TRADE-UXIOXS 69 



lose this, they simply raise their balance to 100/. This form of 

 punishment would be as sensible as though a judge were to 

 condemn a prisoner to pay out of his pocket a fine of 40^. to 

 his own bankers. The simple refusal of an auditor to pass 

 accounts will be no punishment, and will not even cause tem- 

 porary inconvenience, unless the misappropriation has been 

 very large. What can follow a refusal to pass the accounts ? 

 In a joint-stock company no dividend can be declared ; but are 

 we prepared to say that in a union no benefits shall be paid 

 while the accounts remain uncertified ? No ; there is no magic 

 either in the word audit or in the thing, and if the auditor is 

 to have any power to enforce correct accounts, he must have the 

 power of inflicting penalties for non-compliance with the regu- 

 lations. He will be of little use as a protection against the 

 action of unions, but may be useful in protecting the interests 

 of members defrauded by their officers. 



AYhat rules shall be legal, what rules shall be illegal ? AYe 

 propose that the union should be treated as a single body, 

 existing for the purpose of contracting for the sale of labour, 

 and that no contract shall be allowed which, by any of its con- 

 ditions, requires the injury of a third person or body, not a party 

 to the contract. No rules permitting or enforcing such contracts 

 should therefore be legal, and we see no other restriction which 

 has been shown by evidence to be necessary. This principle 

 would render illegal, strikes against outsiders ; against machi- 

 nery ; against any special materials, any given contractor ; 

 against the limitation of apprentices. It would leave the union 

 the fullest scope to determine the conditions on which its mem- 

 bers would sell their labour, so long as these conditions were 

 within the competence of their employer and of themselves. 



Our principle would allow all bargains as to hours of labour, 

 the amount of wages, the time of their payment, the conditions 

 of dismissal, the penalties enforced in workshops against work- 

 men, the acceptance or refusal of piece-work, the establish- 

 ment of courts of arbitration, and the time during which any 

 given set of rules, forming part of a contract, shall be binding. 

 \ special provision is wanted against murder, theft, intimi- 

 dation, or violence. All these things are illegal. A provision 

 against threats might be found useful, and is suggested in the 



