The morning times., 1896-11-29
FEnERATIoN OF LABOR.

The fire a; Smiths lumber mil on last
Tuesday night drew many oI the delegates
away from the opening of the Federation ~
Labor Vice President +. NJ Blake called
the meeting 10 order amin turn surrendered
the siIdlr - VIca rresiucnt James iT;iinof
The regular routine business was quickly
dIspeuSsu wi,h. as At was Known lii;it Siie
committee appointed to prepare the Tesc-
uons Ill appreciatIun of the services OF
President James F. McHugh. intended 10
max. the presentation during the c1 eiihs
The reports from the respective local
bodies to whom had been rc. erred the AIT
visibility of placing the Ora nd opera
House on ths unfair list, were taken up
and showed that by 4 very decided ma
jurity that the affiliated organizations Were
,,nDosed to this course. the Federation took
action accordingly.
Reports from special and standing com
nllttees were then nau anl a';tion tahr.'i.
President McHugh, having arrived, ne
was requested To assume his station. The
number of delegates by this time had ma
terialIy Increased Mr. W. II StiCk.ll,
the chairman oil resolutions, IN IN an
uounced that his committee had performed
the duty assigned 10 it, as to having the
resolutions. recently adopted by the Fedcr-
alton, engrossed and frained and were
now prepared TO present them
The chairman then, without furt
CEREMONY III d tTltl SittNh pi'S'AA't
the resolutions TO President McHugli, as
a slight mark of esteem for his faithful
services The resolutions, which were
handsomely engrnsSed and suitably framed,
read as follows:
Resolved, BY the Federation of the Dis
trict of Columbia that the sincere thanks
OF this body are due, and are hereby tender
ed to James +. MclIugh, who, as president
of the Federation during four successive
pnutlurfpl nrnrppttin.S and
executed its mandates with an intelligence,
er.:s.. fidelity and impartiality, in re-
spects admirable in i presiding and admins
trative officer and satisfactory to the
organizations herein concerned
Resolved, That an enGrossedcopy ofthese
resolutions be presented tu the president,
James + McHugn, Il permanent teSti-
nonial of our appreciation Of his services.
The presentation was followed by mucI,
applause and cries for speech, TO Which
Mr. McHugh replied, touching a respon-
sive chord in every delegate present, and
all pronounced il worthy of the man. and
rejecting the sentiments of true urionism-
The speech was as follows:
Gentlemen: l fully apprcciate the very
great honurs you show me, but am at a
loss to know why / should receive them.
i came To Washington less than three ears
aco; 4 perfect stranger To all. Since that
time You have entrusted me with the
high est and most responsible position
within your gift. / have appreciated this
great trust, and, duringthe four terms that
body / have tried to perform the per-
picking duties with fairness, impartialIty,
and honesty. How well / have succeeded
1 leave you 10 Judge
The honor of being president of such an
Influential organization as the Fedora
Of Labor OF the District of Columbia, is, III
Testimonial of this high character is more
than / have any right to expect During
my presidency You have placed In my
keeping the chief marshalship of the
grandcst Labor Day parade ever held
in the District of Columbia, and, may
add, the largest that ever will take
place, So long as there are men in Wash
ingtun who are perniittedto continue their
desperate efforts to disrupt legitimate
labor organizations in the District.
However, am inclined TO believe that
"A halt has been called, and that labor mas
at last discovered the real motive actuating
the few men we have among us who are
conducting their business along the lines
of rule or ruin. l notice in the press that
the Central Labor Union has taken a
decided stand against this organizing Of
antagonistic unions for the purpose of
fighting the Older and legitimate bodies.
These men are being organized to gratify
the hatred of one man and the revenge
OF another, but 1 thank God that their
motives are at last understood by the
rank and file OF organized labor, and that
their acts are being repudiated: and SO
they should be.
Nhlle l nave no particular objection
to more than one central body, fully be-
lieve that one is all that is necessary in a
city the size of Washington
The present Federation has done more
TO improve the condition or the workers
here than can ever be accomplished again,
rent aSunder as we are at present. There
should be but one central body, and that
is the Federation of Labor, and will
tell you why / believe So 1t is the parent
prgaNizatioS; 1t is en- Organization where
tie rights Of labor ms a Whole are recog-
nized and protected. There is no imag-
mary line drawn, mo shallow claim preach.
ed nothing but pure trades unionism
eere.
Pure unionism is practiced with us, and
all that is expected of our people is that
they have a union card" We don't ask
whether IL has the seal Of the K of L. on
IL or not. All we want to know is that
it's a union card, with all that the word
implies When say this, 1 know what
j am talking about, as 1 have had suffi-
cient experience in labor matters to know.