The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-09-26

in the printing industry. even after
they had nee been amalgamated- In
a few other unions in which the unity
of all could be endangered by the in
lent action Of a small percent
| age, as, for illustrations. in the United
Nine Workers of America the cook is
counted a member of the family, and
all men employed in the mining in
dustries are organized as members or
the same union. The American Fed
Grafton has within a few years set up
"departmentS-Of the building
trades, Of the metal trades, of several
railway mems OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
to give recognition to whatever is val
liable in industrial unionism-'
An international union is made up
of local unions of its calling, each
local union covering a town or city,
or. in cases. a district. Some of the
international unions have four, five,
Or even six hundred local union in
as many places Headquarters Of the
international bodies are located to
suit the convenience of the trade. This
brings many of them to the cities of
the Middle West. The Federation
headquarters are in Washington.
Several of the larger old railway
brotheFhoods have not come into the
American Federation more than is the
case in other labor organizations.
The visitor who sits in the gallery
OF the convention hall, watching the
proceedings, soon absorps n volume of
facts that corrects false impressions
held by many persons among the gen
eral public who might through inquiry
easily know better. Day by day the
sessions are public. yet the idea that
they are secret still fingers in the
minds Of some readers Of daily papers
who need only the word labor" i'll a
heading to make them skip on to the
p0vf onIryrrr TNbo ~DfaroDoo 70 VIC
and assessments by the speak err gives
proof that the number of members in
the unions is reckoned by book ac-
counts representing dollars and cents
paid in, and not simply by the num-
Der Of people who may say, Il am a
rad u%nionist,' as one would say, Il
am a Democrat 1t costs hard cash
to be a union member while to be an
enthusiastic shouter for a political
party nothing more is needed than pa
triotisn1.
The one fact commented upon in
the gallery is usually h absence of
specializing on the floor. Elocution,
spell binding, impassioned appeals to
responsive eTnotionaIisn-there is lit
tie Of all hat. The big convention as
a machine moves somewhat slowly.
Every man can have a hearing if he
gets down to business. In fact, the
directness, simplicity, and relevancy of
tIfe pOilItS COIIlIIfoIly Wy ificII
taking the floor is a disappointment
both to observers who have looked
for the talking for ones constituents
SO much heard in legislative halls and
to sentimentalists who yearn for burn
ing words from inspired missionaries
procIaiming a paradise on earth soon
to come through the magic of a uni
versa1 p~anacea.
The man in the gallery hears Off
GERS annual reports 1<ead, motions
made and referred to committees, and
committee reports or these mo-
tons debated. Of course, there are
now and then brought up on the
platform, especially during the early
days, prominent men and women who
have something to say. If any of
these froth, they discover their error.
The delegates are cordial, but being
mostly "old stagers' themselves, they
know substance from slather. The fra
ternal delegates-trade unionists from
Grea Britain and Canada, clergymen
representing various denominations, |
farmers from the national agricNI- !
tural organizations, women from the
International leagues-are heard with
special attention. What each Of them
has to say marks off the advance
made for trade nionism in some
direction in American society or in
some other part of the world. All
attempts to commit the Federation to
partisan politics the delegates watch
narrowly. 1t dawns upon the specta-
tor at length that among the dele
gates a sufficient number have had
experience with all the social move
ments that have had their day. or are
now affecting the public, to proven
trade ueioinism leaving its own track
and switching off on other roads. The
spectator ais p~erceives that the trade
union principles and policies of his |
country are pretty we'll settled. There |
is not very much probability of sud
den change in them soon. The faith !
of the delegates is seen to be in the
movement itself and as a whole. They
are not awaiting the sky-rocket rise
and marvellous achievements of a Ma
poIeonlc leader with a new sociology