United labor bulletin., 1910-08-25

honeycombed the government Of the city
cannot be thought Of. We have good ia>
they cannot be enforced. Only those la,
with the desires Of the corporation inter-
"Reward our friends?" You do not
friends" after they have once held polite
"Rebuke our enemies" Yes, OF cour
to do the "rebuking' and by so doing we
While we are rebukins. the Interests" {
ceiving the applause Of the multitude bu
bukins for the very thing that we are pr
That is what the officeholders is doing
all the time-rewarding the interests
that have put him there
II is almost impossible to get a man
on one of the old party tickets who has
nerve TO enforce the law as II should be
enforced regardless of the corporations.
Again we say II is time to shake the
old grandmothers. that promote these
ideas, from their grasp on the political
future of trades unions. 1t is time we
shake the boodler from our ranks and
install the man who is honest and not
looking for the first opportunity TO sell
you out body and soul to the utility cor
porations.
Money has been used to defeat every
thing of Importance to the trades union
list that has been honestly promoted for
years. The union man who has not been
in position to know has wondered what
is the matter He cannot understand
why everything that is undertaken falls
fiat He cannot see the invisible hand
that is reaching out with the shining
gold and depositing II in the hand OF the
union man you thought to reward. He
Lt,n .nl IL. hat
the man he thought to reward is merely
a go-between for the corporations.
The unsophisticated man can scarcely
believe that he who stands before an or
ganization and tells them how unsullied
his card has been kept that the char
acter OF that very man mag be as black
as II could be painted.
a,Labor should demand the elimination
II the alleged union man who sells him
self whenever the occasion arises. This
is the trouble in Denver-the labor
grafier-the man who sells his prestige
Cpd influence to the common enemy.
In an oratlon delivered at the enter
tainmcni az Grand Junction. Colo. dur
ing the convention Of the State Fedora
tion OF Labor. W. A. Clark said;
THE UNION MAN WHO SELLS HIS
PRESTIGE HAS no NAME. NO WORD
IN THE LANGUAGES or THE EARTH
is ADEQUATE 10 EXPRESS THE
LoA1HING WE SHOULD HAVE FOR
THE HUMAN LEACH. HE is ONLY
70 BE COMPARED 10 HEf Wno
PLACED THE CROWN or THoRSs
ON THE BROW OF CHRIST
Therefore IL Is time that We eliminated
the boodler and progress to the goal
that is being attained by the workers in
other cities. Milwaukee has arrived"
and Chicago is preparing the coming
out" gown San Francisco has a labor
administration and San Jose likewise.
Why should Denver sit idly by and
turn the city and state over to those
who will put men into office who will
reward THEIR friend when they are In
office. ii labor had the choosing OF the
candidates then It might be different:
but as it Is. we can only reward those
whom we choose to pick from the can
didatos selected by the Interests"
Union labor should rise up and demand
the government. Labor should have a
party and that party should control the
government. The officers of the State
Federation of Labor should consider this
proposition during the year and report
on II at the next convention of the State
Federation OF Labor.
Stirred from center to circumference
by the action of the Chicago Federation
of Labor In calling for referendum vote
of the entire membership upon the ques-
ton of independent political action or
afiiliation. with the Socialist party. union
men of that city freely proclaim that
their decision will not only vitality effect
the future politics in Chicago. but must
inevitably remodel the political concepts
of the entire American labor movement
sixty days has been given in which
to take the vote and make the return
IN the officers OF the Federation; the
questions put to the 100000 members of
organized labor In Chicago being as fol-
lows:
"shall organized labor indorse and CO.
operate with tho Socialist party?
"Shall organized labor form an inde-
pendent political party?
"will you abide by the majority vote
given on these questions?"
The committee on political action pre-
sented platform which was ordered
printed and sent out with the ballots, 1t
being also agreed that the Socialist party
pIatform should be likewise distributed.
Following are the proposed planks OF
the platform framed by tho committee;
Direct primary nominations.
Election OF United States senators by
direct vote OF the people.
Old age and disability pension laws
Employers liability law.
Election by the people of the members
of the Chicago board of education.
Public ownership Of all public utilities.