feel inclined, are justified in throwing away their votes on Saturday
next, and I come to the Labour and to the Trade Union element in our
midst. There I have one or two words to say of rather a straight
character, if you don't object, and which, I hope, will be taken in
good part, and will be studied and examined seriously. Labour in
Britain is not Socialism. It is quite true that the Socialistic
element has imposed a complexion on Labour, rather against its will,
and is now supported in its action by funds almost entirely supplied
by Trade Unions. But Trade Unions are not Socialistic. They are
undoubtedly individualist organisations, more in the character of the
old Guilds, and lean much more in the direction of the culture of the
individual than in that of the smooth and bloodless uniformity of the
mass. Now, the Trade Unions are the most respectable and the most
powerful element in the labour world. They are the social bulwarks of
our industrial system. They are the necessary guard-rails of a highly
competitive machine, and I have the right, as a member of his
Majesty's Government, to speak with good confidence to Trade
Unionists, because we have done more for Trade Unionists than any
other Government that has ever been.
How stands the case of the Trade Unionists? Do they really believe, I
put this question to them fairly--do they really believe that there is
no difference whatever between a Tory and a Liberal Government? Do
Trade Unionists desire the downfall of the existing Liberal
Government? Would they really like to send a message of encouragement
to the House of Lords--for that is what it comes to--to reject and
mutilate Liberal and Radical legislation--and Labour legislation now
before Parliament? Would they send such a message of encouragement to
the House of Lords as this--"House of Lords, you were right in your
estimate of public opinion when you denied the extension of the
Provision of Meals to School Children Bill to Scotland, when you threw
out the Scottish Land Valuation Bill, when you threw out the Scottish
Small Holders Bill--when you did all this you were right." Do you wish
to send that message to the House of Lords? But that will be the
consequence of every vote subtracted from the Liberal majority.
Why, gentlemen, let me return to the general current of events. What
is the Government doing at present, and what has it done in its brief
existence? Within the limits under which it works, and under the
present authority of the House of Lords, what has it done and what is
it doing for Trade Unionists? It has passed the Trades Disputes Act.
The Workmen's Compensation Act has extended the benefits of
compensation to six million persons not affected by previous
legislation. The qualification of Justices of the Peace--the citizens'
Privy Councillorship, as I call it--has been reduced so as to make it
more easy for persons not possessed of this world's goods to qualify
to take their place on the civic Bench. You know the land legislation
for England, which is designed to secure that the suitable man who
wants a small parcel of land to cultivate for his own profit and
advantage shall not be prevented from obtaining it by feudal
legislation, by old legal formalities or class prejudice. And is the
Licensing Bill not well worth a good blow struck, and struck now,
while the iron is hot? Then there is the Miners' Eight Hours Bill, a
measure that has been advocated by the miners for twenty years, and
justified by the highest medical testimony on humanitarian and
hygienic grounds. It is costing us votes and supporters. It is
costing us by-elections, yet it is being driven through. Have we not a
right to claim the support of the Trade Unionists who are associated
with the miners? Don't they feel that this measure is hanging in the
balance, not in the House of Commons, but in the balance in the House
of Lords, which attaches to by-elections an importance which, in their
arrogant assertion, entitles them to mutilate or reject legislation,
even although it comes to them by the majority of a Parliament newly
elected on a suffrage of six millions. Then there is the question of
old-age pensions, a question that has been much misused and mishandled
in the past.
That was a pledge given by our opponents to win the election of 1895,
and after the lapse of thirteen years of toil and stress, the Liberal
Party is able to take it up, and will implement it in an effective
fashion. Now, is there one of all these subjects which does not
command the support of Trade Unionists and responsible Labour leaders?
The Government is fighting for these measures. The Government is
risking its life and power for these and similar objects. The Tory
Party is opposing it on every point. The Tory Party is gaining
popularity from the resistance of the interests which are affected by
the passing of such measures of social reform. The House of Lords is
the weapon of the Tory Party. With that weapon they can make a Liberal
Government ridiculous. Are the Labour leaders, are Trade Unionists,
confronted at this moment with the menace of reaction, deliberately
going to throw in their lot with the House of Lords? I don't think
they will. The record in Labour legislation under the existence of the
present Government is a record which deserves, and will, I believe,
command, the support of the great mass of the labouring classes of our
country.
But I say, in all seriousness, that if the Liberal Government is on
the one hand confronted by the House of Lords, fortified by sporadic
by-elections, and on the other hand is attacked, abused, derided, by a
section of those for whom it is fighting, then that Government,
whatever its hopes, whatever its energies, whatever its strength, will
be weakened, will perhaps succumb, and will be replaced by another
Government. And by what other Government will it be replaced? There
can be no other result from such a division of progressive forces than
to instal a Tory and Protectionist Government in power. That will not
be fatal to us. Liberalism will not be killed. Liberalism is a
quickening spirit--it is immortal. It will live on through all the
days, be they good days or be they evil days. No! I believe it will
even burn stronger and brighter and more helpful in evil days than in
good--just like your harbour-lights, which shine out across the sea,
and which on a calm night gleam with soft refulgence, but through the
storm flash a message of life to those who toil on the rough waters.
But it takes a great party to govern Great Britain--no clique, no
faction, no cabal, can govern the forty millions of people who live in
this island. It takes a vast concentration of forces to make a
governing instrument. You have now got a Radical and democratic
governing instrument, and if this Administration is broken, that
instrument will be shattered. It has been recreated painfully and
laboriously after twenty years by courage and fidelity. It has come
into being--it is here. It is now at work, and by legislation and by
the influence which it can exercise throughout the whole world, it is
making even our opponents talk our language, making all parties in the
State think of social reform, and concern themselves with social and
domestic affairs. Beware how you injure that great instrument, as Mr.
Gladstone called it--or weaken it at a moment when the masses of this
country have need of it. Why, what would happen, if this present
Government were to perish? On its tomb would be written: "Beware of
social reform. The labouring classes will not support a Government
engaged in social reform. Every social reform will cost you votes.
Beware of social reform. 'Learn to think Imperially.'"
An inconclusive verdict from Dundee, the home of Scottish
Radicalism--an inconclusive, or, still more, a disastrous
verdict--would carry a message of despair to every one in all parts of
our island and in our sister island who is working for the essential
influences and truths of Liberalism and progress. Down, down, down
would fall the high hopes of the social reformer. The constructive
plans now forming in so many brains would melt into air. The old
regime would be reinstated, reinstalled. Like the Bourbons, they will
have learned nothing and will have forgotten nothing. We shall step
out of the period of adventurous hope in which we have lived for a
brief spell; we shall step back to the period of obstinate and
prejudiced negations. For Ireland--ten years of resolute government;
for England--dear food and cheaper gin; and for Scotland--the superior
wisdom of the House of Lords! Is that the work you want to do, men of
Dundee? Is that the work to which you will put your precious
franchises--your votes, which have been won for you by so much
struggle in the past? No; I am confident that this city, which has of
its own free will plunged into the very centre of national politics,
will grasp the opportunity now presented; that its command will not be
back, but forward; that its counsel will be not timidity, but courage,
and that it will aim not at dividing, but at rallying the progressive
forces, not at dissipating, but at combining the energies of reform.
That will be the message which you will send in tones which no man can
mistake--so that a keen, strong, northern air shall sweep across our
land to nerve and brace the hearts of men, to encourage the weak, to
fortify the strong, to uplift the generous, to correct the proud.
In time of war, when an action has been joined for a long time, and
the lines are locked in fierce conflict, and stragglers are coming in
and the wounded drifting away, when the reserves begin to waver here
and there, it is on such an occasion that Scottish regiments have so
often won distinction; it is on these occasions that you have seen
some valiant brigade march straight forward into the battle smoke,
into the confusion of the field, right into the heart of the fight.
That is what you have to do at this moment. "Scotland for ever!"
Now I turn my argument to the other side of the field, to the other
quarter, from which we are subject to attack; I turn in my appeal from
Trade Unionists, from the Labour men, who ought in all fairness to
recognise the work this Government is doing and back them in their
sore struggle; I turn to the rich and the powerful, to Unionist and
Conservative elements, who, nevertheless, upon Free Trade, upon
temperance, and upon other questions of moral enlightenment, feel a
considerable sympathy with the Liberal Party; I turn to those who say,
"We like Free Trade and we are Liberals at heart, but this Government
is too Radical: we don't like its Radical measures. Why can't they let
well alone? What do they mean by introducing all these measures, all
these Bills, which," so they say, "disturb credit and trade, and
interfere with the course of business, and cause so many
class-struggles in the country?" I turn to those who complain we are
too Radical in this and in that, and that we are moving too quickly,
and I say to them: "Look at this political situation, not as party
men, but as Britons; look at it in the light of history; look at it in
the light of philosophy; and look at it in the light of broad-minded,
Christian charity."
Why is it that life and property are more secure in Britain than in
any other country in the world? Why is it that our credit is so high
and that our commerce stretches so far? Is it because of the
repressive laws which we impose? Why, gentlemen, there are laws far
more severe than any prevailing in this country, or that have
prevailed here for many years, now in force in great States in Europe,
and yet there is no complete security of life and property
notwithstanding all these repressive laws. Is it because of the House
of Lords, that life and property are secure? Why, orders of
aristocracy more powerful, much more homogeneous, of greater
privileges, acting with much greater energy than our aristocracy, have
been swept away in other countries until not a vestige, or scarce a
vestige, of their existence remains. Is it because of the British
Constitution that life and property are secure? Why, the British
Constitution is mainly British common sense. There never were forty
millions of people dwelling together who had less of an arbitrary and
rigid Constitution than we have here. The Constitution of France, the
Constitution of Germany, the Constitution of the United States are far
more rigid, far better fortified against popular movement, than the
Constitution under which we in these islands have moved steadily
forward abreast of the centuries on the whole to a better state than
any other country.
I will tell those wealthy and powerful people what the secret of the
security of life and property in Britain is. The security arises from
the continuation of that very class-struggle which they lament and of
which they complain, which goes on ceaselessly in our country, which
goes on tirelessly, with perpetual friction, a struggle between class
and class which never sinks into lethargy, and never breaks into
violence, but which from year to year makes possible a steady and
constant advance. It is on the nature of that class-struggle in
Britain that the security of life and property is fundamentally
reposed. We are always changing; like nature, we change a great deal,
although we change very slowly. We are always reaching a higher level
after each change, but yet with the harmony of our life unbroken and
unimpaired. And I say also to those persons here, to whom I now make
my appeal: wealthy men, men of light and leading have never been all
on one side in our country. There have always been men of power and
position who have sacrificed and exerted themselves in the popular
cause; and that is why there is so little class-hatred here, in spite
of all the squalor and misery which we see around us. There,
gentlemen, lies the true evolution of democracy. That is how we have
preserved the golden thread of historical continuity, when so many
other nations have lost it for ever. That is the only way in which
your island life as you know it, and love it, can be preserved in all
its grace and in all its freedom--can be elevated, expanded, and
illumined for those who will occupy our places when our share in the
world's work is done.
And I appeal to the leaders of industry and of learning in this city
to range themselves on the side of a policy which will vigilantly seek
the welfare of the masses, and which will strictly refuse to profit
through their detriment; and, in spite of the violence of extremists,
in spite of the harshness of controversy which hard conditions
produce, in spite of many forces which may seem to those gentlemen
ungrateful, I ask them to pursue and persevere in their crusade--for
it is a crusade--of social progress and advance.
Cologne Cathedral took 600 years to build. Generations of architects
and builders lived and died while the work was in progress. Still the
work went on. Sometimes a generation built wrongly, and the next
generation had to unbuild, and the next generation had to build again.
Still the work went on through all the centuries, till at last there
stood forth to the world a mighty monument of beauty and of truth to
command the admiration and inspire the reverence of mankind. So let it
be with the British Commonwealth. Let us build wisely, let us build
surely, let us build faithfully, let us build, not for the moment, but
for future years, seeking to establish here below what we hope to
find above--a house of many mansions, where there shall be room for
all.
The result of the election was declared as follows
Churchill (Liberal) 7,079
Baxter (Conservative) 4,370
Stuart (Socialist) 4,014
Scrymgeour (Prohibitionist) 655
-----
Liberal majority 2,709
-----
FOOTNOTES:
[9] March 30, 1908.
II
SOCIAL ORGANISATION
PAGE
MINES [EIGHT HOURS] BILL (July 6, 1908) 173
UNEMPLOYMENT (Oct. 10, 1908) 189
THE SOCIAL FIELD (Jan. 13, 1909) 211
THE APPROACHING CONFLICT (Jan. 30, 1909) 225
THE ANTI-SWEATING BILL (April 28, 1909) 239
LABOUR EXCHANGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE
(May 19, 1909) 253
THE SECOND READING OF THE MINES [EIGHT HOURS] BILL
HOUSE OF COMMONS, _July 6, 1908_
Whatever arguments may be urged against this measure, no one can say
that the Government have acted with precipitation in bringing it
before the House and the country. It has been debated for twenty
years. Parliaments, Tory and Liberal, have affirmed the principle, and
I do not suppose there ever was a similar reform put forward in this
House upon a greater volume of scientific and accurate information, or
after more prolonged, careful, and sustained scrutiny. If the debate
on the Second Reading has thrown very little new light on this
question, it is because it has been fully and thoroughly explored on
former occasions; and not only has it been fully explored, but it is
now illuminated by the admirable Report which has been presented by
the Departmental Committee appointed last session.
This Report, while exciting approval on all sides, gives no complete
satisfaction to any. It balances, and weighs, but it does not finally
pronounce. It aims less at deciding this controversy, than at defining
the limits within which its economic aspect may be said to lie. I
think any one who reads the Report with attention will feel, after
careful study, that the limits of the economic controversy are
moderately restricted. We have to consider on the one hand the gross
reduction of one-tenth in the hours of labour of underground workmen,
taking the average over all classes of men and all sorts of mines. And
on the other hand we have as a set-off against that gross reduction
certain very important mitigations which are enumerated in the Report,
to which I shall briefly refer.
The first economic question which the House has to settle is, whether
these mitigations which are enumerated will have the effect of
overtaking the reduction which is to follow the curtailment of hours,
or, if not, how far they will fall short in overtaking that reduction.
I do not suppose that any hon. gentleman is likely to change his
opinion on a question of such complexity at this late stage of the
debate, and therefore I shall only refer by name to these mitigations,
bearing in mind how important they are. There are those which depend
on the arrangements of employers, and those which depend on the
volition of the workers. With regard to the employers, there is
improved organisation by methods of haulage and winding, and other
means specified in the Report. There is the more extensive application
of coal-cutting machinery, and the sinking of new pits with modern
appliances, which is progressing in many parts of the country.
There is the system of double and multiple shifts. The extension of
the system will not be so difficult as has sometimes been supposed. At
the present moment, taking the statistics of 1906, a quarter only of
the workers below ground are employed in mines in which there is only
one coal-getting shift, and in all the mines in which there are two or
more coal-getting shifts the first shift preponderates in number
greatly over the second, and, therefore, in applying this system of
double or multiple shifts, in so far as it is necessary to apply it,
we shall not have to face the difficulty of a complete transformation
in the methods of working a great many of the mines, but it will be a
mere extension of the system which at present exists over a great
portion of the coal-getting area.
From the side of labour, the mitigations which may be expected as
off-sets to the original reduction are not less important. There is
the increased efficiency, of which we have instances actually on
record in this Report, which has followed from the reduction of hours.
There is the power of the worker, if he chooses, to increase his
earnings on a short day. There is "absenteeism," which has always been
affected by a reduction of hours, and which amounts to 6.6 per cent.
of the working time of the mines, and there is the margin of stoppages
through slack trade and other circumstances, which at present
aggregates 7 per cent. of the working time of the mines. Taking these
last two alone, they aggregate 13 per cent., or considerably more, as
a margin, than the reduction of working time which will be caused by
the operation of this Bill, even when the full operation is reached.
First of all then, let the House consider carefully whether from these
sources it is possible to overtake the 10 per cent. reduction which,
in the first instance, the Bill imposes. It is a question nicely
balanced; it offers matter for fair argument this way and that, but,
taking all the means of mitigation together, not only singly but
collectively, it is surely very difficult to believe that masters and
men, organised as they are, and working together with good will, and
with ample time to accommodate themselves to new arrangements, will
not be able from all sources to overtake the comparatively small
reduction in hours the Bill will effect.
I am inclined to an opinion that good use will be made of these
margins, but even if we assume, for the sake of the argument, that
there will be a net reduction in consequence of the passage of this
Bill in the output of coal, that reduction must be temporary and
transient in its character. For fifty years there have been continuous
changes in the conditions of coal-mining in this country. The hours
have been reduced, the conditions of boy labour have been restricted,
wages have been raised, compensation has been provided, and
precautions against accidents have been multiplied. All these changes,
the wisdom of which nobody disputes, may from a purely and crudely
economic standpoint be said to militate against production. We have
heard many prophecies, but what has been the history of the coal
trade? There has been a steady, unbroken expansion of output during
the last fifty years. In the period of ten years ending in 1874,
76,000,000 tons were produced; in the next ten years 112,000,000; in
the next ten years 145,000,000; in the next ten years 172,000,000; and
in the last period of ten years 214,000,000--a figure which has been
greatly exceeded since.
If it be admitted that there may be a certain reduction in output as a
consequence of this Bill, that reduction must be considered, not by
itself, not in isolation, but in relation to the steady and persistent
movement of coal production for the last fifty years. To me it seems
certain that the small temporary restriction will be lost in the
general tendency to expansion, as the eddy is carried forward by the
stream and the recoiling wave is lost in the advancing tide.
But these arguments would be wholly vitiated if it could be shown that
the restriction of hours was so violent in its character, so sudden in
its application, so rigid in its methods as, not merely to cause a
certain shrinkage in the volume of the output, but to upset the
economy of the coal-mining industry. In that case there would be not
merely a curtailment which might be mitigated, but we should have
injured and possibly disorganised the industry; and it is at this
point that it is proper for the House to consider the safeguards
introduced by the Government into the Bill. These safeguards are of
the greatest importance.
There is the safeguard of overtime. Sixty hours a year are permitted.
In districts where men work ten days a fortnight, twelve weeks may be
one hour longer than the usual time allowed by the Bill; and where the
days laboured are only four in the week, fifteen weeks of extended
time will be possible through the provision of overtime. There are
provisions with regard to the labour of certain persons permitted to
remain below ground beyond the legal hours for special purposes, and
there is a power which relaxes the Bill altogether in an emergency
which is likely to delay or arrest the general work of the mine, and,
of course, in any case where there is accident or danger. Finally, if
there should be risk of a corner or an unexpected rise in price, the
Government have power by Order in Council to suspend the whole
operation of the law in order to prevent anything like a serious
crisis arising in the coal trade.