The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-28
{ LABOR CHEFS THREATEN BOLT I'.,
 IF M'ADOO FAILS Declare. Workers Will Turn To Third Party
 Unless He Is Chosen : SMITH PREFERABLE, ] SAYS SECOND GROUP Rail Brotherhoods Mani festo Holds Californian
 Only Available Man

NEW YORK, June Z1.---Ine rivalries of William, G.. McAdoo and Governor Alfred E. Smith in the Democratic presidential race tonight brought forth a dispute among labor leaders as to which of the two best represented the inter- ests of organized labor.
 Six labor chiefs, mostly repre- senting railroad workers, issued a dclaration that Mir. McAdoo must be nominated or organized labor would support the third party, movement expected to be inaugu- rated next week in Cleveland. .
 The declaration, made in a formal statement issued through the McAdoo headquarters, hardly had time to. be distributed before James A. Holland, president of the New York State Fed eration of Labor, came out with an as. sertion that between MT. McAdoo and Governor Smith those labor men who know the labor records of both, prefer Governor Smith.
 Signers Of Manifesto
 The manifesto was signed by Timothy Shea of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, B. M. Jewell, head of the railway division of the American Federation of Labor; 4. o. Wharton, labor member of the Rail way Labor board: J. A. Franklin. president of the Boiler Makers and Iron Shipbuilders' union; J. c. Luhr- son, president of the American Train Dispatchers of Railway Telegraphers, and E. E. Millimen of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes. +
 There is no other available can didate to whom the working man will give the same unqualified support" the statement said. Neither the republican party nominee nor the platform adopted by the republican convention. is ac- ceptable to the organized workers af- filiated with the conference for pro- gressive political action.
 Must Be Nominee"
 "The sentiment among the great mass of the organized wage earners is overwhelming for Mir. McAdoo, and in the judgment of these leaders he must be the nominee if these leaders are to go to the convention of the conference for progressive political action, on July 4, at Cleveland, and vote against the placing of an independent candidate in the field. They have the necessary votes to prevent the successful launch ing of an independent movement.
 "If Wall Street, the democratic bosses and the representatives of big business wish to divorce these workers from the democratic party in the present campaign, they will continue their opposition to Mir. McAdoo. They do not realize the state of mind of labor and of the masses of the people for a truly progressive candidate. The present activities of some of the demo- cratic bosses can be likened to nothing more clearly than the fiddling of Nero while Rome burned"
 Holland Denies Claims
 MT. Holland in his statement con. tended that the declaration of the rail road chiefs represented nothing but the sentiment of the signers and those with whom they are associated,e and added:
 "In issuing the declaration. Mir. Me. Adoo's friends violate the rules of the labor movement exactly as they violate the rules of politics by threatening. to bolt after their candidate is defeated. They violate the rules of the labor movement by indorsing in advance of action by the American Federation. of Labor candidate who is opposed to the federation on one essential point and whose position is doubtful on another.
 s'The federation is uneqivocally op. Volstead law. Mir. McAdoo is for the Volstead act as it stands. .-.' ,s-
 ''The federation is unequally op- posed to the Ku Klux Klan. Mir. Mo Adoo has yet to define his position on that organizati and is the hero of every klansmen in the convention.
 Between Mir. McAdoo and Governor Smith, those labor men who know the labor records of both, prefer Governor Smith. r
 Furthermore, as, democrats and la Dor men, we propose to abide by the decision of the convention and support it as nominee. We expect and confident. ly believe that nominee will be Cover nor Smith, who in all his campaigns for office has been indorsed by the state federation of labor. Its most recent indorsement of him was for President. That indorsement represents the or ganized workers of the state, includ. ing the railroad workers"
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