Knights of Labor, and several of the more conservative tradeunions.127

When the questions for which the convention had been called were disposed of, the need of a permanent central body was brought before the delegates. Haskell's resolution indicates that there was a general tendency towards federation at that time. It is also interesting as the first suggestion of the plan of organization of the Council of Federated Trades. It declares :

"Whereas, The iron trades unions, five in number, are federated; the building trades, seven in number, are being federated, and the maritime trades, nine in number, are also being federated; and

"Whereas, Miscellaneous wage-workers in Assemblies of the Knights of Labor are practically federated by the District Assembly,

"Resolved, That these federations should be perfected; that all other trades-unions should combine in a miscellaneous federation, and that the delegates of all these federations should meet and act together for the general good of the working people, for the purpose of federation, and of completing the organization of the trades-unions of San Francisco."

In accordance with these suggestions the convention before its adjournment perfected plans for the organization of a new central body which began its meetings in January, 1886, and was at first burdened with the somewhat cumbersome title of "Representative Council of Trades and Labor Federation of the Pacific Coast." About a year later the name was abbreviated to "Federated Trades of the Pacific Coast." A review of the history of this new central council published five months later says that after its organization "internal dissensions arose, and from the first to the present time the work of steering the ship of federation through the straits has been such as to reflect credit upon those who have guided it. It can no longer be doubted that there is a united sentiment among the workingmen of the Coast. ''128

THE FEDERATED TRADES OF THE PACIFIC COAST, 1886-1892.

The new federation of trades proved itself the most energetic central body that had yet been organized. Its officials testified in 1892 that during the early years of its existence "tons of

127 San Francisco Daily Report, December 3, 7, 1885. 128 Ibid., May 11, 1886.

literature" were distributed for the purpose of educating the public to an appreciation of the value of trade-unions. The membership increased rapidly, so that during this first year thirteen thousand trade-unionists were represented in the Federated Trades Council. It was decided to employ a paid secretary who would give his whole time to the work of the Council.

As in the case of the earlier central bodies, this large initial membership was not maintained. Two years later the State Labor Commissioner reported that though seventeen organizations were still represented in the Council there had been a decline in its membership. The Typographical Union had attempted to discover the reasons for this decline. Their committee reported that inquiries among the withdrawing unions. had elicited a variety of answers. The ironmoulders said they had withdrawn because of the lack of financial support from the unions forming the Council, and because of the ordering of the Spreckels boycott while it was evident that the Union Iron Works strike would be lost. The patternmakers had decided that they would gain more from affiliation with their National League. The steamship stevedores with a membership of 750 found their pro rata strike assessments too high, and also resented the efforts of the Council to make them support a rival water-front organization. While the iron trades complained of the insufficiency of the strike fund, the tailors' union declared that it would have nothing to do with the Council while it continued to levy strike assessments. The report concludes with the following recommendations: "In conclusion your committee wish to report that in the light of all the information they have obtained, the arguments they have heard, and the motives which seem to actuate the friends and enemies of the Council of Federated Trades, they believe that the Union, in its own interests, and for the good of organized labor, should continue its active and earnest support of the Federation; that no good and probably great harm would be done to the interests we have most at heart, by the withdrawal of this Union; that our delegates should set an example of earnest work to the lukewarm and selfish in and out of the Federation; that the Federation should have sufficient

financial help from all unions to enable it to carry on its work in a thorough and becoming manner; that we can see no way in which good could come of destroying what has been builded with the mere hope of building better on the ruins of what now is a useful, though comparatively small gathering of labor unions. ''129

This temperate and public-spirited point of view seems to have prevailed to an extent that protected the Federated Trades from the fate of its predecessors. Indeed, if we may judge by its activity, it was not greatly weakened by the decline in numbers, as this left a more wieldy body of genuinely interested members, who succeeded in exerting a wider influence than had been possible in any previous central body.

To a greater extent than ever before or since, San Francisco was the center of organization for the whole Coast. Several trades, as the brewery workers and coast seamen, had central bodies in San Francisco, and branch unions in Oregon, Washington, and in other parts of California. Sub-councils were organized in Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Jose, and Port Costa, and an active correspondence kept up with central bodies in other Pacific Coast states and territories.130 Even the unions of British Columbia found the San Francisco Federated Trades ready to help fight their battles.131

Not only did the Federated Trades differ from earlier central bodies in the extent of its organization, but also in its aims and policies. Its objects as set forth in the declaration of purposes of the first constitution, were declared to be: “. extending, strengthening, and perpetuating the organization of labor on the Pacific Coast; to improve its present social condition; to resist the imposition of additional burdens; to mitigate the evils of unjust and unnecessary legislation; to enforce existing laws in favor of labor, and especially those in favor of eight hours as a day's labor, and against contract convict, and Mongolian competition, and to disseminate knowledge, and in every practical

129 Third Biennial Report, Bureau of Lavor Statistics, pp. 114-15 By 1890 the Federated Trades Council regained its former membership. 130 Fifth Biennial Report, Bureau of Labor Statistics, p. 40.

131 The vigorously pressed Wellington coal boycott was for the benefit of the coal miners of British Columbia.

way advance the material welfare of the workers, individually and collectively.

77132

The Australian ballot was the most important of the general public measures fostered by the Federated Trades. Over a thousand dollars were spent in the protracted campaign which finally secured its adoption in 1892. With the coöperation of the State Labor Commissioner the first laws for the protection of women and children wage-workers were passed, and also the measures requiring sanitary conditions in workshops. The agitation for the shorter work-day was promoted by a special Eight-Hour League and by a permanent standing committee of the Council. Affiliations were established with the American Federation of Labor, and President Gompers was brought to the Coast to assist in the eight-hour campaign. The Federation also took an interest in finding work for the unemployed and in securing a representation in the newly formed San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. No previous central labor union had developed such wide connections or shown a disposition to interest itself in such varied. public measures.

With the development of greater strength and confidence in the support of public opinion, the fear of publicity was lessened, and since May, 1889,133 the meetings of this central body have been open to the public, and no pledge of secrecy exacted from its members.

NEW TRADE-UNION AIMS AND METHODS, BOYCOTTS AND

STRIKE BENEFITS.

The new trade-union aims and methods promoted by the Federated Trades had even greater significance in the development of the California labor movement than the public measures advocated. Hitherto there had been little to arouse the antagonism of the employers. For twenty years the united efforts of the California workers had been chiefly devoted to securing 132 Fifth Biennial Report, Bureau of Labor Statistics, p. 53. The policies as developed were more original than suggested by this declaration. 133 Coast Seamen's Journal, May 1, 1889. Minutes of Federated Trades Council.

legislation protecting the wage-worker from the competition of Chinese and convict labor, insuring the payment of wages earned, and shortening the work-day. Their employers were often willing to join in the support of these measures. With the exception of the eight-hour movement of 1867-1869, there had been no extensive united effort to force concessions from employers. The individual unions expected little more than moral support from fellow trade-unionists when engaged in strikes.

We have seen that through the long struggle to exclude the Chinese, by means of the teachings of the Knights of Labor, and the Internationalists, the working people of the Pacific Coast had attained to a strong consciousness of unity of interests. The Federated Trades Council developed means for utilizing this unity of feeling, not alone in promoting general legislation, but also for the support and defense of particular groups of workers engaged in contests with their employers. The boycott and the strike benefit which were now introduced not only furnished effective expression for this new sense of unity but gave a different significance to the whole labor movement. A review of the history of the most important boycotts and strikes of this period will show clearly the new power gained by the tradeunions, and the provocation that called forth the first organized opposition from the employers.

The contest waged by the San Francisco Federated Trades on behalf of the miners of British Columbia is interesting, not only because it illustrates this wide-spread consciousness of a common cause, but also as an example of the methods used for enforcing boycotts in this period of their greatest development. The presiIdent of the Miners' Protective Association of Vancouver Island came before the Council with an appeal for assistance for the employees of Alexander Dunsmuir and Sons. They complained that their long hours were extended by the custom of reckoning their time from the actual commencement of work in the mine, as there was often much delay between the time of reporting for duty at the entrance of the mine, and that when they were permitted to go to work. Though paid by the ton, they were refused the eight-hour day. Their earnings were also reduced by the necessity of purchasing supplies at the company store, at