The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1938-10-13
Federation Will Not Stund
For Present Ways Of
Administration
OUT OF BOUNDS
No Agency Possesses RIGHT
To Substitute Own
Philosophy
by President James NJ. Duffy, First
Vice President f. L. Wheatley and
William Watkin

wee President +. l.. Wheatley and
/ William Watkin
Note: In opening the 58th Annual
! Convention Of the American Fedora
ton of Labor at Houston, Texas, on
October 3, William Green, president
of the Federation, made a keynote
speech denouncing the leader of the
Committee for Industrial Organization
for establishing dual labor movement
designed to destroy the American Fed
Grafton of Labor and for accepting
| Communist aid in the interest of this
subversive scheme. In addition, Mr..
Green condemned Fascism, Nazism
and Communism as hostile to funda-
mental American institutions which
the American Federation of Labor is
pledged to support. He upheld private
property and the right of investors to
fair return on their investment. He
declared that the National Labor Re-
iations Board had maladministered the
Labor Relations Act to the detriment
Of A. F. of L. unions and to the bene-
fit Of G. |. 0. unions and demanded
that the law be amended "to prevent
biased board from administering the
Act in their own way and against the
spirit and the letter of the law"
Preceding President Green's speech,
Rt. Rev. C.. E. Byrne, Bishop of Gal
weston, gave the invocation and ad-
dresses of welcome were made by E.
E. Stokes, Chairman of the Conven-
tion Arrangements Committee; A. ].
Bannon, President of the Houston La
Dor and Trades Council and Master of
Ceremonies; Hon. James v. Alfred,
Governor of. Texas; Hon Albert
Thomas, Representative in Congress
from the Eighth Texas District; Hon.
R. H. Fonville, Mayor of Houston,
Texas; Hiram o. Clark, Vice President
of the Houston Chamber of Commerce;
Captain Cecil Priest, representing the
Chief Of Police of Houston; w. w.
Strong, President of the Texas Allied
Printing Trades Council; R. C. Cole,
President Of the Houston Metal Trades
Council; A. S. Mcbride, President of
the Texas State Federation of Labor,
and Thomas B. Reed, President of the
Houston Building Trades Council
The text Of President Green's speech
opening the Houston Convention fol-
lows:
Mr.. Chairman, your Excellency, Gov
ernor Alfred, your Honor, Mayor Fon-
vile, representatives of the Chamber
of Commerce, business interests of the
city, representatives of the churches,
organized labor of Houston, Texas,
and Of the great State Of Texas, fra
ternal delegates to this convention
from Great Britain, distinguished
friends, officers and delegates in at
tendance at this great convention Of
the American Federation of Labor, my
radio audience, this great 58th Annual
Convention of the American Fedora
under the most favorable and. aus
picious circumstances in this splendid
city of the Southland, Houston, Texas.
We were all deeply touched by the
warmth Of the welcome extended to US
by the representatives of this common
wealth, of the city, and Of the organ
lied labor movement of this section
of the South. We will be privileged
to enjoy the hospitality of the people
of Houston for the next two weeks,
and in the name of and on behalf of
the officers and delegatest in attend
ance at this congress of labor, to eX-
tend to all who spoke this morning our
sincere thanks and to express to them
our deep appreciation of the warmth
and the cordiality of the kind invita-
tions extended US.
This is the 5Sth Annual Convention
of the American Federation of Labor.
That means that this great economic
organization has been functioning for
fifty-eight continuous years. 1t has
grown and developed out of the study,
education and experience the repre-
sentatives of labor have been able to
give this great organized labor move
ment.
l am proud to say that we assemble
today in this city of the Southland,
a strong, courageous, militant organ
ization of workers, representing more
than 100000 working men and
women. We are strong numerically,
and in my judgment, we occupy
larger place in the hearts and minds
of the people of the nation than we
ever did before in the history of our
movement. We come to Houston with
a larger paid-up membership than
was ever reported on the books of the
American Federation of Labor here
tofore. That represents progress.
That reflects as no words can interpret
Continued on Page Five)