Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1890-12-15
THE AMERICAN FEDERATION.
The Great National Labor OiEanizati0n
Defined by One Who Knows.

tlOnal anu luLtTHdClOLdl VI uCS uhioik' "
aid and assist each other, and further
more to secure national legislation in
the interests of the working people and
influence public opinion by peaceful and
legal methods in favor of organized
labor" So reads section 3 of article 9
of the constitution of the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor.
Surely no fair minded man can find
fault or flaw in this manly declaration.
mark the assertion, "by peaceful and
legal methods" and none OF the trades
unions working under the American
Federation of Labor has ever violated
its constitution yet.
The American Federation pf Labor IS
independent of the knights OF Labor.
and its constitution is distinctive from
all former trades unions. |. represents
the progressive idea of treating the great
and troubling question OF capital vs..
labor. Its mode OF procedure is based
on moderation and intelligence. That
heroic application the strike is It's dcr'.ier
resort.
10
address to the working people Of Amer
lea: Reorganization to protect the inter-
ests of those who are forced TO sell their
labor for wages, rs in relation 10 the in
terests of those who speculate III labor
as commodity.
No logic can twist this fact: Wage
earners are the natural and proper
guardians of wage earners' rights In
other words, if one doesn't look out for
himself who will:
Frederick Harrison, an English states
man, author and lawyer OF elevated po-
sition, tersely puts the labor question in
its social light as follows:
IA settled conviction has grown mp in
the consciences of serious men of all
schools that society in it's present form
presses with terrible severity on the
whole body of those who toll in the low
est ranks of labor.
While this fact continues society can
neither be honest, honorable nor healthy,
simply because the begetters of wrong
and injustice cannot be pure and whole
some. The strong point of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor is its humanity
in gathering under its protective wings
the unskilled labor as well as the skilled
All are equal in its conception.
In very able editorial under the cap
ton The Rights of the Public" which
appeared in The Times March II. 1888.
is this: "A man to whom the constitu-
ton of his state guarantees the voting
franchise has the right to demand that
any respectable organization of which
he is member shall be heard and treated
with respect" In all matters Of disputes
between employer and employee this is
exactly what the American Federation
of Labor demands and strives to obtain.
From, some inscrutable reason the idea
has obtained Judgment in the minds OF
some that labor organizations breed an
archists. Now. while it may be true
that all anarchists come from the classes
who are compelled to sustain life by sell
ing their labor. still it doesn't make all
wage workers anarchists. AS a signifi-
cant proof of this. during the recent
great dock strikes in London. hear this:
London saw without uneasiness or i'll
will 10000 men on the verge of starva-
ton pass in procession through the
streets.
Under the teachings aYi constitution
of the American Federation of Labor it
is an impossibility to be An anarchist
and a member in good standing. The
policy of these new trades unionsis to win
public opinion and holdit. How utterly
suicidal to the success OF this policy
would it be were there the least sus-