El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-04


delegates off their feet and result in
his reelection.
That his long leadership and this
apparent impossibility to I'LL his place
has gone to his head, and made him
imagine that he is much greater man
than he really is, is undoubtedly the
case, and accounts for the tactics he
has adopted in dealing with questions
before congress, where he has unneces-
sarily tagonized men TO whom or
gained labor must look for recogni-
ton of their demands, and where labor
measures are often opposed on account
Of this very antagOnism, which would
otherwise receive support
There is no doubt but what organ
lied labor in this country would be
much stronger with a leader who was
more in touch with conditions as they
actually exist, and who would bring to
the front the new policies which or
ganized labor must adopt if ii expects
to even maintain its present standing.
to say nothing of making future pro-
gress."
We quote portions of another article,
a reprint. from the same labor paper:
'OrganIZed labor, through its leaders,
must recognize the mistakes Of the past
if they expect to perpetuate their or
ment which they head No movement.
no organization, no nation, can develop
beyond the intellects which guide these
organizations, and if the leaders are
dominated by selfish motive the or
ganization will become tinged with a
spirit of SelfishneSS, which has never
appealed to mankind in any walk OF
life at any time since history began.
1T can be said in extenuatiOn of Ger
tain leaders of organized labor that the
precarious position which they occupy
as leaders has had a tendency to cause
them TO lose sight of the object behind
the organization. The natural instinct
in man for power and position is in no
small measure responsible for the mis-
takes of the leaders, not necessarily in
labor unions alone, but in every branch
of society. This desire for power and
leadership and personal aggrandize-
ment causes men who have been earn
est and sincere in their efforts in the
start to deteriorate into mere pOliti-
clans whose every act and utterance is
tinged with the desire to cater to the
baser passions of the working majority
in the societies or organizations and
this is undoubtedly true when applied
to the present leaders of the Fedora
ton. We mention the Federation of
Labor particularly in this article be-
cause that organization is the only or
Sanization of labor which has yet found
itself in direct opposition to the laws of
the land. There are other organizations
of labor whose leaders have made mis-
takes. but they have always kept them
selves and their organizations within
the bounds of law and respected the
rights of every other man in considering
the rights of themselves and their con-
stituency: whereas the motto of the
Federation is just the reverse, and I'M
less the leaders conform themselves and
their organization in accordance with
the laws of the land, the leaders anG
the organization itself must be disin-
tegrated and pass into history, for in
America the common sense in mankind
is developed to a greater extent than in
any other nation on the earth, and the
people. who are the court OF last resort
in this country, will never allow any
J system to develop in this country which
does not meet with :he appcovai OF the
! majority of the citizens CT the country.
This must have forced itself upon
| the leaders of the Federation by this
| time If it has not, the leaders must
/ be eliminated. The organization which
! they head has done many meritoriOus
things in times past and the people are
always ready and willing 70 acknow-
| ledge the benefits which their efforts
/ nave brought to their constituency as
! whole. but at the present time labor
! organizations in general, and the Fed
| Grafton Of Labor in particular, stand be-
fore the bar of public opinion. having
been convicted of selfishness and dis
| position TO rule ell the people of the
| country in the interest of the few. The
| people are patient and awaiting to see If
! the object lesson, which they have been