The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-10-06
AUTHORS OPPOSE ALLIANCE WITH
 THE A. F. OF |.
Oppose Recommendation to Join Trade Unions-Issue
 Statement of Position.


 Statement of Position. New York, Oct. GA protest against the suggested utilization of the Au-' thors' League with the American Fed eration of Labor has been issued by a group of the most prominent members of the League. The protest is direct ed principally to disproving certain allegations made in the statement is- sued by the subcommittee of the ex- ecutive committee of the League, which recommended this af1liation. In the first place it "calls attention to the carelessness which characterizes parts of the statement of the sub-commit- tee." 1t then goes on to say:
 For example, it is asserted positive ly that the Actors Equity Association
 has already affiliated with the Fedora Ftion of Labor. This is not the fact, as the Actors Equity Association still
 has the matter under consideration. The statement also asserts that Messrs. Klaw and Erlanger, Ion the morning after the actors had voted to affiliate" announced that "the firm had decided quite voluntarily that all the demands made. by the Actors Equity Associa- tion would be acceded to-" This is not the fact. as, what Messrs. Klaw and Erlanger granted quite vol untarily was one, and only one, of the many notifications in the actors con- tract which the Equity Association de- sired.
 The statement also declares that the case of the teachers in the public schools of Chicago 1'is another illustra-! tion of how afiliation may aid profes- sional workers" and it informs us that the pay of the Chicago teachers was raised because they had formed union and had been admitted into the Central Federation Union. But it is significant that this example has not been followed by the teachers of the public schools in any other important city in the United States; that the schools of Chicago have been in a state of unrest and of turmoil ever since the Teachers Union was formed; and that the position of the teachers in Chicago to-day is inferior in sal ary, in pension, and in security of tenure to the position of the teachers in New York---who have never form ed a union or affiliated in any way with any federation.
 ExaggeIated and Misleading.
 The statement Furthermore asserts that, owing to defects in our Copy right law, American authors "are ef- fectively debarred from the benefits of real international copyrigh+''-a as-I sertion which might possibly be de- tended, but which is none the less ex- aggerated and misleading. 1t is perti- nent to point out that our inability to join in the Berne convention is due solely to the so-called manufacturing clause" in the law of 1891, and that this clause exists solely because the American Copyright League accepted 1t in return for the support of the typographical unions. As the Amer ican Copyright League made this bar- gain with the typographical unions a quarter of 8 century ago, it has. never felt at liberty to urge the repeal of the obnoxious clause-a clean-cut in- stance of the abiding disadvantage of an entangling alliance. ss
 The statement is vague as to the precise way in which affiliation with the Federation of Labor will help to accomplish any of the many aims of the Authors League. It is barren of definite assurance on any point. It dwells on the advantages of "standard- ized contracts in the publishing, mag iazine, and theatrical business;" but it fails to produce any evidence or even any argument that the proposed af1iliation would aid in attaining these advantages.
 But even if the results of af1iliation were assured and immediate and du- rable, we should still oppose the pro- posal, The statement seems to indi- cate that the Authors League may se- cure the support of the Federation of Labor and of its several unions with out any obligation on our part, legal or moral, stated or implied to render to the Federation or to it's unions any re- ciprocal support of any kind. Such a proposal is absolutely unacceptable, since it is one-sided. unfair, and who'll 1y unworthy of the Authors League. We have no right to ask or to expect to get something for nothing; and we do not believe that valuable support can be had upon these terms.
 Reciprocal Obligations. II
 The statement asserts that af11liation would not in any way limit or inter fere with freedom of speech" and that members of the Authors League would have exactly the same rights as they now possess of criticising the American Federation of Labor.'' This assertion is simply absurd, if the Au- thors League affiliates with the Amer ican Federation, and if it is honest in keeping it's implied contract. Further more, in the event of aff1liation, the several unions and the American Fed eration would expect support from the Authors League, and would be justi- fled in. asking for it. When labor questions arose, the Authors League would be called upon to decide wheth- CT it should take action, and what action it should take. These discus sions (who1ly foreign in the purposes for which the Authors League exists) would inevitably tend to create dissen- sions in our membership, made up of men and women of discordant opin- ions, religious, political, and sociolog- ical. To force the Authors League to debate burning questions remote from it's specific interests would be perilous to it's unity and might in time