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CHAPTER XVII, 
Legal Position. 
At an early stage, the movement was threatened with the penal- 
ties to which, in the absence of a protecting statute, certain trade union 
activities are exposed under English common law. Following a suit 
against the leaders of the Madras Labour Union in 1920, the Legislative 
Assembly in 1921 adopted a resolution in favour of legislation, for the 
registration and protection of trade unions. Five years were to elapse 
before a law was passed, but although we consider that development 
would have been more rapid had trade unionism received earlier legislative 
recognition, no attempt was made by emplovers in the interval to take 
advantage of the lecal position. 
Cohesion. 
This period was one of growth and consolidation. With the 
passing of the economic stress and of the acute political turmoil of 1918-21, 
many ad hoc unions disappeared and some leaders lost interest ; but there 
remained a number of genuine organisations, and these grew steadily in 
numbers and quality, in spite of local checks and universal handicaps. 
The strengthening of individual unions was accompanied by an Increasing 
cohesion in the movement as a whole. The foundation in 1920 of the 
All-India Trade Union Congress marked the first recognition of the common 
interests of labour throughout the country. It has held annual sessions in 
various centres, and has served as a meeting place for those most actively 
engaged in trade unionism, as a platform for the enunciation of labour 
policy and as a link between trade unionism in India and in Europe. 
The participation of trade union leaders in International Labour Con- 
ferences and other international meetings gave the movement encourage- 
ment and greater unity, while the inclusion in the Assembly and Councils 
after the Reforms of a few nominated labour representatives assisted by 
giving it further cohesion. 
The Trade Unions Act. 
An important stage was reached with the passing of the Indian 
Trade Unions Act in 1926. This Act differs from British and Dominion 
Legislation on the subject mainly in the fact that the application of its 
provisions is confined to those unions which seek registration under it. 
Registered unions incur certain obligations ; the most important of these 
are the requirement to furnish audited accounts and the necessity of 
including in the executive a majority of actual workers. At the same time 
registration confers on trade unions and their members a measure of 
immunity from civil suits and criminal prosecutions ; the provisions in 
this respect follow approximately the recommendations of the Royal Com- 
mission on Trade Disputes and Trade Combinations that sat in England 
in 1905. We shall return to some of the provisions of the Act in our 
recommendations, but would remark here that the stimulus given by the 
Act to trade unionism resulted, not so much from any rights or liabilities 
that it created, as from the enhanced status given by the recognition of 
trade unions in the statute book. Registered unions in particular have