The Connecticut labor press., 1920-02-28
GOMPERS SCORES
 MOVEMENT FOR A
 SEPARATE PARTY
Denounces Attitude of Indiana Group Claiming to Repre-
 sent Labor.
ONLY AID TO ENEMY
Asks Where They Get Right to Decide Policy of
 A. F. of l..

The formation of a separate Labor party would not only not aid Labor III securing justice but would actually pre- vent it, and would be detrimental to the extent of actually aiding those opposed to Labor, is the declaration of Samuel Gompers in reply to group of men signing themselves as representatives of a labor party organization III Indiana The reply is direct to the point and IS as follows:
 MT. William Mitchell,
 Indianapolis, Indiana. Dear Sir:
 "Your telegram of February IA, in which you are joined by Messrs. John Hessler, Charles w. Kern, A. F. Fess- Ter and E. s. Kidd, received. It is as follows:
 "'We, the convention of the Indiana State Labor Party, in session February IA, 1920, stand opposed to the political declarations of the American Federation of Labor asking Labor to elect their friends and defeat their enemies. We assert that there can be no compromise on candidates who run on ticket whose platform is made and whose campaign IS financed by big interests. We assert that the political policy of the A. F. of l.. IS impractical and has been absolutely un- successful Therefore we stand-for the Labor party organized by and tor the workers themselves as the only consist ent method of protecting Labor's inter ests in the various political departments of our government.
 "Signed: Wm. Mitchell, John Hessler,
 Chas. w. Kern, A. F. Fessler, E. 5.
 Kidd
 By what right do you assume to de- clare the work and the policy of the American Federation of Labor to be inn practical? Surely the results achieved in the interests of the workers demon strate the utter fallacy of your assump- ton.
 By your declaration you assert the practicability of the course you declare you will pursue. What experience have you had with your political party upon which to base so absurd claim!
 "Forsooth some men understand not only that which is charged, but the vir- tue which is proclaimed of political financial honesty and dishonesty Per- haps thorough investigation of political and financial virtue may be proper subject of inquiry after a political party shall have been in existence more than "a day.
 Of this one thing you may rest assured, that the day of reckoning is at hand for all of those who are ln an- tagonism to the cause of Labor, and for those who are subtle and equally guilty even though they c1othe their actions i'll the robes of pretended friendship.
 When you shall have learned the les son of the real struggle of Labor and the cause for which our movement stands, you may become penitent for the s~a1r xOrr have dnDe@ hv UOl1r pretention and your course.
 "The effect of separate political labor party can only be disastrous to the wage earners of our country and to the interests of all forward looking people. The votes that would go to a labor party candidate would, i'll the absence of such candidate, go to the best man in the field. In no case would they go to an enemy of Labor.
 There can be no hope for success of labor party candidates. The effect, therefore, of political labor party will be to defear our friends and to elect our enemies.
 Labor can12fook upon the formation of a political labor party only as an act detrimental to the interests of Labor and exactly in line with that which is most ardent1y desired by those who seek to oppress Labor.
 "The welfare of American humanity demands in this hour of national crisis that there be success at the polls. This is no time for experimenting with political theories which are proven false at the outset. The workers of America must use the tactics of success. They must have results.
 Results will not be obtained by in- jecting labor party so-called, into the struggle.
 Those who are determined to be blind to the facts of the present and past will, of course, rush on to disaster and calamity. This the American labor movement will not do. It rejects and repudiates the fallacies of blind theorists and will have nothing to do with those treacherous follies that are suited only to the purposes of Labor's enemies.
 Your telegram is an affront to the labor movement and an assault upon the interests of that great body of Americans who are determined that the present campaign shall result, not in the destruction of our liberties, but in the opening of the way to national progress and the enlargement of opportunities for human welfare, safety and happiness.
 SAMUEL GOMPERS, President American Federation of
 Labor"