548 INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTIONS. 



bakers was a wrong done not only to the non-unionist but to 

 the public at large. In his own case, however, as a trader 

 in labour, he thinks the question is solely between himself, 

 demanding a certain rate of pay, and the non-unionist who 

 offers to take less pay. What may be the interest of the 

 third party to the transaction, who buys labour, is indiffer 

 ent. But clearly all three are concerned. If the unionist 

 complains that the non-unionist hurts him by underbidding 

 him and taking away his work, not only may the non-union 

 ist reply that he is hurt if he is prevented from working at 

 the rate he offers, but the employer may complain that he, 

 too, is hurt by being obliged to pay more to the one than lie 

 would to the other. So that the trade-unionist s proceeding 

 inflicts two hurts that one may be prevented. 



Should it be said that the employer can afford to pay the 

 higher rate, the reply is that the profit on his business is 

 often so cut down by competition that he must, by giving 

 the higher rate, lose all profit and become bankrupt, or else 

 must, along with other manufacturers similarly placed, raise 

 his prices; in which case the community at large, including 

 wage-earners at large, is the third party hurt. 



831. Returning from this incidental criticism let us ask 

 what are the effects of the trade-union policy, pecuniarily 

 considered. After averaging the results over many trades 

 in many years, do we find the wage-earner really benefited 

 in his &quot;Standard of Life &quot;? 



There is one case that of the agricultural labourers 

 which shows clearly that under some conditions little or 

 nothing can be done by combination. Numerous farms are 

 now advertised as vacant and can find no tenants: tens of 

 thousands of acres are lying idle. If, then, the cost of culti 

 vation is even now such that in many parts no adequate 

 return on capital can be obtained by the farmer; and if, as 

 we are told happens on the Bedford estates, all the rent paid 

 goes in keeping the farms in order; the implication is that 



