MEDIEVAL GUILDS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1875, 8 October 1913, Page 3

MEDIEVAL GUILDS.

LECTURE BY FATHER HURLEY. A lecture on the "Trades Guilds 0J» tho Middle Ages"-was delivered last ovening in St. Patrick's Hall by tho Rev. Father Hurley, under the auspices of the Catholic Federation of New Zealand. Mr. 'Girling Butcher (secretary arid organiser of the Federation) presid-' od, and amongst those on the platform was His Grace Archbishop O'Shea. Tho chairman said that, owing to the generosity of Mr. Martin Kennedy, tho Federation had been enabled to securo an office for the secretary and a board-room, in Cuba Street. The office would bo open all day, and no Roman Catholic who came to Wellington need go without a friend. All lie had to do was .to go to tho office, and he would . find someono to welcome him. Ono of tho proposed activities of the Federation was to establish. an immigration bureau. Roman Catholic'people iu New Zealand who wished to bring out their frionds would only need to go along to tho Federation rooms and they would find there all tho necessary forms. Another proposed institution was a registry office and employment bureau, absolutely free of charge. If any Roman Catholic person wanted a Catholic servant —man or woman —the Federation bureau would 6upnly that servant. Not a penny would he charged on either side; but if an employer were satisfied, heicould - contribute to the.funds of the Federation.

The Rev. Father Hurley said that tho trades guilds of 'mediaeval times corresponded more or less to the trades unions of to-day. Each city strove to have within its walls representatives of all tho trades, and if one'trade was missing, foreign craftsmen were imported. Trade rights were granted to tho various guilds as a gift from tho city and from God. The ideal of tho guild members was to work, not for themselves as individuals, but for tli» community. It was a matter of honour for every man in a trade to put his best work into his work. The guild members of those days differed from modern workers in that, their religion played'a great part in their daily life, and work was looked on as a complement of life, not as a, punishment. The union of religion and labour was a strong tie, and bound the workers together with strong bonds. To bo the member of a guild; a man must be of good character, and bad conduct entailed the serious punishment of expulsion. _ This was a great incentive to the Christian life. The tradesman who was not a guildsman had little chance of making a living. No one could become an employer of labour unless ho had served an apprenticeship in his trade, and worked for some years as a journeyman. It was thus assured that every master knew the' trade in which lie was engaged,. and had some sympathy with his workers. Such a regulation precluded the possibility of a man's living luxuriously on the sweat of tho brows of others. Adulteration of food supplies was punished by imprisonment in the stocks, or "ducking" in a river. •At intervals during the evening musical items were rendered.