ABSTRACT
In speaking of the early Christian Socialist Movement I have told how I was brought into contact with the leaders of the most important, and still the most wealthy, of the Trade Unions, the Amalgamated Society of Eagineers, and with an actual labour contest on a large scale, that of the Engineers in 1851–52. The next such contests with which I was to some extent connected were the London Builders' strike of 1859–60, and that of the Stonemasons in 1861. The former was a movement for a nine hours' day without reduction which was met on the part of the Master Builders' Association by an attempt to enforce a declaration on the men similar to that of the Master Engineers, the result being a drawn battle. This contest was carried on during the sittings of a Committee on Trades Societies appointed by the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science (commonly called the Social Science Association but long since defunct).
