New-York tribune., 1908-07-21
GoHpERs AND THE LABOR VOTE.

Notb,nv oyer moro completely disclosed the
emptiness Of Mr.. Gompers's pretensicns than nis
success at Denver. AS a threatener OF dlre anu
,..rr,hIe things when defeated the president OF
the American Federation is magnificent NO one
can surpass him with his splendid minus ", y.
mysterious "oathbound" organizations winch WIZ
take the place Of the present unions IL '.o
voice of labor-that is, the voice OF Hompe's-l'
not listened to- But when ne is reduced 10 ap
neslipg 70 labor to support what he has been all
along prociaiming to be 'labeF's unanimous oe-
mandr he cuts a rather ludicrous figure.
He Is reported to be intending IN the next
issue of his paper to beg unionist voters 10 'o.e
once for labor instead Of for party Ihat VIII
no q. nretty frank confession Of what every one
has known all along, that his enors nither.o "
deliver, the labor vote one way OF announcer
have been arrant failures Laborers VINO are
Republicans have always been Repuphcans' oe.
spite what Mr. Gompers has told them 10 do' anu
Iahorer-s who are Democrats are so for personal
reasons snd not because of Mr.. Gompers's ad-
vice Labor leaders all over the country are now
in great numbers either officially repudiatins the
d;ctation of the leader in Washington or are at
least nubiclv expressing their opinion that MS
efforts IN influence the votes Of the laborlng men
will have no effect
There is no labor vote to De deil'ereu III
block hecause the laboring classes are not SET
,nsrt from the rest of the voters They vote
NOT as unionists, but as citizens. Inc ue
mands which Mr.. Gompers said were iaDors de-
msnds. and which Mr. Bryan, listening TO niiil'
put into the Democratic platform. prove TO nave
m,lv an academic interest to the laborers gen.
or.i,r end ore not of enough consequence to
cause them to change their habitual party aile
giancn They know that no law interfereS with
tbeir affective organization checks the reason
ahle Use of their power. They are conscious OF
the fair and enlightened treatment which thelr
organized activity receives under our govern
won't and they are naturally resentful at MI
Comperss promise to sell their votes In pody
for his own personal aggrandizement
In the Denver deal there is much for Gompers
and very little for labor. To hold his positlon
snd IN increase his power and consequence the
nres,dent of the American Federation has 10
nroye to his followers his incessant activity IN
their cause and his ability to accomplish things
snd to demonstrate to the politicians that he is
factor to be reckoned with, having large num-
her of votes that he can deliver 1t is this WHICH,
more than anything else, keeps him constantly
appearing before party conventions ana iegisia
tive committees, presenting labors Imperative
demands and making impressive threats-whlch
read well in "The American Federatlon1st AS
TO what will happen if they are. NOT granted. III
this capacity he secured great PERSONA III
umph when he dictated 50 large part VI 'ho
Denver platform Other labor leaders VINO are
ambitious to displace him in the eyes OF tle
labor rnionists cannot point to such an achieve
mont Even though the laborites feel compara-
tively slight interest in the substance OF MI
Gomperss victory when it comes to voung IN
the national election, within the circles of their
own order they cannot fail to be struck by the
fact of the victory-the consideration that one
of the great parties bowed to Mr. Gompers- His
other object, to increase his Importance pollt-
ically. he has yet to achieve, and from the OBJ
yious resentment In labor circles at his attempt
to deliver the labor vote 1t is evident that there
is no disposition to vote once for Gompers IN
stead Of for party.