is only natural that the
Socialists will urge the trade unionists to make great, and ever
greater, demands upon capital; that every concession will only be
considered as a stepping-stone to a further concession. Every conflict
between capital and labour, everything that will increase the
dissatisfaction of the workers, will serve the Socialists, because it
will cause the workers to believe in the doctrine of the Iron Law of
Wages, in the Law of Increasing Misery, and in the promised Socialist
paradise. Therefore the Socialists will do all they can to embitter
the relations between capital and labour, and to bring about strikes.
For instance, at the time when, in the autumn of 1907, the differences
between the British railway companies and the men were acute,
practically the whole Socialist press urged the railway servants to
declare a strike, and the settlement of the difficulty by Mr. Lloyd
George was greeted with derision and regret. Mr. Bell, who had
accepted the settlement, was treated with contempt, and the result of
the Railway Conference was declared to be the Sedan of the British
trade union movement.[410]

Owing to the persistent agitation of the Socialists, the trade unions
are becoming permeated with Socialism. Of late years there have been
few great strikes in Great Britain, but, unless the relations between
Socialists and trade unionists alter, it seems likely that great and
violent industrial disputes will occur in the near future.

FOOTNOTES:

[386] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 2, 1907._

[387] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 10.

[388] _English Progress towards Social Democracy_, p. 8.

[389] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 1, May 1907._

[390] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 16.

[391] John Penny, _The Political Labour Movement_, p. 10.

[392] Hyndman, _Darkness and Dawn of May Day, 1907_, p. 2.

[393] J. O'Connor Kessack, _The Capitalist Wilderness and the Way
Out_, p. 15.

[394] _S.L.P. Bulletin No. 2._

[395] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 1.

[396] Quelch in _The Socialist_, November 1907.

[397] Ben Tillett, _Trades Unionism and Socialism_, p. 14.

[398] Quelch, _Trade Unionism_, p. 13.

[399] _Clarion_, November 29, 1907.

[400] _The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906, What it Means and How to
Make Use of it_; _How Trade Unions Benefit Workmen_; _Eight Hours by
Law: A Practical Solution_; _Cottage Plans and Common Sense_; _Houses
for the People_; _The Case for a Legal Minimum Wage_.