aspects of trade unionism also received confirmation from the
American experience. The introduction of the McKay stitcher in the
post-Civil War period stimulated organization among the skilled
shoemakers who sought to protect their established positions then
undermined by an influx of green hands. This is one example of the
conditions the Webbs had in mind.

Marxist ideas on trade unions are intimately and inextricably
related to the general Marxist assumptions and conclusions on social
institutions and the directions of their development. In common with
the Webbs, Marx and his followers explained the origin of trade
unions by the rise of a working class bereft of control over the instru-
ments of production. While the Webbs regarded labor unions as a
means used by workers to maintain or improve their traditional
standards of life, Marx regarded them as only one--and by no means
the most important--weapon in labor's armory for waging the class
war. Marx assumed the existence of an inherent tendency, but a
tendency that must be reinforced by class-conscious groups, for the
economy to drift from its capitalist to socialist form. The rate of
movement depended upon the level of economic development, the
political consciousness of labor, and the tenacity and intelligence of
the opposition. Nevertheless, as capitalism developed, it was in-
creasingly faced by internal contradictions which arose as a result of
the tendency towards a falling rate of profit. Marx argued that in
the development of capitalism changes take place in the relations
between constant and variable capital which produce a tendency for
the profit rate to decline. To overcome this tendency, the capitalist
resorted to increasing exploitation of labor, consisting of attempts by
employers to prolong the work day, reduce wages, or speed up work.
Labor was consequently forced to resist these attacks, but no possi-
bility of permanently mitigating the pressure of the capitalist upon
the wage-earner existed. Trade unions were desirable and necessary,
but could only conduct what was, in the long run, a losing rearguard
action. In the end, labor would be forced to rebel against capitalism
and, eventually, to displace it by a socialist economy. Therefore, it
was inevitable that all the institutions created by labor, including the
trade unions, should be oriented in that direction.

At best, trade unions could only deal with short-run, day-to-day
problems. They were a response to the need of labor to protect its

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