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[Footnote 4: The dates given indicate the years in which the unions
first succeeded in adopting national benefits of some kind, and not the
dates on which successful systems were inaugurated. For example, the
Cigar Makers' system of travelling loans adopted in 1867 and its
"endowment plan" adopted in 1873 were unsuccessful and the present
system was not adopted until 1880. (Cigar Makers' Journal and Program,
twentieth session, pp. 57-63.)]

It is maintained that the establishment of beneficiary features is a
direct aid to a union in carrying through its trade policies. In the
first place, successful systems of benefits, whether they attract
members or not, undoubtedly retain them. Sharp and sudden declinations
in membership during industrial disturbances are thus prevented. The
effect of the panic of 1893-1897 was peculiarly instructive in this
respect. Many labor unions suffered a considerable decline in members.
The Typographical Union lost about ten per cent. of its membership, the
Brotherhood of Carpenters about fifty per cent., while the Cigar Makers
with a highly developed system of benefits lost only one and one half
per cent. The trade unionists naturally regard it as peculiarly
desirable that the members should not abandon the organization when the
difficulty of maintaining wages and conditions is greatest. To hold in
hard times what has been gained in good times is a vital point in
trade-union policy. The trade unionists realize that the chief work of
the unions is not so much in advancing wages in good times as in
preventing recessions when employment is scarce. President Strasser of
the Cigar Makers has pointed out that the Cigar Makers came through the
depression of 1893-1897 with very slight reductions in wages. This
result he attributed to the beneficiary system which held the membership