Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-04-24
SAMUEL G0MPERS HAS ROOSEVELT THE C0II TRACE
SAYS SOCIALISTS SEEK DESTRUC.
ton OF LABOR UNIONISM.
The Pre- eSident of the American Fed
Grafton of Labor Claims, EditOri-
ally in the American Federation
iSt, That Socialists Are Opposed
to Trades Unions.

The latest concentrated" effort of the
socialists to destroy the trade union
movement is inaugurated under the pre-
text that the American Federation OF
Labor refuses to recognize the changes
which are constantly taking place in in.
ignorant and maiciously false, any OBJ
server must know. 1t is designed Tor
the single object of hiding the real pur-
pose-that is, Of trying to divide and
disrupt and destroy the trade union
movement, which has done and is doing
so much to protect aud advance the in-
teiests of the working people of America
The promoters OF the disruptive effort
claim to be industrialists; that is, they
pretend to favor organization of all those
engaged in "a given industry into one
union without regar1 to the trades to
which the various workmen belong. Let
US examine, for moment, how incop-
sistent are their declarations with their
practice. The American Federation Of
Labor recognized and conceded to the
Boot and Shoe Workers International
Union jurisdiction over all branches OF
the boot and shoe trade. In Lynn,
Mass, a number of workmen are en-
ployed in the making of "counters,' a
branch Cf the shoe trade. They organ
lied. applied to the American Federation
OF Labor tor a charter, which was re-
fused. They were advised to join the
industrial" union of the trade-the
Boot and Shoe Workers International
Union. This they, the counter-makers,
declined to do, and they made applica.
tion to the American Labor Union for a
charter. which was promptly issued and
boastfully proclaimed.
Of course, some may disclam the in
tention to disrupt the labor movement,
but as the days pass the promoters of
the "new movement" give vent to what
they really have in mind. One OF them,
'Comrade" White, of Denver, at re-
cent meeting in that city, in explanation
gave this illustration of their purpose.
He says:
ave shall organize, for instance, all
men employed in any way in iron works,
such as molders, car workers, structural
iron workers, and the like"
No doubt "the like" will cover such
trades as the machinists and the iron
and steel workers. We presume that
the Iron Molders' Union of North
America, the Bridge and Structural Iron
Workers OF America, the Brotherhood OF
Car Workers, the International Associa-
ton Of Machinists, and other trade
unions which have increased wages,
shortened hours OF labor, and made con-
ditions such that life is worth living, are
to he swept aside or crushed, and the
men are expected to take kindly to the
will.o'. the wisp that would surely lead
them into the swamp of misery and
degradation. And, as will be observed,
socialist "Comrade" White quotes the
the iron, steel, molding and construct ion
simply as an illustration to be applied to
all other trades and callings.
1t is not uninteresting to note that at
the same meeting another socialist "com-
rade," Miss Twining, denounced the
trade union movement and the union
shop in the same language that Parry
and other representatives of the Citizens
Alliance employ. She declared that
''the closed shop is a monopoly, the
same as the Standard Oil Company"
In other words, then, the advocates OF
this "new movement" are the handmaids
of labor's enemies and stand for the so.
called "open" or non-unon shop
Samuel Gompers, in American FEEDER.
ationist.