is, the case is overstated, or rather, it presents a phase of it which is repudiated by the better organised bodies of associated working men.

§ 30. The following statement, as to the nature and objects. of picketing, is submitted as a correct representation of the practice, apart from the abuses which sometimes arise in connection therewith. (1) It means that, when a strike has taken place in regard to any particular master, or firm, one or more men, technically called "pickets," are told off to watch the works, to see that no strangers are taken on, without being first made acquainted with the fact that there is a dispute with that particular employer, or firm, and to give information to such strangers as to the nature and causes of the dispute. These pickets are usually workmen who had been, previously to the dispute, in the employment of the employer struck against; these are generally taken in rotation, as their names appear on

the "strike-list." They are allowed a little extra pay per day for the days on which they are so engaged, the average and usual extra pay being from 1s. to 1s. 6d., according to the society to which they belong. In cases, however, where there is difficulty in obtaining the required number, they are paid more, but such instances are exceptional.

§ 31. (2) The duty of pickets is to endeavour to see every workman brought to the works, or who applies for employment; to persuade, if possible, such strangers not to enter into an engagement to work, and to induce them, if they can, to join the ranks of those who are on strike.

§ 32. (3) The pickets are authorised to state to those who apply for work, that the union will be prepared, in the event of their refusal to work after the explanations given to them, to reimburse any expenses to which they may have been put in coming to the town or place, and also their expenses back to their homes, or, if they prefer it, to some other place in search of employment. And further, they are usually empowered to offer a gratuity, by way of compensation for loss of time, or to aid them until they can find work elsewhere.

§ 33. (4) If these strangers or non-union workmen consent to this course, they are taken to the committee, or officers of the union, who have full power to deal with each case on its merits, as to expenses incurred, or the hardships to which any individual has been exposed. The men are reasoned with as to the nature of the strike, its cause, its objects, and the probable effects upon the men if lost, and also the anticipated benefits to them, if it be won. In all this terrorism, or threats, are the last things thought of, as they would be utterly futile, and would absolutely fail in their object. Resistance to the dictation of the union, instead of compliance with the requests of the union men, would be the result, if such a course were pursued, and the future chance of such men joining the union, which is always an object of the unionists, would be frustrated, and often rendered well-nigh impossible.

§ 34. II. The object of picketing is undoubtedly to dissuade non-union workmen from taking the places of those on strike. But it is not necessarily a system of terrorism, to

so.

prevent men from accepting work, if they think proper to do It is not by coercion, but by persuasion or contract; not by intimidation, but by argument, that these ends are sought. The man who goes beyond the legitimate bounds of moral suasion, not only runs the risk of breaking the law, and thereby incurring its penalties, but he endangers the very objects which the union, and he as a member of it, have in view. It is admitted that merely "obtaining and giving information" do not cover the whole of the objects sought by those who use picketing as a means for the attainment of the end in view; but clearly, it ought to be shown that the object, or the means, or both, are unlawful, before any attempt should be made to put down the practice by legislative enactment. If a system is to be suppressed because evil consequences sometimes arise, let it be tried in connection with the grog-shops and public-houses of the country; here, surely, we can trace cause and effect with a vengeance; but those who are the first to demand the suppression of picketing, would be the last to acknowledge the right of the legislature to lay the axe at the root of the evil, in regard to consequences arising out of the sale of intoxicating liquors. A code of morals cannot well be established by Act of parliament, but offences committed either in contravention of law, or against public order, come within the scope of legislative enactment.

§ 35. III. The abuses which occur in connection with the practice of picketing are thus stated in the Report of the Royal Commission, clause 69:

It is alleged that instructions are given to the pickets to confine themselves to a mere representation of the case of the union promoting the strike, and to use argument and persuasion only, without resorting to violence, intimidation, or undue coercion. But although such instructions may be given, it is hardly in human nature that the pickets, who are interested parties, and who are suffering the privations incident to a strike, should always keep within the fair limits of representation and persuasion, when dealing with men whom they see about to undertake the work which they have refused, and who may thus render the strike abortive. Accordingly, experience shows, and the evidence before us leaves no doubt on our minds that, during the

existence of a strike, workmen desirous to accept work are often subjected, through the agency of the pickets, to molestation, intimidation, and other modes of undue influence, and in effect are prevented from obtaining employment.

§ 36. If the word "sometimes" had been inserted in the place of "often," the above paragraph would have represented more accurately the true facts of the case; as it is, the conclusion is somewhat strained. That this is so, is well known to those who have any considerable experience in trade and industrial disputes; but it is not so obvious to those who, like the members of the Royal Commission, have to rely upon the evidence given, where qualifying circumstances are frequently omitted, or upon exaggerated reports, published in newspapers.

§ 37. The sweeping charges contained in this paragraph of this report, were hardly justified when we consider the admissions made in the clause (50), reprinted towards the end of Part I. § 16. It is there stated, that "few complaints of the present influence of trades unions" had been brought before the Commission, and these had been given by persons who were interested in presenting the worst phase of unionism. But the reasons for the conclusions of the Commission, and of the alarm in the public mind, are easily explained. Hundreds of strikes, with the usual practice of picketing, occur, to which public attention is never drawn; they are not of sufficient importance to attract a crowd of reporters anxious to chronicle every fact which tells against the workmen. Such strikes sometimes result in favour of the men, at other times in favour of the masters; picketing is resorted to in most cases, but the public hear nothing about the alleged evils of the system. Why? Because they seldom take place. But let one single instance of coercion or undue influence be resorted to, and the entire newspaper press will record the fact, not unfrequently colouring it so as to distort its real nature and significance (or rather insignificance); "leaders" are written in denunciation, not only of the actual perpetrators of the offence, but of the whole class to which they belong, until it becomes a settled conviction in the minds of the majority of the public, that these cases are perpetually recurring; that they form part, an