The most marked characteristic of British Trade Unionism during the decade 1905-15 was its increasing attention to Parliamentary action, and the creation of an effective Labor Party. Political action had, for a whole century, been one of the weapons of Trade Unionism, notably among the cotton operatives and coal miners; and 'Trade Unions have openly spent money on electioneering, and have maintained their own members in Parliament since 1874, at any rate. An °Independent Labor Party* was formed in 1893; the Trades Union Congress took action to reform such a party on a broader basis in 1899; but it was not until the Taff Vale case (a legal decision which made Trade Unions henceforth liable in damages for any action of their officers, as if they were corporate bodies, although they were not allowed the privileges of corporate bodies) that the matter was energetically taken up. At the general election of 1906 no fewer than 50 candidates were run by the Labor Party, and 29 of them were successful. Since that date there has been continuously in the House of Commons a separately organized party, in 1916 numbering 40 members, representing °The Labor Party,' which is itself a federation of trade unions, trades councils, Socialist societies and co-opera tive societies, counting altogether over two million members. The Labor Party in Parlia ment has obtained the enactment of the Trade Union Acts, 1906 and 1912, which restored the Trade Union immunity from litigation affecting their corporate funds and the Trade Union right to subsidize political action, both of them im paired by judicial decisions (the Taff Vale Railway and Osborne cases). The influence of the Parliamentary Labor Party has been seen also in the quickening of radical policy in social and economic questions, resulting in the provision of old age pensions, meals for ne cessitous children at school, a legal minimum wage for sweated trades, the eight hours day and a legal minimum wage for coal miners, a more effective °fair wages clause* in all govern ment contracts, labor exchanges to diminish un employment, more drastic progressive taxation of incomes, and the National Insurance Act, cov ering sickness, maternity, accidents, unemploy ment and permanent disability. Soon after the
outbreak of war in August 1914, when the Liberal and Conservative parties united to form a Coalition Ministry, the Labor Party was invited to join as a separate entity, and its leader, Mr. Arthur Henderson, became a member of the cabinet.
Bibliography.— The principal authorities are the 'Annual Reports> of the Board of Trade (Labor Department) on Trade Union Statistics, Collective Agreements, Rates of Wages, and on Strikes and Lockouts, together with the Annual Reports of the Chief Regis trar of Friendly Societies (those relate only to registered Trade Unions). For the history, con sult 'The History of Trade Unionism' by S. and B. Webb (1911 edition), and (as to origins) also 'Industrial Organization in the 16th and 17th Centuries,' by George Unwin (1904). For an elaborate economic analysis of every form of Trade Union activity, consult 'Industrial Democracy,' by S. and B. Webb (edition of 1911) ; also 'Methods of Industrial Remunera tion,' by D. L. Schloss; 'Industrial Peace,' by L. L. F. R. Price; 'The Case for the Factory Acts,' edited by Mrs. Sidney Webb, with pref ace by Mrs. Humphrey Ward. The latest works of importance are 'The World of Labour,' by G. D. H. Cole (1915); and 'Trade Unionism,' by C. M. Lloyd (1915) • consult also the elaborate details in 'The Labour Year Book' (1916). For the case against Trade Unionism, from the standpoint of the indi vidualist employer, consult 'Trade Unions and Industry,' by E. A. Pratt.