Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-09


The stalwart ranks of Organized
Labor marched into Chestnut Street
Hall last night to hear a distinguish
ed English labor leader and publicly
attest labor's loyalty to the United
States government in this crisis. 1t
was no place for an l. w. w. Be-
fore the meeting was over J. E..
Roach, of the American Federation
of Labor, alluding> to this band as
the 'Bolsheviki of America" promis-
ed that they would all be driven back
to Germany or safely incarcerated
here.
He told how the labor unions were
absolutely united in one mighty eff
fort to do everything possible to
hurry on the final victory and how
cautious they have been to avert
any agitation which will interfere
with speed and efficiency.
William Jennings, chairman of the
Committee of Public Safety for Dau-
phin county, presided at the open
ing and introduced H. NJ. Brooks,
president of the Central Labor Union,
as permanent chairman. The audi
ence joined roundly in the Star
Spangled Banner" and DR.. Robert
Bagnell then made a most impress
sive prayer.
The speaker of the evening, w. A.
Appleton, secretary general of the
British Trade Unions, instantly Won
the big audience by his sound sug-
gestions and mature observations.
With an accent that smacked both Of
Irish and Scotch and sincere elo-
quence he described the gravity of
the situation unless America sends
food.
Plenty to Eat
81 may say that l was surprised
on landing here" said he "at the
great plenty of eatables. You do not
see it in England. It occurred to me
that America does not yet realize
what it means to feed those mil
lions of troops nor what sacrifices
may be necessary"
Mr.. Appleton had recently made a
tour of the trenches and there came
in contact with the American SOL
dier. He was evidently much i'm
pressed by what he said last night.
81 tell you they will hold against
this drive, so will the British. They'll
hold and they'll beat the Hun, but
only providing that you reinforce
all the time with food. 1t is i'm
perative that you do not waste any.
We had to learn this lesson in Eng
ldHu. he
America had not had the same treaty
with Belgium that England has, so
that she might have gone to war as
soon as Germany invaded Belgium.
Personal experience in escaping
bombs from Zeppelins Mr.. Appleton
had right at his own house, the fam
lily being turned out one night with
a terrific explosion, in which, how
ever, no one was killed. He gave
some vivid descriptions of the hor+
rible destruction done by these at
tacks, one in particular under his
observation, that public school in
which sixty-eight children were
mangled by bombs. IF you saw
your little children gathered up in
fragments you would buy gun and
kill the first German you saw" he
uttered with fierce emphasis.
Tells How Women Work
His description of English women
working in all sorts of activities was
an eye-opener to many. The whole
nation has been transformed he told.
Over 100000 women are engag-
ed in munition factories alone, and
through their help England has been
able with the forces of men not in
military service to produce in two
weeks now as great a quantity OF
ammunition as the nation did the
whole first year of the war.
The English labor leader in end
ing spoke encouragingly enough, al
ways, however, reminding of the me-
cessity of keeping open the trans.
portation channels and sending food
II saw thousands of American sol
diers in France" he said, "and they
are the finest type of fighting mer
1 ever saw. The French people
were of the same notion"
There is no excuse for labor
! troubles now" declared J. e. Roach
who followed Mr.. Appleton, ''ant
the unions have pledged themselves
| to keep the situation clear"
Chairman Brooks paid higf
| compliment to Harrisburgers as 3
patriotic center, reminding that il
addition to all her records for serv-
| ice she is unique in that no Harris
burg man has been discharged fol
| inefficiency. The meeting ended
with a vigorous speech by c. ]. Hep
burn, attorney for the state food ad.
ministration, who called for more in.
tensive conservation of food, espc.
cially of wheat.