THE ETHICS OF TRADE UNIONS. [To TEN EDITOR. 0r THE
"SPECTAT011...I STR,—Your correspondent's remark on the tale of bricks on other than Egyptian principles being the true cause why -cottages cannot be built cheaply to snit the purses of the poor, leads to an inquiry on the ethics of trade unionism. Solidarity, from its point of view, is as blessed a word as Mesopotamia, though there is a hard core in it ; but is that point of view wide and comprehensive ? Is the welfare of the particular trade the sole object of the officials, or does the community ever come within their purview ? That trade 'unions have been most beneficial in the past no one will deny, gutless he is a hide-bound Conservative, but is it not possible that a useful expedient may for the moment harden into a rule of thumb ? And the rule of thumb always interferes with *he free play of the fingers. The trade unionist apparently sacrifices his liberty of action to the will of his comrades, but beyond the- boundaries of his trade is there any fellow feeling with other members of the community ? A so-called Liberal Government has gagged liberty. Do the trade unions act on the same virtuous principle, and abjure that freedom which used to be the boast of the British nation ?—I am, Sir, &c.,
E. D. STONE.
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