Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-06-25
SAN eoMrrRs.

aeut n the American Federation of
ial.ot. Two rreat forces arc pray
Ana for hts quick downfall--the radical
element In labor and tho conservative
element IN business. That sounds
.tranro. duea Il not But lct us e.
anime The facts IL the ease. and asccr-
an how foolish are the attacks g
loth radical labor and conservative
business On this man.
sam Gompcrs. born IN England e.
Jewish parents, came to America in
MS youth. aud Cor more years than
ars readily recalled has directed the
destinlea ~ organized labor IN this
country. because he has heen con
sentative In his methods he has gained
The enm,ty ~ revolutionists who have
tried - bore from within" the union
ranks because nc T. the official spokes-
man ~ labor. he Is hated on general
urtn,,plea hy conservative business
men. Therefore the revolutionists
would gladly see him tumble from
powrr bccause on, 81 heir own kind
might he placed at tho helm. and the
business men referred % would delight
A. seelng the man whom they hold
responsible for au labor troubles sus-
tatn defeat IN his own organization.
Rnt both of these elements would
.nrer n their Old enemy should be
s.shron.,d That sounds strange. We
laow but herr are the cold. hard
facts in the oa~e. The Evolutionary
inlrar element l. IN the minority in
Am.rioa. The respect which organ
f.ea labor has commanded is the re-
sult ~ conservative leadership. Put
. vvolutionist in charge. with his
creed ~ one bis union" aud over
night the conservative workers would
abandon their unions. and organized
iAhor woula h. split into mulutudi
nous factions. which could not present
. solid front % their problems. Your
decent self-respecting, home-owning
worker Is not eoing 70 tolerate conn
munism or any other Mild theory Of
government He ~il stand hy his
country nrss and his union aftorward.
~ course. with revolutionist dis
orgautnnG union workers chaos % a
certain deerec would result in some
industries Is Il not better % have
workers content. than to have them
demanding that tho works hc turned
over "a thems Under Gompers' con
trol workers have given little trouble
compared t. what they might give
under tho leadership of a radical
revoluuonlsi suffering from martyr
complex such man would delight
81 martyrinE himself for what he
would esteem cause" II would
not matter 70 him that both capital
and labor would suffer Jointly as
result % his fooliahncss
To make the case q little moro clear
(which is il better to have al the head
cf organized American labor. an old
conservative like Gompers. who keeps !
economies differentiated from poll
tics. or a wild-brained header such
aa Trotzl<y. who mixed the two under
me title of dictatorship Of the pro-
ietsr,atf" ~ must be remembered. !
here. that Gompers has always op-
posed the formation of a district po-
iitioal labor party in the United States.
such a. England has. Gompers is
more level headed than many OF us
az. willing to admit
Now we cannot abolish organized |
labor in this country II is too strongly /
eutrenohed. We shall always have il /
with as IN certain industries and In
certain plants since this is true.
is n not better 10 have at organized /
isnorr head man OF philosophical
turn of mind. like sam Gomper-s. who /
Knows history. and who reaiizes that
the lahorcr cannot gain the moon /
overnight. than to have workers led
~ some fool who VIII Try 70 give the
world 20 hls followers.
n the extremely conservative busi- 4
nes. interests could study this prob
lem without prejudice, SIS leaders
would see tnst tho re-eleotion of old .
sam Gamperr would be boon for
them. They shculd set down on their
knees and pray that he viii again
l.. al.ssoa pr.~ldant af sAs American i