Sec. 4. #Types of labor organizations.# Among the many organizations of wage-earners three main types may be distinguished:  the labor union, the trade union, and the industrial union, tho often they are all spoken of as trade unions without distinction.  A labor union admits all classes of wage-earners and even business and professional men into the same local chapter.  The “Knights of Labor” is the most notable example that America has seen of this type.  The national organization was composed of local chapters, to membership in which every one was eligible excepting bankers, lawyers, gamblers, and saloon keepers.  Organized as a single local chapter in 1869 it grew very rapidly until it attained its maximum membership of 600,000 in 1886.  From this point it rapidly declined in membership, and since 1900, altho its organization is still maintained, has been of very little influence.

A trade union is an organization of wage-earners in the same handicraft or occupation.  Unions exist among workers in all the old distinctive handicrafts, such as the printers, stone cutters, cigar makers, carpenters and in many other groups such as musicians and retail clerks.  The local chapters in many cases have been long united in national unions (often international, including the United States and Canada).

An industrial union is one that seeks to unite all workers employed in the same class of establishments regardless of their craft or the kind of work they do.  The most notable examples are the United Mine Workers, the Brewery Workers, and the Industrial Workers of the World.

In 1881 a number of national trade unions united for certain purposes, to form the American Federation of Labor with a membership of about a quarter million workers, which has steadily increased since that date.  The American Federation of Labor now includes also some important unions of the industrial type.  Several strong national trade unions (the most important being the brotherhoods of railroad employees) are not affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.

Sec. 5. #Statistics of labor organization.# The ratio of organized workers to the population is estimated (figures for 1910) to be highest in the United Kingdom, being nearly 7 per cent; it is next highest in the German Empire, being nearly 6 per cent; whereas, in the United States, it is but 2.3 per cent.  This difference is largely due to the much greater relative importance of agriculture in the United States.

The total membership of trade unions in the United States and Canada is estimated to have been in 1910 about 2,200,000, of which only about 100,000 were in Canada.  This was 5.5 per cent of all persons (38,130,000) gainfully employed, or 6.8 per cent of male employees, and 9 per cent of female employees.  Organization was very weak (less than 1 per cent) among the workers in a group of industries occupying nearly one-half of all workers, including agriculture,