[1] The term "labour" (Lat. _labor_) means strictly any energetic
work, though in general it implies hard work, but in modern parlance
it is specially confined to industrial work of the kind done by the
"working-classes."
[2] H. D. Traill, _Social England_, v. 602 (1896).
[3] W. Cunningham, _Growth of English Commerce and Industry_.
[4] W. Cunningham, _Growth of English Commerce and Industry_.
[5] From an "Essay on Trade" (1770), quoted in _History of Factory
Legislation_, by B. L. Hutchins and A. Harrison (1903), pp. 5, 6.
[6] Minutes of Evidence, House of Commons, 1876; quoted in _History
of Factory Legislation_, by Harrison and Hutchinson, p. 179.
LABOUR PARTY, in Great Britain, the name given to the party in
parliament composed of working-class representatives. As the result of
the Reform Act of 1884, extending the franchise to a larger new
working-class electorate, the votes of "labour" became more and more a
matter of importance for politicians; and the Liberal party, seeking for
the support of organized labour in the trade unions, found room for a
few working-class representatives, who, however, acted and voted as
Liberals. It was not till 1893 that the Independent Labour party,
splitting off under Mr J. Keir Hardie (b. 1856) from the socialist
organization known as the Social Democratic Federation (founded 1881),
was formed at Bradford, with the object of getting independent
candidates returned to parliament on a socialist programme. In 1900 Mr
Keir Hardie, who as secretary of the Lanarkshire Miners' Union had stood
unsuccessfully as a labour candidate for Mid-Lanark in 1888, and sat as
M.P. for West Ham in 1892-1895, was elected to parliament for
Merthyr-Tydvil by its efforts, and in 1906 it obtained the return of 30
members, Mr Keir Hardie being chairman of the group. Meanwhile in 1899
the Trade Union Congress instructed its parliamentary committee to call
a conference on the question of labour representation; and in February
1900 this was attended by trade union delegates and also by
representatives of the Independent Labour party, the Social Democratic
Federation and the Fabian Society. A resolution was carried "to
establish a distinct labour group in parliament, who shall have their
own whips, and agree upon their own policy, which must embrace a
readiness to co-operate with any party which for the time being may be
engaged in promoting legislation in the direct interest of labour," and
the committee (the Labour Representation Committee) was elected for the
purpose. Under their auspices 29 out of 51 candidates were returned at
the election of 1906. These groups were distinct from the Labour members
("Lib.-Labs") who obeyed the Liberal whips and acted with the Liberals.
In 1908 the attempts to unite the parliamentary representatives of the
Independent Labour party with the Trades Union members were successful.
In June of that year the Miners' Federation, returning 15 members,
joined the Independent Labour party, now known for parliamentary
purposes as the "Labour Party"; other Trades Unions, such as the
Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, took the same step. This
arrangement came into force at the general election of 1910, when the
bulk of the miners' representatives signed the constitution of the
Labour party, which after the election numbered 40 members of
parliament.
LABRADOR,[1] a great peninsula in British North America, bounded E. by
the North Atlantic, N. by Hudson Strait, W. by Hudson and James Bays,
and S. by an arbitrary line extending eastwards from the south-east
corner of Hudson Bay, near 51° N., to the mouth of the Moisie river, on
the Gulf of St Lawrence, in 50° N., and thence eastwards by the Gulf of
St Lawrence. It extends from 50° to 63° N., and from 55° to 80° W., and
embraces an approximate area of 511,000 sq. m. Recent explorations and
surveys have added greatly to the knowledge of this vast region, and
have shown that much of the peninsula is not a land of "awful
desolation," but a well-wooded country, containing latent resources of
value in its forests, fisheries and minerals.
_Physical Geography._--Labrador forms the eastern limb of the V in the
Archaean protaxis of North America (see CANADA), and includes most of
the highest parts of that area. Along some portions of the coasts of
Hudson and also of Ungava Bay there is a fringe of lowland, but most
of the interior is a plateau rising toward the south and east. The
highest portion extends east and west between 52° and 54° N., where an
immense granite area lies between the headwaters of the larger rivers
of the four principal drainage basins; the lowest area is between
Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay in the north-west, where the general level
is not more than 500 ft. above the sea. The only mountains are the
range along the Atlantic coast, extending from the Strait of Belle
Isle to Cape Chidley; in their southern half they rarely exceed 1500
ft., but increase in the northern half to a general elevation of
upwards of 2000 ft., with numerous sharp peaks between 3000 and 5000
ft., some say 7000 or 8000 ft. The coasts are deeply indented by
irregular bays and fringed with rocky islands, especially along the
high Atlantic coast, where long narrow fiords penetrate inland.
Hamilton Inlet, 250 m. north of the Strait of Belle Isle, is the
longest of these bays, with a length of 150 m. and a breadth varying
from 2 to 30 m. The surface of the outer portions of the plateau is
deeply seamed by valleys, cut into the crystalline rocks by the
natural erosion of rivers, depending for their length and depth upon
the volume of water flowing through them. The valley of the Hamilton
river is the greatest, forms a continuation of the valley of the Inlet
and extends 300 m. farther inland, while its bottom lies from 500 to
1500 ft. below the surface of the plateau into which it is cut. The
depressions between the low ridges of the interior are occupied by
innumerable lakes, many of great size, including Mistassini,
Mishikamau, Clearwater, Kaniapiskau and Seal, all from 50 to 100 m.
long. The streams discharging these lakes, before entering their
valleys, flow on a level with the country and occupy all depressions,
so that they frequently spread out into lake-expansions and are often
divided into numerous channels by large islands. The descent into the
valleys is usually abrupt, being made by heavy rapids and falls; the
Hamilton, from the level interior, in a course of 12 m. falls 760 ft.
into the head of its valley, this descent including a sheer drop of
315 ft. at the Grand Falls, which, taken with the large volume of the
river, makes it the greatest fall in North America. The rivers of the
northern and western watersheds drain about two-thirds of the
peninsula; the most important of the former are the Koksoak, the
largest river of Labrador (over 500 m. long), the George, Whale and
Payne rivers, all flowing into Ungava Bay. The large rivers flowing
westwards into Hudson Bay are the Povungnituk, Kogaluk, Great Whale,
Big, East Main and Rupert, varying in length from 300 to 500 m. The
rivers flowing south are exceedingly rapid, the Moisie, Romaine,
Natashkwan and St Augustine being the most important; all are about
300 m. long. The Atlantic coast range throws most of the drainage
northwards into the Ungava basin, and only small streams fall into the
ocean, except the Hamilton, North-west and Kenamou, which empty into
the head of Hamilton Inlet.
_Geology._--The peninsula is formed largely of crystalline schists and
gneisses associated with granites and other igneous rocks, all of
archaean age; there are also large areas of non-fossiliferous,
stratified limestones, cherts, shales and iron ores, the unaltered
equivalents of part of the schists and gneisses. Narrow strips of
Animikie (Upper Huronian or perhaps Cambrian) rocks occur along the
low-lying southern and western shores, but there are nowhere else
indications of the peninsula having been below sea-level since an
exceedingly remote time. During the glacial period the country was
covered by a thick mantle of ice, which flowed out radially from a
central collecting-ground. Owing to the extremely long exposure to
denudation, to the subsequent removal of the greater part of the
decomposed rock by glaciers, and to the unequal weathering of the
component rocks, it is now a plateau, which ascends somewhat abruptly
within a few miles of the coast-line to heights of between 500 and
2000 ft. The interior is undulating, and traversed by ridges of low,
rounded hills, seldom rising more than 500 ft. above the surrounding
general level.
_Minerals._--The mineral wealth is undeveloped. Thick beds of
excellent iron ore cover large areas in the interior and along the
shores of Hudson and Ungava Bays. Large areas of mineralized Huronian
rocks have also been discovered, similar to areas in other parts of
Canada, where they contain valuable deposits of gold, copper, nickel
and lead; good prospects of these metals have been found.
_Climate._--The climate ranges from cold temperate on the southern
coasts to arctic on Hudson Strait, and is generally so rigorous that
it is doubtful if the country is fit for agriculture north of 51°,
except on the low grounds near the coast. On James Bay good crops of
potatoes and other roots are grown at Fort George, 54° N., while about
the head of Hamilton Inlet, on the east coast, and in nearly the same
latitude, similar crops are easily cultivated. On the outer coasts the
climate is more rigorous, being affected by the floating ice borne
southwards on the Arctic current. In the interior at Mistassini, 50°
30´ N, a crop of potatoes is raised annually, but they rarely mature.
No attempts at agriculture have been made elsewhere inland. Owing to
the absence of grass plains, there is little likelihood that it will
ever be a grazing district. There are only two seasons in the
interior: winter begins early in October, with the freezing of the
small lakes, and lasts until the middle of June, when the ice on
rivers and lakes melts and summer suddenly bursts forth. From
unconnected observations the lowest temperatures of the interior range
from -50° F. to -60° F., and are slightly higher along the coast. The
mean summer temperature of the interior is about 55° F., with frosts
during every month in the northern portion. On the Atlantic coast and
in Hudson Bay the larger bays freeze solid between the 1st and 15th of
December, and these coasts remain ice-bound until late in June. Hudson
Strait is usually sufficiently open for navigation about the 10th of
July.
_Vegetation._--The southern half is included in the sub-Arctic forest
belt, and nine species of trees constitute the whole arborescent flora
of this region; these species are the white birch, poplar, aspen,
cedar. Banksian pine, white and black spruce, balsam fir and larch.
The forest is continuous over the southern portion to 53° N., the only
exceptions being the summits of rocky hills and the outer islands of
the Atlantic and Hudson Bay, while the low margins and river valleys
contain much valuable timber. To the northward the size and number of
barren areas rapidly increase, so that in 55° N. more than half the
country is treeless, and two degrees farther north the limit of trees
is reached, leaving, to the northward, only barrens covered with low
Arctic flowering plants, sedges and lichens.
_Fisheries._--The fisheries along the shores of the Gulf of St
Lawrence and of the Atlantic form practically the only industry of the
white population scattered along the coasts, as well as of a large
proportion of the inhabitants of Newfoundland. The census (1891) of
Newfoundland gave 10,478 men, 2081 women and 828 children employed in
the Labrador fishery in 861 vessels, of which the tonnage amounted to
33,689; the total catch being 488,788 quintals of cod, 1275 tierces of
salmon and 3828 barrels of herring, which, compared with the customs
returns for 1880, showed an increase of cod and decreases of salmon
and herring. The salmon fishery along the Atlantic coast is now very
small, the decrease being probably due to excessive use of cod-traps.
The cod fishery is now carried on along the entire Atlantic coast and
into the eastern part of Ungava Bay, where excellent catches have been
made since 1893. The annual value of the fisheries on the Canadian
portion of the coast is about $350,000. The fisheries of Hudson Bay
and of the interior are wholly undeveloped, though both the bay and
the large lakes of the interior are well stocked with several species
of excellent fish, including Arctic trout, brook trout, lake trout,
white fish, sturgeon and cod.
_Population._--The population is approximately 14,500, or about one
person to every 35 sq. m.; it is made up of 3500 Indians, 2000 Eskimo
and 9000 whites. The last are confined to the coasts and to the Hudson
Bay Company's trading posts of the interior. On the Atlantic coast they
are largely immigrants from Newfoundland, together with descendants of
English fishermen and Hudson Bay Company's servants. To the north of
Hamilton Inlet they are of more or less mixed blood from marriage with
Eskimo women. The Newfoundland census of 1901 gave 3634 as the number of
permanent white residents along the Atlantic coast, and the Canadian
census (1891) gave a white population of 5728, mostly French Canadians,
scattered along the north shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence, while the
whites living at the inland posts did not exceed fifty persons. It is
difficult to give more than a rough approximation of the number of the
native population, owing to their habits of roving from one trading post
to another, and the consequent liability of counting the same family
several times if the returns are computed from the books of the various
posts, the only available data for an enumeration. The following
estimate is arrived at in this manner: Indians--west coast, 1200;
Ungava Bay, 200; east coast, 200; south coast, 1900. Eskimo--Atlantic
coast, 1000; south shore of Hudson Strait, 800; east coast of Hudson
Bay, 500. The Indians roam over the southern interior in small bands,
their northern limit being determined by that of the trees on which they
depend for fuel. They live wholly by the chase, and their numbers are
dependent upon the deer and other animals; as a consequence there is a
constant struggle between the Indian and the lower animals for
existence, with great slaughter of the latter, followed by periodic
famines among the natives, which greatly reduce their numbers and
maintain an equilibrium. The native population has thus remained about
stationary for the last two centuries. The Indians belong to the
Algonquin family, and speak dialects of the Cree language. By contact
with missionaries and fur-traders they are more or less civilized, and
the great majority of them are Christians. Those living north of the St
Lawrence are Roman Catholic, while the Indians of the western watershed
have been converted by the missionaries of the Church Mission Society;
the eastern and northern bands have not yet been reached by the
missionaries, and are still pagans. The Eskimo of the Atlantic coast
have long been under the guidance of the Moravian missionaries, and are
well advanced in civilization; those of Hudson Bay have been taught by
the Church Mission Society, and promise well; while the Eskimo of Hudson
Strait alone remain without teachers, and are pagans. The Eskimo live
along the coasts, only going inland for short periods to hunt the
barren-ground caribou for their winter clothing; the rest of the year
they remain on the shore or the ice, hunting seals and porpoises, which
afford them food, clothing and fuel. The christianized Indians and
Eskimo read and write in their own language; those under the teaching of
the Church Mission Society use a syllabic character, the others make use
of the ordinary alphabet.
_Political Review._--The peninsula is divided politically between the
governments of Canada, Newfoundland and the province of Quebec. The
government of Newfoundland, under Letters Patent of the 28th of March
1876, exercises jurisdiction along the Atlantic coast; the boundary
between its territory and that of Canada is a line running due north and
south from Anse Sablon, on the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle,
to 52° N., the remainder of the boundary being as yet undetermined. The
northern boundary of the province of Quebec follows the East Main river
to its source in Patamisk lake, thence by a line due east to the
Ashuanipi branch of the Hamilton river; it then follows that river and
Hamilton Inlet to the coast area under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland.
The remainder of the peninsula, north of the province of Quebec, by
order in council dated the 18th of December 1897, was constituted Ungava
District, an unorganized territory under the jurisdiction of the
government of the Dominion of Canada.
AUTHORITIES.--W. T. Grenfell and others, _Labrador: the Country and
the People_ (New York, 1909); R. F. Holmes, "A Journey in the Interior
of Labrador," Proc. _R.G.S._ x. 189-205 (1887); A. S. Packard, _The
Labrador Coast_ (New York, 1891); Austen Cary, "Exploration on Grand
River, Labrador," _Bul. Am. Geo. Soc._ vol. xxiv., 1892; R. Bell, "The
Labrador Peninsula," _Scottish Geo. Mag._ July 1895. Also the
following reports by the Geological Survey of Canada:--R. Bell,
"Report on an Exploration of the East Coast of Hudson Bay," 1877-1878;
"Observations on the Coast of Labrador and on Hudson Strait and Bay,"
1882-1884; A. P. Low, "Report on the Mistassini Expedition," 1885;
"Report on James Bay and the Country East of Hudson Bay," 1887-1888;
"Report on Explorations in the Labrador Peninsula, 1892-1895," 1896;
"Report on a Traverse of the Northern Part of the Labrador Peninsula,"
1898; "Report on the South Shore of Hudson Strait," 1899. For History:
W. G. Gosling, _Labrador_ (1910). (A. P. Lo.; A. P. C.)