The Report of Mr. Burnett, the Labour Correspondent of the
Board of Trade, just issued, contains some very curious facts in regard to the Trade-Unions. Mr. Barnett estimates the num- ber of men actually belonging to Trade Societies at 633,038. The numbers in the registered Unions in England, however, only amount to 319,266. The Unions are possessed of a capital of 2603,515, and have an annual income of £613,499. Their chief expenditure consists in the payments made to unemployed members. The average annual payment made by the members is between £2 and 23. Mr. Barnett points out how the rules of the Trade-Unions "are most carefully devised to prevent etrikes being entered into without due consideration." Yet we are told that the National League is only an agrarian Trade- Union. It is difficult to restrain the sense of indignation at such 'a comparison when reading the records of organisations so greatly to the credit of English working men.
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