ABSTRACT
I N every European country the rise of a class of industrialworkers has been followed at longer or shorter intervalsby a labour movement, an organized attempt of the wage-earners to improve their standard of life. This movement takes two forms. In the one case, the workers endeavour to wring concessions direct from their employers by voluntarily organizing themselves into economic associations known as trade unions. In the other, they attempt to capture the machinery of the State as a first step towards a reconstruction of the social order in their own interests. At some periods the working-class shows a preference for the method of direct industrial action. At others, it places its faith almost exclusively in political action. But, generally, the two phases of the movement proceed concurrently and exert a powerful influence on one another. In this chapter we shall confine our attention to the political phase of the labour movement.
