Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-08-29

! ~oh6. III uc NolhC FCUl udiy A@t
 1893, he says: Experience has
 demonstrated the absolute correct
 ness of our position upon the ques- l tion of the attitude of socialists
 toward the trades unions. It is only fair to us who consider the unions
 as legitimate recruiting stations for
 socialism and therefore make con
 stant propaganda amongst them, | thus our efforts in the direction
 ideas, on the part of trades unionists,
 as to the relations of socialists
 towards them. Those who do not
 agree with us in this matter cannot
 in good faith come with our party. ! Here then is the socialists position
 with regards to trades unions briefly
 but clearly put: The trades unions are merely recruiting stations for a
 political party whose fundamental
 principles are radically different.
 The leaders of the A. F. of L. were
 termed dupes and fakes and heaven
 and earth were moved to minimize
 the work of such sincere and ardent
 labor champions as John Mitchell.
 The socialist scheme of political
 power as against the economic
 feature of the A. F. of L. was
 brought out distinctly in the meeting
 at Boston in 1902-the striking
 miners relief meeting. The Work CT in October of that year complained
 becaused the socialist party did not
 receive recognition on the ground
 that the relief work was not politi-
 cal movement Failing in this
 movement to have themselves iden-
 tified as socialist party they with
 drew and thus gave evidence of their
 interest for the workingman, an in-
 terest, however, that the striking
 miner could hardly appreciate, the
 rule or ruin policy that would ob-
 literate the labor unions unless they
 would subscribe to the socialist propaganda, a policy that would in- f1ict irreparable damage on the
 unions, that would retard their growth and nullify in a great meas
 ure the magnificent work of the workingman's best friends, those who have borne the heat and burden OI tue udy.
 The opinion of the socialists as to the good of unions is expressed in the Social Democratic Herald of June 6, 1903. It plainly tells the labor unions that their day has gone by, that they have had fair trial" and practically accomplished noth- ing, that we are no nearer the solu- tinn nf tho iol nrnh1a,,, ho we were at the beginning. There is slight evasion of facts here that would seem charmingly naive if the object at stake were not so all-impor- tant. The assertion of the inutility of unions does not take into consid eration the bettered conditions for the workingman that have been ef- fected within less than fifty years, a comparatively short period. It does not consider the phenomenal increase In six years (1S97-190S) from 265,- 6OJ to 1,457,573; 1t does not con- slider the many grievances that were settled by arbitration; it evidently did not consult the employers who, realizing that trades unions are a power, themselves organized to re- sist their efforts. It forgot that the United States deemed 1t for the pub lie veal to recommend that a com mission be established for the set | clement of grievances of wage earn CTS. Who will say that the trades unions have done no good, made no advances toward the settlement of the industrial situation, when only a few years ago the power of the na- tion was utilized to do justice to the striking miners? Could it have been done twenty-five years before that??' Yes, but the power would have been | a military one, not moral. A truce | of three years between capitalist and | workman is a pretty healthy sign of | the progressive spirit of labor | unions.
 But that is just what the socialist | does not want. He desires not peace | but war. His contention, and he | tells us so in the Chicago Socialist of | July IS, 1903, is, that there never | can be any reconciliation between | capital and labor" and therefore he cries revolution, for the socialist l movement Is revolutionary, as the | writer hopes to show on some future | occasion. When the trade unionists | declare the opposite, that through | mutual trade agreements entered | into between trades unions and em- ployers' organizations, the bond of | peace may be preserved between cap ital and labor, it is hardly to be won dered at that the ex-professo social ist has no use for the trades unions. | The socialist thrives on class hatred, 1t is his incentive to work, his stock | in trade. Remove it, and like Othel- To, his occupation is gone.
 Samuel GOmpers may have been | guilty of the indiscretion charged up to him of promising the aid of the | A. F. of L. to Mir Bryan in the com ing election. He can hardly be charged with ignorance of the atti- tude of the socialists toward that party. In the Boston convention ot 1903 he thus addressed the social lsts:
 .'I have studied your philosophy. read your economics and not the l meanest of theW. studied your stand ard works both in English and in German: have not only read but studied them. have heard your or ators and have watched the work of I your movement the world over. I I have kept close watch on your doc trines for thirty years; have been closely associated with many of you and know how you think and what you propose. I know, too. what you have up your sleeve. And l want to |