a plain economic basis, in that they represent men who work for the same employers or for employers who cooperate in the same industry. Their technical and industrial relations give them strength in united action. The SYMPATHETIC STRIKE, as it develops under their influence, is a formidable weapon. The building industry seems to offer the best field for them, and it is chiefly there that they have gained importance and have effected a marked improvement in the workman's condition. Trades councils often have power to determine local JURISDICTION and discipline local unions for violations; to act for the locals in making local agreements with employers; to act together in disciplining employers by strike or otherwise; and to assist employers in securing and maintaining monopoly of the field. (See BUILDING TRADES COUNCILS; METAL TRADES COUNCILS; ALLIED PRINTING TRADES COUNCILS.)

Trades Council-British. A delegate body representative of several trade unions in a town or district, the principle of combination being locality, not occupation. There are now about five hundred such trades councils in Great Britain, with an aggregate affiliated membership of several millions of trade unionists. Since 1895 they have been excluded from representation in the TRADES UNION CONGRESS, but they are admitted as constituent units of the BRITISH LABOR PARTY. Their functions are thus described in Mr. and Mrs. Webb's "History of Trade Unionism": "Apart from their constant activity in municipal politics, and their energetic support of the Labor Party in all elections, the Trades Councils have, in the present century, considerably increased in usefulness. They have given valuable assistance in Trade Union propaganda, alike within their own districts and in the adjacent rural districts. No small part of the increase in Trade Union membership, notably among nondescript workers in the towns, and the agricultural laborers in the country, is to be ascribed to the constant work and support of some of the more active among them. They have done much to appease quarrels among the local branches of different Unions, and they are occasionally able to intervene successfully as arbitrators. Even without formal ARBITRATION they bring warring parties together. They nominate working-class representatives to many local committees and conferences, and serve in this way as useful links with public administration. Some of them have, of recent years, done a great deal to promote the better education of the artisan class." Both in organization and in functions, the British trades councils bear a strong resemblance to the American CITY CENTRALS. (See LOCAL LABOR PARTIES; LABOR REPRESENTATION COMMITTEES.)

Trades Union. Ordinarily the terms "trades union" and "trade union" are now used in a synonymous sense. Some writers, however, still maintain a former distinction, and apply the term "trades union" specifically to a federation of trade unions in various crafts or industries-as typified, for example, by a CITY CENTRAL

or a STATE FEDERATION OF LABOR.

Trades Union Congress. The great national federation or parliament of organized British labor, holding annual meetings of delegates from all the important trade unions of the country, together with special meetings called from time to time. The Congress originated in 1868. Any bona fide union is entitled to be represented by delegates and to vote in accordance with its numerical strength. Membership is not compulsory, and a few important national unions are still unaffiliated. TRADES COUNCILS have been excluded since 1895. At the meetings of the Congress, each constituent union is represented by one delegate for every 5000 members or fraction thereof. Voting on important questions is on the principle of one vote for every 1000 members represented; and the decisions arrived at must be ratified by the separate constituent bodies represented in the Congress, before they have binding effect. The value of the Congress lies first in the opportunity afforded for debate, for exchange of opinion, and for social intercourse, and secondly, in the appointment and instruction of its executive, the Parliamentary Committee. This body, consisting of sixteen members, with a paid secretary, elected annually by the whole assembly, is charged with the duties of watching all legislation directly affecting labor, initiating such legislative action as the Congress may direct, and preparing the programme of the Congress. It also transacts all the necessary business between the Congresses, and is thus a supreme executive council of the British trade union movement. In addition, a Joint Board consisting of representatives of the Parliamentary Committee, the BRITISH LABOR PARTY, and the GENERAL FEDERATION OF TRADE UNIONS meets occasionally for the discussion and formulation of common policies. Six and a half million workers "by hand or brain" were represented in the September, 1920, meeting of the Trades Union Congress. One of the most important actions taken at this meeting was the approval of the scheme for a General Council to replace the Parliamentary Committee. This plan provides for a central coordinating body representing the whole trade union movement, to consist of thirty members, elected from seventeen trade union groups arranged by industries and represented on the Council

according to their numerical strength. Two representatives of women's trade unions will be included. The General Council will be in turn divided into five sub-committees, grouped according to industries; and each sub-committee, with a specialized salaried officer, will ultimately form a department of information, coordination, etc., for the particular group of trade unions and industries which it represents. The main general objects of the Council are stated to be "to keep watch over all industrial movements and where possible correlate industrial action; to promote common action on any general questions that might arise and assist any union attacked on any vital question of trade-union principle; to use its influence to promote settlement of disputes between trade-unions; assist trade-union organizations; carry on propaganda, and enter into relations with trade-union and labor movements in other countries."

Tramp Benefits. See TRAVElling Benefits.

Tramp Card. See TRAVELLING CARD.

Tramp Industries. Those in which CASUAL LABOR OF MIGRATORY LABOR is largely employed. Lumbering is a typical tramp industry, particularly in the West.

Transfer Card. When a member in good standing of any local branch of a national or international trade union moves to another town in which there is also a LOCAL of the same national or international organization, he is generally given a "transfer card" which entitles him to membership in the local of his new town without payment of the usual INITIATION FEE. This card is sometimes called a "clear card," the implication being that the member is "clear" of debts to the local issuing the card. "Clearance card" is another variant. In 1906 the International Miners' Federation adopted a uniform transfer card which is recognized by miners' unions throughout the world. (See COMBINATION CARD; CARD SYSTEM.)

Transport Workers. In England, a common designation for all classes of workers engaged in the transport industry, other than railway workers. It includes sailors, marine engineers and firemen, DOCKERS and other WATERSIDE WORKERS, carters and motor truck drivers, etc. The chief unions of these workers are federated in the National Transport Workers' Federation-a member of the famous TRIPLE ALLIANCE.

Travelling Benefits. Payments or loans made generally by a trade union, but in some European countries by the government, to enable an unemployed laborer to travel to another place where

employment is promised or probable. Travelling benefits are usually provided in any comprehensive scheme of UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE. Some British unions also make what are known as "emigration allowances" or "emigration benefits"-grants to members who are going abroad to better their economic status. Travelling benefits were often formerly, and occasionally are still, referred to as “tramp benefits." (See TRAVELLING CARD.)

Card.

Travelling Book. See TRAVELLING CARD.

Travelling Card. (1) In America, a card issued to trade unionists whose work takes them to various parts of the country, or who are travelling in search of employment, on account of death or sickness, or for the transaction of trade union business. This card indicates that the bearer is a member in good standing of some local branch of his national organization, and entitles him to temporary membership in LOCALS of the same national union in other towns, without payment of the usual INITIATION FEE. (2) In England, a card or small book of receipt forms issued to a trade union member who must leave his own town in search of work. It entitles him for a limited period to lodging and a meal in those towns where his national union maintains local branches such towns being sometimes known as "relief towns" on this account. "Tramp card" and "blank" are alternate names for the English "travelling card." (See COMBINATION CARD; CARD SYSTEM.)

Travelling Witnesses. In I. W. W. circles, this term is used in designation of certain ex-members of the I. W. W. organization who travel about at public expense from one locality to another, wherever prosecutions of I. W. W. members are in progress, for the purpose of giving testimony (usually of a luridly sensational character) against the organization.

Trespass. See OVERLAP.

Trial Board or Trial Committee. See DISCIPLINE.

Trick. See SHIFT SYSTEM.

Tripartite Control. Denotes the representation of workers, capitalists, and consumers in the management of industry. The consumers' interests, also known as the public interest, first achieved recognition in WAGE BOARDS for the arbitration of industrial disputes or the establishment of living standards, and the public thus came to be recognized as a legitimate third party. Tripartite control extends

this principle to the sphere of industrial management. (See UNITARY CONTROL; PLUMB PLAN.)

Triple Alliance. This, the first great inter-industrial federation in the British labor movement, was formed in 1913, and is made up of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain, the National Union of Railwaymen, and the National Transport Workers' Federation. It represents a combined membership of more than a million and a half, or perhaps one-sixth of the entire adult male labor of the nation. The object of this great organization is to secure joint action and a common policy in connection with any industrial dispute of national extent. The three industries concerned are of course closely interrelated, and a strike in any one of them is bound seriously to affect the other two. But while its tremendous potential strength has often counted to good purpose in negotiations with employers and the government, the Triple Alliance has never yet been put to a direct and practical test. "To some extent," wrote G. D. H. Cole in 1918, "the very power of the machine presents an obstacle to its use, and its makers are fearful of the Frankenstein that they have made.” This was the precise case in the great British coal strike of 1921. After fixing a definite date for "coming out" in the miners' behalf, the railwaymen and transport workers, seemingly overawed by the possible results of their action, made an eleventh hour reversal of their decision, and the Triple Alliance once more failed to fulfill its purpose. But while these events have seriously shaken the organization, there has as yet been no formal dissolution. In America, the term "triple alliance" has been applied at different times to several loose and shifting combinations of trade unions, farmers' organizations, and RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS. (See TRANSPORT WORKERS; ALL GRADES MOVEMENT.)

Truck Acts. See TRUCK SYSTEM.

Truck System. The payment of wages in goods or services rather than money. This system goes back a long way in English industrial history; but various Parliamentary Truck Acts (1831, 1887, 1896) have now largely done away with it in Great Britain. In the United States, the truck system is mainly associated with the COMPANY STORE and COMPANY HOUSING. Where the employer owns the store from which his employees are required to purchase their food, clothing, and supplies, or owns the houses in which they are required to reside, wages are often paid in cash only to the extent of such balances as may remain to the credit of the employee