The Connecticut labor press., 1920-06-05

Able head of the Connecticut Fed eration of Labor whose annual review of Labor conditions in Connecticut at tracted widespread attention.
 serious times of our industrial career and he asked his hearers to recollect that with all of the penalties and accusations which have been placed on the shoulders of Organized Labor its great collective and moral force has rallied time and again, its foundation remains intact and it's structure remains as the only defense that the wage earn CTS of the country have in protecting their industrial life.
 He expressed regret that in all of the IS months which have passed since the armies of the world had stopped fight ing those in power politically and -in- dustrially had failed to adopt any of the many well defined reconstruction pro- grams which would mean so much for the betterment of humanity.
 Great industrial centers and great centers of learning have gradually re- verted into pre-war conditions, he said, so that now, instead of seeing the new day that we were assured of and which this great country entered the war to se- cure, we are submerged into the old order of things
 Continuing President O'Meara laid stress upon the consistency i'll buying the products of union labor and urged the purchasing of products which bear the union label
 In speaking upon political activities President O'Meara expressed the hope that every member would give careful consideration to the attempt being made to sacrifice his or her political freedom. He added: From the date of the ad- journment of this convention, the Trades Unionists of this State and Country will be confronted by the po- litical scandal monger who will attempt to inject the virus of misspent and re- pudiated promises into our industrial life, to try to sway us to his way of voting for office aspirants. We will Ill convention this week be again com pelled to lose valuable time in debating with those that are trying to foist upon the Trades Union movement an abso- lutely false and risky program of going into politics as Labor Party.
 If I had the time of this Conven- ton 1 would be i'll a position to fill page after page of this report with sub ject matters of facts that would tell you of the fallacy of this move, that would, if adopted, leave our economic and in- dustrial aims in mass of wreckage that generations to come would be re- quired to untangle. Might I ask you in short, and by this form of advice. inplore all good and true Trade Union members, to adopt as a slogan and to work for the political program of our parent body (the American Federation of Labor) which no doubt will be pre- sented and explained to this conven- ton. And remember, that your po1iti- cal franchise IS guaranteed by law and should be guarded sacred1y to offset the putrid system tried in this State for the past two years, and after reco1lecting what has taken place in Hartford, New Britain, Bridgeport, Seattle, St. Paul, Chicago and many other places, I again ask you all to pledge yourselves to the only effectual service that we can rem der to Organized Labor, that is THE BALANCE OF POWER"
 The legislative program of the Fed eration was outlined as follows:
 "A model health insurance law.
 "A minimum wage law.
 Further amendments to Section 6358 Gold 12o6).
 Further amendments to the law rela- tive to the employment of women and children.
 Further amendments to the Work mems Compensation Law
 The introduction of an advanced system of education for the wage earn CTS of this State.
 Employment of citizens on our pub lie works"
 President O'Meara reviewed the con- ditions and occurrences Of the past year, expressing for the organization its sincere sympathy for Vice-President Thomas A. Sweeney of Hartford in the loss of his two children; high com mendation for the work of Secretary Ira M Ornburn; the opportunities which had come to him (President O'Meara) to preach the gospel of unity before various organizations, Labor, fraternal, church and civic; and the highly cornmendable achievement of the