The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-01-07

more fortunate than we in the United
States in that they have the ear o.
the government. As an illustration
Light and power in the various munici
palities of the Province of Ontario il
obtained from Niagara Falls. A merger
of all the power companies in the prov
ince has recently been formed that al
exorbitant rate of light and power may
be maintained. The government o.
Ontario is retaliating by erecting 9
high power station at Niagara Falls
They are stringing wires to the cities
and towns of the province and will fur.
nish light and power to the municipali
ties at the bare cost of production and
distribution. If our Canadian neigh
bors can maintain that same close re,
lation with their government, their la
Dor movement will be saved much OF
that heart rending struggle, which we
have to undergo and in which we are
still engaged.
The convention was most Hospitality
entertained and the delegates made tc
feel at home by the citizens of Toronto
The daily newspapers without excep
tion opened their columns to the pro-
ceedings of the session, and, in marked
contrast to the daily press as a whole
in this country, their editorial utter.
ances were full of sympathy for the
organized labor movement. Your dele.
gate followed the Toronto papers very
carefully in their reports and is glad
to be able to tell you that there was nc
garbling nor misrepresentation OF
events.
On the morning of the Sth of Novem.
Der, in drizzling rain, the delegates
with tn executive BOARD, led by
President Gompers in the van marched
from the Prince George hotel through
the principal streets of the city, to the
convention hail. The massed bands OF
the city, l20 strong, and all union
musicians, led the procession. At the
front entrance of the hall, on either
side, were draped the Amrican and
Canadian colors, and as each man passed
barred in silent recognition of the ma
tional emblems.
Three hundred and sixteen delegates
and many friends and visitors were in
attendance when President Gompers
formally opened the convention. Eighty.
eight International unions, twenty-five
state bodies, sixty-four central bodies
fourteen federal unions and six frater.
nal organizations were represented. The
convention was wlcomed to Toronto
and to the Dominion of Canada, by
Mayor Oliver in short address in
which His Honor paid hight tribute to
the aims and objects of unionism. DR.
j. o. Reaume, minister of public works
for the Province of Ontario, welcomed
the delegates in the name of the gov
ernment and voiced the regret of Sir
James Whitney, the Premier of Ontario
that important business precluded his
attendance at the opening session. Will
liam Glockling, president of the Can.
adian Trades and Labor congress, was
introduced by Mr.. Gompers, as the
author of the shortest resolution on
record. This is the resolution intro
duced in previous session of the Can
adian Labor congress:
Whereas, The capitalists cause all
wars, therefore, be it
Resolved, That we allow them to dc
all the fighting"
Mr.. Glockling gave graphic sketch
of the work the Canadian unionists
are trying to do and pointed out that
the interests of the working classes
in Canada and the United States were
identical.
This was the first convention of the
American Federation of Labor ever held
upon Canadian soil, and the reception
given to the delegates from the United
States, the spirit of sacrifice evidenced
the desire for q high standard of citi-
zenship for Canada, all these We're SO
manifest, that the thought came to all
of us, "How much bigger than national
boundry lines is the great economic and
industrial problemf"
President Gompers ably voiced this
sentiment in the following words:
What may be in store for you and
for us ON the other side of the border
line, we do not know, We have our
deadlines, and sometimes in our i'm
patience we may run ahead of the de-
velopment, but whatever the future
may have in store for us in common,
We do know this. That while we hope
TO establish the best possible relations
between men of all nations, there is one
common destiny among the English
speaking people--to fight out the bat.
tie for civilization and right. In the
American trade union movement we
recognize this one fact, that the border
line does not interfere with the unity
of the interests of the employing class
on both sides of it. It should not in.
Mifohn11