The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1909-06-19

ganized labor. represents but & small /
percentageA0f#th the voters sin t his state,
and they alonas could 1iel w had but
little Influence Upon the res}ll Its. Our
hope lay In the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. I
At the first meetings large |
numbers Of them attended and WINGED /
hearty desire to. Join In ie;sss.InoYss Fl
5ment, and aid IA Its SUCCESS. s$.I hey
experienced the same dra w-baclk as Of |
old. "A few OF The q olier Than thon,,
who had mot been specially q III ted .toE
attend the first meeting rebel LED At |
their imagined nom ecognition. sEHln
the hope off, Fri ndly smile $from.t the I
corporation attorney on the State Re-
publican committee, and upon the
promise OF q political job In the event !
Of success by that party I'M the state
campaign. they formed an opposition
Organization to ours. -, .->
In a. $ Enkers Sent Ont.
Under the semblance OF state or-
ganizatton their officers were sent
throughout the state to campaign Sfor
the national ticket, everywhere being
heralded as "lahor leaders" and vain
ly endeavoring to Justify, not only the
injunction judge candidate, but the
injunction itself. :.,S&~:y ~
The results Of this dissatisfaction
was not felt in the union movement.
but its direfuL effect was among the
unorganized. Believing that those to
whom they must always look to care
for their interests-the untons-were,
as ever, hopelessly divided, they lost
all interest In the campaign, and their
indifference was readily apparent
largest number of voters who regis.
tered and failed to vote in the his.
tory Of the state, was recorded.
80 Majority Decides. 49, 49,
In the industrial, affairs of our
unions we have believed that the sin-
terest Of one was the concern of ALI
We have held that after q FREQ and
s1deration OF a subject, when the ma
jority decides. it Is the moral duty
of the, minority to abide by the: yuus4
! ment Of the former. II the matter at
; issue happens to be a strike, then. he
OF the membership, who rebels and de-
| serts the cause outlaws himself, and
becomes Q scab. = ...
Even the man who never affiliated
with a union; who never had the adj
vantage Of a union education, WHO,
| driven by desperation and love Tor
his hungry family, takes another mans
! job during strike does not escape
| the censure OF the men he is wrong
| ing, and the opprobrious epithet is
| fastened upon him. =.
| deny no man the right to cast his
vote according to the dictates of his
own conscience. The perpetuity OF
our free institutions depend largely
upon the independence of our citizen
| ship, but what must we think of the
man in our ranks, who in the forma-
| tive, days Of our political program
| participated in all Of the proceedings
leading up to cur action of last fall,
who voted with the majority in the
! conventions of our Federation to en-
dorse the political policy Of the Amer
lean Federation OF Labor. and then
| when the strike at the ballot box is
declared, wilfully betrays his fellow
| workers. President Elliot of Harvard
once declared .. certain brand Of labor
traitors to.be heroes: Could he have
| had this character Of man in mind?
|. Were Non Partisan.
From first to last the leaders in the
American Federation of Labor. cam
paign acted as non partisans. Among
the most earnest workers were men
I Of the same political faith as the
traitors referred to: herein, and the
| least the latter could have done would
be to remain quiet; but instead; they
! left no stone ,unturned to counteract
the efforts Of their national officers
I In ali attempt to dfscredit them with
| the American: people,. f-%+<- -'.;'' =, =:
! While the political club was organ
lied as an institution separate and
| distinct from the State Federation Of
Labor, those. who formed It were in
sistent. that the Officers Of the Fed
| GRAFTON should also preside over; the
destin1es of the club. For this reason
we have submitted the report of the
financial transactions to the auditing
committee who can make report there
| on. = '''f :
Union labor is not discouraged be-
| cause of it's reverses in: the political
| field. Some good has come out Of it.
Combinations OF issues will not al
ways present Themselves as they. did
in the last campaign, and sooner or
by the American Federation Of Labor
will meet with the approval Of the
| majority Of American citizens. Then
| g. new. story will he told about the
influence Of labor's activity in poll
tics, and politicians will learn to re-
spond more to the righteous demands
! of labor.
VIII no Same Again. -
When another political contest is
on I am certain that the labor organ
izations will take the same position
they. adopted in the last campaign,
and If victory: does not come then, they
will abide their time and take up the
battle. again at the next succeeding
election. This struggle Of labor is
irresistible. The secret OF our at
tainments In the past is due to the
fact that we never give up. Those
| who lack courage In the contest now.
or who put personal ACKNOWLEDGMENT
before principle will be buried in their
Il own 1nI8Iay.f .s. .~.
Union labor is in this contest to
win, ard win. It must. 7 have moth
Ing but optimistic hopes for tho ,fu-
ture, and would recommend that, this
convention reiaterate its position in
political action, and that we renew
our pledge to stand by: our friends
and administer singing rebuke to
men or parties who are either indif-,
ferent, negligent Or hostile; and where
ever opportunity offers we should at