12 
LAINU H: WATER 
June 28, 1917 
production of munitions. We have had cxjieriencc of this 
inetluid ill the casi- of the coal industry, wheie jjint com- 
mittees were set tip to check absenteeism. It has been found 
that the moral pressure of tliis democratic association is a 
real p.)wer in enforcing chsiMpiine. These committees have 
reduced absenteeism in some tiistricts to a_ point below tiie 
normal jjeace conditions in spite of the fact that they junfier 
uid more vigorous men are lieing replaced in many rases by 
ii.-n less able to stand the strain of continuous work. 
Unfortunately, tlie (iovenmient i)rcferred another method. 
They drew up an elaborate scheme for the controlled tirms 
to be administered, not by organisations representing the 
workmen, but by a new department. 
L'nder this system a minute network of restrictions 
envelops the life of the workman. The munition tri- 
bunals are nominated by the Ministry, who ch.joses a presi- 
dent, an employer and a workman. The right to strike was 
withdrawn, dilution was to be introduced, the munitions 
tribunals could forbid any jiractice that was likely to hinder 
the output, and the tribunals could punish irregul-,irity and 
such vague crimes as that of encouraging worknTPn to con- 
tinue to c )mply with a trade union custom declared illegal. 
The (i.ivernment thus intioduced a most complete and 
elaborate s\-stem of discipline without giving the workpeople 
the recognition they demanded for their trade unions. To 
the workman there is a great difference between surrendering 
his freedom to a body that represents him, and surrendering 
it to the Ciovernment acting with the class which employs 
him. 
It does not need much imagination to understand the 
kind of grievance that arises in this atmosphere. It came 
out the other day that a woman had l>een fined for absence 
when the cause of her absence was the death of her baby. 
The control of a department, itself working under great stre.-s 
and j)ressure. does not liecome less exacting as time goes on, and 
it is tlu' instinct of bureaucracy to trust more and more to 
regulations and red tape. The workman found himself 
virtually tied to one employer under the system of leaving certi- 
ficates. It was as if the workman had said to the Government : 
" .So long as the war lasts we will not object to the employ- 
ment of unskilled men and unskilled women on tasks usually 
reserved for the skittefl, and we will allow the munition factory 
to be managed without regard to the rules and restrictions 
that we seek to enforce in competitive industry." And as 
if the (lovemment had answered : " We will put you under a 
very drastic discipline, treating you not as citizens helping 
us to win the war, but as employees whose only duty is 
blind :ilie(lience." 
Hy degrees then the workman has found that his jiersonal 
liberty has gone, and that his rejiresentati.ve organisati.jn has 
lost its p*jwer to jirotect him. Mis traxle union was a real 
strength to him when he had only the employer to meet ; 
lie has now cmi>loyer and bureaucrat, and his trade union 
has lost more than half its authority. Military conscription 
lias brought another element of compulsion in liis life and the 
anomalies and injustices inevitable in the administration of 
conscription by local tribunals has embittered his sense of 
helplessness. 
Why did this discontent come to a climax this spring ? 
It will Ixr remembered that Mr. Asquith and Mr. Lloyd- 
George gave a very solemn promise when dilution wai first 
introd.icod that it would be apjolied only on war work. To 
the munition workers this pledge was of immense importance, 
for it meant that over part of the field of industrv trade 
union rules still prevailed. In the course of time, Jhe pressure 
cf the army and the need of shipbuilding obligedllje Govern- 
ment to economise man power still further; and for this 
purpose they devised two i)lans. The first was the aboliticn 
of the Trade Card System by which certain trade unions could 
reserve certain skilied men and e.xempt them from military 
service, and the other the extension of dilution to ccmmercial 
work. There has been a tendency in many quarters to think 
that all the trouble has arisen because a number of young 
men want to keep out of the army and certain trade unions 
claim a special privilege in respect of military .service. This 
is a short sighted view. In all epidemics of discontent 
different men are influenced by different things, and that 
there is this element in the troubles in the engineering shops 
is true. But even in this connection it must be remembered 
that the existence of the Trade Card Scheme has a symbolical 
valui*', because it means a recognition of the trade unions. 
?-!ilitary conscription is under any circumstances a momen- 
tous disturbance of all our habits and customs, and it is 
amazing that it has worked with such comparative smooth- 
ness. Among the workmen on strike last month there were 
doubtless some vvho were in revolt against the abolition of 
iB-adc cards, because they were opposed to the war or opposed 
,to compulsory service. There were many more who were 
iTot opposed to the war and were quite ready to go into 
kliaki, who still resented the proposed measures on the ground 
that the ^.funition .\cts and military conscription combined 
amounted to setting up industrial compulsion. The bitter 
hostility of the workmen to industrial conipnlsion was_ re- 
affirmed at the recent conference of the , rriple .\llia'nce 
representing miners, railwaymen and transport worker-., 
when ?'r. J. H. Thomas, a supporter of the war who has 
rendered important service, made a passionate declaration' 
on the subject. The trade card systenrT w'hith is open ta 
critici.sm on the ground that it makes invidious distinction 
between this union and that, was at least the recognition of 
some representative power outside militarv tribunals and 
munition tribunals, and the workpeople attached great im- 
jxjrtance to the system on that ground. To abolish the system 
and to extend dilution simultaneously confirmed all these 
suspicions. • 
The main element in the discontc-iit is suspicion 
of the motives of the Government and the belief that the 
extension of dilution to commercial work is a conspiracy to 
extinguish trade unionism. The workmen have; attached 
great importance to tlie ])roinise that dilution should be 
restricted to war work, for in their anxiety about the restora- 
tion of trade union customs, they felt that as long as this 
])romisoheld, they preserved their position in all that kind of 
industry that represents competitive enteqirise, and that 
the concessions were given a temporary character by the fact 
that they were confined to national war work. .It is obvious 
then that the greatest care and tact were necessary if the 
workmen were to be asked to make another surrender in a 
matter of such capital importance. 
Bureaucratic Methods 
Unhappily, the Ministry of Munitions, becoming more 
and more immersed in the atmosphere of bureaucracy, 
appreciated less and less the importance of studying the 
atmosphere of the workshops, and they thought that in view 
of the urgency of the crisis the simplest method was to proceed 
at once to legislate. A new Bill was consequently intro- 
duced, the trade union leaders were consulted, and some of 
them accepted it, but the great body of workpeople were 
ignojed. And to them it looked as if tlie Government had 
wantonly broken a promise, and they thought that promise 
was broken, not because, the nation was in difficulties, but 
because the (iove.rnment wanted to create another obstacle 
to the restoration of trade union customs. Meanwhile, the 
whole system and working of munitions had tended to weaken 
the prestige of the trade union leaders, and it was all the more 
important that the workpeople themselves sliould be con- 
vinced of the bona-Jldes of the Government. The Bill, that is, 
(Might not to have been introduced until the case for it had 
been put before the W'orkpeople in the munition centres, 
until the Government had ascertained what modifications 
were possible and desirable, and it ought to have been made 
clear that the (iovernment did not think lightly of the promise 
from which they wished to be released ; for it makes all the 
difference whether A asks B to free him fiom his promise, 
or whether he tells. B that he has decided not to keep it. 
In fact, the conferences which have been held during the 
last fortnight should have been held some montlLS ago. 
All this atmosphere of suspicion has been inflamed and 
aggravated by the re-introduction into industrial life of a 
system of espionage which recalls the worst days of the early 
nineteenth century. There are circumstantial stories in many 
industrial centres cf the activity of detectives and secret 
agents who, it is stated, have been acting as " agents provo- 
cateurs." It is asserted that in many pases these 
agents have been inciting the workmen to strike. This matter 
ought to be probed to the bpttom. It is intimately associated 
with the bitter and revolutionary temper which is growing 
up in some places, and it is obvious that it must poison the 
whole spirit of mutual confidence on which democracy relies. 
The task to which the Government should now address all 
its energy and skill is the task of restoring the spirit which 
prevailed in the early months of the war. That spirit has been 
destroyed by suspicion. The workmen think that fortunes 
are being made put of the necessities and difficulties of the 
nation, that the Govermncnt has cea.sed to respect the 
liberties of the workpeople and the rights of trade unions, 
and that at the end of the war they will find themselves with 
a great flood of non-unionist labour in the workshops, no trade 
union rights, and little prospect of recovering those rights. 
Nothing can dispel that suspicion but frank dealings, full 
discussion, the absolute abandonment of espionage, and 
a change in the spirit of the Ministry of Munitions. 
Above all, if the Government is wise, it will discard 
every restriction on the normal trade union life of the 
workpeople which is not clearly essential to the produc- 
tion of munitions. The love of discipline for the sake of 
discipline is a bad guide in the management of tired and 
overstrained men and women with a strong sense of 
grievance and bitter present imeats about tlic future. 
