Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1896-08-11
NATIONAL POLITICS.


New York. - The Mckinley leagues
state executive committee has written q
long letter to Mark Hanna, chairman oi
the Republican committee, in which il
warns him against Frederick S. Gibbs
the Republican national committeeman
from New York, and the regular organi
zat1on of the Republican party In this
! city and state. 1t reviews with much de-
tail the alleged wrong doing of the or
ganization, discusses the political char
acter of Mr.. Gibbs, who is the personal
representative of Thomas @. Platt, touches
upon the methods adopted by the organi-
cation in the last election, and declares
"We are convinced that Mr.. Gibbs has
not only been exceedingly active in his
opposition to the interests of Major Nc
Kinley, but is deliberately and constantly
using his official position and influence
to bring about the disruption of the party
in the comfy of New York and to impair,
if not prevent, the election of the-Repub-
lican ticket in the county,"
It then recites instances wherein the
organization has deprived members OF
the league and other Republicans of party
rights, and declares:
eve believe that in majority OF
states the party is thoroughly and hon.
estly desirous of the election of Mckinley
and Hobart, but in many places the ma
chinery of the party is under the abso-
lute control of discredited and unscrupu-
lous traitors-men who did not hesitate
to villify the candidates before nomina-
tion and who will not hesitate to betray
them after it,"
Attention is called in the letter to the
small plurality by which Mr.. Blaine was
defeated in New York, and a suggestion
of the possibilities of the change of one
vote in each voting precinct is made.
LABOR AND FREE COINAGE.
New York. - Samuel Gompers, presi-
dent of the American Federation of
Labor, has returned to New York after an
extended trip through the west. He
spoke here to laage audience on Satur-
day night and after attending the Bryan
and Sewall notification meeting will
make tour of the principal cities of the
east. He will speak in Danbury, Conn.,,
Pittsburg, Sharon, Columbus and, most
likely, at Cleveland, the home of the
Hanna syndicate, where he has been in
vited to conference of labor leaders to
consider the question Of publishing Mark
Hanna's labor record.
In response to a question, he said:
"Workingmen all over thecountry seem
to favor free silver coinage. The Amer
loan Federation OF Labor is already on
record for this policy, having three times
declared for free coinage. 1t is in favor
of the free and unlimited coinage of silver
at the ratio of 16 to without waiting for
action by any other nation or nations.
These declarations we're made at the con-
ventions held by the federation at Chi
cago in 1898, Denver in 1894 and this city
in 1896"
Mr.. Gompers drew a fine distinction
between the policy of free coinage and
politics.
"Politics," he said, SHOULD be kept out
of labor organizations. Individually, the
members of the federation, for instance,
probably will support Mr.. Bryan and vote
for him at the polls. But the organiza-
tion, as such, should not, in my opinion,
support any political party. Labor and
labor organization has been my life work
and now more than ever should working
men hold together; for under whatever
form of government we may have we will
receive little advantage without the pres
tige of concrete organization to fall
back on. 1t is my purpose to keep clear
of partisan politics."
Charles F. Reichers, president of the
United Garment Workers of America,
overheard this statement.
"All the workingmen are for Bryan"
said Reichers to Gompers.
"Let them be-" replied the president of
the federation, "but let them also stand
by their organization. Labor politics
and party politics should always be kept
separate"