Twin city review. [volume] (Champaign, Ill.) 19??-1929, 1921-06-17
AMERICAN
FEDERATION
CONVENTION
BY ROBERT NJ. BUCK

,i,s Council In lis report. the Forty
srst annual convention OF the Amer
-, Federation of Labor convened in
re Coliseum here today. President
ssrnpel eompers being In the chair.
The hig event of the first day Of an
= of L. convention is the reading
- The report of the Executive Council,
eoataining the comment and recon.
,,endations of the officers The key.
note ~ the report as presented today
was contained In the third paragraph.
as follows
I'VE have checked the progress OF
those who have sought TO destroy free
Som through annihilation of the or
vaniza ion of labor. In the coming
year we must make sure beyond all
chance or doubt the stability and SUI
nramacy cf the democratic ideals of
The trade union movement
The report further congratulates the
labor movement on having come
through the greatest open shop" drive
in The history of American industry.
with hui little measurable harm. II
saws the back of the ''open shop" drive
Is broken and "the campaign of the
emnloyers has come to nothing.
The annual report Of Secretary
Frank Morrison furnishes data justify
Ing the boast that the labor movemen
has been succc ssful In its resistance,
AT least 10 date, whether the backbone
Of the employers assault is broken or
not II is contained in the sta istics
of affiliated membership of the A. +.
of L.
The United States is passing through
(has passed through a large proper
tion) of great panic. The panic is
none the less real because greater
credit and currency elasticity has
made il less dramatic in its features
than previous great panics. Hereto.
fore. important panics have never
failed to inflict serious damage on the
labor movement in the definite form OF
loss of membership. Only the last two,
prior to this one, have met with effcc-
tive resistance In the earlier history
of American labor, the movement was
nearly destroyed each time and was
forced to undergo a process Of rebuild
ing
secretary Morrison's report shows al
affiliated membership for the year
ending April 80, of 3.906.528. as against
407O74o the year previous. a. loss OF
only l72,212, or Az per cent. The 1920
figures showed an increase of member
ship over 1919 of 61S,672, or 25 per
cent, Explanation is made that most
of this loss insignificant as 1t Is, com
pared with the business depression
and unemployment) is not real. but
mainly due to inability of the lost
members to pay their dues, owing to
unemployment, and not to desire on
their part to sever themselves from
the unions. (These figures do not in
clude nearly million railroad and
other organized workers, men who are
not affiliated with the A. F. of Id
The Executive Councils report is
more emphatic than ever in its ex-
pressed opposition to Socialism, Com
munism or any revolutionary doctrine.
The entire report contains about 10000
words, of these 1000 are devoted to de-
nunciation of the Soviet government
OF Russia and the Bolshevist party of
that country. Throughout this Grill
cism there runs a strong suggestion
that Communists seek to capture the
A. F. Of L. by boring from within.
The charge is made that there were
obscure and sinister motives of sec
ret diplomacy" in the making of
trade agreement between Russia and
Great Britain and 1t is further charged
that British agents are helping agitate
for similar agreement in the United
States. No facts to the sinister
motives" are set forth.
The opposition to Socialism and
revolutionary doctrine is further voic-
ed in 3000-word account OF the re-
fnsal of the A. F. of l.. TO affiliate
with the lnterna ional Federation of
Trade Unions. The Executive Council
reiteriates its statement that the inter
national federation is revolutionary
and the A. r. of l.. Is not, and thai the
two philosophers cannot be made TO
agree.
Sun other comments on revolution
AIRY methods and theories are contain
ed IN a 4O00-word report on relations
with the labor movement in Mexico
and the other countries in the Pan
american Federation of Labor Final
~ IN It's utterance on industrial de-
moeracy, the Executive Council adds
the word alone to the doctrine that
production is for service and not for
pront. So that. the report says, in
austry today requires acceptance of
the principle that production is for
service and not for profit alone"
On the question of the railroad prob
ZEN, the Executive Councils report.
after denouncing the Esch-C Cummins
law, the raiding of the federal treasury
ny the roads. and stating that the
railroad Labor Board has broken
ooWn, outlines the plan of the rail
road stockholders to have unified CON
lIoi OF the roads placed in the hands
o. board of fifteen. five representing
eseh of thee groups stockholders.
classified employees and the public -
ana ihen proposes as an alternative
silal beard Of seven tor each group
y appointed 10 investigate the pres
si .it Crisis and TO make recommenda-
oh Unemployment no program is
onereo except the suggestion that gov
e.lhleht projects to employ idle work
-s shoaid be provided for in good