Denver labor bulletin., 1918-11-16

secrecy had declared its paclflsm-and
some other things-was to have been
held in executive, ever secret session.
But at the demand of our mission that
in which we participated
was held with the searchlight of pub
lie opinion right upon every delegate
present. We held we could not be
consistent in denouncing secret diplo-
macy and at the same time hold Sc
cret sessions. Whether they liked it
or not, they voted for open sessions.
From that time we knew Americas
position was right and would be en-
dorsed. Men can't help being little
more decent in public than in private.
"The conditions we found to exist
in all our allied countries were some
thing to give US grave concern. Every
effort we made was attempted to be
beaten and forestalled by the pro-Ger-
mans, the propagandists, the pacifists,
and the French and Italian Bolsheviki
Socialists and their press.
Branded as Frauds.
"In Italy, for instance, we were
branded by this press as fakes and
frauds, and as not representing Amer
ican labor, not speaking for it or in its
name. Our answer was: The difficult
ty with these people is that whatever
usually dominated by some professor;
some failure in professional life, who
got his fangs into the labor movement
and usually poisoned it. That the
American labor movement is composed
of working men and women and the
men in official positions in our move
ment are taken from the shop to be
our defenders, and that doesn't stick
well in the crops of the so-called in
telectuals' of England, France, or
Italy, or even of the United States.
"Our labor movement is conducted
for the working people, is composed of
the working people, and administered
by the working people. We said we
had fully 100000 organized workers
in America, and the Avante, literally
translated into English, the Advance
Bolsheviki, the pretended Italian Off
cial Socialist paper, came back and
said, We'll, Mr.. Gompers may repre-
sent 1000, 900 workmen in the United
States, but he represents more mil
lions of dollars
mo German Dollars"
81 replied that there wasn't a single
member of the mission, after mention
ing the trades they had worked at the
most of their lives, and my own, that
of cigarmaker for twenty-siX years,
who, if he left his position and could
not earn anything for six months,
would not be a pauper. And l made
this remark-I intended to refute, to
repudiate and condemn the statement
made that we represented money Of
any character: If l represent dollars,
no one has yet accused me of receiving
German dollars And made the gen
eral inquiry if the publishers of the
Avante could make the same claim
honestly"
Mr.. Gompers described the missions
visits to the French, British, Belgian,
Italian and American fronts, of being
on actual battle fields, of seeing evil
dences of German destruction and ter
rorism, and the honors paid the mis-
sion by rulers and statesmen abroad.
America and President Wilson, he
said, are honored as no other country
and no other man in the world. He
said every city. town and village IN
the allied countries had its Wilson
street, park or boulevard" and in
sisted America must live up to the
ideals which prompted its entrance
into the war.
Goes to Pan American Meeting.
A trip to Great Lakes was planned
for Friday morning, had to be aban-
doned because of inclement weather.
Mr.. Gompers and members Of the A..
F.. of l.. executive council departed
Saturday morning for Laredo, Texas,
where, beginning November 13, Mr..
Gompers presided at great pan
American labor conference.
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