The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-11-28
ANOTHER CONVENTION.

Another convention of the American Federation of Labor has passed and gone. This convention re-elect- ed officers, resolutioned quite a bit and becomes history For many annual periods that has been the way. But as far as work accomp- lished, new milestones erected mark ing the progress of Labor, there has been nothing done.
 We may peddle to ourselves about the advance which the labor move ment is making, hut it is mostly hor air. The proper thing to do is to compare what is done by the labor ties with that which is done by those who employ labor and the contrast is as startling as painful
 The great aggregations of capital are coming closer and closer to- gether. It is not enough that ca pital is centralized in it's natural development so that as Ill the United States today one per cent own more than the other ninety nine put together, the capitalists have been tireless in their advocates of policies and tactics which will continue their control and continu- ing their control also intensity their exploitation.
 Industrial preparedness which is the very keynote of the modern ca pitalist expansion, also contains one of complete labor subjection. Leagues, associations, combinations and consultations have been effect ed along industrial looking towards the perfect realization of that pre- paredness policy on the industrial field.
 The solidarity of the capitalists is no legend. It is a fact. It is in evidence everywhere, and we have numberless examples all over the country of extraordinary and persist ent efforts to make that condition of solidarity permanent.
 Against these activities, tireless and wonderful what does orga~ nized labor as represented by the American Federation of Labor pre- sent? Practically a helpless state Of theoretic discussion, an exceedingly expensive office holding, and quite useless excess of craft unions keep ing the workers apart in the same industry. Labor solidarity far from being a reality is just piece of jaw smithy work; inane and vacuous noisiness.
 It is quite true that man with the extensive public functions that consume the time of a Gompers, has hardly any opportunity for Keeping labor solidarity before him as the sole really effective method of labor organization. In fact he has 90 many calls upon his time as a prominent man that it would be 100 much to expect that he has to devote it exclusively to labor.
 There are Civic Federation actiV- ities of enormous and eleYatine scope which receive luster from his personal connection herewith: there are the conferences which the Demo- cratic Administration upon labor le- gislation at which he must shine in ali the refulgent splendor of ma terialized wisdom; there are his functions as a member of the pre- paredness league which protects the home and freside. He has labor day speeches to prepare; articles to write, addresses to compose and while much of this may be done by proxy without any serious know ledge getting circulated around, as a public functionary whose opinion is sought as one of authority, natur- ally the main matter may have to be neglected now and then,
 In any event, it is absurd and un- just to saddle Gompers with respon- sibility if the American Federation of Labor is not as efficient as it should be for labor purposes. It is with the rank and file that the res possibility lies and it is upon them that judgment must be taken.
 It may be quite correct that the entire machinery of the craft orga nizations and the entire officialdom