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LABOUR PARTY

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 29 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LABOUR PARTY , in See also:

Great See also:Britain, the name given to the party in See also:parliament composed of working-class representatives. As the result of the Reform See also:Act of 1884, extending the See also:franchise to a larger new working-class electorate, the votes of " labour " became more and more a See also:matter of importance for politicians; and the Liberal party, seeking for the support of organized labour in the See also:trade unions, found See also:room for a few working-class representatives, who, however, acted and voted as Liberals. It was not till 1893 that the See also:Independent Labour party, splitting off under Mr J. Keir Hardie (b. 1856) from the socialist organization known as the Social Democratic Federation (founded 1881), was formed at See also:Bradford, with the See also:object of getting independent candidates returned to parliament on a socialist See also:programme. In 19oo Mr Keir Hardie, who as secretary of the See also:Lanarkshire Miners' See also:Union had stood unsuccessfully as a labour See also:candidate for See also:Mid-See also:Lanark in 1888, and sat as M.P. for See also:West See also:Ham in 1892–1895, was elected to parliament for Merthyr-Tydvil by its efforts, and in 1906 it obtained the return of 30 members, Mr Keir Hardie being chairman of the See also:group. Meanwhile in 1899 the Trade Union See also:Congress instructed its See also:parliamentary See also:committee to See also:call a See also:conference on the question of labour See also:representation; and in See also:February 1900 this was attended by trade union delegates and also by representatives of the Independent Labour party, the Social Democratic Federation and the See also:Fabian Society. A See also:resolution was carried " to establish a distinct labour group in parliament, who shall have their own whips, and agree upon their own policy, which must embrace a readiness to co-operate with any party which for the See also:time being may be engaged in promoting legislation in the See also:direct See also:interest of labour," and the committee (the Labour Representation Committee) was elected for the purpose. Under their auspices 29 out of 51 candidates were returned at the See also:election of 1906. These See also:groups were distinct from the Labour members (" See also:Lib.-Labs ") who obeyed the Liberal whips and acted with the Liberals. In 1908 the attempts to unite the parliamentary representatives of the Independent Labour party with the Trades Union members were successful. In See also:June of that See also:year the Miners' Federation, returning 15 members, joined the Independent Labour party, now known for parliamentary purposes as the " Labour Party "; other Trades Unions, such as the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, took the same step.

This arrangement came into force at the See also:

general election of 191o, when the bulk of the miners' representatives signed the constitution of the Labour party, which after the election numbered 40 members of parliament. LABRADOR; a great See also:peninsula in See also:British See also:North See also:America, bounded E. by the North See also:Atlantic, N. by See also:Hudson Strait, W. by Hudson and See also:James Bays, and S. by an arbitrary See also:line extending eastwards from the See also:south-See also:east corner of Hudson See also:Bay, near 51° N., to the mouth of the Moisie See also:river, on the Gulf of St See also:Lawrence, in 5o N., and thence eastwards by the Gulf of St Lawrence. It extends from 5o° to 63° N., and from 55° to 8o° W., and embraces an approximate See also:area of 511,000 sq. m. See also:Recent explorations and surveys have added greatly to the knowledge of this vast region, and have shown that much of the peninsula is not a See also:land of " awful desolation," but a well-wooded See also:country, containing latent resources of value in its forests, See also:fisheries and minerals. See also:Physical See also:Geography.—Labrador forms the eastern See also:limb of the V in the Archaean protaxis of North America (see See also:CANADA), and includes most of the highest parts of that area. Along some portions of the coasts of Hudson and also of See also:Ungava Bay there is a fringe of See also:lowland, but most of the interior is a See also:plateau rising toward the south and east. The highest portion extends east and west between 52° and 54° N., where an immense See also:granite area lies between the See also:head-See also:waters of the larger See also:rivers of the four See also:principal drainage basins; the lowest area is between Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay in the north-west, where the general level is not more than 500 ft. above the See also:sea. The only mountains are the range along the Atlantic See also:coast, extending from the Strait of Belle Isle to Cape Chidley; in their See also:southern See also:half they rarely exceed 1500 ft., but increase in the See also:northern half to a general See also:elevation of upwards of 2000 ft., with numerous See also:sharp peaks between 3000 and 5000 ft., some say 7000 or 8000 ft. The coasts are deeply indented by irregular bays and fringed with rocky islands, especially along the high Atlantic coast, where See also:long narrow fiords penetrate inland. See also:Hamilton Inlet, 250 m. north of the Strait of Belle Isle, is the longest of these bays, with a length of 15o m. and a breadth varying from 2 to 30 m. The See also:surface of the See also:outer portions of the plateau is deeply seamed by valleys, cut into the crystalline rocks by the natural erosion of rivers, depending for their length and See also:depth upon the See also:volume of See also:water flowing through them. The valley of the Hamilton river is the greatest, forms a continuation of the valley of the Inlet and extends 300 M. farther inland, while its bottom lies from 500 to 1500 ft. below the surface of the plateau into which it is cut.

The depressions between the See also:

low ridges of the interior are occupied by innumerable lakes, many of great See also:size, including Mistassini, Mishikamau, Clearwater, Kaniapiskau and See also:Seal, all from 5o to See also:loom. long. The streams discharging these lakes, before entering their valleys, flow on a level with the country and occupy all depressions, so that they frequently spread out into See also:lake-expansions and are often divided into numerous channels by large islands. The descent into the valleys is usually abrupt, being made by heavy rapids and falls; the Hamilton, from the level interior, in a course of 12 m. falls 76o ft. into the head of its valley, this descent including a sheer drop of 315 ft. at the See also:Grand Falls, which, taken with the large volume of the river, makes it the greatest faltin North America. The rivers of the northern and western watersheds drain about two-thirds of the peninsula; the most important of the former are the Koksoak, the largest river of Labrador (over 500 M. long), the See also:George, See also:Whale and See also:Payne rivers, all flowing into Ungava Bay. The large rivers flowing westwards into Hudson Bay are the Povungnituk, Kogaluk, Great Whale, Big, East See also:Main and See also:Rupert, varying in length from 300 to 500 m. The rivers flowing south are exceedingly rapid, the Moisie, Romaine, Natashkwan and St See also:Augustine being the most important; all are about 300 m. long. The Atlantic coast range throws most of the drainage northwards into the Ungava See also:basin, and only small streams fall into the ocean, except the Hamilton, North-west and Kenamou, which empty into the head of Hamilton Inlet. See also:Geology.—The peninsula is formed largely of crystalline See also:schists and gneisses associated with granites and other igneous rocks, all of archaean See also:age; there are also large areas of non-fossiliferous, stratified limestones, cherts, shales and See also:iron ores, the unaltered equivalents of See also:part of the schists and gneisses. Narrow strips of Animikie (Upper Huronian or perhaps See also:Cambrian) rocks occur along the low-lying southern and western shores, but there are nowhere else indications of the peninsula having been below sea-level since an exceedingly remote time. During the glacial See also:period the country was covered by a thick See also:mantle of See also:ice, which flowed out radially from a central See also:collecting-ground. Owing to the extremely long exposure to denudation, to the subsequent removal of the greater part of the decomposed See also:rock by glaciers, and to the unequal weathering of the component rocks, it is now a plateau, which ascends somewhat abruptly within a few See also:miles of the coast-line to heights of between i From the Portuguese llavrador (a See also:yeoman See also:farmer). The name was originally given to See also:Greenland (1st half of 16th See also:century) and was transferred to the peninsula in the belief that it formed part of the same country as Greenland.

The name was bestowed " because he who first gave See also:

notice of seeing it [Greenland] was a farmer (llavrador) from the See also:Azores." See the See also:historical See also:sketch of Labrador by W. S. See also:Wallace in Grenfell's Labrador, &c., 1909. 500 and moo ft. The interior is undulating, and traversed by ridges at in this manner: See also:Indians—west coast, 1200; Ungava Bay, 200; east coast, 200; south coast, 'goo. See also:Eskimo—Atlantic coast, '000; south See also:shore of Hudson Strait, Soo; east coast of Hudson Bay, 500. The Indians roam over the southern interior in small bands, their northern limit being determined by that of the trees on which they depend for See also:fuel. They live wholly by the See also:chase, and their See also:numbers are dependent upon the See also:deer and other animals; as a consequence there is a See also:constant struggle between the See also:Indian and the See also:lower animals for existence, with great slaughter of the latter, followed by periodic famines among the natives, which greatly reduce their numbers and maintain an See also:equilibrium. The native See also:population has thus remained about stationary for the last two centuries. The Indians belong to the See also:Algonquin See also:family, and speak dialects of the See also:Cree See also:language. By contact with missionaries and See also:fur-traders they are more or less civilized, and the great See also:majority of them are Christians. Those living north of the St Lawrence are See also:Roman See also:Catholic, while the Indians of the western See also:watershed have been converted by the missionaries of the See also:Church See also:Mission Society; the eastern and northern bands have not yet been reached by the missionaries, and are still pagans.

The Eskimo of the Atlantic coast have long been under the guidance of the Moravian missionaries, and are well advanced in See also:

civilization; those of Hudson Bay have been taught by the Church Mission Society, and promise well; while the Eskimo of Hudson Strait alone remain without teachers, and are pagans. The Eskimo live along the coasts, only going inland for See also:short periods to See also:hunt the barren-ground caribou for their See also:winter clothing; the See also:rest of the year they remain on the shore or the ice, See also:hunting See also:seals and porpoises, which afford them See also:food, clothing and fuel. The christianized Indians and Eskimo read and write in their own language; those under the teaching of the Church Mission Society use a syllabic See also:character, the others make use of the See also:ordinary See also:alphabet. See also:Political See also:Review.—The peninsula is divided politically between the governments of Canada, See also:Newfoundland and the See also:province of See also:Quebec. The See also:government of Newfoundland, under Letters Patent of the 28th of See also:March 1876, exercises See also:jurisdiction along the Atlantic coast; the boundary between its territory and that of Canada is a line See also:running due north and south from Anse Sablon, on the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle, to 52° N., the See also:remainder of the boundary being as yet undetermined. The northern boundary of the province of Quebec follows the East Main river to its source in Patamisk lake, thence by a line due east to the Ashuanipi See also:branch of the Hamilton river; it then follows that river and Hamilton Inlet to the coast area under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland. The remainder of the peninsula, north of the province of Quebec, by See also:order in See also:council dated the 18th of See also:December 1897, was constituted Ungava See also:District, an unorganized territory under the jurisdiction of the government of the Dominion of Canada. AuTxoRrr'us.—W. T. Grenfell and others, Labrador: the Country and the See also:People (New See also:York, 1909) ; R. F. See also:Holmes, " A See also:Journey in the Interior of Labrador," Proc.

R.G.S. x. 189-205 (1887); A. S. Packard, The Labrador Coast (New York, 1891); See also:

Austen See also:Cary, " Exploration on Grand River, Labrador," Bid. Am. Geo. See also:Soc. vol. See also:xxiv., 1892 ; R. See also:Bell, " The Labrador Peninsula," Scottish Geo. Mag. See also:July 1895. Also the following reports by the See also:Geological Survey of Canada: R. Bell, " See also:Report on an Exploration of the East Coast of Hudson Bay," 1877–1878; " Observations on the Coast of Labrador and on Hudson Strait and Bay," 1882–1884; A.

P. Low, " Report on the Mistassini Expedition," 1885; " Report on James Bay and the Country East of Hudson Bay," 1887–1888; " Report on Explorations in the Labrador Peninsula, 1892–1895," 1896; " Re-See also:

port on a See also:Traverse of the Northern Part of the Labrador Peninsula," 1898; " Report on the South Shore of Hudson Strait," 1899. For See also:History: W. G. Gosling, Labrador (1910). (A. P. Lo.; A. P.

End of Article: LABOUR PARTY

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