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Diamond Cutters' Trade Union 255
class and the standard for the trade throughout the world.
The
diamond cutters' union of Amsterdam is a trade union of unique
solidarity, which has been tried by the fire of many industrial
disputes and trials, particularly during dull times when but a portion
of the members could find employment. There are at the present time
eighty-five hundred workmen, all members of the union, in Amsterdam,
distributed among some eighty factories. The Amsterdam union is
governed by salaried officers, who are elected by the whole body. These
officers are: president, secretary, treasurer, and second treasurer;
also an inspector of wages, whose function and duty it is to
investigate and report upon any violation of a wage agreement he may
discover. The union publishes a weekly journal, edited by the union's
president; this journal is regarded by the members of the union as the
foremost authority upon all matters connected with the diamond
industry. The Amsterdam union was organised in November, 1894, after a
simultaneous strike of all the operatives. The strike and union
followed a commercial depression of the diamond trade and a consequent
reduction of wages. Prior to the discovery of diamonds
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