Page:Historical Catechism of American Unionism.pdf/37

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

workmen if the workers were supported by means of assessments levied upon workmen in other trades, then in employment?

"6. Would a General Combination of Employers, representing diverse business interests, be successful in such a case as is supposed in the last question?
Another question was asked: "Would it be possible to enact and enforce laws, without encroaching upon the liberties of the people, that would wholly or at a considerable extent, prevent the interruption of industry and the other evil consequences of strikes." To prevent strikes by making strikes illegal. The capitalists sought that end then, and before; they are still seeking it.
127. Were any steps taken to form a general organization of labor on a national scale?
Yes. The Machinists' Union at its 1860 and 1861 conventions went on record as favoring a national organization by the national unions then in existence. Nothing came of it.
In 1864 the Louisville Trades' Assembly made two appeals for a national convention; the first in April and the second in August. Twelve delegates were present. A constitution was drafted. The next convention of this International Assembly was scheduled for Detroit in May 1865, but it never took place. A tendency toward political action wrecked this attempt; besides this, the Philadelphia Industrial Assembly, the strongest in the country, did not take part. This is accounted for, in part anyhow, by the fact that the national officers of the Molders and Machinists influenced that body. While they desired a general national organization, they desired the national union rather than the trades' assembly to be the unit. Had these officers not been able to influence Philadelphia, the story of American labor might have been written in different terms.
128. What national unions appeared in the sixties?
From 1863 to 1866 several new national unions were formed; viz: Plasterers' National Union, National Union of Journeymen Curriers', Ship Carpenters' and Caulkers' International Union, National Union of Cigar Makers, Journeymen Painters' National Union, National Union of Hatters, Tailors' National Union, Carpenters' and Join-

38