Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-12-04
PRIMING THEIR GUNS.
Labor Getting Ready to Demand
 an Eight-Hour Working Day.
The National Convention Of the Fedora tion of Labor. at Isoston-Prep.ring for the Grand Charge to Ee
 Made in May Next.
COPYRIGHT 1889.

for a grand tharge on the enemy. The National Convention of the American Federation of Labor, at Boston, is not | the first step in this direction, but it is the first determined ard organized move 1 for this result, in which a million men and women directly and actively par | ticlpate.
 | On the 10th of December next, Boston 1 will be the scene of one of the largest and most important gatherings of labor ever held in this country. On that day 1 the National Convention of the Ameri- can Federation of Labor, assemblies in the Common Council Chamber, which has been placed at it's disposal by 1 the Boston City authorities pursuant to the call, issued several weeks ago, l by President Samuel Gompers. The ! outcome of the convention will be crusade in which a million men and women will actively participate, the l object being the enforcement of the eight-hour system all over the Union. For eight years, the Federation has jbeen preparing for this fight, and il will enter the field with the full upprecia- | ticn of the magnitude Of the task be- 1 foro it. The first step for an eight hour workday was taken by the Fedora tion at it's fourth annual convention l held in Chicago, October, :, 1884. At the convention held the following year, the D. opaganda was formally promul- 1 gated. For 8 time, the progress of the | movement was checked by the Anar- chist bomb, thrown at the meeting in l the H"ymarkct square, in Chicago, on l May ,. lSsG, although even in that year a number of unions succeeded in cnft rcing the demand. The two fol lowing conventions took no action in | tie matter; but at that held ill St. | Louis a year ago, the Federation con- | mittcd itself to a general agitation for the enforcement of the eight-hour workday, fixing May 1st., 1890, as the date when it should go into effect among tue trades union everywhere in the United States. The principal duty of the ioston convention will, therefore, l be to transform this agitation into an organized movement and to arrange for the general rising in May next.
 | During the recent convention of the l Knights of Labor at Atlanta, a com mun;ca ation was received from President | Com DOTS of the Federation, inviting the k!;gh ts to cooperate in the eight-hour i ca q gn. It was fully expected that | the !NNightSWould make common cause 1 in this crusade, which affected all classes of labor, irrespective of organi- @ation lines: but the Atlanta conven- Lon. after discussing the proposition f>r united action, decided to stand aloof aHN declared 1t to be the sense of tho
 
 could De best fought out by the local Q sem plies individually. This action is | held by the Fcderalists as a virtual | surrender, as far as the Knights are concerned, of the whole field, for the | possession of which the workingmen have been fighting and their friends in Congress legislating for the past ten | years. The main cause for the refusal, | however, is said to Le found in the ieal- | ousy that exists between the two organ l lZatiOnS. the result of the decline of the | Knights and their gradual absorption by the Federation.
 With the adoption of a platform dis tlnctly defining the programme of the | eight hour crusade. the real work of
 the convention will be finished. - | Although tho Boston gathering is to l be diStinctively an Eight-Hour Conven l tion, tLcre are several other matters
 liable to como under debate. These l inCluuc c a winter census, and a compre- hensive inquiry by government into l tie causes of idleness and crime. Every | thing else, however, may be set aside for full and free discussion of the | object upon which the Fedora tion may be said to have staked it's future eX- l istence. During IEe past year meet l ings have been held in 40 cities at which eight h ours have been demanded. and that agitation will be continued increasingly until May next, when the 1 general order will be sent out from the | executive headquarters in New York | which may have the effect of bringing I a ma jority of the industries of the | country to a sudden staEdstill, for a | time al least.
 | Tine reports which are to be presented l to the Boston Convention," said Presi- dent Gompers twill recite the facts l regarding our overtures for the CO., ! f1,r Gt l hour struggle, and their reply. There arc other reports, of course, but con l Cernlng these 1 do not care to say any l thing in advance of the assembling of the convention, further than that they l will show the growth of the Federation during the past year. This will be our leighth annual national convention,
 and will be very largely attended, as
 we have nearly 600, 600 members. The | Fcdcratio has had It's share of trials and of triumphs, too, and now it has a great duty before it, the practical direc-
 tion Of which is the province of the | Boston Convention"
 ] "Wh"t is the basis of representation
 in the tonvention 9" was asked.
 "From national or international unions for less than four thousand
 members, one delegate; four thousand or more. two delegates; eight thousand
 or more, three delegates: sixteen thou ] sand or more, four delegates: thirty
 two thousand or more five delegates, and so on, in that progressive ratio.
 Ere m each local or district trades or ganization or fedrrated body, not con
 nectcd with or having national or in
 ternational head affiliated with this
 Federation, one delegate is to be chosen. We have advised unionists all over the country to see that the full number of delegates is chosen, and that
 they are provided with the necessary credentials" l II consider the unions able to cope with any emergency that may
 arise,' President Gompers added. We don't approve of syml athetic
 or unnecessa strikes, for these in a ma iority of cases arc disastrous and
 end in the men returning to work on l the employers terms"
 l The convention will Accordingly order
 the eight-hour fight to begin all along
 the line, regardless of the wet blanket
 cast on the movement by tho Knights. | The Federation leaders feel that their | orga nj ation is sufficiently strong to
 make the fight cn national grounds, l even without allies. although they rely confidently on receiving the individual ! support of thousands cf Knights even