[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sin,—The article on this
subject in the Spectator of the 17th inst. is a very timid attempt to point out and emphasize the outrageous lengths to which the tyranny of trade unionism has attained. It is a poor half-hearted effort to demonstrate what every thinking man knows nowadays, and that is, that until and unless trade unions are brought once more under the law, until that disgraceful farce " Peaceful Picketing " is abolished, the secret ballot for all voting established, and the power of trade unions for evil curtailed, so long will unemployment increase, discontent be nursed, and any hope of decent relations between employers and workers remain unfulfilled.
There is not an industry hardly which is not suffering from the obstruction of trade unions. The daily Press shows this with pitiful regularity. No need to specify instances. Building emergency houses, ship repairing and construction— a test can be made by any man in the street—all engineered by union officials to whose interest it is to lead the workers wrong and to take a lead in fomenting discontent ! The steady would-be hard-working man and his wife hate the whole tyrannical business but are forced to pretend to approve. Cannot this deadly tyranny be destroyed ?
Trade unionism as a safeguard for the men against undub
exploitation by unscrupulous and unprincipled employers is all to the good, and has the sympathy of all thinking people: Trade unionism as practised and preached by MeSsrs. Cramp & Co. should be reduced by law and strictly limited in its vicious activities. Are 'there no men of sufficient courage in the new House of Commons to take this matter up and
thus remove the greatest obstacle to employment which exists and a tyranny which oppresses and obstructs the trade and industry of the country ?=-I am, Sir, &c., C. B.
[How simple and easy it would be if courage were the cure ! We are sure, however, that if the Government ".took on " the trade unions there would be a struggle so bitter and prolonged that all hopes of carrying through a constructive Unionist programme would be killed. The true way is reform from within the unions themselves. There are welcome signs that sensible trade unionists are well aware of this necessity. It is the part of Unionists to help them. We hope soon to publish an article on this subject.—En. Speetator.]
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