MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 45 



"^\'ei'e ordered back on the job and obeyed. This sort of incident liap- 

 peus fre<iuently, I am tohl, and the men always obey. For this 

 reason, the ('ari)enters' Union is effective, and for the same reason 

 that the Prnssian army is effective. 



The second of the general policies is the attempt to limit the 

 labor snpply in the craft. The union controls the supply of labor in 

 the craft by limiting the nund)er of apprentices and by examining 

 new members. Contractors are not allowed to indenture more than 

 two api)rentices for every ten journeymen em])loyed. By this means 

 of limitation there are only about four liundred apprentices in (Mii- 

 cago to twenty thousand journeymen. Only about eighty of the four 

 liundred apprentices finish their training annually. The number of 

 journeymen retiring annually must be about five hundred. (This 

 tigure is obtained by taking two and one-half per cent of the total 

 number of j(»urneynien, which assumes that no journeyman stays in 

 the trade more than forty years.) The limitations on apprentice- 

 ship have been so severe that it is generally understood that only 

 sons of journeymen carpenters get into the system. 



The snp|)ly of labor in the craft is further limited by the exam- 

 ining board of each local union. In dull seasons these boards put 

 up fake examinations or do not give the applicant fair returns on 

 his examination. 



The third general policy of the Carpenters' Union is the attempt 

 to limit the use of tools and output. The nature of the trade and 

 custom gives the journeyman control over his tools. Each carpenter 

 owns his tools and therefore would naturally expect to control them 

 and determine what types he should use. By limiting the use of 

 certain types of tools they keep carpentering a hand trade. For 

 this reason the carpenters may not take the sledge hammer, spike 

 maul, or j)atent mitre box on any job. 



The fourth general policy is the attempt to control the output. 

 This control is secured by the force of custom and tradition rather 

 than by rules. The men allow certain time for certain tasks. A 

 carpenter will not hang more than twenty doors in a day, nor lay 

 more than a certain number of scjuare feet of flooring in an hour, 

 etc. Besides these traditions the rules on the eight hour day and 

 holidays limit the out])ut. Through this limitation of outi)ut they 

 accomplish their aim to share work among the mendjers, they main- 

 tain a high state of physical health and strength and have more 

 time for leisure. 



And finally, the fifth general policy is work sharing. Tt is ])artly 

 the result of their successful limitation of the output. FiVory union 

 is popular with the men to the extent that its members are kept em- 



