he meant that "when a
question of dispute arose between the employers and the employed,
instead of having it as now, when the one often refuses to even
acknowledge or discuss the question with the other, if they were
required to submit the question to arbitration, or to meet on the same
level before an impartial tribunal, there is no doubt but what the
result would be more in our favor than it is now, when very often public
opinion cannot hear our cause." He, however, did not desire to have
compulsory arbitration, but merely compulsory dealing with the union, or
compulsory investigation by an impartial body, both parties to remain
free to accept the award, provided, however, "that once they do agree
the agreement shall remain in force for a fixed period." Like Foster,
John Jarrett, the President of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and
Steel Workers, argued for an incorporation law before the committee
solely for its effect upon conciliation and arbitration. He, too, was
opposed to compulsory arbitration, but he showed that he had thought out
the point less clearly than Foster.

The young and struggling trade unions of the early eighties saw only the
good side of incorporation without its pitfalls; their subsequent
experience with courts converted them from exponents into ardent
opponents of incorporation and of what Foster termed "legalized
arbitration."

During the eighties there was much legislation applicable to labor
disputes. The first laws against boycotting and blacklisting and the
first laws which prohibited discrimination against members who belonged
to a union were passed during this decade. At this time also were passed
the first laws to promote voluntary arbitration and most of the laws
which allowed unions to incorporate. Only in New York and Maryland were
the conspiracy laws repealed. Four States enacted such laws and many
States passed laws against intimidation. Statutes, however, played at
that time, as they do now, but a secondary role. The only statute which
proved of much importance was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. When Congress
passed this act in 1890, few people thought it had application to labor
unions. In 1893-1894, as we shall see, however, this act was
successfully invoked in several labor controversies, notably in the Debs
case.

The bitterness of the industrial struggle during the eighties made it
inevitable that the labor movement should acquire an extensive police
and court record. I