The Nineteenth Annual Congress of the National Free Labour Association
was held this week at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street. Mr. Collison, who presided, welcomed the delegates in a vigorous address, in which he declared that they did not only represent the 800,000 enrolled members of the Association, they also spoke for the voiceless millions who were with them in principle, because they had for years steadily set their faces against trade-union tyranny, and would never consent to have their destinies controlled by men who lived " by the sweat of their jaw." Amongst the resolutions -passed the most note-worthy was that urging the repeal of the Trade Disputes Act. In this connexion we may note that while Mr. Asquith, in reply to a question on Monday, stated that the Government were considering whether the law relating to picketing required amendment, he expressed an opinion that the existing law was adequate to deal with coercion by threats and intimidation. The law, he continued, can be and ought to be enforced, but the difficulty, which was very con- siderable, lay in " the impossibility of securing evidence." As the Daily Graphic tersely puts it, that is exactly the case of those who assert that the law needs amendment.
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