Evening star., 1917-11-12
Tribute to Mr.. Gompers.

THAT has been the matter ABOUT WhicH
I have taken pleasure In conferrfng
from time to time with your president,
Mr.. Gompers. And if 1 may be permit
ted to do SO, I want to express my ad-
miration of his patriotic courage. his
large vision and his statesmanlike sense
of what Is to be done. like to lay my
mind alongside of a mind that knows
how to pull in harness. The horses that
kick over the traces will have to be
put in a corral.
Now to stand together means that
nobody must interrupt the processes OF
our energy, If the interruption can pos
stbly be avoided without tho absolute
invasion of freedom. To put 1t con-
cretely, that means this: Nobody has a
right to stop the processes OF labor
until all the methods OF conciliation ana
settlement have been exhausted. and l
might as we'll say right here that ]
am not talking to you alone.
You sometimes stop the courses OF
labor, but there are others who DO the
same, and 1 believe that I am speaking
.of INV own experience not only but OF
the experience of others when say
that YOU are more reasonable In large
number of cases than the capitalists.
II am not saying these things TO them
chance But they have to be said. not
in any spirit of criticism. because
would like to see all the critics export
ed. But in order to clean the atmos-
phere and come down to business every
body on both sides has got to transact
business and the settlement Is never
Impossible when both sides want to dc
the square and right things.
Settlement Hard to Avoid.
Moreover. I believe a settlement is
always hard to avoid when the parties
differ with a man much more radically
when he isn't in the room than / can
when he is in the room, because then
the awkward thing Is that he can come
back at me and answer what l say. 1t
Is always dangerous for a man to have
the floor entirely to himself. And,
therefore. we must insist in every in
stance that the parties come into each
others presence and there discuss the
issues between them and not separately
In places which have no communication
with each other.
II always like to remind myself OF
delightful saying of an English
man of q past generation. Charles
Lamb. He was with group OF
friends and he spoke very harshly OF
ought to say that Lamb suffered a
little And one of his friends said:
why. Charles, I didn't know that you
knew So-and-so?'
"'oh.' he said, I don't, can't hate
There is u great deal of human ma
ture-of very pleasant human nature
In that saying. 1t Is hard to hate a
man you know. / must admit paren-
| thetically that there are some politi-
clans whose methods 1 do not at all
believe In. but they are jolly good
fellows. and If they only would not
talk tho wrong kind of politics with
me would love to be with them And
so 1t is all along the line in serious
matters and things less serious We
are all of the same clay and spirit
and we can get together II we desire
| to get together. Therefore my counse
to you is this: Let us show ourselves
Americans by showing that we do not
want to go Off in separate camps OF
groups by ourselves. but that we want
J to cooperate with all other classes
and all other groups in a common en-.
| terprise. which Is to release tho spirits
of the world from bondage.
Set Up as Final Test.
"I would be willing to set that up q
the nnal test Of an American. That Ii
| the meaning OF democracy, havl