This status of the Congress has in large part determined its history. In the great conflict which was waged in the closing decades of the 19th century between the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor for suprem acy in the federal field of American trade unionism, the Congress at first held the balance even. Later on, however, with the increasing strength of the Federation, the influence of the Knights of Labor in the Congress declined. Eventually an open rupture occurred, and in 1904 the °Canadian Federation of Labor* was organized of unions cast out of the Congress on the ground of adherence to the principles of the defeated movement.. The new organ ization adopted as its leading policy the foster ing of a purely Canadian as opposed to an international trade union movement. Outside of the province of Quebec,. however, where the Knights of Labor had attained an exceptionally strong position, no numerous following was obtained. The Federation has at the present time a membership of about 50 unions. There have always been, of course, a limited number of purely local organizations of labor in Canada, and even of central craft associations, outside the international movement. The boot and shoe workers and textile workers of the province of Quebec had at one time consider able organizations. The Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees has more recently be come prominent, and there are at present at least 10 other Canadian associations of a cen tral character. Of these the best known, both because of its history and its present imPort• ance, is the Provincial Workmen's Association of Nova Scotia, a body founded in 1879, origi• nally of coal miners. After a career of 30 years replete with successes, the Association had established its influence throughout Nova Scotia, when a strike of the Dominion Coal Company's employees threatened to involve the great majority of its members and accord ingly to place an undue strain on its resources. The incident is somewhat typical of organiza tions having a limited field of operations. It caused a section of the membership in the present case to look for help to the United Mine Workers of America, the international body established throughout the continent, which at once threw organizers into the field. After a bitter struggle of several years' duration, a compromise was effected in 1917, by which the two series of local organizations have become merged, but have continued on a Canadian basis. As to the present position of trade unionism in Canada, the following is a brief review: Local Beginning with the unit of trade union organization, namely, the local union,— usually the craft union — there were in 1916 some 1,842 bodies of this character in Canada. Of these, 1,626 were branches of in
ternational organizations, 189 were branches of purely Canadian organizations, whilst 27 were entirely independent and local. The total trade union membership was estimated at 160,407 in 1916, of which 129,123 was international. This does not represent the highest point reached by the Canadian labor movement; in 1913, there were 2,017 local unions and the total member ship was over 175000. By provinces, Ontario stands first with 753 unions, and Quebec second with 306. British Columbia follows with 202 and Alberta with 147. Manitoba has. 130, Saskatchewan 116, Nova Scotia 100, New Brunswick 80 and Prince Edward Island 8. Trade unionism naturally predominates in the larger industrial centres, and 18 Canadian cities contain 828 of the 1,842 local branches, and over 40 per cent of the entire membership. Montreal with 127 unions, Toronto with 111, Winnipeg with 75, Vancouver with 56, Hamil ton with 50, Ottawa with 46, Edmonton with 42 and London with 40 are the leading centres of the labor movement. The most highly unionized group of workpeople is the railroad employees, who constitute 30.5 per cent of all Canadian trade unionists. The clothing and boot and shoe trades account for 10.6 per cent of the locals and the metal trades for 9.5 per cent. Building trades and mining and quarry ing tie for next place with 9.4 per cent each. The printing trades have 4.5 per cent. These proportions vary from year to year with gen eral economic conditions. In 1914 the building trades made up 18.9 per cent of the total trade union membership, whilst the railway employees were at that time only 24.9 per cent.
With regard to the central international craft organizations, it may be noted that of a total of 143 operating on the North American continent, 91 are represented in Canada. The American Federation of Labor constitutes the federal head of 112 of these; within Canada 84 are in affiliation with the Trades and Labor Congress. Naturally the Canadian representa tion in the international movement is but a small proportion of the whole. It was esti mated in 1916 that the American Federation of Labor embraced a total of 24,3450 local branches, with a membership of 2,529,198. The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada could speak at the same time for 1,138 local branches having a membership of 66,573. Of the 91 organiza tions above mentioned, 41 have 10 or more branches in Canada. Those having 25 or more branches are as follows: Reported Number mem of bership Canadian of all local units in