io6 
TRADE UNIONISM 
unionism means in spirit and results. By this it is not 
meant that industrial unionism has not appeared in 
the railway field, nor that the railway unions have all 
remained aloof from the general labor federations, nor 
that they have consistently spurned federative relations 
with one another. On the contrary, several unions in 
the railway field are now affiliated with the American 
Federation of Labor, and the past shows notable attempts 
at industrial railway organization, such as Debs’ Ameri 
can Railway Union of 1893-1894, and such attempts at 
federation as the United Order of Railway Employees 
in 1899, the Federation of American Railway Employees 
of 1898 and 1900, and the Cedar Rapids Agreement. 
But, in spite of all this, the group has deserved the char 
acterization given above, for, in the main, the oldest, 
strongest, most successful of the railway unions, those 
commonly spoken of as the Brotherhoods, have main 
tained and still maintain their strict trade character and 
independence and their trade union ideals and methods. 
As representing the unalloyed trade union type, a brief 
general account of them in contrast with the American 
Federation of Labor is most enlightening to anyone who 
is trying to discover just what unionism is and signifies 
in contemporary society. 
There are perhaps a score of unions whose work is 
exclusively or mainly concerned with railroading. In 
common usage, however, the term “railway unions” or 
dinarily covers only those engaged in moving freight and 
passengers or maintaining the roadway for this move 
ment. Using the term thus, the principal unions of this 
group are the Grand International Brotherhood of Loco 
motive Engineers, the Order of Railway Conductors, 
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, the Brother-