United labor bulletin., 1912-10-10

trade union history that President Com
| pers of the American Federation of La
Dor should be an extremely bitter parti-
san in favor of Wilson. His predilec-
tions in this respect are just as Demo
craticaiiy strong now as they were when
| he defed the rules and precedents of the
| A. F. of L. four years ago and worked
for the election of Bryan.
| During the last few weeks the strong
est kind of efforts have been put forth to
encourage the belief among wagework-
ers of the country that the Democrats
and their presidential candidate are
| friends and benefactors of labor. That
| they are no such thing is known to
| every intelligent wage worker in the ma
| tion. There are columns of facts to
prove the truth of this statement and
the action of the Democratic majority
| in the national House of Representatives
on the compensation for accidental in
| juries' is one of the most powerful and
| convincing proofs of what is here urged
| Here are the facts:
| On May 6, 1912, Senate Bill 1882, ITO
| provide an exclusive remedy and COM
pensation for accidental injuries result
ing in disability or DEATH to employees
of common carriers by railroads engaged
in interstate or foreign commerce, or in
| the District of Columbia, and for other
purposes" passed the Senate by vote
of 64 to Is. This is the bill commonly
known as the workingmen's compensa-
tion act Prior to its passage Democrat
ic senators made numerous fruitless eff
forts to amend it out of semblance to its
original purpose.
| The fifteen senators voting against the
| bill were all Democrats. They were Sen
ators Ashurst, of Arizona: Bacon, of
| Georgia; Bryan, of Florida; Culberson,
of Texas; Davis, of Arkansas; Kern, of
Indiana; Myers, of Montana; Overman,
of North Carolina; Paynter, of Ken
| lucky; Reed, of Missouri; Shively of In
diana; Simmons, of North Carolina;
Hoke Smith, of Georgia. Stone. of Mis-
souri,, and Tillman, of South Carolina.
On May s, 1912, the bill was received
| in the House and was referred to the
committee on the Judiciary, the chair
man of which committee is Clayton, of
Alabama. According to the Congress
sional Record it is still there. Congress
did not adjourn until August rs. The
House is controlled by the Democrats.
The bill was sent to oblivion by the
Democratic House, as President Taft
remarked in a recent interview.
Now the Democratic party is cam
paigning in an endeavor to attract the
labor vote.
The record on this bill is but one of
the many evidences that labor has moth
ing to expect from the party of which
Woodrow Wilson is the standard bearer.
Should the Democrats win the election
through some mischance, southern votes
would control both houses of Congress.
The southern outlook on labor problems
differs from the northern outlook. The
great bulk of labor in the South is black.
Practically the black is disfranchised be-
low the Mason and Dixons line. His
vote does not count in electing senators
and representatives. II is not unnatural
that southern votes in Congress are not
| responsive to the demands of labor. The
vote on the workingmen's compensation
act is significant Democratic victory at
the polls in November would not change
the attitude of the controlling elements
in the party toward labor legislation.
These are facts, not theories nor the
expression of sectional prejudice. Every
student of national politics knows that
these statements are but the cold truth.
Labor would well bear them in mind.
Republican victory in November the
reelection of President Taft and the
election of a Republican Congress mean |
that the workingmen's compensation act
Will be pressed to early passage. The 1
president is pledged to this. The pledge |
is one certain to be fulfilled.
1t is still further fact that Candidate |
Woodrow Wilson is trying to hoodwink |
the wage workers of the country, par
ticularly the miners that the Democratic |
majority passed the Bureau of Mines |
bill. Professor Wilson publicly declared |
this to be fact not long ago and there |
is not a grain of truth in his statement. |
There was no Democratic majority when |
the bill was passed and the absolute |
truth is the Democrats were the bitter |
opponents of the bill. The Republicans |
fought long and hard and successfully |
Tor it and President Taft Signed it: he |
has also aided in the development of the |
bureaus usefulness in a most extensive |
manner.
In view of these facts of record. why
does Gompers so enthusiastically aid the
well known enemies of American labor?
He has perfect right to be a Democrat
if he wants to, but he has no right TO
aid Democratic enemies of organized la
Dor into power, so long as he is paid by
labor unions to look honestly after their
welfare.
Ii is notorious fact that wherever
the Democrats are strongly entrenched
in power, labor is in the most direful
condition of thraldom. Take the south
ern states for instance, where the Dem
ocracy holds supreme sway, and there
we find that labor has hardly any right
whatever except to work for starvation
wages just as long as the bosses decree
and TO be under the control of employers
both when and when not at work. Why.
it is impossible to organize trade unions
in the southern states. Democratic rules
have all one after another imprisoned or
caused workmen to be killed If they
ventured to establish labor unions. This
condition prevails at this very moment
and southern Democratic majorities in
legislative halls will have it no other
way. Certain il is that If the November
elections return a Democratic majority
to Washington. the southern Democratic
policy toward labor will more or less
become the national policy, for most as
suredly Candidate Wilson has definitely
declared himself to be a most pro-
nounced foe OF trade unions. He has re-
fused to state his position on intunc-
tions. Working people want to know