The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-18
SHAFFER OR GOMPERS
MUST PASS UNDER CLOUD
Charges Made by Latter Against the Former Will
Be Investigated by the American
Federation of Labor.

New Orleans, Nov. 17.-Cither Theodore
Shaffer, President Of the Amalgamated
Association Of Iron. Steel and Tin Work.
ers. or Samuel Gompers, President of
the American Fedepation of Labor, is
destined to pass under a cloud.
The eclipse may be temporary and the
man who goes under may emerge at some
other time, but an eclipse there will be
for one or the other. 1t Is a fight to the
finish and at present the odds favor
Gompers. ~
The trouble which so suddenly came to
a point in the convention of the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor this morning is
the ocho of the great strike against the
United States Steel Company, which was
fought and lost last year by the Anal
gated Association under the leadership
Of Shaffer. After his association had
been defeated, President Shaffer did not
hesitate to utter charges of serious ma
ture against President Gompers as well
as against John Mitchell, President of the
United Mine Workers, and Frank Sar-
gent of the Brotherhood of Railway
Trainmen. He asserted that the organiza-
while listening to the advice. Of their
leaders, refused to lend a helping hand
to the Amalgamated Association, and had
even fought against it in the dark.
Charges Against Compers.
The charges were leveled against Mr..
Gompers in particular, and the following
extracts from the secret circular issued
by President Shaffer show more specifi-
cally their scope and nature.
In this circular, President Shaffer said:
when we had almost completed ar
rangements with representatives of the
American Tin Plate Company for scale
rates and conditions. we were in good
condition to win without help. but looked
for aid from other labor bodies, some Of
which were pledged. and to the general
public, but especially relied upon the
American Federation of Labor, with
which body We have been affiliated ever
since its inception and toward which we
have never failed to contribute. Even
during our own strike We contributed to
the machinists' union, tax levied by
the American Federation of Labor
LAS the strike went on, the American
Federation of Labor gave us not accent.
The flint glass blowers the window glass
blowers. the bottle blowers and the pot
terry workers unions gave us help, Per-
ceiving that lack Of money. loss Of public
appro, al, desertion by hundreds of our
own people and neglect of other organized
bodies would make 1t impossible to gain
decisive victory, we endeavored to save
what we cou.d.
IT arranged for Mr.. Gompers to meet
Mr. Morgan to effect settlement. Mr..
Morgan gave up mis- vacation, went to
New York and waited for Mr.. Gompers,
| who failed to appear. nor hiss. he since
ftatA sfG
Told Shaffer to Hurry.
"Mr. Gompers urged me to hurry from
Pittsburg to- New York and sign the wage
scale offered by the trust through COM
| mittee of which Gompers and John Mitch
ell were members. ......-.s.. So.
| "Why did they want your President tc
go down to New York? Mr.. Gompers
| by telephone, said to me, the Presiden
| of the Steel Workers, that as an indi
| vidual he recommended that 1 take {
| stand for the proposition l had made.
I'VE refused to have any further con-
ference for the object of calling out the
miners and railroad men on strike to help
US. They assured us they were willing
| to come in thousands, but they had not
been called. The trust was more sure
with other organized labor bodies aginst
us, Our people finally became discourage
| ed and ordered settlement. We saved
the wage scale and the Amalgamated AS
| ISOLATION"
| This circular came to- the notice of
President Gompers last fall and he made
a reply denying that he had acted In bad
faith toward the Amalgamated Associa-
| ton. There the matter slumbered until
this morning
The convention was dragging slowly
along. there being but few committees
prepared to report and an adjournment
was imminent.
Delegate ]. P. Sheridan of the Amalga-