ABSTRACT
One was the vocabulary of vituperation—Trade Union leaders were agitators, irreconcilables, demagogues, men who “would get up a strike in paradise”; strikes were criminal conspiracies, outbursts of disaffection, attacks upon society, and so on. Trade Union finance, it might almost be said, had no public history till 1871. Parliaments and law courts belonged to employers; and until they had reached the state of tolerating or accepting Trade Unionism, continuity of policy and financial stability alike were somewhat fortuitous. The danger from within, too, was considerable—the danger of pressing demands inopportunely, rather than that of an unwise use of the collective resources. The income of the Trade Unions is derived from the contributions of their members and from the returns on such investments of annual surpluses as may be made. Contributions are supplemented, from time to time, by special levies and some Unions exact entrance fees from new-comers.
