MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 67 



canuot be prohibited because of the selfishness of the men and the 

 "weakness"' of human nature. (*13G.) Undercutting in the form 

 of wage returns are generally admitted as prevalent. (*61, 60, 02.) 



It is unsafe to generalize too broadly on the spirit of the men 

 from such a small amount of evidence as I have collected, yet one 

 can hazard a guess upon the subject without being ridiculed. Al- 

 though I had personal interviews with less than two dozen men, I 

 saw several thousand men at work on my tours and from time to 

 time met a considerable number of journeymen who were unem- 

 ployed. I was impressed with their energy and industry' while at 

 work. They seemed conscientious and anxious to make their ser- 

 vices profitable to their employer. I was also impressed with the 

 absence of conversations between the men yet there exists a sympa- 

 thetic attitude between them. 



The hypothesis that the journeymen distrust the leader is 

 strengthened by the opinion of several journeymen and leaders as 

 well. (*177-179,) In one interview with several men, they said 

 that the "oflBcers give or sell our rights and privileges outright to 

 the bosses." (*179.) Or, in the words of another journeyman, ''The 

 officers lose their heads and the spirit of the trade when in office and 

 away from the tools too long. The employers either are able to buy 

 them when need be, or get their consent when the labor oflScials are 

 drunk." (*178.) One conscientious leader said, with regard to this 

 distrust that "Their distrust is usually unfounded, but the journey- 

 men think that, because the oflScials can't always get just what the 

 journeymen want, they (the oflScials) sell out." (*177.) There 

 seems, however, to be little doubt but that the rank -and file of the 

 carpenters distrust the oflScers, whether the distrust is well founded 

 or not. 



Finally, what advantages do the men think they get from the 

 union and why do they want and need a union ? It seems impossible 

 to get a comprehensive understanding of the nature of a trade 

 union, from the carpenters. They have quite definite ideas of what 

 the union is for and its ''business" but not of what it is. They 

 recognize an element of group action in a union. Olie journeyman, 

 after considerable explanation, said, "a trade union is group action 

 for collective bargaining." (*17G.) One leader laughed at me 

 when asked what a trade union is. They are not so much concerned 

 about what a union is as what it does. The general tone of the 

 interviews shows that the men want a union to get more now. This 

 is strongly supported by direct evidence. The "Carpenter," speak- 

 ing of this, says, "The organized labor movement has so far proved 

 the only practicable means of giving the working people as a whole 



