Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-10-12
WILL FAIL
Evidence Accommodating That
He Will be Unable to deliver
the Labor Vote
OTHER LEADERS REBEL
LEADERS
REBEL
OTHER
officers of American Federation of
Labor Hates to Advise unionists to
Vote Their Own Sentiments = Pres
ident Of Typographical Takes Issue
With Gompers.

New York, Oct. 12.-Evidence con-
tinues to accumulate that Samuel
Gompers is destined to fail in his effort
to deliver the labor vote to Bryan and
Kern. Now comes James Duncan, first
vice president of the American Fedora
ton of Labor, in which he admonishes
w~orkingmen to vote on election day IN
accordance with their consciences.
William r.. Farley. a veteran ur IN la
Dor leaders of the south, declared that
he deemed it to be his duty ito disre-
gard the advice of President Gompers
and to vote for Taft and Sherman
Norman =. McPhail, president of the
Typographical union, in a letter TO Will
lis L. Moore, utters a protest against
the Gompers propaganda.
Duncan's Advice to Labor.
Mr.. Duncan's letter, written to a
friend, follows:
Your inquiry is similar to a number
of other inquiries on the same subject,
and, therefore, needs the general
answer.
THE labor movement of our country
in as far as the political situation is
concerned, is now, as heretofore, indie
pendent Of parties. Those who have
given the greatest thought to the sub
ject within the ranks of organized labor
have been busy from year to year, for
a long time, as part of their trade UNI
~ionisnl, teaching, or at least advising,
organized workers to not ne bound TO
any particular party, but to vote for the
principles they believe were for the
greatest good to the greatest number of
all the people, and that if any person
aspired ITO public office to deal with the
aspirant upon his merits, and not be-
cause OF his belonging or NOT belonging
to n particular party. The intensity
Of recent events has caused more activ-
ity among the organized workers, in
as far as political affairs are concerned,
than in the past, and we may expect, as
tmen become educated to the public
needs and study the science of govern
ment, they will become still more active
politically.
"The labor movement advises study
Of the different subjects and principles
of the great political parties. and adj
monishes each organized worker who is
a citizen and a voter (and all should
| qualify as fully as possible in both
ways) to cast his vote on election day
in strict accordance with his conscience
as to what would be the best for tho
whole people.
"The hue and cry sent out by a por-
ton of the public press, that the labor
vote was being bartered, is but n of
the forms of political buncombe which
is used for ex~aggeration, and to befog
the public mind. The views, beliefs
and inclinations of candidates for pub
lie office should in each instance be
carefully s%crutinized by all good citi-
zens, and which includes all voting, or
ganized workers, instead of simply vot-
certain party affiliations, and the cleo
ton this year and the campaign lead
ing up to it, as far as organized labor
is concerned, will be no exception to
that rule.
Farley Endorses Duncan's Position.
Mr.. Farley emphatically endorses
MT. Duncan's attitude. In an Interview
he said: ITO me it seems that Vice
President Duncan has stated with
clearness the position that the mem
bers of the federation should take. l
can see only one course to pursue my
self and that is to vote for the party
that will bring prosperity to the work.
ing man of this country"
There are three reasons why he
could not follow Mr.. Gompers into the
democratic party. Mr.. Farley ex-
planned. The first of these was that he
did not believe it proper for anyone
to attempt to deliver it's vote to any
political party. The second was that
the bitter lesson the laboring men Of
this country learned, while their fam
lilies suffered during the last demo-
cratic administration vas still fresh in
his mind, se3d the third cited by the
mine leader vas that, as the repub-
lican party only had given the labor
ing man better conditions in the past,
so might improved conditions be Sc
cured from it in the future.
II cannot understand how Mr.. Com
pers-and he is an able an-ca ask
us to vote for the democratic party,
when it has such a record against la
Dor in the SOUTH" continued Mr.. Fair
ley. Surely he cannot understand, as
WI do, who have been crushed under
it.
SIN the south, where democracy
could have helped labor if it had cared
TO practice what it breaches in the
Denver platform, we have longer hours
and lower wages, with poorer educa-
tional facilities for our children, than
in any other section of the United
States. I have found no one to an
swer this Impeachment of the demo-
cratic party"
McPhail Takes Issue With Gompers.
1.-The vote of organized labor. as a
body, will not, should not and cannot
be delivered to any party or by any
or set of men," writes Norman e.
McPhail, president of the Typograph-
ical Union, to Willis L. Moore. Pres
ident McPhaiPs letter is as follows:
Dear Mr.. Moore: Your letter of
Sept. % has just been received and
read by me, as / have today returned
from a tour of some of our New Eng
land cities for our organization.
"In reply to the question you ask
me, q will state that in my opinion
the vote of organized labor in this
country as a body will not and cannot
be delivered to any one parry by any
one man OF set of men. 20 allow such
a thing would be suicidal to the Ia
Dor movement of the country.
Members of labor unions, as citi-
zen have the right n should care
f,,1Ixy onrcs1nr ltto rlatforn,, o,J