179] JURISDICTION 47 



not engaged in the industry to any considerable extent, and 

 as to the few that were, all available evidence supports the 

 conclusion that none were admitted.-* In 1877 the union 

 refused to declare them eligible, but in 1881 provided for 

 their inclusion within the class of eligible persons, "past 

 experience having taught the craft that they were indis- 

 pensable."^^ Wherever possible, separate lodges of colored 

 members were organized, as, for example, Garfield Lodge 

 in Pittsburgh in 1887. The number of negroes in the 

 organization, however, has never been large. 



Although occasional protests are heard against the admis- 

 sion of incompetents,^** the aim of the Association has been 

 to make the conditions of membership as simple as possible. 

 There is no provision in the rules for a specified term of 

 apprenticeship as a requisite for membership. The " helper " 

 system has made such a regulation unnecessary, since the 

 helper has an opportunity of watching the work of a jour- 

 neyman and of thus acquiring a trade. Despite much oppo- 

 sition, it was found necessary to admit helpers into the 

 union at an early date. A two-thirds vote is required to 

 admit and to expel. The Association has considered a few 

 cases of appeals by non-members who were rejected for 

 insufficient cause, and has made certain persons members- 

 at-large, though the union has not specifically recognized 

 this right. 



During the history of the Amalgamated Association, no 

 distinct trade organization, that is, a trade union whose 

 members did not previously belong to the Association, has 

 ever disputed its jurisdiction. A possible exception to this 

 statement is the Knights of Labor. The Knights of Labor 

 was a completely rival organization to all trade unions, in 

 that it sought to unite all workmen in one large union "' with- 



*♦ The men in the Birmingham, Ala., rolling mill, and in other 

 plants in the South refused to work with nepjroes, even though they 

 were legally eligible to union membership (Proceedings, 1900, p. 

 5874; 1905, p. 7255). 



■.J5 Proceedings, 1876, p. 82: 1881, p. 708. 



20 Proceedings, 1884. p. 1363. 



