The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-05-18
Washington Legislation.
Special from United Press3

w dSonIuS COII. CS1oIoGIOhs
 Special from United Press.)
 New York, May 1S.-Defending the aggression of the Association in it's stormy relations with skilled and un- skilled labor, President James W. Van Cleve of St. Louis, to-day started the fourteenth annual convention of the National Association of Manufactur- CTS by sensational attack upon the methods of the American Federation of Labor and affiliated organizations which was the feature of his annual report.
 Because of extensiveness and impor- tance or the work of the Association during the past year President Van Cleve surveyed at considerable length, the events that have contributed to a number of memorable incidents of the relationship between capital and labor. The review was necessary, he said, in order to reveal the "adroitness, per sistency and unscrupulousness of the enemies whom every employees in the United States will have to deal with and thus give us an indication of the manner in which we have to proceed in the future in order to make our fa-
 bors count"
 "But,'' continued President Van Cleve, before I go any further let me mention that, in an amicable way, some of the association's best friends have from time to time, suggested that our course on the labor issue was a little too aggressive. They believed that conciliation would have accom- plished more. To everyone of these doubters we point out the fact that the program which our officers have pursued was marked out for us by the Association.
 When a principle is in vogue, con sessions are as wicked as they are in vain. On the question of open-shop compromise would fail as conspicuous ly in establishing personal liberty as issue of slavery. Some of us represen- tatives of the Association were com pelled to fight or surrender. Confront ed with these alternatives, we fought and to us the labor union chiefs sor- rowfully confess, we fought with ef- fect.''
 Referring to the efforts of labor lead esrs to secure the enactment of anti legislation, President Van Cleve reviewed the work of the Chica- go and Denver National Conventions and the subsequent fights in the leg islatures of three states.
 'fWe defeated them in Washington" he continued. "then the conspirators massed their forces in Chicago and att tempted to frighten the Republican National Convention and it's candi- dates into sanctioning their un-Demo- cratic. anti-Repubhcan and un-Ameri- can propaganda. We defeated them there also, defeated them at every point, defeated them overwhelmingly. As these plotters then contrived to place their doctrine of class-favors in to the Denver platform and as they obtained formal endorsement for them from the Denvor convention we had no alternative except to throw our sup port to the Chicago nominee. And we have excellent reasons for knowing our work told decisively in the general re- suit. We stood ready to appear again in Washington in the session which began a month after the election and once more fight and defeat the class propaganda. Knowing our power as well as our purpose, the Federation of Labor made no serious attempt to push any measure through Congress at that time,
 with a cunning engendered by a quarter of a century of duplicity, how ever, the labor leaders transferred their field to the state Legislatures. will say that an organization which by the acknowledgement of it's own leaders cannot live unless it gets a license to break the laws, deserves to die"
 Referring to the events leading up to the appointment of the Anthracite Commission in 1902 the speaker declar- ed he did so to remind ''every mem Der of the Association that in the coming winter on the eve of another Congressional campaign we will prob ably be called upon to defend em- ployers and workers once more against these enemies of the public order-''
 'Let me warn the Association right here that under the cloak of 1egisla- ton for the defense or the pretended defense of working women and cnl1- dren, insiduous attempts will undoubr- edly be made by the politicians of the trades unions to get special favors for their order. Here serious danger threatens us. In this particular field fI,ea lr 9ia1, cin al akpi- tator and demagogue may throw over the whole subject must be torn off by this Association. At the outset in deal- ing with foreign forces and women workers we must free our minds from can't"
 Reverting to the subject of tariff which the Association and particularly it's president as chairman of the Ma ly concerned MT. Van Cleve went on record in favor of the amendment pro- viding for a tariff board as urged by the Senate Finance Commission.
 ''We must remember he said, "that in substance, though not in form or name the tariff board which the if nance committee proposes is essen tially the same as the tariff commis- sion we have been urging all along. The details in which the Senate | differs from our plan are of no practical consequence. Under an other sort of label we are getting just
 
 President Van Cleve urged each to write to his Congressman and Senator no matter what his poli- tics, urging the enactment of the .tar- if board amendment" Digressing | once more the speaker referred ear nestly to the need of a more direct | and efficient mail and freight service between New York and the ports of | shipment. In conclusion he spoke of l the menace he sees 'in permitting inn | migrants to fall under the Influence of the Federation which has grown up us and which sets the de- | crees of it's leaders above the laws of | the land.
 "Ip the United States at this mo- ment there an abso1utism which | violates the orders of it's courts. which | denounces it's judges and which repu- | diates and defies the laws and author l ity of the Nation.
 "As I have just pointed out the |