The labor world., 1919-10-11

III Lie SteeI 41Ou6IIy. IL IL tuS ClUSSu
shop" and every plant is closed to
union men.
Gompers Backs Foster.
The newspapers which had editor
iaIly commented on the position Of
Secretary william z. Foster of the
general strike committee as to syndi-
calism failed entirely to do justice to
Mr.. Foster in his testimony before
Of Mr.. Fosters life reads like a novel.
He was raised In the slums Of Chi
cago among foreign-born working
men. His first views Of the labor
movement were gained from the
Spanish, italian and French people
with whom he was raised. From this
environment he gained his early Inn
pressions and opinions. Mr.. Foster is
no mediocre man.. He is a student
and an able writer and organizer. He
wrote his pamphlet on~syndicalism
in 1910. He attended the international
labor conference at Buda Pest in 1911.
His travels gave him a. different view
of the American situation than he had
gained in the slums. He saw in tha
American Federation Of Labor an or
ganization4 practical in methods and
purpose that was gaining things for
the workers..
Then followed a great transforms.
tion in the man. Mr.. Gompers testi-
fed in Fosters behalf before the sem
ate committee. Mr. Foster told Of
his ideas Of government, Of his sup
port of the war and Of the change
that had come to him-all to the sat-
iofoo ooff0 ~ III ,yNi :,
resentatives of the press. The news
papers of the country have completely
fallen down in this strike. They have
cast their lot with the steel trust and
against labor.
Foster Not Steel Strike.
Mr.. Foster insisted that he was not
the steel strike, but that his early
opinions and writing were being used
as means to prejudice public opinion
against the worthy cause the steel
workers were fighting. The papers
have declared that only the foreign
workers were on strike and Mr.. Gary
made much Of this allegation But
who brought:th these foreign workers to
the United States, and<who has ex-
plotted them from the moment Of
their landing to the day Of the strike,
when, like the proverbial worm, they
turned upon their task masters?
Mr.. Foster's opinions on syndical-
ism In other days, the "open shop"
or "closed shop" does not excuse the
steel industry for employing workmen
II hours a day, seven days a week
and under: conditions. that would not
be tolerated in any other civilized
country on earth. The steel masters
have ."sewed the wind: and they are
now reapinEcthe whirlwfnd.''.
In reply to Judge Gary's assertion.
that the steel strike is a question Of
the, open shop, John Fitzpatrick de-.
clared Sunday in a speech before the
Chicago Federation Of Labor, of which
he ~is president, that from the union
mans standpoint there is no such
thing as an open shop. It either
means that, there will he a, union or.
no union in. the steel industry, he
said. II the open shop won, 1t would
mean no union men would be per-
mitted to work in the mills. The
public, he said, hads been, mfsled by.
the term open shop" :, It is, a contest
he said, to determine whether or not
the labor movement shalI be crushed.
=, Mr.. Fitzpatrick claimed that the
steel strike is a success. He asserted
that. the press Of the country was not
telling the truth about conditions. The
steel freight being handled, he de-
clared, Is but Is per cent Of normal.
He told the federation that 100000
men were, out last week and that more.
would be. out this week.