, 1922-11-05
The Old Trick Again.

CANUEL GOMPERS has issued his biennial
~ "non-partisan' plea for all laboring men to
vote the Democratic ticket next Tuesday. Mr..
Gompers has done this every campaign for TWEEN
ty-six years. Mr.. Gompers has never supported n
Republican candidate for president. He has never
asked the election of a Republican congress. Pro
Tossing to be non-partisan, he has always been a
rabid, uncompromising Democrat. He has always
attempted to make the American Federation of La
Dor a tail to the Democratic kite. He has always
subordinated the interests of labor TO the interests
of the Democratic party.
Mr.. Gompers' professions that he is non bipartisan
and supports those individuals and that party
which is the best friend of labor has been given
the lie by his own actions in several campaigns. In
no campaign was this more in evidence than that
of 1904, when he supported the candidacy of Alton
b. Parker against Theodore Roosevelt. 1t was
given the lie again in 1912. The Progressive party,
which was neither Republican nor Democratic, of
fered to Mr.. Gompers n splendid opportunity to be
non bipartisan. The platform of the Progressive
party in 1912 offered labor more than any political
platform ever written, yet Mr.. Gompers remained
Democratic and supported Woodrow Wilson.
Mr.. Gompers is surrounded by a coterie of Demo
cratic politicians who are the dictators of the pol
icies of the American Federation of Labor. Among
the Democrats in the inner circle are Frank Nor
rison and Matthew Wohl. Both these, like Mr..
Gompers, are foreign born: Mr.. Gompers in Eng
land, Mr.. Morrison in Canada, and Mr.. Wool in
Luxembourg They may be always relied upon to
line up for the Democratic party and to attempt
to swing the labor vote to the Democratic party.
They always do this masquerading as non partisan
labor leaders.
In the appeal issued this year all candidates
which these Democratic politicians oppose are Re
publicans. The hypocrisy and insincerity of these
men posing as friends of labor and issuing non
partisan advice is evidenced in their endorsement
of Ralston, Democratic candidate for the senate in
Indiana, and their opposition to Beveridge, the Re-
publican candidate. Beveridge is known throughout
the country as the pioneer of child labor legisla-
ton. His reputation as a staunch advocate of la
boring interests is second to no man Sxho ever oc-
cupied a seat in either house of congress.
Furthermore, Mr.. Gompers and his clique pre-
tend that they are very much interested in child
labor legislation, although they have never made
any effort to obtain such legislation in the Demo
cratic states of the "Solid South" Nothwithstand-
ing this, the Gompers clique advises labor in In
diana to vote against Beveridge and to support
Ralston, although Ralston in all his political ca
reer has never been known as a friend of labor,
either organized or unorganized.
In the appeal for labor to vote the Democratic
ticket, Mr.. Gompers brands the present congress
as reactionary and charges that it has done noth-
ing for laboring interests. Mr.. Gompers is given the
direct lie by the Legislative committee which made
a report to the Forty-Second Annual convention of
the American Federation of Labor held at Cincin.
natl in June, this year, upon the work of the pres
on page % of the complete report of proceedings of
that convention. The report enumerates IL laws
enacted by this congress up to May l, 1929, which
were favorable to labor and is so classified in the
report. The report does not name a single law
which this congress passed that was opposed to
labor.