The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-08-27
llTAH LABOR IN POLITICS.

clared purpose OF putting an indepen-
dent labor ticket i'm the field this fall.
the outcome will be watched with un-
usual interest. Not only Will II offer
an opportunity to measure the strength
of the labor vote in this state, but it
will show just how far such a ticket
can command support from the MEM
btrs or unions when an entire list of
candidates is presented.
In England. after long experimenting.
the trades unions went into politics as
a body under the direction of a central
committee which had the confidence of
the unions and managed their cam
paign with the utmost skill and adroit-
ness. AS a result, the votes i'm parlia-
ment at the command OF the laboring
classes is almost strong enough to WELD
balance of power and has been recog-
nized by the selection of cabinet Off
Ger to represent this particular force in
British politics. The parliamentary
program, also. has been framed to meet
some of the important union demands,
so that the movement there has been a
brilliant success.
I'm America, however. conditions diff
fer i'm important particulars. The line
of demarcation between employer and
employed is i'm no wise so distinct as in
Great Britain, and the American poll
tician is not often deaf to the demands
OF labor constituents however much he
might a times wish to dodge his re-
sponsibility and avoid going on record.
Until recently there has been no great
issue on which a division of parties
seemed possible so far as labor legisla-
ton is concerned, but the Panama
canal and it's labor conditions seem TO
have discovered an issue in which the
administration has defied the sentiment
Of organized labor and has ignored the
protests of the American Federation
which voices this sentiment.
At the last session of congress the
federation asked, and thought it had Sc
cured. legislation which guaranteed an
oight-hour day on the isthmian canal
and prevented the importation of alien
labor. In spite of this impression the
administration is advertising for Chi
contract labor system on much the
same plan which was permitted by the
Balfour ministry i'm the South African
mines. and which plan played no small
part in the overthrow Of that ministry.
1t may be true, as claimed, that labor
cannot be secured to build the Panama
canal except by bringing in Chinese; it
oil - L.
Dor will suffer from competition with
the Chinese there. But it is also. true
that American sentiment is decidedly
averse TO the contract system and
American labor is bitterly hostile to the
use OF Chinese under what amounts to
a limited slavery. BE that as it may,
the union men of the country are on the
warpath against the administration for
this and other indications of hostility
TO union demands, and they are making
vigorous campaign against the men
in congress who have been most con-
spicuously identified with the admin
tstratiOn's anti-uniOn activity.
Here in Utah conditions peculiar to
local politics make a concerted indie
pendent labor movement more of an ex-
pertinent than il would be I'm commune
ties where party lines are sharply de-
fined and the sympathies of men are
known and understood. This state orig
mated the eight-hour law for mines
and smelters, a measure which made a
distinct advance i'm labor legislation for
mining regions and was sustained by
the supreme court of the United States,
but that law was gained without an in
dependent labor movement and in the
face of strong antagonism.
II the unions break away from both
old parties their leaders will have to
be of more than ordinarily strong fiber
20 resist the temptation 10 trade which
is sure to be offered them; and it goes
without saying that an announced in
dependent move which results in affiH-
alton with any other party. directly or
Indirectly, is foredoomed TO disappoint-
ment and dlstrust among its own fol-
lowers Indications are not wanting
now OF a concerted plan to solidify the
labor vote in the interest of one or two
candidates and secure for them an ad-
vantageous alliance with a party or
ganization already in existence. If such
a deal can be made, there is nothing to
prevent other candidates from follow
ing suit. and while It might benefit
some candidates it certainly would dis
rupt the union party as an organiza-
ton at the outset.
Altogether the experiment promises
TO furnish food for speculation among
the politicians Of all parties and confuse
the calculat ions OF the oldest heads.
The socialists who are most active in