CAUSES OF DISUNITY

There are in the North Staffordshire Potteries district about 400 earthenware manufactories, including "china" works, a term used locally, in contradistinction to the trade acceptance of the term " earthenware," which forms the staple branch of the industry. 

These factories employ 50,000 operatives, of whom about 27,000 are males, and 23,000 females; and of these about 21,000 males, and 16,000 females are above eighteen years of age, and may be considered available for trades unions. But there are only 5000 enrolled members of the various branch unions, and these consist almost entirely of male operatives.

The Women's Trade Union League endeavoured to form a separate trades union for some of the women-workers in 1893, but the class to which the League chiefly appealed — the transferrers — was, when in union at all, affiliated to the journeymen printers' society, and little headway was made in the propaganda. This proportion of 10 per cent, of the total operative class, in union, appears to have been in later years the high-water mark of pottery trades-unionism. 

The Union of 1843, with all the incentive of early successes, the enthusiasm of the emigration movement, and the panic caused by the introduction of machinery, " never exceeded in numbers 2000 members," according to the statement of the leader of that day, Mr William Evans, in his pamphlet of 1846 ; and this number bore about the same relation to the total roll of operatives of that day.

Excluding female workers and males under eighteen years, as being unavailable for trades union membership, it would appear that only about one in four of the " effective " male operatives have been members of their unions, even in the palmiest days of unionism during the last half-century. 

Indeed, the potters have never had, since the Union of 1836, an organisation of such strength and completeness as those which satisfy the spirit of unionism in most other trades to day. 

Several special circumstances may be given to account for this. 

In the first place, the very advantage of their concentration and insularity, as a body, produced, contradictorily enough, a carelessness which would not have been found had they been more scattered, and so felt a greater need of union ; 

secondly, the custom of an annual settlement of prices has always had the effect of relaxing the union spirit during the greater part of the year, and stimulating it only when Martinmas came round, then to let it slumber again until the time came for prices again to be fixed for another annual term ; and, 

thirdly, the consistently moderate policy of their leaders, particularly in their commendable desire to make arbitration paramount, has, during later years, caused the men to rely more upon the conciliatory machinery which they had set up than upon their own strength. The latter circumstance conveys a useful warning to other trades which may adopt, or have adopted, arbitration.

Still, after making all allowances for those special conditions, there has always remained a large margin of non-unionism only to be accounted for by apathy on the part of a large section of the working potters. They have, on the whole, been as well and wisely led as any body of working-men in the kingdom, but they have never supplied their leaders with adequate materials for the effective championship of their cause ; and this weakness on their part has necessitated, in turn, the moderate policy of their leaders. " Organise," and " Arbitrate " have proved two conflicting cries, although identical in purpose. 

It is an interesting commentary on the aims and effects of trades unionism that this enforced conciliatory attitude of the leaders of the potters, which should have commended itself to the employers, and which (if there is any meaning in the platitudes of the capitalistic class upon the extravagant demands of labour, and the possibility of mutual goodwill between employers and employed when " agitators " are out of the way,) should have produced harmony between master and man, has proved ineffective in establishing good relations between the two sides. 

The leaders of the men have always said, " Arbitrate if you can, but unite first and in any case." The body of workmen have remained deaf to the call for nine months out of every year, and then have expected their leaders to undertake the responsibility of strikes on the strength of nothing but unusual fervour as Martinmas and a crisis approached, and a few weeks' increased subscriptions to the Union funds.

It is not too much to say that if the working potters had been led by "agitators" of true agitating proclivities — for some emphasis is necessary when that name is indiscriminately applied to all who take the side of labour — and had given them power to make " agitation," even of a ruthless and unreasoning type, effective, they and their employers would have gained more than by the essentially wise and honourable policy which their apathy has forced their leaders to adopt, even as a matter of caution as well as of conviction. 

The workmen would have then been able to insist upon their claims, to their own advantage, and would have forced their employers to adapt themselves to circumstances by checking their own competition amongst themselves, and so giving to the trade a stability which would have been to their profit also. But all this could have been done quite as well — if not better — if the working potters had solidly supported the leaders they have had, and so had combined the advantages of numerical strength and good direction.

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