The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-01-26

! the delegates OF their feet, and result
| in his reelection.
That his long leadership and this
! apparent impossibility to fill his place
has gone to his head, and made him
imagine that he is much greater a
man than he really is, is undoubtedly
| the case, and accounts for the tactics
he has adopted in dealing with ques-
| tons before Congress, where he has
unnecessarily antagonized men TO
whom organized labor must look for
recognition of their demands, and
where labor measures are often OPP
posed on account of this very antag-
| onism, which would otherwise receive
support.
There is no doubt but what Or
ganized 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 organized labor must adopt II
| it expects to even maintain its present
standing, to say nothing of making
future progress"
We quote portions of another arti-
Gle, a reprint, from the same labor
paper:
"Organized labor, through its lead
ers, must recognize the mistakes OF
the past If they expect to pe~rpetuate
their organizations or to develop the
movement 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 a sell
| fish motive the organization will be-
| come tinged with a spirit of selfish
| ness, which has never appealed to
mankind in any walk Of life at any
time since history began.
1T can be said in eX~tenuation OF
certain leaders of organized labor that
the %precarious position which they oc-
cupy 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 posi-
ton is in no small measure RESPONSE
BILE for the mistakes of the leaders,
rot necessarily in labor unions alone,
| but in every branch of society. This
| desire for power and leadership and
! personal ACKNOWLEDGMENT causes men
| who have been earnest and sincere in
their efforts in the start to deterior-
ate into mere politicians whose every
act and utterance is tinged with the
desire to cater to the baser passions
Of the working majority in the socie-
ties or organizations and this is I'M
doubtedly true when applied to the
present leaders of the Federation.
We mention the Federation Of Labor
particularly in this article because
that organization is the only organi-
zatiun IF labor which has yet found
itself in direct opposition to the laws
Of the land. There are other organl-
cations of labor whose leaders have
made mistakes, but they have always
kept themselves and their organiza-
tions within the bounds of the law
and respected the rights Of every
other mar in considering the rights
of themselves and their constituency;
whereas, the motto Of the Federation
is just the reverse, and unless the
leaders conform themselves and their
organization in accordance with the
laws of the land, the leaders and the
organization itself must be disinte-
STaIeu anu pass lHlO uISloIJ, III III
America the common sense in man
kind 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 system to develop in this
country which does rot meet with the
approval Of the majority of the citi-
Gems of the country.
This must have forced itself upo:,
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 meri-
torious things in times past and the
people arc always ready and willing
to acknowledge the benefits which
their efforts have brought to their
constituency as a whole, but at the
present time labor organizations in
general, and the Federation Of Labor
in particular, stand before the bar of
public opinion, having been convicted
of %sclfishnesa and n disposition TO rule
all the neODIe of the in tbai