Next came the _Trades Disputes Act_, 1906, a short measure of five
clauses, but none the less of great importance; a democratic law with a
vengeance! It is one of the four Acts which A. A. Baumann, in his recent
book, describes as being "in themselves a revolution," and of this
particular Act he says it "placed the Trade Unions beyond the reach of
the laws of contract and of tort." It also legalised peaceful picketing,
that particular form of persuasion with which a democratic age has become
only too familiar.
Lastly, the _Workmen's Compensation Act_, of 1906, an Act to consolidate
and amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries
suffered in the course of their employment, is on the whole a beneficial
and useful measure, to which we have grown accustomed.
In these years I had other holiday trips abroad; some with my family to
France and Switzerland, and two with my friend, John Kilkelly. One of
these two was to Denmark and Germany; the other to Monte Carlo and the
Riviera. In Germany, at Altona, we saw the Kaiser "in shining armour,"
fresh from the autumnal review of his troops, though indeed I should
scarcely say _fresh_, for he looked tired and pale, altogether different
to the stern bronzed warrior depicted in his authorised photographic
presentments which confronted us at every turn.
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