GILD REGULATION. 461 



among the unorganized workers, in imitation of the organ 

 ized workers. He says: 



&quot;The Craft-Gilds themselves first sprang up among the free crafts 

 men, when they were excluded from the fraternities which had taken 

 the place of the family unions, and later among the bondsmen, when 

 they ceased to belong to thefamilia of their lord.&quot; 

 ISTot the craftsmen only but also their employers became 

 segregated. In London, in the reign of Edward III, com 

 panies of merchants were incorporated ; and in pursuance of 

 the general tendency to harden custom into law, it was 

 enacted that merchants should severally deal only in com 

 modities of one kind, while artisans should severally confine 

 themselves to one occupation. A concomitant result was, 

 of course, that the original combination of traders tended to 

 lose its power and eventually its existence. &quot; The various 

 younger bodies, which were formed one after another, 

 gradually superseded the gild-merchant altogether and left 

 it no sphere for independent activity.&quot; 



The regulative functions of these craft-gilds were both 

 internal and external. Internally they gave definite forms 

 to the customs of the craft and punished gild-brothers who 

 infringed them. To prevent unfair competition with one 

 another, they forbade the use of inferior materials, provided 

 against the enticing away of apprentices, and prohibited 

 night-work. They appointed searchers to detect delinquent 

 brothers and bring them up for judgment, and in some cases 

 they fixed holidays to be observed by the craft. But chiefly 

 their aims were, 1st, to exclude the competition of outsiders, 

 and, 2nd, to keep down their own numbers so as to maintain 

 individual profits. To this end they fixed the terms on which 

 apprentices might be taken and strangers employed. They 

 sought to prevent apprentices from becoming masters ; and, 

 by giving privileges to the children of gild-members, they 

 further tended to make the body a close corporation. By 

 impediments, pecuniary and other, admission to gild-mem 

 bership was made difficult ; servant- workmen not belonging 



