El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-12-10
LABOR
CONGRESS
To Meet Next Monday Will
Discuss Many lmpor-
tant Matters.
EXPANSION QUESTION
Will Probably Excite AWarm
Political Discussion, And
May Result In
Rupture.

dred and fifty delegates, representing
more than six hundred thousand or
ganized laboring men and women, are
gathering in Kansas City for the pur-
pose Of legislsting for the bulk Of or.
gauizsd labor in America.
The occasion Is the eighteenth gen.
eral assembly of the American Fede-
ration OF Labor which will be called to
order in Strope's hall Monday morn
ing by President Samuel Gompers.
The attitude manifested by Presi-
dent Gompers toward the question of
territorial expansion causes his annual
address to be awaited with extraordi-
nary interest by the general public,
and the consideration of the same by
the convention will doubtless be fol-
lowed with equal interest. A promi-
nent labor leader of st. Louis, who has
arrived to attend the convention, said
to-day:
81 believe the convention will de-
clare emphsticslly against the annexa-
tion of the Philippines, for the reason
that it would make millions of coolie
and other half civilized laborers of the
Orient, citizens OF this republic.
Disseminated against by law, and
would be brought to the United
States to enter in competition with our
own workman, the Inevitable result of
which would be q great reduction in
wages. Already this very thing is be-
ing done in regard to native labor of
the Hawaiian Islands, and thousands
of them have been imported to take
place of American workmen.".
The convention will be opened at ten
O'Clock Monday morning by President
Gompers, and the first day will be con-
sumed by the presidents address
and addresses of welcome by promi-
nent men. In the evening there will
be q reception at which the guests of
honor will be William Inskip and Will
liam Thorne, the British trades union
delegates. The British delegates will
have no vote in the convention, but at
tend fraternally in accordance with
custom of many years standing.
One of the features of the conven-
tion will be the report OF Messrs.
Duncan and Lloyd, who attended the
meeting of the British Trades Union
congress for the Federation.
The conservative and most influen-
tisl element of the delegates who are
here are inclined to the belief that the
opposition to the reelection of Presi-
dent Gompers will flash in the pan as
has been the case so many times be-
fore, admitting at the same time that
the fight between the ''pure
and simplers" as the Gompers
following is called, who believe in
trade organization, and are against
the injection of outside questions into
the trade union doctrine, and the "pro-
gressives," as the socialists and others
who believe that the unions should
bend their energies toward securing
legislative reforms are classed, pro-
mises to be more acute than
ever.
The opposition to President Com
pers is confined almost entirely to the
territory west of the Mississippi.
Second in Importance to the terri
torisl expansion question to come
before the convention is the PROPOSE
tion to abolish the boycott as wea-
pom of organized labor. 1t is con-
tended that the same ends could be
reached by buying nothing but label
goods, which would be guarantee
that they were the product of union
labor. There is not much likelihood
that the proposal will be adopted, al
though it is probable that something
will be done to discourage using the
boycott except as q last resort.