members to participate in such beneficiary systems. The development of
beneficiary systems has, therefore, not been guided chiefly or largely
by the consideration as to what benefits would most aid the trade unions
in enforcing their trade policies. The unions have chosen rather to
develop those benefits for which there was the greatest need. Taking the
Report of the American Federation of Labor as a convenient summary of
the beneficiary activities of American trade unions, it appears that in
1907 of sixty-seven national unions paying benefits of all kinds,
sixty-three paid death benefits, six paid benefits on the death of
members' wives, twenty-four paid sick benefits, eight paid travelling
benefits and six paid out-of-work benefits. The benefit which is most
effective as an aid to the enforcement of collective bargaining is
out-of-work relief. This it will be noted has been adopted by very few
unions. On the contrary, the death or funeral benefit of small amount is
far and away the predominant form of national trade-union benefit.
Probably no other benefit offers as little support to the militant side
of trade unionism. The reasons for the greater development of this
benefit are, first, the great need among many trade unionists for
benefits of this kind. Only within recent years has the funeral benefit
been widely obtainable from ordinary insurance companies. Secondly, the
administration of a small funeral benefit presents few difficulties as
compared with the sick or out-of-work benefit.

While the principle that trade-union benefits are an aid in collective
bargaining has not led to the development in American trade unions of
those varieties which might be supposed to have an advantage in this
respect, the form of some of the benefits has been shaped in accordance
with this theory. Thus, there is a tendency to grade the amount of the
benefit according to the length of membership, the intention being to
make it more serviceable in retaining members.