The Washington herald., 1917-12-10

nounced him, a. from those which /
have always supported him
While there IN now this friendly feel |
ing and an absence OF threatening la
Dor disturbances in the important In
dustries connected with the winning |
Of the war. Il Is well TO call attention ]
to some matters which may make Il |
easier to understand the situation |
when in the future things are not 90
propitious as they are at the moment
we not having reached that state Of
society where solutions" for indus
trial problems have been found
II a big strike should occur In
month from now. in any Of the ship
building plants. along the docks, in
one Of the munition works or in any
Of the thousand or more plants max
ing supplies for the army and navy, at
once would be heard sneers. so Com
pers was only "four-nushing" after
all" III he II not q hypocrite and
Is the patriot he claims to be, why
does he not call on those strikes?"
They would even suggest that the
President call on his friend Sammy
Gompers to make good" and 80
forth. and 30 FORTH
The general public does not spprer
ciate the fact that Samuel Gompers.
as president OF the American Fedora
ton Of Labor. has not a vestige of
authority to call q strike on or on,
excepting in the case Of certain local
unions which are not yet OF sufficient
importance to have developed national
organizations and which have nothing
to DO with war production The Amer
ican Federation of Labor itself cannot
call strike on or on. because II 10 made
up Of representatives from the lis in
ternational craft organizations-inter-
national In this sense meaning the
United States and Canada In the
case Of these crafts-those Of the coal
miners. street-car conductors. plumb
ers, painters. molders. machinists. and
so forth-each has an international or
ganizs ton OF its own with Its local
union in every city. Each has Its own
constitution and bylaws and each
would resent any interference by the
American Federation Of Labor or Mr..
Gompers in any OF its own internal sf-
fairs-and a strike Is q purely internal
matter.
To hold Mr.. Gompers responsible for
a street-car tie-up in Cleveland, q
| smelter strike in Colorado or a carpen-
ters' strike in Boston shipyards would
be Just as illogical as to hold President
Wilson responsible for what is done by
Governor Capper in Kansas, Governor
Lowden in Illinois or Governor Whit
man in New York. Each governor
would resent interference by the Pres
ident, Just as the head Of the United
Mine workers organization would re-
sent suggestions from the president Of
the American Federation OF Labor. In
| fact, every labor organization IL in
: a., los. ~ 20 rraFnVaffURa md
there are no questions with which Mr.
Gompers has to deal that are any
more troublesome than those termed
jurisdictional disputes among the or
canizations Of the A. F. Of L. itself.
, His voice in the trade union hall is al
ways for conciliation and arbitration.
although there have been times when
the organiza tions themselves In par
ticular instances stood against arbitra-
tion-and while Mr.. Gompers had done
\ everything he could in the council to
oppose that view. he has had TO bear
the onus OF standing before the public
against arbitration. or make public
cause against a union whose servant
he Is; for as president OF the American
Federation Of Labor he is the servant
of the lis international organizations.
his ealary being paid out Of the per
capita tax that comes from all those
unions.
It Is not to be implied that Mr.. Com
pers has not a tremendous moral in
Tuence. for ne has-but only he knows
| where he can best exercise that for the
\ general good. While on many large
economic questions Mr.. Gompers Is
leader. he Is not a boss" and when
he leads, Il Is because. by the sheer
his people that ke Is right II he fails
and they do not accept his views. he il
q loyal soldier and obeys their man
date. Some years ago, when the free
silver craze was on. the American
Federation OF Labor declared in favor
OF the "16-to-l heresy." and although
he personally was q ''sound-money"
man. Mr.. Gompers took the stump and
supported the position OF the A. F. Of
L. as its president
That he is a leader Of men can well
be admitted when one considers that
he has been passed upon thirty-seven
times by an annual convention made
up of over 500 delegates from every
State in the Union and every indus
trial center in each State-and yet the
last five times he has been elected
practically without opposition. There
are Congressmen who have been re-
elected ten times-but that means
only within a single Congressional dis
trict, and then the election occurs
every other year. There are United
States Senators who have been re-
elected four times, but that is only in
one State and every six years-where-
as Mr.. Gompers has been reelected, as
stated, every year for thirty-seven
years with but one exception. and at a
national conventions record unparal-
leled.
Much has been said Of the superior
loyalty Of the trade unions in England
in comparison with those OF our coun-
try. as indicated by the smaller num-
Der OF strikes over there. This COM
ment has been very general since the
members OF the English commission
have recently told US here how q truce
had been made between capital and
labor which had resulted in preventing
all labor troubles in England. In the
FIRST place. that truce" proved in
many instances TO be only a scrap of
paper" IL the recent reports OF the
British Industrial Unrest Commission
and the accounts of strikes in the
English labor papers are to be be-
lieved But even IL there were no
labor troubles in England, there is no
basis for comparison between the two
countries because the English trade
unions are SO much more thoroughly
organized in the basic industries con-
cerned in war production than are
those in this country. The steel indus
+; try, the metal trade, shipbuilding an6
munition industries in England are
unionized, so that the question OF deal
ing with non-union men, the most pro-
life source OF trouble, is not an issue
there; whereas IN this country, as 4,
we'll known. the United States Steel
and the Bethlehem Steel corporations