The labor standard., 1919-10-01
AS OTHERS SEE US
AN AMERICAN LABOR PARTY
 Christian Science Monitor)

Christian Science Monitor)
 Whatever may be the view as to the wisdom of organizing what is intend ed to be known as the National La- bor Party, in the United States, there will, if the present plans succeed, be no little interest in the trend which the proposed new party shall take. In the first place it is, of course, to be remembered that the American Fed eration of Labor is opposed to the es- tablishment of such a.apaIty. The federation still holds, asitshas always held that it is better that the so-called working man shall support whatever party or candidate he may individually choose to support than to set up dis tinct Labor Party.
 This new movement, which has already resulted in the calling of a national convention to be held in Chi cago on Nov. 22, will inevitably be watched closely with reference to the radical elements now aggressively active in the country. So far as indi- cated by the call for the convention, no doctrines of particularly startling character are yet, at any rate, advo- |cated. The call declares however, for "the public ownership and democratic management of the means of trans portation and communication, mines, finance, and all other monopolies and natural resources; the abolition of ex- |cessive land ownership and holding land out of use for speculative pur- poses; it says that it is held that the formation of a National Labor Party has become not only expedient, but imperative; it is unsparing in it's ref erence to the dominant political par ties, and declares that their hopeless bankruptcy" and utter inability to help the people in the present crisis makes it self-evident that the people must take the reins of government into their own hands.
 That utterances of this kind should be forthcoming from some quarters at this time is not, all things considered, especially surprising. The public will, however, be better able to judge of the importance of the new political factor when something more definite than has yet been heard as to its pro- posed methods of improving condi- tions shall have been revealed. Much information of this nature will natur- ally be made public before the end of the Chicago convention. It is at least plain already that groups of>workers are organizing for political purposes in many important industrial centerS, although, so far as the world is aware. there is yet no definite relation or con nection between them. Some expecta- tion exists of uniting these local or ganizations in the proposed National Labor Party, but evidently so wide a difference obtains among the members of the various groups themselves that there is no certainty of the several bodies agreeing upon either plat form or course of action. As mdi- eating geographical scope, it is to be observed that at the conference ieid in Chicago, not long ago, which re. suited in the issuance of the call for the national convention, there were delegates representing state. and city Labor parties in Illinois, Ohio, New York, Kansas, Indiana, California, and Connecticut. While, notably in Chicago and New York City, the meet ings of these political Labor. groups have developed no little disagreement as to the lengths to which Labor should go, in attempting to change methods of government, the radical element seems to have taken the lead. and held it.