Workmen's advocate., 1890-12-13
DETROIT.
LUCIEN SANlAL BEFORE THE CONVENTION OF THE AMER- lCAN FEDERATION OF
 LABOR.

MON NtllpHt ITtseHteu- tlHtHt
 Questions Asked and EXplana.
 tiOns Demanded.
 The Convention of the American Fe- iteration of Labor was called to order on Monday, the Sth instant, by President Gompers at II a. m., that is, one hour later than the appointed time, the delay being due, sad to say, to the circums tance that the representatives of Organ ized Labor had appealed to such politi cians and representatives of Organized Capital as the Governor of Michigan and the Mayor of Detroit to extend their opening, and to the delay of that gentry in making their appearance. As it was, the Convention had anyhow to open its session without going through that de- grading ordeal.
 After the introductory speeches had been exhausted Committee on Creden- tials was appointed, and the Convention adjourned to ? p. m., at which hour it promptly reconvened, the matter of the admission of Lucien Sanial, the delegate from the New York Central Labor Fede- ration, upon which the committee was expected to report, being anxiously looked for by the delegates. Upon this all absorbing matter, however, the Com- mittee reported it had not been able to come to any definite conclusion, and recommended that the Convention itself act upon it.
 This report set the ball rolling. Dele gate Mcbride moved to refer the matter to special committee; delegate Morgan moved an amendment that Lucien Sanial, the delegate of the New York c. L. F., be heard and President Gom- pers ruled the amendment out of order. A lively and protracted debate followed thereupon during which delegates Daly, Morgan, Lennon, McSweeny, and others spoke insisting that Lucien Sanial be heard in open meeting and the question be decided then and there, while, on the other hand, delegate Frank K. Foster and others opposed the idea. Finally the original motion itself to refer was ruled out of order on the ground that tL> ,,ft ho f t,n tia!s not having been yet adopted, the Convention was not properly organized to transact business. The natural result of this manpuvre would have been greatly to handicap the progressive ele- ment in the Convention in their strug gle to secure the admission of Lucien Sanlal; and to prevent his being heard in the Convention; but the move failed of its effect. A motion was promptly made that Lucien SaniaI be heard then and there, and, despite the previous rulings, was carried with a rush by 49 votes against 33, and secured the floor to the delegate of the New York c. L. F.
 Lucien Sanial was received with ap- plause, and addressed the Convention at length. He said in substance that the charter granted to the Central Labor Federation by the American Fedora tion Of Labor about year ago had never been officially surrendered to the President of the A. F. of l.. The C. l.. F, had never ceased to exist it had merely suspended it's meetings on December IS, 1889; and that Trustee Henry F. Emerich, who delivered the charter to President Gompers, had done so without authority, as the minutes of objections raised on the ground of a Socialist Section of the Socialist Labor party being represented in the C. L. F., the speaker maintained that the Socialist Labor party was not political party in the sense in which the phrase was understood by wOrkingmen generally. Surely, 1t was not so understood in Ger many, where every trade-union was a creation and d branch of the Socialist Labor party it was not so understood in France, where the Syndtcdt Ourrier was creation and branch of the So- cialist party, and where the Socialists agitation bade fair to carry the eight hour workday it was not so understood in Switzerland, nor in Austria, nor in England. where the Socialists had, in twenty months, organized IF trade unions with membership of over 300, ,0OO wage-workers, and where they had conducted and won the most gl. gantic strikes. There was upon those grounds alone a vast difference between the old plutocratic parties and the So clalist Labor party. The speaker in con