ABSTRACT
The objects aimed at by the majority of trade unions, and the means which are generally adopted to secure them, have already been pointed out. The facts related and the opinions expressed with regard to the influence which trade unions exercise upon the relations of the workmen with their employers are very contradictory in character. A considerable number of employers, as well as the great majority of representatives of the employed, who gave evidence before the Royal Commission on Labour, asserted that the effect of workmen’s associations in this respect was distinctly beneficial. The action and influence of trade unions have hitherto been considered only in their bearing upon the material and moral welfare of the members and their relations with their employers; but these questions lead to the further one of their effect upon the development and prosperity of the trade concerned.
