Rock Island Argus., 1901-12-07
RESOLUTIONS RAIN
Falls on the National Convention
OF the American Fedora.
ton of Labor.
EIGHTY-EIGHT OF THEM PRESENTED
One of Which Denounces wu Ting
Fang-Another Calls for a
Labor Party.

scranton. IA. Dec. THE cOnVen-
ton of the American Federation of La
Dor disposed of considerable routine
business yesterday: The afternoon
meeting was adjourned an hour earlier
III order that the committees which
were announced by President Com
pers could organize and take up the
work that has been laid out for them
he overshadowing feature of the day
was the able address of Edward f..
McSweeney. deputy commissioner OF
immigration at the port of New York.
on the subject of immigration. He
spoke for more than an hour and was
generously applauded for the great
amount of Information that he gave
the delegates.
Wu Ting Fang Denounced.
During the course OF the two sessions
lightweight resolutions were present
ed and referred to committees. They
cover nearly every variety of subjects
that affect workmen. One of them
contained Il denunciatiOn of WI Ting
Fang, the Chinese minister. for an at
legged derogatory remark against the
American people, and another conveyed
the sincere and hearty thanks of the
Federation of Labor to President
Roosevelt for the position he took in
his message to congress on the ques-
tion OF Chinese exclusion. The resolu-
ti0n denounGing WI Ting Fang charges
him with having made the remark that
when the American people ARE biased
they are beyond argument, and reason
does not appeal TO them"
Other Resolutions of Nete.
Other resolutions presented are as
follows: Asking wOrkmen to unite for
Independent political action in n party
having for its aVOwed object the over
throw of the capitalistic system of pro-
duction and distribution and the estab-
iishment of the cooperative common
wealth; asking congress to amend the
Geary act soas TO exclude Chinese,
Japanese. Malays and all people of Ash
attic extraction. and to prevent the use
of the American Pacific island posses
sions as n bridge over which excluded
races may pass to the United States;
providing far a general defense fund
by levying tax of cents per month
on every man in the American FEEDER
alton of Labor; amending the alien
contract labor law so as to include mu-
siciaus. \ baa.h of resolutions dealing
with trade Jurisdiction and trade au-
tonomy was also introduced.
Trade Autonomp Question still Acute.
The reports of the committee on ere
dentialS promised TO develop Il lively
debate. but the call for the previous
question suddenly cut off further dis
cussiOn. An objection WIS entered
against that part of the report which
referred to the st. louis stationary en-
gineerS and brewery workmen's con-
trOversy The committee recommend
ed that Delegate William NJ. Brandt.
of the Trades and Labor Union. he
seated against the protest of the sta
tiOnary engineers. and that the Trades
ard Labor Union be instructed to have
the brewery engineers join the Inter
national Union of Steam Engineers.
The convention seated Brandt without
n word, but the matter OF fnstructinG
the labor union to take in the brewery
engineers was finally referred to the
executive council for disposal. and thus
the important question of trade auton-
Omy was not settled as was expected.