Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-03-20
LABOR MOVEMENT TOLD
OF BY HASKIN TODAY
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON, Mar. 20:-Letters
recently exchanged between Samuel
Gompers, president of the American
Federation of Labor, and Newton d.
Baker, secretary Of war during the
Wilson administration, furnish defin-
tive statements of the labor move
nlent and of the public's rights or
interest in industrial controversies
that are regarded in Washington as
at once informing and important.
1t has been difficult to get a COM
prehensive and authoritative defini-
! ton of "the labor movement" Other
. movements so called have been more
| concrete, or more specific, with OBJ
| jectives readily recognizable and
easily stated. The prohibition move
| ment. for example. sought the aboli-
| ton Of the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic liquors and beverages. The
suffrage movement, as another Illus
tration, sought the right to vote for
women under the same terms and
conditions as exercised by men.
There was no room for debate as to
what either of these movements
meant.
But it has been different with the
la Dor movement Even those who
are in 1t have Il t. agreed as to it's
ultimate purpose. while its opponents
have not hesitated to ascribe to it
aims and plans wholly at variance
with those set forth by its propo-
nents. The result has been confus-
ing to say the least, and even when
Samuel Gompers speaks it is by no
means certain that the final word
has been said. There are other labor
leaders who doubtless will not sub
scribe unreservedly to his views.
However. Mr.. Gompers speaks
with an authority that commands
every consider. tion. 1t is by no
means solely his Official position that
ranks him as the spokesman for
American labor. His entire career
has been such that the labor move
naent may be said to have centered
around him, if 1t has centered
around any man. Therefore when
he says, substantially, that the ulti-
mate aim of the movement is the
esta bllshment of the closed union
shop that statement will stand until
1t has been successfully controverted.
"Only a small proportion of the
strikes of American workers are for
the establishment of union shops. or
".
says Mr.. Gompers in his last letter
to Mr.. Baker. Labor has fought
much more vigorously and with
much greater tenacity of purpose for
the establishment of proper working
conditions, proper wages and reason
able hours of labor. American labor
will, however, never cease to contend
for the right to organize and for the
right to carry organization to it's
logical conclusion, which means the
union shop and working relation
ship between the organizations of the
workers and the employers. There
is something so fundamentally AM
ertcan in this idea that l can never
believe that those Americans who
argue against it are SO arguing out
of anything except mistaken un-
derstanding."
What Labor Has Done
Mr.. Gompers continues to say that
the much misunderstood labor
/ movement" has done much to foster
education and uproot ignorance; to
shorten hours of toll and lengthen
life; raise wages and increase inde-
pendence and decrease dependence:
develop manhood and balk tyranny;
establish fraternity and discoura ge
selhshness; reduce prejudice and in
duce liberality; enlarge society and
eliminate classes; create rights and
abolish wrongs; tighten toll and
| brighten man; cheer the home and
nreside and make the world better.
Can you imagine" asks Mr.
Gompers, "any service in the accom-
pnshment of these high ideals to
which non-union workers and the
open shop have contributed or are
likely to, contribute anything"
Mr.. Baker in his rejoinder says he
Is seeking a philosophy which recog-
nISes the public interest in industria,
controversies as paramount. "Thi,
philosophy" he says. "I seek not out
OF any academic desire to be ethical,
ly or logically right. though it seems
TO me impossible to be ethically
wrong and at the same time right ii
any other way, bat because previou:
approaches to the problem, from
other points OF view, seem who'll,
unpromising of success, if they have
not already failed. This lack of sue.
cess should not be permitted to dis
courage an effort to solve the prob
lem, for it must be solved; but il
should stimulate a.re-examinatiof o,
Iths grounds Of our action. II we haY.