TILE BOYCOTT. The American union has done with the boycott what it has done with the strike: made it less violent., but more delib erate and systematic. The old form of boycott —the fiery crusade for the social and commercial ostracism of the offending employer—is still met with occasionally, but the favorite method at present is to place the recalcitrant employer on an unfair list and spread the ban through the medium of the labor press. The initiative is largely taken by complaint of the local union to the national executive hoard that some em ployer is violating union rules. The national officers usually offer the employer a hearing at which to disprove the charges. or offer proof of intention to discontinue the objectionable practice, and if such proof is not supplied the offender is placed on the list of merchants or manufaetur ers with whom loyal trade unionists are encour aged to have no business dealings either as pur chasers of commodities or sellers of labor. A majority of American unions use this system to a greater or lesser extent. The Federation of Labor gives national scope to the more impor tant boycotts by indorsing them and including the offenders' names in the column of the Ameri can Pcderationist. Between 75 and 100 firms and companies were under boycott by the Federa tion in January, 1903. It is clear that if the
1.465,800 or more members of the Federation strictly observed every official boycott the latter would become a formidable weapon against man ufacturers and sellers of commodities in general use among the laboring classes. The observ ance, however, is so lax that the boycott is not effective except in a few' industries, such as the brewing industry, and in some union strong holds, such as Chicago, Milwaukee, and the larger cities generally.
Boycotts proper, however, have been generally held unlawful in American courte, though a few recent equivocal decisions are held by some to point the other way. American trade union ists, however, are practically unanimous in up holding the right to boycott. Their argument rests upon the absolute and complete legality of the act of discontinuing business relations. Finally, trade unions exert what is often called `a legal boycott' through the familiar union label, which has played such an important part in the building up of the Cigarmakers', Garment workers,' and flatters' unions in America, and the use of which is now spreading, not only among American unions, but among those of England, Germany, Austria, and Australia. See UNION LAMEI..