The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-06-24
GOMPERS MAY
REIGN ASLONC
AS HE WILLS
HEAD OF WAR LABOR BOARD
TELLS WHY A. r. L. PRESIDENT
HAS RULED LABOR FOR 81
YEARS.
BY BASIL M. MANLY.

Atlantic City, June 23.-Samuel
Gcmpers' control of the American
Federation of Labor remains unshak-
en- after 81 years in office. His re-
election as president at the Atlantic
City convention, which his enemies
months ago predicted would prove his
waterloo, is only the concrete evil
dence Of his dominant control The
less tangible daily manifestations are
even more convincing proofs Of the
power of Gompers to direct and sway
the policies and plans of the American
labor movement.
Gompers does not merely hold Of
flee; he controls his great and I'M
weildy organization. Gompers does not
merely reign; he rules!
How and why does Gompers rule?
Because he is one of the most ac-
complished politicians and molders Of
public opinion in the world. An Eng
lish Jew, he combines Hebraic subtlety
with British tenacity. In speaking to
his followers from the platform or
through the press, he breaches no in
tricate social philosophy, but appeals
directly to their fundamental desires
and prejudices. He sometimes post
pones, but never refuses a fight. AL
ways, however, he picks his battle
ground. His strategy is simple-"Di-
vide your opponents and crush the
weaker division"
"Gompers May Rule as Long as He
Wills"
Gompers is no one-man power. He
is supported by a solid phaIanx of
neutenants, selected not for brilliance,
although they are chiefly able men,
but rather for their loyalty and stick
ing ability. Combine such an organi-
cation with a constitution which pro-
vides for elections by delegates, and
not by popular vote of the individual
trade union members, which also gives
to the president power to name all
committees, and control debate, and
the source of Gompers' ability to reign
and to rule the American Federation
of Labor as long as he will is mani
fest.
This does not mean that Gompers
can impose on the American trade
unions any policy he chooses. Ke has
no such autocratic power and no such
czar-like intentions. In pre-war con-
ventions, his advocacy of a policy of
preparedness was overwhelmingly out
voted by the then anti-war delegates.
So now Gompers may not be able to
secure the solid support of the A. F.
of L. for the League of Nations or
even for his own International labor
covenant. But Gompers can and does
control and direct the application OF
the policies which are acceptable to a
majority of the delegates. He can
not put through any policy he likes;
but he can block or at the least con-
troll the form of any measure to which
he is opposed. He cannot command the
tide of opinion among the trade I'M
ion membership, but he can navigate
his ship through that tide in any
wind that has yet blown.
Interviews with delegates at the At
lantic City convention indicates un-
mistakably that Gompers' ability to
swing all but an infinitesimal portion
of American labor solidly behind the
war and to hold to a conservative pol
icy during the present era of revolu-
lions would have been impossible ex-
cept for the understanding of organ
lied labor's aims and aspirations which
the Wilson administration manifested
before and during the war.
Wilson's Hand Supports Gompers.
Suppose" these delegates say
! that at the beginning of the war
Gompers had been under sentence by
a federal court as he was in 1910
Suppose that during the war there had
been no department of labor, as there
was none until 1912, headed by q
cabinet member through whom Comp
ers could always be sure of reaching
the presidential ear. Suppose also
that the ten-year fight to curb the
injunction powers of judges. which
eliminated in the passage Of the
Clayton act, had still been on when
the United States entered the world
war. Under such conditions Gompers
advocating pre-war attitude, would
have been swept from power, or would
have been obliged to devote so much
of his energy to fighting labor's bat
ties with an unsympathetic admins
tration that he would have had no
time or strength left to fight the
Reds"
According to this analysis Wilson
and Gompers are Jointly responsible
for the fact, manifested dozen times
in this convention, that the American
labor movement is today the most
conservative in the world.
Gonpers Would Fight Lower Wage.
There is no doubt also that Comp
ers ability to maintain this policy
Of conservatism is dependent upon
American employers dealing with the
the industrial situation In spirit Of
RESPONSIVENESS and upon his securing
from the present congress sympa-
thetic hearing for the many important
measures which this convention has
voted are necessary foE the welfare
of the workers.
If the American employers should
undertake at this time policy Of
wage reduction or attempt to restore
the pre-war conditions as regards col
lective bargaining, Gompers would