INDUSTRIES 



agency the in-soles, uppers, and soles. The upper, 

 having been lasted, was placed on the machine 

 and held in position, and a ' head ' inside the 

 lasted upper pressed against the in-sole directly 

 opposite the point where the screw was being 

 inserted, and the instant screw and 'head' 

 touched, the wire was automatically cut level 

 with the face of the sole. The screw making 

 its own hole fits tightly in the leather, and the 

 various substances of leather being compressed by 

 the operation, a very solid boot results. Screwed 

 boots are still made in quantities for winter wear. 

 The objections made to the system are the stiff- 

 ness and unpliability of the boot and the difficulty 

 in repairing it. 



It will be readily understood that coincident 

 with the growing use of machinery it became 

 inevitable that factories should increase in size, 

 and that more workmen would be required to 

 work indoors. The operatives soon saw that the 

 whole conditions of the industry were undergoing 

 change, and with a view to safeguarding their 

 own interests, such as were employed in connexion 

 with the new methods decided to form a union 

 for that purpose. In 1874 came into existence 

 ' The National Amalgamated Union of Opera- 

 tive Boot and Shoe Riveters and Finishers.' 

 This was actually an offshoot from the older 

 Cordwainers' Society, which it was felt could not 

 fittingly further the interests of the newer 

 branches of the boot industry. 



It is worthy of note that the earlier combi- 

 nations of workers were for the object of the 

 better enforcement of various protective laws, 

 such as the statute of apprentices ^ and the like, 

 which seemed in danger of falling into abeyance. 

 But when the factory system had grown up and 

 caused the laws to be repealed, the function of 

 trade unionism changed. The workers com- 

 bined no longer to enforce the law, but to main- 

 tain restrictions which the law had ceased to 

 countenance. It was only in 1 87 1 that the law 

 gave such combinations legal status, although by 

 an Act passed in 1824 combination of workmen 

 ceased to be a statutory criminal offence as it had 

 previously been. 



The rules and regulations of the men's union 

 state among their objects : the employer to find 

 healthy workshops and supply all firing, heating, 

 tools, grindery, and gas, free of charge ; uniform 

 state of wages ; shorter hours ; control of the ap- 

 prentice system, etc. Assistance in the formation 

 of sick and burial clubs for members is very 

 properly included. 



What is now called the ' Manufacturers' 

 Association' was instituted in 1879 as 'The 

 Northampton Boot, Shoe, Leather Trades and 

 Creditors' Association of Wholesale Dealers.' 



Its original purpose was financial, as it was 

 framed for mutual protection against a certain 

 class of trader that was victimizing the trade, for 



5 Eliz. 



trade reports, recovery of debts, and the like ; 

 but gradually by force of circumstances it resolved 

 itself into an organization for safeguarding the 

 manufacturers' interests in the case of aggressive 

 action on the part of the men's union. 



In its latter capacity it was called upon for 

 action in the strike of 1887. The men had 

 attempted to obtain an increase of wages at the 

 factory of Messrs. Cove & West, who did not 

 belong to the Manufacturers' Association. Their 

 demands were resisted, the firm obtaining non- 

 union workmen in place of such as had refused 

 to work without an increased wage. Disturb- 

 ances took place, and the Manufacturers' Asso- 

 ciation was called upon to intervene. They 

 admitted Messrs. Cove & West to their body, 

 and when it was found that no peaceful solution 

 could be found without giving way entirely to 

 the men, forty-six of the principal firms closed 

 their works and instituted a ' lock out.' From 

 September till the end of the year thousands of 

 men were idle until an agreement was arrived at, 

 and on 22 January, 1888, the factories again 

 opened their doors. 



Three immediate results followed : An in- 

 creased accession to the men's union and to the 

 Manufacturers' Association, and a further intro- 

 duction of machinery. Devices for the lasting 

 of boot uppers had been upon the market for 

 some time, and their inventors found that the 

 shoe manufacturers now turned to them a more 

 attenti\e ear. In lasting machines the Cope- 

 land-Mackay, the Chase, the Cutlan, and the 

 Triumph, each had its supporters ; presumably 

 the fittest has survived, and to-day no well- 

 equipped factory is without some improved form 

 of these labour-saving devices. 



As a further outcome of the strike came the 

 introduction of the principle of conciliation and 

 arbitration in case of disagreements. The deed 

 of settlement provided a board of arbitration, to 

 consist of equal numbers of masters and men, 

 with a court of appeal composed of a nominee of 

 each party, and a third chosen by them. By this 

 means it was hoped that a peaceful solution 

 might be found in all cases of dispute. 



In 1889 further machinery was brought into 

 this country from America, always ahead of 

 England in this department. The Goodyear 

 Company introduced the Goodyear Welter, a 

 great improvement on former types, and the 

 Munyan Lock-stitch Machine, an improvement 

 on their Chain-stitcher. Complete finishing 

 machinery also came in the same year. The 

 last-named had a long fight before it established 

 itself generally in the Northampton factories, as 

 its introduction necessitated complete alteration 

 and reorganization of a verj' important department. 



In 1894 the men's union took a step which 

 brought about a revolution in the trade. It 

 demanded that no more work should be done 

 ' outside,' but that all labour, except closing (and 

 hand-sewn work with which the riveters' and 



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