burg, but there is no record of this convention being held, and the movement for a national organization died out.

In 1850 a call was issued for a convention to be held in New York, at which time delegates assembled from Albany, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Trenton and Louisville. The second convention was held in Baltimore in 1851, and the third in Cincinnati in 1852, which resolved itself into "the first session of the National Typographical Union." In 1856 the constitution was amended to admit Canadian unions, but it was not until 1865 that "the Toronto society, one of the oldest in North America, after much deliberation and with some misgiving, applied for and received a charter from the National Union." The extension of jurisdiction over the Dominion of Canada was signalized by changing the name of the organization, in 1869, to the "International Typographical Union of North America."

The remainder of the first section of Dr. Barnett's history is devoted to the methods of government of the organization, a relation of the many vicissitudes through which it passed during the civil war and following that period, and to a narrative of the conduct of the successful eight-hour contest.

The second section of the book covers the subjects of mutual insurance and trade regulations. It will be of interest to many of our members to know that the convention of 1870 recommended that the opinion of local unions should be taken "on the advisability of establishing an association for insuring the lives of union printers," but the following session voted the project "impracticable." Until 1885 "one or more plans for the formation of such an association were presented at almost every session." A history of the establishment of the Union Printers Home and the fight for the elimination of tuberculosis in the craft is gone into at some length, and will prove of great interest to all who are so fortunate as to read Doctor Barnett's book. The various out-of-work and sick benefits of our local unions are fully described here, as are the subjects of the standard rate of pay, the working day, apprenticeship, labor-saving devices, irregularity of employment, tenure

of promotion, and the exclusive right to the work of the trade.

Part III covers the subject of the enforcement of trade regulations of the union, which, according to Doctor Barnett, includes: (a) the control by the union of the workmen in the trade, and (b) the power to divert patronage from employers who do not observe the regulations. The union office, admission to membership and collective bargaining are also discussed in this section, which concludes a book of 387 pages.

The work as a whole is probably the best history of the character in existence, and a copy should be in the possession of every union printer. It is published by the American Economic Association, Cambridge, Mass.; price, in paper, $1.50; in cloth, $2.

Printing Course Commended.

Without egotism or undue vaunting of its spirit, the International Typographical Union can claim that its act and accomplishment had a very great influence in making the question of industrial education the important one it was at the recent convention of the American Federation of Labor. Two years ago this month our commission on supplemental trade education was organized. So far as we know it was the first attempt on the part of a great labor organization to do any thing along that line. A great number, keeping in mind the International Union's practice of making successes, wondered what would come of the effort; many more were confident it would be a flash in the pan. The commission itself may have been a little nervous about results.

As the purposes and methods of the course were unfolded and some of the results of its instruction became known, the good-natured quizzical attitude of trade unionists generally changed to one of admiration, soon followed by a recognition of the fact that industrial education was not only possible but desirable. When the 1908 convention of the American Federation of Labor appointed a committee on industrial education the International Union had won one of its objects in taking up industrial education, for it held at the Hot Springs

convention that this was a live subject and should engage the attention of organized labor.

The federation's committee went into the subject exhaustively. As is natural with representatives of the federation, they looked at the subject more from the standpoint of the working-class public than from the viewpoint of specific trades. The committee has been continued for another year, which indicates that it is not yet prepared to formulate a permanent educational platform for trade unions. It takes strong ground that trade education for those engaged in industries should be established at the public's expense. With that no progressive practical mechanic or artisan will take issue, because the quality of education the committee has in mind is not one that will tend to lower the standard of living, but rather a process which will assist the workers to raise that standard.

The committee knows full well that it will be a long time before the public will consent to assuming such a burden, and therefore it recommends the continuance of supplemental trade education to unions, and in doing so "calls special attention to the work undertaken by the International Typographical Union" in the establishment of the I. T. U. Course. The committee deems our effort a practical and successful application by a trade union of an educational system for which a need existed.

The keenness with which the committee investigated the subject before it is shown by this comment on the course:

It is administered by printer-tutors who have never been afflicted with pedagogical cramp [the italics are the committee's], and never expect to be; is within the reach of every man within the industry, and has succeeded in developing the latent talents and widening the sphere of usefulness among its students, and ought to appeal to every ambitious printer.

A significant fact in connection with this school is that educators, as well as others of wide experience, believe that for the adaptation to an end this school has no equal. It also marks a new era in education, and one of its chief assets, other than the education of its students, is that public and private interests are emulating its example.

After listening to many of the foremost trade educators in the country, there could not be much greater praise than for the

committee to say our course is without an equal and that public and private interests are emulating our example. This is not a perfunctory expression, for the labor devoted to an analysis of industrial education by this committee precludes the idea that anything in this report was written without due consideration. The personnel of the committee and the array of educators it interviewed should convince doubting members that the I. T. U. Course is really all its advocates have claimed for it.

The committee that spoke so highly of it was composed of the following: John Mitchell (chairman), Samuel Gompers, James Duncan, John B. Lennon, Dr. Charles P. Neill (United States commissioner of labor), Edward Hirsch, Frank Morrison, Hon. W. B. Wilson, the Rev. Charles Stelzle, Hugh Frayne, Frank Duffy, John Golden, Margaret Dreier Robins, Agnes Nestor, James Roach, James O'Connell, Stuart Reid and Charles H. Winslow.

Are They Supraconstitutional? At the time this is written the final outcome of the contempt proceedings against Messrs. Gompers, Mitchell and Morrison are problematical, but the fundamental question should be settled once and for all whether a federal court can assume to itself the authority and power to limit and abrogate our constitutional rights to free speech and a free press. The original sentence was a blow at these principles. In the language of Mr. Gompers, "If freedom of speech and of the press means only freedom to say pleasant things about the government, the courts, and those with whom we may differ in matters of vital interest, we might just as well strike that alleged guarantee out of the constitution."

The dissenting opinion of Justice Shepard, of the United States Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, completely sustains the claims of the federation officials, in that it raises the question whether the injunction of Justice Wright is not supraconstitutional. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently discussed this phase of the federation suit in the following language:

Dissenting from the opinion of the majority of the District Court of Appeals in the Gompers

Mitchell-Morrison case, Chief Justice Shepard raises an interesting issue. His opinion is in direct opposition to that of the majority on the question of the force of a court decree contrary to a provision of the constitution. Holding that the lower court's decree was null and void because it was opposed to the provisions of the constitution concerning freedom of speech and of the press, it was, he says, beyond the power of the court to issue such a decree, the constitution limiting that power by express provision.

On the other hand, the majority of the court held that whether the injunction was opposed to the constitution or not, the defendants were bound to obey it as a mandate of court. The obligation of obedience to a constitutional agency of the gov ernment rests upon citizens or organizations until they are freed from the obligation by the action of a superior authority. The substance of the opinion is in the following statement:

"If a citizen, though he may honestly believe his rights have been invaded, may elect when and to what extent he will obey the mandates of the court and the requirements of the law as interpreted by the court, instead of pursuing the orderly course of appeal, not only the courts, but the government itself would become powerless and society would be reduced to a state of anarchy."

According to this theory, a citizen may be punished for disobeying a court decree, although the decree violated the constitution and invaded his constitutional rights. Although a higher court may declare that the decree was opposed to the constitution and therefore null and void, yet the punishment for disobeying the court's unconstitutional order should be inflicted. The defendants are punished for standing on their constitutional rights against a decree in violation of the constitution and, therefore, without binding force.

Obedience to courts and to the laws interpreted by courts is a fundamental duty of citizens, but obedience to the constitution is the highest obligation of citizenship. The authority of the constitution is supreme. It has usually been held that a citizen is justified in disregarding an unconstitutional law and that all laws, or court decisions, o penalties imposed by courts, are null when declared by competent authority to be opposed to the constitution. Punishments under accusations in which a constitutional right is involved are not inflicted until their constitutionality is decided. In this case the higher court enforces the punishment regardless of the constitutional right.

Is this to be the rule in court injunctions? Do they differ from other court decrees? Are they supraconstitutional?

The supreme court's opinion on this question would be interesting and important. It should be obtained by all means.

Should the case reach the United States Supreme Court and be argued before that tribunal, on its finding this will be decided: When a court abridges the right of free expression, through the provisions of an in

junction, is its authority derived from the constitution, or has it arrogated to itself a power not granted or contemplated by the constitution?

In the meantime, members of organized labor and those in sympathy with its principles should remember that no court decree can compel them to purchase products of any kind made under unfair conditions -be those products stoves, ranges or any other necessities of life.

CANADIAN students of the I. T. U. Course have had their troubles with the customs officials. Through the kindness of President Powell, of Ottawa Union No. 102, the matter was taken up with the authorities, and the best that could be extorted from the tax-gathering department of the Canadian government was to establish a rate of 37 cents duty on the outfit. We do not suppose the Canadian statesmen responsible for this would admit they are putting a tax on education, but they are.

THE JOURNAL had something to say of the printers' cost congress in its issue of last month, and echoes of the meeting seem to be reverberating in many quarters. A glance at a circular widely distributed among the smaller printing concerns of the country shows that the members of the American Printers' Cost Congress is almost entirely made up of enemies of the International Typographical Union. The circular is signed by Thomas B. Morton, a notoriously unfair employer of Louisville, Ky. If the commission is really in favor of confining its endeavors to maintaining a fair schedule of prices, may success crown its efforts. But a reading of the roster of its progenitors would lead one to believe that other motives are behind the movement. Some of the members of this cost commission have not been eminently successful in conducting their own business since they have been at loggerheads with the printing trade unions, and it is not likely that their advice will be feverishly sought or blindly followed by the many prosperous concerns that have trade agreements and are now at peace with their employes.

Amendments to the Constitution.

Elsewhere in this issue will be found the report of the canvassing board on the four amendments to the constitution, submitted at the direction of the St. Joseph convention. All of the propositions received substantial majorities in favor of adoption. The result of the vote, together with the amendments, follow:

FIRST PROPOSITION-Amend section 1, article i, constitution, by striking out the word "typefounders," in the ninth and tenth lines. The amended section will read as follows:

ARTICLE I-JURISDICTION.

Section 1. This body shall be known as the INTERNATIONAL TYPOGRAPHICAL UNION OF NORTH AMERICA. Its jurisdiction shall include all branches of the printing and kindred trades, other than those over which jurisdiction has been conceded by agreement. In it alone is vested power to establish subordinate unions of printers (printers, proofreaders who are practical printers, machine tenders, and all other skilled employes not otherwise herein excepted), mailers and kindred trades, and its mandates must be obeyed at all times and under all circumstances. To the International Typographical Union of North America is reserved the right to fix, regulate and determine all matters pertaining to fellowship in its branches of the printing and kindred trades; while to subor dinate unions is conceded the right to make all necessary laws for local government which do not conflict with the laws of the International Union. In cases where allied trades have formed district unions the powers hereinafter specified shall be delegated to said trade district unions.

Amend section 3, article i, constitution, by strik ing out the words "of the typefounders, typefounders' union," in the fourth line. The amended section will read as follows:

Section 3. The distinctive names of the several subordinate branches shall be: Of the printers, typographical union; of the mailers, mailers' union, and of other allied crafts or trades, if such there be, the distinctive name of each branch.

Result of vote-For, 18,766; against, 2,652; majority for, 16,114.

SECOND PROPOSITION-Amend section 2, article i, constitution, to read as follows:

Section 2. A charter may be issued to ten or more printers, and to five or more of the allied crafts or kindred trades in any city or town. Only one English-speaking subordinate union in any distinctive craft shall be chartered in the same place; but a charter may be granted to printers of, and working in, a foreign tongue, and such printers may join an English-speaking union in any place where a union in their mother tongue does not exist.

Result of vote-For, 12,852; against, 8,974; majority for, 3,878.

THIRD PROPOSITION-Amend section 1, article viii, constitution, to read as follows:

ARTICLE VIII-SALARIES AND EXPENSES. Section 1. The salary of the president, vicepresidents and secretary-treasurer, in full for

services rendered by each of said officers during term of office, shall be the sums following: For the president, $2,000 per annum; first vice-president, $150 and traveling expenses to and from the conventions of the International Typographical Union; second vice-president, $500 per annum; mailer vice-president, $100 per annum; and secretary-treasurer, $2,000 per annum.

Result of vote-For, 15,756; against, 6,101; majority for, 9,655.

FOURTH PROPOSITION-Amend section 1, article xi, constitution, to read:

ARTICLE XI-APPEALS.

Section 1. All appeals from the decision of a subordinate union shall be submitted in written or printed form only, to the executive council of the International Typographical Union (three complete copies of all papers to be supplied), and decision rendered by that body, except in cases where allied crafts are organized as trade district unions. Should either party feel aggrieved at the decision of the executive council he shall have the right of appeal, in printed form only, to the suc ceeding convention of the International Typographical Union, which judgment shall be final.

Result of vote-For, 18,965; against, 2,658; majority for, 16,307.

Our Tuberculosis Campaign.

The Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, was well filled, Sunday evening, November 14, on the occasion of a mass meeting, to which the congregation had invited the members of Typographical Union No. 6. On the pulpit platform were President James Tole, who presided and spoke of the general benefit features of the typographical union; J. W. Sullivan, who made an address on "The White Plague," and the Rev. Dr. Theodore S. Henderson, the pastor, one of the two chaplains of No. 6, whose sermon was "The Religion of a Master Mechanic." The services, especially the singing by a fine choir and the congregation, was of unusual impressiveness. The spirit of the occasion was much appreciated by the large attendance from the union membership. Mr. Sullivan's address, in part, follows:

In the general movement for the suppression of tuberculosis, a formidable task has been devolved upon the typographical union. Why this is so, and how the union is fulfilling the duty it has undertaken in this respect, I am here to explain briefly: In his comprehensive work, "Dangerous Trades," Dr. Thomas Oliver tells us, "It may be taken as a fact that printers are more liable to tubercular consumption than men engaged in most other trades." The federal census of 1900 placed printers high in the mortality list drawn up according