The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1919-04-11

for the American Alliance for
Labor and Democracy
American Labor sent to Paris
one of the most important figures
called to take part in remaking the
peace of the world. This man is
Samuel Gompers.
Samuel Gompers is President of
the Commission on International
Labor Legislation, a Commission set
up by the Peace Commission for
the purpose of investigating and
recommending to it measures and
machinery for adjusting the world
of labor and industry to the gener-
al peace. 1t may be worth while
to point out why this made Gompers
one of the most important men in
Paris.
First, in the makeup of the peace
conference itself there is a shame
full and ineXcusable lack of labor
men, making the Gompers Commis-
sion virtually the only avenue
through which labor had an ap-
proach to the peace table in prac-
tical way.
Second, there will not be a sta
BILE and solid peace unless that peace
takes account of and reckons with
certain fundamental facts regarding
the world of industry, which is to
say that a purely political peace
would be only shadow peace, all
of which means that:
A-The Gompers Commission had
the task of handling the most
fundamental part of the peace
making, since that body had to
deal with the life of work and
production upon which future
security and peace must rest, and
B-The Importance to the world
of the Gompers Commission is
of the first order and the OPP
portunity before it unique in
history of labor and of the
world.
Third, Gompers is the most strik-
ing in the whole world of labor
the dean of the labor world-one of
the worlds great constructive gen.
fuses and one of the men whose
tenacity of purpose and soundness
of judgment the fabric of civiliza-
ton depends for it's continued eXis-
tence. He has been for three
months one of the dramatic fig
ures of Paris, ranking with the
greatest statesmen gathered there
and actually superior in point of
ability and true Importance to most
of them.
Much Of the world is overlooking
some great facts in connection with
the making of peace. Let us put
those facts in order and look at
them:
Fact No. 1.-Civilization today
is for the most part industrial. We
depend on the existence of our So
ciety upon what we may call the
means of production and distribu-
ton. These are mines, mills fac
tories, railways, electric lines,
ships. All this is very intricate.
All of us depend upon the related
work and thought of hundreds and
thousands of other people whom we
never know or see. This is the real
basis of our life which cannot fail
without carrying us all down with
it.
Fact No. 2-The political phase
of our life, our political forms, our
political government, all rest upon
industry and cannot live indepen-
IDENTITY and have any value to the
race.
This is because our political life
was developed before our present
industrial civilization developed and
continues today largely as it was
when the great ends of life were
shaped and satisfied by that kind
of government.
Fact 3.-The Importance of the
of the industrial life of today has
been so brought forward and en-
phasized by war that it can never
sink back to a subsidiary position.
1t must now function at its true
value, which means that 1t must
assume a position of first rank.
Fact No. 4-The world is SO I'M
poverished that unless the industry
of the world can go forward with
out pause or halt, the world Will be
in grave danger of ruination.
The storehouse of the world is no