The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1918-08-31
AMERICAS WEIGHT IN WAR
WILL ASToN|SH GERMANY
w. A. Appleton, Secretary British Federation of
Trade Unions, Sums Up Visit to United States.
Lauds Unanimity of Capital and Labor.

oOnt examine them TOO closely and
if you can forget, as Clemenceau
concluded, 1.-The American and Brit
ish people as whole, are going to
says, that. the Germans are at Nov
| on Whether they like it or not, thew
| are playing the German game
and as they are deeply concerned
with their own political careers they
manage to figure prominently in tho
public eye. But they do not repre-
sent the British worker, as the latter
has shown every time his opinion on
the matter has been fairly tested.
The American worker and the
| British worker. and" Mr.. Appleton
be closely bound together by their
| experiences in this war; Their suf
ferings and sacrifices for the funda-
| mentals Of freedom and democracy
are going to weld them together and
enable them to overcome any minor
things that separate them. OF that
I am certain"
Fights Labor Intriguing.
Mr.. Appleton is an individualist
! in the British labor movement He
is identified with no clique and is a.
! strong opponent Of the subterranean
| intrigues from which the labor
! movement, like other movements, is
not free. He has a passion for real
! tiles which separates him entirely
from the doctrinnaire standpoint Of
Ramsay Macdonald and the other
members of the Independent Labor
party. There is no more determined
| fighter for the workers rights than
Mr.. Appleton, but, at the same time,
he is no believer In class warfore.
| Mr.. Appleton's realism has made
him throughout WHOLE hearted sup
porter Of the war and Of any gov
eminent which will press on with
the war until Prussian militarism is
| crushed. On this point he is COM
! pletely opposed to the standpoint Of
Messrs. Macdonald, Snowden, Jew
EFT and others, and considers that
to minimize the atrocious crimes of
| Germany and to magnify every mi
nor mistake of the allies is to cloud
the fact that the issue on the torn
fields of France and Flanders is moth
ing less than whether liberty IL to
perish from the earth or not. Hit
sons were among the first Of the
gallant youths who trod sov closely
on the heels of the old contempti-
bles.
Objects to Practice.
| Mr.. Appleton objects to the prac-
tice of paying lip service to the
ideals of the nation in this war and
simultaneously trying to damp tho
national fervor with a cold stream
of depreciation! Of the country's ef-
fort, exaggerated criticism of it's
mistakes and a singular condona-
! ton. of the crimes of the enemy. In
this respect MIR. Appleton is con-
WINGED that the workers of Britain
! are in complete agreement with him
! and are untainted, so far, by paci-
ficism or defeatism, despite the
subtle propaganda which is continu-
; ously aimed at weakening the ma
tional will.
It is certainly true that when
British workers have had the oppor-
tunity Of casting their votes for
strong supporter Of the war, or one
J whose views, in their opinion, were
not sufficiently clear or sound on
this subject, the latter. has always
| been heavily defeated. It is the OBJ
ject of Mr.. Appleton and those who
think like him to remember that
constant vigilance. is the price of
liberty" and. to keep their followers
IN this frame of mind until KAISER
ism is overthrow and the world is
made safe for democracy"