The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-17
Organized Laborss suIeldaI Pollcy

Charleston News and Courier.
 We do not intend to discuss at pres- ent the merits of the contention of the American Federation of Labor that the labor contrAst laws were vio- lated when Commissioner Watson of s0gsh GaEolha to 0FsSaEst sogS arolns ossr o % the Witteklnd, but the srass inlbecili- ty of the Labor Union people in rais- Ing the question may be uointed out
 The aim of the trades unions is to raise the standard of living and ths scale of wages among wofkingmen Through the Ellis Island station in ting upwards of 1000, 900 immigrants each year. These people are accus- toned to receive a far lower wage in VRe the tRremendops ud si tasS 70 of the body body M of Northern laboring men Is to assimi- late them, to educatS them 10 live acc cording to American standards, andto mands on employers. This stream of newcomers forms the reservoir from which strike breakers are recruited combat Mir, Gompers. and his follow CTS.
 himself a labor man, Is to divide the M United States at more than one point. Immigrants arriving at Southern port will be distributed in the South, with negro labo, s, lass whose low standard of living bars to a degree the American wage earner who would enter the South from the North. The Northern trades unions, meantime, rs- pels even with force the movement of negroes to the North and thus their white so1tne9Tdn OseanTen saainst tSe neero who Is willing to subsist upon one third the wage that the poorest white man demands.
 Southern employers, however. are at this moment coming to. recognize the inefflciency of negro labor, and nave obtained their own consent to pay a substantially larger than they are willing to pay to negroes. The lew cost of living in the South, the fela- lively sparse settlement oT lss ,n IerTIS dS capital during the past low years, which is now seeking Investment, makes it possible for the Intelligent fort In the South with less effort than would be required in tue .Nofth; thJu[h he might receive there I ailshtIy high er wage. Material addt.i11 to the number of white laborers IT the Soulh, from Europe or from any other sont' would necessarily raise the whole lev it a powerful ally of the labor forces of other sections. At the presenttime the white organized labor of the South, except that Of highly skilled cnars in large towns, is a neglibl4 -uantity In the American trades union move ment; for the simple reason nat It Is at the mercy of negro comper't' on.
 By permitting MT. Sargent % carry out his plans for diverting in.mlgranTe to the South, the American Federation would constantly diminish yts subar- rassments in .h.s Ncrth and al i." same time build up white ally In the South, an ultimate and incidental effect of which might be 10 Improve the condition of the negro laborer and lessen him as a menace to white la bor everywhere
 In the South the immigration move ment is opposed by a class of capital ists not wealthy, but capitalists none inc less, who pin their faith to cheap negro labor, to "Cuffy" labor. which is practically one with coolie labor, and who lgnorantly and bitterly resent anything promising q general improve ment would include raise in the wage level To these the American Federat.on Is giving aid and comfort. and it IS blindly betraying the inter- ests of its own people In the North as well as in the south.
 The bringing of immigrants to Charleston IS not likely to increase | the total number coming to the nUi- l ted States. Rather will 1t merely de- crease the numbeE of arrivals at FL l lis Island.