ABSTRACT
In January, 1883, the men employed on the Caledonian Railway engaged in a strike, and though the attempt to reduce the hours of labour may be described as a partial failure, the ultimate result was a considerable modification of the conditions of employment in that company. A railway company cannot be at once "a great public department" and a private business claiming immunity from criticism, or even from regulation. In dispassionately examining the subject of labour combinations, the people must regard them not as the outcome of an isolated movement, but as having been brought into existence by a set of conditions which could hardly have failed to produce them. The labour market without combination became relatively overstocked with sellers, while the buyers became relatively fewer. It is quite erroneous to suppose that combination and competition are mutually exclusive.
