The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1919-07-26

10 the Officers of and Delegates to the
State of q tabar
| 1t would require an unwise and un-
TO- to review leg, all II of my activities and all
dent during. the past 10 months. So
I shall briefly touch upon only some
matters of primary Importance which
! have engaged our earnest attention
and which may require further action
! by this convention.
| You will all agree with me, + do not
doubt, that the same interest in the
welfare and advancement. of our move
ment that has characterized the past
must be maintained in the future, and
even increased and intensified as time
passes, and that the rights of the
lshed during the late war must be
firmly held by US for our enjoyment in
nestly hope is before us. .
More Helpful Brotherhood.
Eternal vigilance must be. the
American labor movement. 1t has been
well proclaimed by an important COM
mittee on the subject of reconstruction
that the world war has forced all
| free peoples to fuller and deeper
realization Of the menace to civiliza-
ton. contained in autocratic control of
kind"
This realization has aroused world
| wide determination to overthrow and
eradicate all autocratic institutions in
and justice may be established between
| man and man and nation and nation.
Labor's Help in the Great War.
How different are the conditions
/ under which we meet today from those
Of year ago! Then we were in the
in the worlds history. Millions of our
| boys were lover there" or on the way,
offering. their all, if need be, to the
cause sene Of f. democracy rae the overthrow Of
ity. In addition, your officers and
the officials of the unions affiliated
with this federation were doing every
menf in financing the war and Uphold
ing. the hands Of the beneficent organi-
cations engaged in nitigatig its hor-
est of all slaughters has come to q
happy close, with a peace treaty with
the greatest of our warning opponents
signed, saving League of Nations
al en agmss R 1san ses 20
gage in the gigantic task Of disnem-
bering the greatest of all military ma
chimes and getting our country back
future time.
do not f 6elieve any Intelligent e' per- S
Contributions made by organized labor
toward winning the war. and no one
dares question the sacrifices the work
ers made in this behalf. The whole
and mine and mill, from factory and
field and mart Of trade. the organized
workers of the land poured into. the
zation. establi shing universal dsmoc-
racy and serving humanity, and that
the workers who were LETT behind
wrought harder than ever In the In
| RI
forces provided with the required
equipment and supplies, The rec ord is
altogether glorious to American labor.
that of many of the employers who
reaped vast harvests of profit in the
fields of carnage.
Organization work in many parts of
the state has gone on without inter
ruption during the past year, and we
say II mas as been Mn " Sss
Winona,- Rochester, Faribault: Austin.
| Albert Lea. Mankato. Marshall St
CLOUD, sp41ner, ~. international Falls
ehish Ref@ Hibbin ry Nssshwauf ve's and
some other places. The report of new
affiliations with the federation during
the year must convince you that the
past year has been the most successful
one in our history in this particular.
And we have strong incentives for
greater and more determined efforts,
grounded information of general
movement among the larger employ
ers in the state for the formation Of
as 4Ha on IS nan Ths
plans of the employers differ some
what In details, and I submit to your
committee those Of which have
by the committee. feeling. that, in jus.
tice to those who may be somewhat
impressed, by these plans, a distinct
and positive declaration of the atti-
tude of the State Federation of La Dor
toward them ought to be promulgated.
I have reason to believe the same con-
dition is to be found in other states as
Political Action of Last Year,s
Resolution No. 20, introduced in the
Virginia convention by Delegates Ma
Se na dsea 1gf aS s
i ndepsndent tor Political tSe aetion BY the
working class, and INSTRUCTED the ex-
cali a labor political conference before
the end of August, 1918, for the pur
pose of formulating a permanent po-
litical movement of the working men.
o@ Wh Asae the %: conference met delegates
we're seated from Win2na; New D1m'
Bn'S HssD9 Fsu F e1o
quet and St. cloud: The conference
organized by selecting E. G. Hall as
| chairman and G. w. Lawson as secre-
tary. Several communications and
| resolutions were read and considered,
! and general discussion of political
| conditions, prospects and duties was
! INDUCED in. A committee Of seven was
appointed to confer with like COM
| mIttee representing farmers organiza-
| tions on the possibility of cooperating
| in the selection and support Of candi-
dates for state offices in the campaign
] then ensuing.
The report of this committee to the
| conference was a unanimous one, and
| after several hours of discussion It
| was adopted by the conference with
| certain provisos. Doubtless the dele
| gates to this convention know of the
| work done by the campaign commit
| tee, which was. of course. separate and
| distinct from the work Of the State
| Fedora ton of Labor in its trade union
! activities. But I feel that. as this
| movement had it's inception in our last
| convention, committee should con-
! slider the advisability Of continuing
| the organization and report its find
| 1ngs to this convention with such rec
| lamentations as 1t may deem It best
! to make for whatever action the con-
| vention may see fit to take. Care must
| be taken, however, to so act that in no
| way we shall do anything that will
| retard our organization work or in
| terfere with any other function Of the
| labor movement striving to promote
| the economic betterment Of the work.
| ers. We shall all have an opportunity
| to deliberate over the matter fully