International projectionist (Jan-Dec 1947)

TRADE UNIONS IN AMERICA {Continued from page 16) and officers understood what it was all about. This much the craft unions of the three great periods have had in common: they have provided for thorough apprenticeship training, they have made practical use of collective bargaining, they have refused to work with non-members and, finally, they have made use of a most powerful weapon of defense and offense, the collective stoppage of work, "downing tools." In still another way there was a similar development during the three periods. The organizing of labor parties is a modern development, but the organized workers of the past periods were active in political affairs, in the election of public representatives and officials. They played a part even in the Roman Senate, a most prominent one when they would rebuke Senators by "downing tools" and marching outside the city walls, while the Senate considered whether it would continue to stand on its dignity while going without the services of the crafts. Medieval Craft Guilds During the Dark Ages which followed the collapse of Roman civilizat'on, Europe turned backward toward barbarism. Gone was the purposeful, constructive strength of the Empire, with the leadership which had made it great. The cities were largely deserted; there was no way of supplying them with food had they been populated. The production and distribut'on of wealth had practically ceased. The courts of law and the schools had ceased to function. Destruction, fear and lawlessness had taken their place. The law of the fang and the claw, with its savagery, replaced orderly government. Such authority as existed was in the hands of strong and brutal men who had secured local control and maintained it through armed force. Industry and commerce languished or vanished. The craft unions were without employment. They expired. The end of over a thousand years of craft unionism had been reached. The only records left of their existence were the inscriptions they had carved upon the stones of a vanished civilization, and the scanty references in the writings of antiquity. They had taught and applied the narrow truth of the brotherhood of the skilled who toiled. Before the end came, many had been influenced by the greater Divine truth taught by the Carpenter of Nazareth — the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Christianity also suffered from the Empire's collapse. The church was weak, its influence extending but a short distance from those places where the teachings of the Carpenter of Nazareth were taught and practiced. The flame of civilization and of Christianity flickered feebly in the churches and monasteries. It almost became extinguished. After several hundred years vestiges of civilization reappeared. Though there was little security for life and property, there developed a slowly increasing demand for fabricated goods. Little by little and laboriously men taught themselves the skills which had been lost and which were now required. Craftsmanship reappeared on the industrial horizon. 10th Century Craft Advance This industrial revival was accompanied by the organizing of the skilled workmen into craft guilds, not because someone had prepared a blueprint for them, or that they possessed records of the past, but for the same practical reason which had led the workmen of ancient Greece and Rome to organize — the impelling force of self-preservation. Beginning with the tenth century the craft guilds spread throughout much of Europe. As t'me passed they, too, became the active champions of free institutions and self-government. In time many of them secured royal charters which gave them special protection and privileges. Rulers and city corporations did not like the power they had acquired, but did urgently require the skilled work they alone could perform. Merchant guilds developed, and these also looked askance at the strength the craft guilds had established. But the skill possessed by the guild members (Continued on following page) -with The Greatest Projector of All Times THE COMPLETELY NEW It sets a new standard in screen performance! Its design and construction assures long life with minimum upkeep. "A A » MOTIOGRAPH, INC. 4431 W. Lake St. Chicago 24, III. EXPORT DEPARTMENT: J. E. Robin, Inc. 330 W. 42nd St., New York, N. Y. INTERNATIONAL PROJECTIONIST • March 1947 31