The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-09-25

drank x. MARTEL, president of
i the Detroit Federation of Labor,
tried to stage palace revolution"
within the Wayne county republican
party in Detroit last Tuesday. 1t
developed into a farce that fur
nished plenty of opportunity for
humorous writing in the exploiters'
press. 1t could not have been other
wise. But it was a tragedy for the
working class.
Martel was at one time an advocate
of independent political action for
labor But in recent years he has
steadily gone backward and down
ward.
Martel helped keep the Detroit
Federation OF Labor for time in
the forefront of progressive city cen
trail labor bodies over the land. I'm
der pressure Of the reactionary Com
pers. regime, however, and not
achieving the great immediate sue
cesses desired, Martel became a
leader in retreat into the lap Of con-
servatism.
He just about reached the bottom
rung of the ladder in his descent
this week when, with the willing
ness but also the blindness of Don
Quixote, he became a very comical
chairman Of rump republican gath
ering that survived an uproarious
and general fist fight. in which all
and sundry engaged, that broke up
the G. o. P. gathering in the motor
city" in spite of the fact that a good
part of the local police force was
turned out to maintain claw and
order"
Martel is getting ready, on behalf
of the local labor off1cialdom, to re-
ceive the rapidly approaching con-
vention of the American Federation
OF Labor. Thousands of dollars
are being raised to finance the oc-
casion. Martel's antics will probably
receive the applause of the A. F. Of
L. executive council. He has follow
ed Loyalty in the campaign just over
the political policies of the A. F. OF
L. He tried to play labor politics"
inside the party of Truman H. New
berry, who spent $4,000 to get
elected United States senator, but
who was compelled to resign be-
cause OF the stink raised by the
wholesale corruption. The nostrils
of the nation, however, have be-
come better attuned to the repel-
liant smell of bribery and vote-buy-
ing, so much larger sums were spent
recently in Pennsylvania, Illinois
and elsewhere.
Martel's policies, which are the
policies Of the A. F. of L., were
blasted beyond recovery in the re-
publican primaries Of Tuesday, Sept.
IA, last week, when all the so-called
labor candidates" running on the
Wall Street ticket were hopelessly
and unanimously defeated. But
that did not deter Don Quixote"
Martel from new attempts. There
was another Tuesday, Sept. 81, the
Tuesday OF the aforementioned
republican county convention, to
select delegates to the state conven-
ton next week.
Martel found the basis for his
struggle in the grievances OF the
jitneymen who were being success
fully fought by the municipality
owned Detroit traction system.
Martel with Edward N. Barnard, at
torney for the jitneymen, engineered
the election Of favorable county dele
gates. Since the county gathering
is usually mere rubber stamp af-
fair little interest is taken in the
selection of delegates. 1t was there
fore not difficult for the Martel-
Barnard forces to pack the gather
ing. This they did.
The palace revolution" began
about 1880 o'clock in the morning
when, according to William Davis,
manager Of the Moose Temple, De-
troit, where the affair was staged,
the Martel-Barnard forces began ar
------------------