The potters herald. [volume] (East Liverpool, Ohio) 1899-1982, 1939-10-05
Fdcing the Facts
With PHILIP PEARL


existence in the United States opened
its sessions Monday in Cincinnati. 1t
is the fifty ninth annual convention of
the American Federation of Labor
Here, in an open forum, through
free and unrestricted debate, the para
mount issues confronting labor are be-
ing considered and thrashed out in
democratic fashion. The decisions
reached by majority vote of the dele
gates will have a far-reaching effect
not only on the labor movement but
also on the economic, political and So
cial future of the entire nation.
This year, because of the war i'm
Europe and the possible danger of our
involvement, labors position on neu-
trality and war preparedness will be
especially significant. The convention
will decide it.
We would like to explain briefly how
this convention operates. 1t is truly
a Congress. The Congress is COM
posed of more than 500 delegates, Sc
lected by the Federation's 1C6 national
and international unions, it's 1900 di-
| ICCCiy CuCIdl ldDOI uIilOIlSS
it's State Federations of Labor and its
$50 city central bodies.
Democracy in Action
These delegates vote on resolutions
and on recommendations of the Execu-
tive Council. The decision of the ma
iority becomes the law of the Fedora
tion for the ensuing year. At any con-
vention, the Constitution Of the Amer
ican Federation of Labor may be
amended by two-thirds vote. Officers
of the Federation are elected at each
convention by majority vote. This con-
stitutes democracy in action.
We say that sincerely. Skeptics may
object. They may question the fact
that the delegates truly represent the
wishes of the membership. But that
is ridiculous. For the delegates are
selected by the membership. And they
vote the strength of their membership.
Each delegate from national and in
ternational unions has one vote for
each 100 members he represents
members, we should add, in good
standing, members whose dues are
paid up.
That is the fundamental difference
between the American Federation of
Labor conventions and those of any
other labor group outside the Fedora
ton. In the C. |. o. convention dele
gates vote the strength of phony men,
bership, inflated membership. The
leaders of the G. |. O. have never put
their national organization on dues
paid basis. They don't dare, because
they don't have enough dues paid
members to make showing. In this
way John l.. Lewis and group of his
lieutenants can come into the C. |. O.
convention with ridiculously inflated
claims of membership and vote their
aclainls, thrsS~4enainating every move
the convention makes. That is dicta
torship in labor.
The Record Speaks
There are now more than four mil
lion dues-paid members in the organ
izations of the American Federation
of Labor That is it's peak strength.
1t is a convincing refutation of the
phony aspersions cast upon its vitality,
it's durability and it's ultimate triumph
We don't know how many dues paid
members the C. |. O. has. No one
knows that but John l.. Lewis. And he
amt saying. Why not? Your guess is
as good as ours. We are sure that if
Mr. Lewis had an impressive dues-paid
membership he wouldn't hesitate to re-
veal it. We believe that because he
has so few dues-paid members he is
forced to fall back on phony claims of
membership, which very carefully do
not specify that they are on dues
paying basis.
There is another indication of ex-
treme weakness in the c. |. O. camp
which is more readily apparent to
newspapermen and publicists than to
the general public. 1t is this. The
American Federation of Labor, under
its constitution, holds it's annual con-
ventions on the first Monday in Octo-
Der except in Presidential election
years, when the convention begins on
the third Monday in November. The G..
|. O. has no Constitutional provision
as to when conventions should be held.
The date is fixed by the executive
board What coincidence then that
this board picked the secondary Mon
day Of October, right in the midst of
the A. f. of l.. meeting, to start the
c. |. O. convention! Coincidence, my
eye! The reason the c. |. 0. chose this
date was because they did not dare
allow the A. f. of l.. convention to
monopolize labor news for two weeks.
The A. +. of l.. doesn't give a hoot
when the c. |. o. convention meets.
But the c. |. O. is afraid to leave the
field open to the A. +. of l.. alone.
That, my friends, is very interest
ing confession of weakness by the c.
|. O. If no other evidence were at
! hand, that alone would be convincing
proof that the C. |. O. is slipping.
Taken together with the wealth of ad-
ditional proof which has come to light
recently, it just about means curtains
for the C.. |. 0.