The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-11-11
Friends of Labor" Win


"a friend of labor" notwithstanding
the fact that his principal hackers
were sugar trust magnates, bankers,
wealthy merchants all of whom are
against labor.
Coming nearer home we find other
labor leaders boosting the unsavory
Small as a friend Of labor even
though all the hard roads in the
State were built with scab labor at
rate of pay less than would sup
port Chinese coolie with rice.
Heads and Tails. 4
No matter which Of the capitalist
candidates got elected he was a
friend of labor as they were all an
dorsed by some aggregation claiming
to speak for labor and drawing q
goodly salary for their effort. II was
a case of heads I win, tails you lose"
The labor vote was peddled out to
any one who had job to offer or the
necessary cash to contribute to the
ones who speak for the labor move
ment in America.
If there was needed an example to
show the fallacy of the American
labor movement in politics it was
furnished in the recent campaign.
Even Gompers who has trailed the
democrat donkey in every election for
years broke from his moorings and
half heartedly supported LaFollette.
This may account for the fact that
the Bull Moose candidate only car
ried his own state.
The corruption in Washington nm
der the unholy regime of Coolidge,
Fall, Daugherty, Burns, DENLY and
the rest of the crooks, some of whom
are still in power, would be SUFFICIENT
in any other country to drive the par
ty into oblivion for all time, but here
in America it seems to be badge of
honor to get caught with the goods
and insures the guilty ones another
term in Office Selling the public do
main for such a cash consideration
seems to furnish sufficient fabrication
in the form of oil to enable the ma.
chine to roll on noiselessly to sue
cess.
Finances Get Mixed.
The situation in the national capitol
is only outdone by the rottenness in
Illinois where it seems to be a badge
of honor to get caught in the act of
stealing two million dollars of the
taxpayers money to get merited
recognition. Never before in the his
tory of Illinois politics has there been
a situation so replete with corruption
as has been evidenced under the
Small government in Illinois.
Fattening at the public crib for
years and years, Small seems to re-
gard Illinois as his very own and the
money in the state treasury gets so
mixed up with that of the governor
1t cannot be separated. The printing
bills charged to the state are said to
mount to the millions Immediately
prior to the campaign. 1t is a COM
mon rumor that one hundred thou
sand dollars worth of postage has
been charged up to taxpayers and
used to send out campaign literature.
All the members of the family are on
the payroll down to the forty-second
cousins. Every mayor, Newspaper
man, fiunky and petty-fogging poll
tician is on the payroll of the state
as rabbit shepherd" or some other
useless occupation.
Hard Roads VS.. Hard Cash.
The hard roads have been built with
labor, non-union cement,
and the stories of how the contractors
had to kick in" in order to get the
jobs, furnish some interesting material
for grand jury action If it were not
that it is done by one in high posi-
ton. The trading of pardons for labor
support is about the rawest sort Of
crude politics witnessed in century.
The paid workers have now increased
the army Of unemployed in the vicini-
ty Of Springfield to an alarming ex-
tent. The day after election one could
see them lined up on the streets with
long sad faces, apparently regretting
the fact that the election is over and
winter coming on.
1872 mines out of 397 in Illinois are
idle and some fifty million tons OF
coal lie on top awaiting disposal at a
time when the rush season is on, b,X
this makes no difference. The friends
of labor" got elected.