Excerpt from Centenary Souvenir: 1909 In preparing this Souvenir in celebration of the Centenary of the Society, no attempt has been made to write a full and detailed history of the work accomplished during the long period of its existence, but rather to focus attention on the most important events that have transpired during that time. The history of the Iron Founders' Society is reflected in the struggles and aspirations of the workers during the past century. Its efforts to secure and maintain better conditions for its members have been continuous, and whatever success has attended these efforts is due to the fact that in the darkest periods of its history there has always been a remnant who were prepared to make any sacrifice rather than give up their membership, and see the Society dissolved. If any justification was needed to show that Trade Unionism has been an important factor in the emancipation of labour, the Society supplies it. Started at a time when the condition of the workers was probably worse than at any previous period in the history of the country, it has helped to remove the conditions that then prevailed, and helped to secure the right to combine and protect the labour of its members. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.