The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1917-05-18
ALL LABOR BACKS Y. s. IN WAR =.
SAYS LEADER in A.. F.. OF. L.

Workers viii eGain by Conflict anc
Fighters Will Rule World, Pre-
+ diction Of Gompers' Agent d
- Washington, May 9-"Organized
and unorganized workmen- skilled
and unskilled labor-will be definite
ly the gamers by. the triumph Of de
mocracy in this war" y =,
That is the prediction of James
William Sullivan, who for thirty
years has been one of the active mer
in the American Federation of Labor
He has recently returned from Eu
rope, where at the suggestion of Sam
uel Gompers, president of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor shes attempt
ed to arrange, a conference Of repre-
sentatiyes Of organized labor In tn.
1belligerent countries to be! held co
incidentally with the peace. confer
tence. whenever and wherever It'll
fheld.
While Mr. Sullivan is assistant t
Mr.. Gompers as member Of the ad
vfsory committee OF the council d
national defense, he has for year,
been a friend of Mr.. Gompers, and II
Is to be specifically stated that he
consented to this interview only il
his capacity as member Of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor. .ass
Two questions were put to- him: Il
what part will American labor
take In the work Of preparing for the
war? .E.53} !, .;s:., * 24
what viii be the effect Of the war
on labor as q class?" = y e -. : 81; @if Z ::.
Mr.. Sullivan antipicates that for an
indefinite and prolonged period after
the war wages will be much higher
than ever before, both for skilled and
lnskilled workmen. "a The demands
Eof She rsconstruction period offer sui.
|fiedent explanation General prosper,
aty maybe assumed to follow, thanks
to the general speeding up Of com.
merce and the increased diffusion sof
money through the wage channel The
Estatisticans Of the American Fedora:
ton Of Labor have been able to dem.
onstrate that social prosperity fol.
lows each increase OF the wage scale.
= .Giye 1000 workmen 81 more each
week and merchants will benefit is
his illustration. 81 4 Il; :ss
An increase in class prosperity in.
yariably means greater solidarity and
hence greater political power for the
workman, The history Of San Fran
cisco in the years following the fire
is cited as an example. Not only
have wages remained at 9 higher
level. there than at any previous Pc
sriod, but the working class obtained
control of the city politically ''f Mr..
sulliyn said. Broadly speaking, q
betterment IL social 8 conditions has
followed u each "a ddition I'm political
power gained ~ organized labor.
we fought Tor child labor laws and
forS the prote ection of women workers
long before any of the societies now
these reforms were 81 the
!tield said hes The fund damental
law is3 now ii. We take as 4
natter of course that we win win
each Injlnct lion case III the higher
courts tors no Sonly ask freedom of
speech press II 4 ana \ noyement The
trend Is laW,mak king III II u iitth 10. u |.
sullivan anticip tesS that "the
unequal aistf fibnti ion for ealth win
|bes to some extent corrected. Great
Britain hAs set the example Death
duties there take larSl q ~ i u lprp sition
Ioisthe 9reater ssta 4 tessa and income tax.
Ies take III incre easiinsly 81 part ~
an income ii prop ions "a IN incTeas..
es. beli lieves something ~ sthe