The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-05-13


tary Buck of the State Federation
of Labor relating to differences be-
tween himself and President Short
After some discussion a motion pre-.
vailed censuring the Executive Coun.
ell of the Federation for squander.
ing organized labor's money in con.
sidering personal differences be-
tween the officers of the Federation
The letter was ordered published ir
The Labor Journal.
Seattle, Wash, May 5, 1921.
Affiliated Organizations of the State
Federation of Labor,
Greetings: You have been bonn
barded with communications from
President Short and members of the
Executive Council, attacking Vice
President Pearl and myself for nc
other reason than that we refused
to be rubber stamps and persisted
in our right to express opinions
which, perchance, conflict with the
opinions and wishes of the Presi-
dent of the Federation.
am not going to trouble you with
detail of facts to refute the mis-.
statements contained in the letters
sent you under date of April 20, 1921
prepared by President Short and rub.
Der stamped by four members OF
the Executive Council and j. N
Northway, a vice-presdent of the
Financial Federation of Producers
corporation. (This signature cost
the Federation $109.32). Their pur-
pose is so glaringly political and SC
obviously colored to suit the oc-
casion, that to enter detail denia
would be an unnecessary waste of
your time.
This campaign material against
me cost the Washington workers
S429.02, the total amount paid to
the Vice-Presidents and to J. N
Northway for the three days oc.
cupied in meeting called for ne
other purpose than to "repudiate
the attacks made on me, the Presi
dent of the Washington State Fed
Grafton of Labor" and to put the
cretary-Treasurer of the Fedora.
tion in his proper place." as thai
"place" may be determined by the
President.
In order that you may know how
well they succeeded | am sending
you herewith copy of the min
utes of the Executive Councils ses
sions. You will see by them thai
your Secretary is stripped of al
authority and his only function
now is to collect per capita tax
issue receipts therefor, pay the ex
penses of the President and sucl
| other bills as may be approved b!
VIM. M. Short.
| wish to call attention to som,
facts that all will readily recogniz,
as such. First, l am not trying t.
destroy the Union Record as Shor
| alleged in a statement made a
Belingham and again in a letter
| dated April 14th, but | am using
every ounce of energy and all the
intelligence and wit l posses tC
prevent the use of our paper by
stock promoters in schemes to ger
the workers money through sucl
institutions as the one Short i:
now trying so ardously to renounct
as having never been officially con
nected with. | am lending my ef
forts and influence to the move
ment to put stop to the practice
of selling labor influence and the
capitalization of the workers con
fidence. 1t is my purpose to hell
reclaim the Record from the labor
capitalists and restore it to the
workers.
Second, in a statement to the
Council Short said 81 allowed my
name to be used (by the Financia
Federation of Producers) for the pur.
pose of lending my influence to
wards a movement to salvage tn,
Scandinavian -Amesican Bank of Ia
coma and my connection was only
temporary" To the Executive Coun
Gil members he said, II was never
officially connected with the finan
cial concern" and he asked d. C
Coates and j. N. Northway, Treas
urer and Vice President of the con
Germ respectively, to verify the state
ment, which they did. But neither
of them attempted to explain ava!
the fact that the name of w. M
Short appeared on the letterheads
stating merely that it was a mis-
take. The question OCCURS: Would
it have been mistake" if the eX
ploitation of the names and reputa
tions of labor officials in such pro
| motion schemes was considered, ever
by the promoters, right and just anC
sound in principle?
Third, nothing is more convincing
of the correctness of my position
and that of the committee than the
| extreme measures employed by
| Short to convince the rank and fix
| that he would not countenance the
| use of his name and influence il
the promotion of such schemes. AnC
| yet, though thus admitting that i
was wrong, he still persists in de
| Tending those who are doing thai
very thing. To be consistent h'
should be helping those who seel
to stop the practice.
Fourth, President Shorts position
is so untenable that his success il
the pending election depends on his
ability to discredit me personally
and that he is depending wholly OF
personalities and misrepresentation
| for his success is clearly shown il
| his letters and talks and in the
statement prepared by himself fol
| the signatures of the members o.
the Executive Council who have beer
openly campaigning against me anC
for Short.
Fifth, in face of the fact tha
this campaign matter cost the Fed
Grafton $42902, plus the fact thai
President Short has spent severa
hundred dollars in hotel expense anC
transportation to tell the workers
in the various cities of the stat,
that the employers legislature i.
reactionary and would not give tn,
workers what they want, and tha'
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