conciliatory, if both recognize the
moral restraint of the state of society by which they are surrounded,
there need be few strikes. They can, and it is better that they should,
settle their differences between themselves....

"Since labor organizations are here, and here to stay, the managers of
employing corporations must choose what they are to do with them.
They may have the union as a present, active, and unrecognized
force, possessing influence for good or evil, but without direct
responsibility; or they may deal with it, give it responsibility as
well as power, define and regulate that power, and make the union an
auxiliary in the promotion of stability and discipline and the amicable
adjustment of all local disputes."

CHAPTER VII. THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS

The solidarity and statesmanship of the trade unions reached perfection
in the railway "Brotherhoods." Of these the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers * is the oldest and most powerful. It grew out of the union
of several early associations; one of these was the National Protective
Association formed after the great Baltimore and Ohio strike in 1854;
another was the Brotherhood of the Footboard, organized in Detroit after
the bitter strike on the Michigan Central in 1862. Though born thus
of industrial strife, this railroad union has nevertheless developed
a poise and a conservatism which have been its greatest assets in the
numerous controversies engaging its energies. No other union has had
a more continuous and hardheaded leadership, and no other has won more
universal respect both from the public and from the employer.

* Up to this time the Brotherhoods have not affiliated with the Knights
of Labor nor with the American Federation of Labor. After the passage
of the eight-hour law by Congress in 1916, definite steps were taken
towards affiliating the Railway Brotherhoods with the Federation, and
at its annual convention in 1919 the Federation voted to grant them a
charter.

This high position is largely due, no doubt, to the fact that the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is composed of a very select
and intelligent class of men. Every engineer must first serve an
apprenticeship as a fireman, which usually lasts from four to twelve
years. Very few are advanced to the rank of engineer in less than four
years. The firemen themselves are selected men who must pass several
physical examinations and then submit to the test of as arduous an
a