New Britain herald., 1915-11-08


 place an embargo upon so-called mu- nitions of war, the other has been to stir up industrial contentious and disputes and thus interefere with the actual process of production so that products to be sent abroad may be stopped. Foreign agencies have been trying to corruptly reach some of the organizations of the workers but they have not succeeded. There IS nothing touching the industrial and commercial life of America that is not of interest to the warning na- tions."
 The holding of Worlds Labcr congress at the same time and place that peace delegates meet when the war is ended, is recommended in the report as necessary in order to in- fuse the spirit of humanity nd democracy into this political con- ference" In order that the position of the United States working men in this regard may be fully representa- tive of the country's unanimous voice of labor, the report recommends that all International Unions be urged to give the plan their support.
 Dick Military Law.
 The report covers the recent inves- tigation by labor leaders of the Dick military law. In that connection, it says:
 Up to the present we have received no complaint nor have We learned of any act in which the military arm of the government had misused the Dick law to offset Or curb the aspira- tions of the working people Of the land. We refer particularly to the situation in Colorado last year. .. The corporations had practically coerced and intimidated the officials of the state and had over- ridden the laws of the state There is not nearly so grave a danger in the Dick law as there is in the menace threatening our institutions through the private detective agencies and the private army of gun men,"
 Labor Representatives Praised.
 Attention is also called in the re- port to the work of the United States Commission on Industrial Relations. Chairman Walsh and the labor repre- sentatives, Messrs. O'Connell, Lennon and Garretson, are praised for their Judgment and determination which brought to light many wrongs and igjustices that might otherwise have
 
 The commissions report is strongly endorsed by the executive council, which recommends that the conven- rion urge the next congress to make the report and hearings of the con-. mission public documents.
 Because the commission did not follow conventional lines and so pre- scented facts and materials that are usually carefully suppressed and not available to the masses of the people," the report continues, there was in- itiated against the commission campaign for the purpose of discredit- ing in advance the final report. How ever, the labor movement as we'll as all citizens who have sympathy and understanding of the lives of the wage earners united in a determined effort to defeat this campaign and to make known their approval of the policy the commission followed"
 Reviews Legislation.
 In reviewing legislation by the last congress, the report expresses the executive councils approval of the seamen's bill The law, it says, will afford large measure of safety pro- visions for the general public who
 
 adds, i've feel confident in asserting that the passage of this legislation by the sixty-third congress, was one of it's distinctions"
 Statistical reports were read show ing the average membership for the American Federation of Labor for the year was 1,946,347, a decrease of 74,324 members, the first decrease in total membership since 1908. While the average membership for the year shows a decrease of 74,324, the Sep tember membership is 1,994,111, a decrease of only 26.560. A steady growth in membership is predicted to follow the readjustment of con- Gitions affected by the European war Expenditures for the year 1915 were $303,9S5.95 and receipts $271,625.43 sts compared with $265,737.21 and