The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-06
SPEAKER CANNON BOLDLY
 DENOUNCES MIR. C0MPERS
STRIKES SOLTDLY AT FEDERA- TTON OF LABOR'S POLTTI-
 CAL CAMPAIGN.


 the Right of Petition But Demands
 Congress Enact Into Law His Will-
 Feeds to Make Him Different From
 Other Political Bosses in This Day of
 Decadence of Bossism--No Prejudice
 Against Labor Federation.
 Lewiston, Me-, Sept. 5.-Speaker Joseph G. Cannon, of the national house of representatives, in an address before large audience. at city hall here tonight criticised Samuel Gome pers, president of the American Feder- ation of Labor. The speaker was intro- duced by Senator William P. Frye.
 MT. Cannon said.
 "Mr. Samuel Gompers has come into your district and demanded the de- feat of Charles E. Littlefeld, your rep resentative in congress-not because MT. Littlefeld has failed to properly represent the people of this district or even the working men here, but be- cause he has failed to comply with the demands of MT. Gompers, who claims to be a citizen of New York and a res ident of Washington. MT. Gompers has introduced a new element into Amer1- can politics. He does not exercise the right of petition he demands that con- gress enact into law his will He does not appeal to you, he commands you if you are a member of the federation to go to the polls and vote as he would vte. He does not come here to argue, he publishes his decrees in the name of labor that the public official who refus- ed to obey his command shall be retired from public life.
 "On what meat does this new czar feed to make him different from other political bosses in this day of the dec- dence of bossism? He is president of the Federation of Labor, an honorable organization, which has accomplished much for the wage earner and is cap- able of accomplishing much more when properly directed by those who exercise the function for which they were elect ed to office in the union. Ihave no pre- judice against the Federation of Labor. My syrnpathies are with 1t in all efforts and struggles to improve the material condition and secure larger share of the profits of production for the wage earner. I do not, however believe in prescription in politics. It is foreign to our institutions. foreign to a govern ment by the people. I am opposed to MT Gompers political methods of blacklisting men who vote as their consciences and Judgment and the well fare of their constituent dictate.
 Tt Is reported that MT. Gompers had made an assessment on the members of the Federation of Labor to secure money for use in this campaign. A member of the federation may be re- publican in favor of republican politics, but he is assessed to make a campaign against his own interests as he sees them because Mir Gompers is opposed. Such methods in politics have never succeeded in this country and never will. The onl know-nothing party tried this method of blacklisting all who were not native born. It would have blacklisted MT. Gompers and other federation leaders as not qualified to hold public office. But the life of that party was short. I remember when demagogues-no farmers but dema- gqgues-tried to form the farmers into an alliance to secure exceptional leg islatfon not given to other citizens
 But the farmers put their feet on that effort and stamped 1t to death. The farmers are more than one-third of the people but they ask no legisla- tion that is not general to all the peo- ple.
 Such efforts will always fail because every man is here a co1soyereign and he exercises his inalianable rights to unite with his fellows, be they farmers or factory employees, or railroad men or doctors or lawyers and agree upon poll icies which they believe to be for the first interests of the whole people. I believe this effort to combine the vote  fail even if majority of the labor men adopted It. I am certain that it will fall as the order of Mir Gompers and the executive committee of the organi- zation. The workingmen, both union and non-union, of this country, are as jealous of their sovereignty as are the farmers, or any other people. They will not follow him in his self-assumed function of dfctating how they shall ex~ ercise their right of citizenship. They will not follow him in his self-assumed function of dictating how they shall exercise their right of citizenship. They will go to the polls and with the Aus tralian ballot in their hand they will walk under their own hat brims and not under that of MT. Gompers.
 MT. Gompers has grievance against your representative as he has against President Roosevelt, myself and forty or fifty other men in public life. We refused to disregard our paths of office and enact legislation which MT Gompers demanded. He is aggriev- ed because congress suspended the eight hour law on the Panama canal zone, as it applied to alien labor, not American labor. He is agrieved be- cause the president has authorized the employment of Chinese labor in digging the canal because American labor can not and will not go there. He Is ag- grieVed because congress would not en-