to notice that the Durham experience of the result of government by the Referendum has been identical with that of Northumberland,' and even more detrimental to the organisation. The Durham Miners' Association, notwithstanding its closely concentrated 60,000 members, fails to exercise any important influence on the Trade Union world, and even excites complaints from the employers as to " its internal weakness." The Durham coal-" owners declare that, with the council overruling the executive, and the ballot vote reversing the decision of the council, they never know when they have arrived at a settlement, or how long that settlement will be enforced on a recalcitrant lodge.
It is significant that|Cthe newer organisations which have sprung up in these same counties in direct imitation of the miners' unions give much less power to the members at large) Thus the Durham Cokemen's and Laborers' Association, which, springing out of the Durham Miners' Association in 1874, follows in its rules the actual phrases of the parent organisa- tion, vests the election of its executive committee and officers, not in the members at large, but in a supreme "council."
1 See, for instance, the report of the special conference of 23rd September 1893, expressly summoned to resist the "disintegration of our Association."—Northumberland Mitur^ Mirmtes, 1893.
2 In the Durham Miners' Association the election of officers is nominally vested in the council, but express provision is made in the rules for each lodge to "empower" its delegate how to vote.
^ This may be seen, for instance, from the incidental references to the Durham votes given in the Miners' Federation Minutes, 1893- 1 896 ; or, with calamitous results, in the history of the great Durham strike of 1892 ; or in that of the Silk- stone strike of 1891. The Durham Miners' Minutes are not accessible to any non-member.
36 Trade Umon Structure
Much the same may be said of the Durham County CoUiery Enginemen's Mutual Aid Association, established 1872; the Durham Colliery Mechanics' Association, established 1879; and (so far as regards the election of officers) the Northumber- land Deputies' Mutual Aid Association, established 1887. " If, therefore, democracy means that everything which " concerns all should be decided by all," and that each citizen should enjoy an equal and identical share in the government, Trade Union history indiqates clearly the inevitable result. Government by such contrivances as Rotation o{\ Office, the Mass Meeting, the Referendum and Initiative, or the Delegate restricted by his Imperative Mandate, leads straight either to ■inefficiency and disintegration, or to the uncontrolled domin- ance of a personal dictator or an expert bureaucracy. Dimly and almost unconsciously this conclusion has, after a whole century of experiment, forced itself upon the more advanced trades. The old theory of democracy is still an article of faith, and constantly comes to the front when any organi- sation has to be formed for brand-new purposes ;^ but Trade Union constitution have undergone a silent revolution. The old ideal of the Rotation of Office among all the members in succession has been practically abandoned. Resort to the aggregate meeting diminishes steadily in frequency and im- portance. The use of the Initiative and the Referendum has
' We may refer, by way of illustration, to the frequent discussions during 1894–1895 among the members of the political association styled the " Independ- ent Labor Party." On the formation of the Hackney Branch, for instance, the members " decided that no president and no executive committee of the branch be appointed, its management devolving on the members attending the weekly conferences" (Labour Leader, 26th January 1895). Nor is this view confined to the rank and file. The editor of the Clarion himself, perhaps the most influential man in the party, expressly declared in his leading article of 3rd November 1 894 : "Democracy means that the people shall rule themselves ; that the people shall manage their own affairs ; and that their officials shall be public servants, or dele- gates, deputed to put the will of the people into execution. … At present there is too much sign of a disposition on the part of the rank and file to overvalue the talents and usefulness of their officials. … It is tolerably certain that in so far as the ordinary duties of officials and delegates, such as committee men or members of Parliament, are concerned, an average citizen, if he is thoroughly honest, will be found quite clever enough to do all that is needful. … Let all officials be retired after one year's services, and fresh ones elected in their place,'
Primitive Democracy 37
been tacitly given up in all complicated issues, and gradually limited to a few special questions on particular emergencies. The delegate finds himself every year dealing with more numerous and more complex questions, and tends therefore- inevitably to exercise the larger freedom of a representative. Finally, we have the appearance in the Trade Union world of the typically modern form of democracy, the elected repre- se ntative assembly, appointing and controlling an executive committee under whose direction the permanent official staff pertorms its work.
CHAPTER II REPRESENTATIVE INSTITUTIONS
The two organisations in the Trade Union world enjoying the greatest measure of representative institutions are those which are the most distinctly modern in their growth and pre- eminence. In numbers, political influence, and annual income the great federal associations of Coalminers and Cotton Operatives overshadovii all others, and now comprise one-fifth of the total Trade Union membership. We have elsewhere pointed out that these two trades are both distinguished by their establishment of an expert civil service, exceeding in numbers and efficiency that possessed by any other trade.' They resemble each other also, as we shall now see, in the success with which they have solved the fundamental problem of democracy, the combination of administrative efficiency and popular contro l. In each case the solution has been found in the frank acceptance of representative institutions.
In the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton- spinners, which may be taken as typical of cotton organisa- tions, the "legislative power" is expressly vested " in a meeting comprising representatives from the various provinces and dis- tricts included in the association." * This " Cotton-spinners' Parliament" is elected annually in strict proportion to
> History of Trade Vnionhm, p. 298 ; see also the subsequent chapter on " The Method of Collective Bargaining." -^
2 Rules of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton-spinners (Man- chester, 1894), p. 4, Rule 7.
Representative Institutions 39
membership, and consists of about a hundred representatives. It meets in Manchester regularly every quarter, but can be called together by the executive council at any time. Once elected, this assembly is, like the British Parliament, abso- lutely supreme. Its powers and functions are subject to no express limitation, and from its decisions there is no appeal. The rules contain no provision for taking a vote of the members ; and though the agenda of the quarterly meeting is circulated for information to the executives of the district associations, so little thought is there of any necessity for the representatives to receive a mandate from their constituents, that express arrangements are made for transacting any other business not included in the agenda.^
The actual " government of the association is conducted by an executive council elected by the general representative meeting, and consisting of a president, treasurer, and secretary, with thirteen other members, of whom seven at least must be working spinners, whilst the othef six are, by invariable custom, the permanent officials appointed and maintained by the principal district organisations. Here we have the " cabinet " of this interesting constitution—the body which practically directs the whole work of the association and exercises great weight in the counsels of the legislative body, preparing its agenda and guiding all its proceedings. For the daily work of administration this cabinet is authorised by the rules to appoint a committee, the " sub-council," which consists in practice of the six " gentlemen," as the district officials
