In 1867, the Trade Union movement in Britain was limited to a mere 5% of the working class. They were uncoordinated and unsupported by the law. In fact, had the government, or even employers, cracked down on them they could easily have been crushed. By 1900, they have millions of members, legal protection, and strong political influence.
             The early trade unions consisted mainly of artisans, skilled workers who could afford to pay the comparatively high subscription charges. Strangely, it is this exclusivity in their early stages which allowed the trade unions to grow into massive and widespread organizations. These early trade unionists did not see themselves as socialist revolutionaries destined to overturn the social ladder; instead, they had no political agenda. They wanted only to be constitutional and respectable; they saw striking as a last resort. Although this early strategy was not successful, it allowed the trade unions to develop, if they were militant while they were weak they would have been crushed quickly. They were saved from insignificance by some truly brilliant leaders, union leaders such as Guile (engineers), Coulson (bricklayers), Potter (carpenters) and particularly Applegarth, realized that the only way the trade unions would be strong was by consolidation. Thus in 1860 they formed the London Trades Council, they were moving towards a national platform, but they still needed legal backing, not in the least to avoid the legal 'theft' of trade union funds, a practice pioneered by Close in 1867.
             The necessary legal support came from the unlikeliest of origins. A particularly avid trade unionist in Sheffield took it on himself to show non-trade unionists the error of their ways, by assault, intimidation, and arson. Employers seized the opportunity to overreacting and demanded a Royal Commission to investigate the conduct of trade unions, the government eagerly agreed, and both were prepared to hammer the trade...