Labor Party
Labor Party names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Labor Party BRITISH, a political party in Great Britain which has
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BRITISH, a political party in Great Britain which has for its objects the formulation of reforms to benefit the working class and the election of members to Parliament to enact those measures into law. The origin of the party dates from February 1899 when the Trade Union Congress appointed a Labor Representation Committee to secure the election to Parliament of men favorable to labor. J. Ramsay Macdonald was chairman of the committee and he has never ceased to be an active worker in the ranks of labor. The success of the work of this committee led other organizations such as the Fabian society and the Independent Labor Party to unite with it under the title of the British Labor Party. This was effected in 1906 and in that year 30 out of the 50 candidates endorsed were elected. When the elections of 1910 were announced the Labor Party group was seen to hold the balance of power in the House of Commons, since Liberals and Conservatives were so nearly equal in numbers. When the war was declared the majority of the Labor party supported the government, although a number of the Independents refused. When the Coalition ministry of Mr. Lloyd- George came into power in 1916 Mr. Arthur Henderson, a prominent member of the Labor Party, became one of the inner circle of the new government . About a year later, due to his opposition to Lloyd-George's Russian policy and his approval of the Stockholm Conference , Henderson resigned and with his resignation the Labor Party became more and more hostile to the Coalition. The party published a pamphlet dealing with war aims and reconstruction which while pleasing to many liberals seemed to many to lack patriotism and to favor extreme Socialist ideas. Finally at a congress of the Labor party in 1918 it was decided to end the truce with the Government and to enter the general elections to be held Dec. 14, 1918, as a separate political party. The elections resulted in an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons for Lloyd-George and the Coalition government, the Labor party electing but 65 members against the government's 461. The encouraging feature was that Labor had displaced the Liberals as the main opposition party. Further encouraging signs soon began to appear. The by-elections held during 1919 and 1920 showed a great reversal of opinion among the electorate , resulting in three-fourths of these elections going against the government and in favor of Labor. Arthur Henderson, defeated in the election of December, 1918, was returned in one of these byelections. Thus strengthened by effective leadership in the House of Commons the Labor group exerted a considerable influ- P of 1910 were ed member he one of the his opposition oley and his Conference, ith his resigbecame more The which while raging fea displaced the Bettion party. soon begaU held dur he electorate, these elec vernment and Henderson, Decembe LABOUCHÉRE ence on the government in favor of peace with Russia and a mitigation of the terms of the treaty of Versailles with Germany. LABOUCHÉRE, HENRY shar'), an English journalist and poli- (lä-bötician; born in London, 1831. He was in the diplomatic service, part of the time at Washington, in the United States, and a member of Parliament. An advanced republican, he used "Truth," the journal established by him in 1876 as a society and political organ, for the promulgation of his ideas. He wrote "Diary of a Besieged Resident in Paris" (1871). Sat in Parliament for Middlesex 1867-1868. Northampton 1880- 1906. Died in Florence, 1912.
Labor Party BRITISH 385 LABOR PARTY
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BRITISH 385 LABOR PARTY, BRITISH Industrial organization, which is of American origin, is a general body of all the workers, banded together regardless of what their trades may be. The early American labor organizations , and the later Knights of Labor, were of this pattern. The present day representative of this form of organization is the Industrial Workers of the World, whose slogan is "one big union. " Between these two forms of organization there has been subject for much controversy in the labor world. On one side it is contended that trade unions are narrowly selfish, in that each body seeks only benefits for itself, and is exclusive in its ideals. This contention is supported by the fact that trade unions are inclined to keep down the membership of their organizations by high initiation fees and by forcing the employers to limit the number of apprentices in each shop or factory, the theory being that the fewer members there are in one trade organization the higher wages will be. It will be obvious from this that trade unionism is almost entirely limited to skilled workers, and, indeed , this is the basis for another charge brought against trade unionists; that they have no regard for the welfare of the unskilled workers. Industrial unionism, on the other hand, takes in skilled and unskilled alike. The Industrial Workers of the World , as a matter of fact, are largely composed of the unskilled, most of them being itinerant workers, commonly called "hoboes." The present day tendency , since the European War, is strongly in the direction of industrial unionism . The British workers have frankly copied the methods of the American I. W. W., though only to a limited extent, in that all the workers of a certain industry are organized together, regardless of what their particular functions may be. An outstanding illustration of this may be found in the British railway workers, the British miners and the transportation workers, who again have federated and formed what is known as the Triple Alliance, the most powerful body in British labor organization . An American example of this limited form of industrial unionism may be found in the United Mine Workers of America, who comprise all the workers in the coal mining industry in America. Another example is in the Western Federation of Miners.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 the party had just 65 MPs and its best boast was that it had "displaced the Liberals as the main opposition party." Within three years J. Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Representation Committee chairman named in the account, was prime minister of a minority government, and in 1945 Clement Attlee's landslide produced the National Health Service and a broad programme of nationalisation. Labour has since governed repeatedly — under Attlee, Wilson, Callaghan, Blair, Brown and, from 2024, Keir Starmer — while the Liberals never recovered as a party of government. The industrial-unionist tide Collier's saw running ebbed instead: the Triple Alliance broke apart in 1921, the 1926 General Strike failed, and the Industrial Workers of the World dwindled to a tiny organisation.
Written for this edition, 2026.