New Britain herald., 1924-12-13


 war 8 director of internatinal labor policies, Samuel Gompers is con- ceded to have been the greatest sim gle agent in the uplift of the con- dition of working men In recent times.
 Took Middle Ground
 In policy Gompers always took the middle ground. Too radical to satis- fy the extreme conservatives, too conservative to please the extreme radicals, he steered his ship through the tempestuous seas of diverse opinion for an amazing period. The qualities that made him successfully lead the American Federation of La- bor through so many trying crisis have been described as these: h. domitable courage. iron will, instinc- tive tact and diplomacy, ability to keep his finger on the pulse of the have been described as these. in- spring oratcry.
 Came to Y S. At IS
 Landing in America from London an ignorant immigrant boy at Is he took'up the family trade of cigar making in New York. He led his more timid comrades into revolt against the conditions that made the work of cigarmaker almost intol- erable in the old days,
 While still in his teens he was in- strumental in the installation of a "reader" in the factories who re- lIeved the tedium of the automatic tasks by reading aloud to the cigar makers. He gained in education as a result.
 Takes A. F. of l.. Lead
 Gompers was S1 years old when he took the reins of the federation. He kept them, with the exception of one year, 1895, until he was an aged man. In that time he saw the trades-union movement rise from a few feeble organizations in the east to the largest and most powerful union of workers in the world. He saw the policies of labor veer from radicalism to conservatism dozen times. Always 1t was Gompers who saw that the course never became too extreme.
 Born In London. Jan. 27, 1850, Samuel Gompers was of Dutch Jewish blood. His father was a ci- garmaker and Samuel, following the custom, adopted his fathers trade. After four years in primary school he was apprenticed to q London cigarmaker. With the tobacco sup ply cut off by the Civil war in America, cigar making in England became a precarious occupation in the early sixties, and. the family i'm migrated to America in 1863.
 Is Charter Member
 Samuel Gompers immediately took I'D his trade and finished his ap- prenticeship in New York city, In his teens he took an active part in 1 labor controversies. When the cigar makers were organized into a union ! Samuel Gompers was charter member of the first union organized in his trade in America. He held a union card at 14.
 He soon identified hlmsot with the activities of union labor. He became a leader in his own labor circles. When the American Fciera- 1 ton of Labor was organized. in lS&i taking the place of the Knights of Labor, Gompers sat at the conVen- ton, a prominent delegate, When . 1t was organized in 1881, the fcdorl- ton was known as the Federation of Organized Trade and Labor ! Unions of the United States and i Canada. taking its present name in i1SS6.
 At the convention in 1881 thrre were few who wished the unen'iah.e task Of launching and steering inc course of the frail new bark. Fi7an- ces wete in a feeble state at frs. ! Gompers had married Sophie Julian when he was r, and was the father of a large family.
 Gets High Position
 Yet when he was given tNs op- nortunity to lead the new federation ho accepted the opportunity eagerly, Probably he vas one Of the fow men who attended that convention who had vision Of the potential greatness of the federation
 Since the day of its founding, with the exception of the year 1925. when John Mcbride, socialist. oHc'hr' V him. Gompers has been the directing genius Of the federation.
 The period between 1881 and 1917 was one of constant growth Tn num- bers and power for the federation and growth in power for Gompers When the organization came into