The attitude of the British worker to his Trade Union reflects the British temperament. Abroad one sees the workers follow their Unions in matters both industrial and political; in this country there is no such general surrender of individual judgment. So far as industrial questions are concerned, with the exception of some smaller Unions whose members seem always in a seething condition of revolt, and certain revolutionary elements in some of the great Unions, the majority of Trade Unionists will follow their own Union leaders. That, however, is a very different thing from following the general lead of the combined Trade Unions as expressed through the Trades Union Congress or the Labour Party. As one result of the craft organization of industry in this country, which at times during the war showed signs of disintegration but now seems more firmly established than ever, the Unions are almost as suspicious of one another’s motives—a result of the fear of one trade invading the other’s work—as Labour in the mass is suspicious of the employers. Where, however, a question is, rightly or wrongly, represented to involve a principle directly affecting the common interests of all workers, the Trade Unionist has been so well drilled in the virtue of solidarity that he will, generally, range himself under the banner of organized Labour. In regard to political matters there is no such docility, although compelled to contribute to his Union’s political fund. To-day he is forced to do so, in spite of his power to object under the Trade Union Act 1913; if the Trade Union Act (1913) Amendment Bill 1922 passes, he will not be liable unless he expressly agrees. There is evidence of independence in the results of the General Election in 1918 and of by-elections since, where very large sections of the workers have voted, not for the official Labour candidate, but for the candidate of another political party opposing Labour. This fact undoubtedly explains the strenuous efforts of the Labour Party to formulate a composite political programme which will appear to its Trade Unionist members as an industrial programme, and to non-industrial supporters as one primarily of a social character. The Worker and the Community