The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-18
SKATER CLAIMS ID BE
 VICTIM OF CONSPIRACY
Either He or Gompers Will Now Have to Shoulder the Blame, and It Looks as If It Will Not
 Be Gompers.

Theodore Shaffer, president of the Amal- gamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. or Samuel Gompers, presi- dent of the American Federation of La- bor, Is destined to pass under a cloud. The eclipse may be temporary and tho man who goes under may emerge at some other time. but an eclipse there will be for one or the other It is fight to the finish and at present the odds favor Gompers. The trouble which so suddenly came to a point in the conven- tion of the American Federation of Labor this morning is the echo of the great strike against the United States Steel company, which was fought and lost last year by the Amalgamatod association under the leadership of Shaffer After his association had been defeated PresI- dent Shaffer did not hesitate to utter charges of a serious nature against President Gompers, as well as against John Mitchell, president of tho United Mine Workers. and Frank Sargent of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen. He asserted that the organizations over which these men presided had. while lis- tening to the advice of their leaders, re- fused to lend a helping hand to the Amalgamated association, and had even fought against it in the 5aIk.
 The charges were leveled against MT. Gompers in particular, and the following extracts from the secret circular issued by President Shaffer show more specin- ca1ly their scope and nature. In this cir cular President Shaffer says:
 shaffer's Charges.
 When we had almost completed ar engagements with repre- senta tives 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 W hich were pledged. and to the general rublic; but especially relied upon the American Federation of Labor, with wkich body we have been affiliated ever since It's 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.
 'As the strike went on the American Federation of Labor gave us not cent The flint glass blowers, the window glass blowers the bottle blowers and the pot tery workers union gave us help. Per ceiyina that lack of money. loss of pub lie approval, desertion by hundreds of our own people and neglect of other or ganlzed bodies would make 1t impossible to gain a decisive victory, we endeaVored to save what we could.
 T arranged for MT. Gompers to meet Mr. Morgan to effect settlement. MT. Morgan gave up his vacation, went to New York and waited TOT Mr. Gompers, who failed to appear, nor has he since explained why he neglected our interests.
 ''Mr Gompers urged me to hurry from Pittsburg to New York and sign the wage scale offered by the trust throisSh a committee of which Gompers and John Mitchell were members.
 why did they want your president to 20 down to New York? MT. Gompers by telephone said to me the president of the steel workers as an individual recommended that you take a stand for the proposition you have made. I have done the same and would do so agaIn. "We refused to have any further con- l ferences 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 against us. Our people finally becam6 discouraged and ordered a settlement. We saved the wage scale and the Amal- gamated association
 Came Up Last Fall.
 This circular came to the notice of President Gompers last rall. ana he made reply denying that he had acted in bad faith toward the Amalgamated as- sociation. 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 J. P. Sheridan of the Amalgamated association, a col league of MT. Shaffer, arose and said:
 T have here a resolution. and as the time for the introduction of resolutions has passed, l ask the unanimous con- sent of the convention for its admission. I intended to offer it on Saturday, but one of the parties most interested was not here, and could not do it. He has arrived and now ask for its admis- sion. It relates to charges against Pres ident Gompers."
 A hush fell upon the convention and President Gompers rising slowly said:
 ''I wish Delegate Wilson of the Mine Workers union to take the chair.''
 Mir. Wilson took the gavel and asked 'are there any objections to the resolu- tion?'
 T object, said Delegate Agard of the Glass Bottle Blowers unoin, unless the convention is first informed of the scope and nature of the resolutions"
 sIt will be read" said the chairman before the question of It's admission Ia put" And Delegate Sheridan read as fol- lows:
 Resolution Read.
 whereas, President Shaffer of the. Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers, at their last convention held in Wheeling, w. Va. made charges against President Gompers of the Ameri-
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