again, was the case of the Austin dam, regarding which a responsible civil engineer says the disaster could have been averted at a cost of twenty-five thousand dollars. There was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, resulting in 150 deaths. When we take up for consideration the category of cases in which the employers are simply careless of human life in the working conditions of their plants, a shocking story is to be told. In the United States three times as many miners are killed while at work as there are in Great Britain, and about three times as many railroad men in proportion to the number employed. This feature of our industrial life, however, has so often been written up that it is familiar to all of our readers. In view of this brief recital of facts, are not the men of labor and other fair-minded citizens justified in believing and assuming that the charges against the McNamara boys is the result of a frame-up on the part of the delectable gang of Burns' detective agents in taking the fair-minded American position of believing the accused men to be innocent, at least, until they are proven guilty after a fair trial by a jury of their peers, and in the meantime defending them and punishing their persecutors and kidnappers? We think so. PRESIDENT GOMPERS' PACIFIC COAST TRIP. WASHINGTON, October 12, 1911. F several States to the farthest points of Oregon and California, to British Columbia, back to Washington, then to Philadelphia, New York, and return to the headquarters of the American Federation of Labor, in the space of eight weeks, is no mean undertaking, when the work in connection with such a trip is considered. In the letters appearing in the October issue of the AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST, I referred to the meetings in Denver, to the Labor Day demonstration and address in San Francisco, and the meetings at San Jose and Santa Cruz, California. On leaving Chicago, I was accompanied for several hours by a representative of one of the great newspapers of the Middle West, who interviewed me upon the American labor movement. Other noted writers were later from time to time my companions on several of the railroad trips it was necessary for me to make. There was a splendid attendance at the meeting at Salt Lake City, and it was interesting to find a much better esprit de corps among the workmen, whether Mormon or Gentile, than was formerly the case. In Utah, it is to be remembered, whoever is not Mormon is characterized as a Gentile. On the occasion of my former visit to Utah, Mormon workmen were very much estranged from their fellow-workers. The elders of the Mormon church had arrayed themselves against the labor movement. In the recent past a great change has occurred, and about a year ago the elders made a declaration of a sympathetic character toward organized labor. It was an interesting reception at Butte, Mont., where the committee met me on the train at 6 o'clock in the morning. Somehow the committee had gotten the notion to be very careful" with me and not to overexert me. When I proposed a walk from the train to the hotel, and a constitutional walk before breakfast, and then, after a bite, insisted upon seeing everything indus trial, they confessed their surprise for the merry chase I led them, and after the large mass-meeting, which I addressed for nearly two hours, they expressed their astonishment and declared that I had worn them out. Butte has undergone a great change in the last few years. Because of the sulphureous fumes arising from the ore smelters, not a blade of grass was formerly visible. Now the smelters have been removed, and a great effort is being successfully made to cultivate lawns, flowers, and trees around the homes of the people. During the day I also had a conference with representatives of the Western Federation of Miners and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. On my arrival at Missoula I was pleasantly surprised to find that in addition to a vast throng of people the delegates to the convention of the Montana State Federation of Labor, who had adjourned their session, were present to greet me at the train. The Opera House had been engaged for an address in the afternoon. It was thronged, and much enthusiasm manifested. I later attended the convention and in the evening again addressed that body. There was a time when representatives of the American Federation of Labor, myself included, had to argue our way against the prejudices which were manufactured against us and our movement. In no city where I visited was there more genuine, cordial respect, confidence, and co-operation shown than was manifested by the working people of Butte and of Missoula, where, as I have already said, the representatives of the labor movement of the State were assembled. I reached Spokane at 6.20 the following morning, where representative labor men took me in charge; and, after a number of conferences, I was taken about the city. The people of Spokane recently adopted the commission form of government with the Initiative, Reterendum, and Recall. Our old friend, David M. Coates, former Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, was elected Commissioner of Public Works. Under him great public works are being conducted. One of them, a massive bridge, is the "longest single span concrete bridge in the world." "Dave" is making good, he is putting his trade union experience to good purpose. The eight-hour workday is enforced, a fair minimum wage established, and the men of the vicinity are given preference in the work. All the work is done in the most economical manner. Spokane and her people are getting the benefit of it all, without the intervention of the contractor or the middleman. The trade unionists and the people generally are with Commissioner "Dave" Coates. The only element that is criticising him are a few Socialists, who do not like his practical, beneficial, constructive work. At noon about 150 union musicians tendered me a serenade at the hotel. The mass meeting was overflowing. The newspapers declared that the address was "characterized with unusual vigor" and stated that "Mr. Gompers is a forceful speaker and drove home his points with vigor that brought repeated responses from his audience." At Spokane several labor men came from other parts of the State and from Portland, Oreg., to meet me and accompany me to Seattle, Vancouver, B. C., Tacoma, and Portland. Among them were Vice-President William Hannon of the International Association of Machinists and Vice-President W. H. Fitzgerald of the Cigarmakers' International Union. It is a thirteen-hour run from Spokane to Seattle. Arriving in Seattle, I found not only labor men aroused, but the public generally. Federal Judge Hanford had just issued an injunction, the result of which took from the people the advantage which they had secured by decision of the highest court of the State in regard to railroad fares. A mass-meeting had been held denouncing Judge Hanford's injunction, and several labor men, as well as the editor of a local paper, were subsequently arrested for contempt of court and were in jail. Feeling ran high, and the meeting was a tremendous success. In addition to my personal convictions upon matters of this character, perhaps a "fellowfeeling" made me "wondrous kind." The enthusiasm was overwhelming. Two days after, the imprisoned men were released. During my day's stay at Seattle, I had the pleasure of witnessing the official recep tion accorded to Admiral Togo; that is, I saw him in his carriage. There were several other carriages in the parade, a platoon of police leading it, but I have never seen a parade or a reception so rushed through the streets. Representatives of labor had arranged for a dinner which was tendered me. Several of the public spirited men, including the Mayor, were present. Of course I had to speak, and to address the massmeeting later, and as is my custom on all such occasions, I ate-nothing. Seattle to Vancouver by boat, and there the reception committee of organized labor greeted me in the most cordial and appreciative manner. The conferences during the day were advantageous, and the massmeeting in the evening good. There is an element in connection with this meeting which I prefer to reserve discussing, either for another letter or in another way at some time in the future. Suffice it to say that it was quite evident that a few people with evil intent are quite capable of endeavoring to neutralize any constructive work which the masses of the organized labor movement may undertake to accomplish. After the mass-meeting, on board boat, returning to Seattle in the morning, where conference was held with the representatives of labor and of the State of Washington upon the most effective manner for the extension of the law for workmen's compensation, the Supreme Court of the State having declared the Workmen's Compensation Act of the State constitutional. Reaching Tacoma in the afternoon, conferences were held, with a hurried view of the city, and an address at a large public meeting in the evening. At a meeting just before my address, a representative of the Typographical Union presented me with a beautiful oil painting of Mount-what shall I say, Mount Tacoma, or Mount Rainier? There is considerable rivalry between the people of Seattle and Tacoma as to the title of that mountain. When in Seattle I have always taken great delight in referring to it as Mount Tacoma, and in Tacoma to speak of it as Mount Rainier. The significance of the presentation lies not only in the fact of the kindliness manifested, but to emphasize the Tacomian's idea of the title. After the mass-meeting, on the train for Portland, Oreg. A great reception, a number of conferences, a midnight meeting of the Cigarmakers' Union, to which a number of workers of other trades had been invited, and preceding it an overflowing massmeeting in the local armory, which was thronged. The Oregon Daily Journal, the following morning, giving an account of the meeting, said: "The crowd last night was as remarkable as the man who addressed them. It was a great perspiring throng that hung on every word of their leader, responsive to his every thought. The applause that greeted the great man of labor was renewed when he rose to speak It showed how working people place Goinpers in the highest of high places. O "The sentences of the labor leader when he began to speak were halting. Aroused by the fire of his own utterances, his voice lifted to a higher and more penetrating note; his utterance became rapid. Without complaint or thought of it the people listened for two hours, not even trying to fan their heated faces." The staid old Portland Oregonian, as well as the other newspapers, gave not only a fair account of the meeting and the address, but "boxed" a number of excerpts of the address. From Portland to San Francisco is recorded in my last letter. In another I shall endeavor to continue my observations. SAMUEL GOMpers. "Withdrawn and Apologized For." N THE publication of certain libelous statements in the Michigan Tradesman, in its edition of October 5, 1910, which are quoted in the subjoined apology, President James Lynch, of the International Typographical Union, took up the matter with legal counsel, who brought suit in Grand Rapids against the Michigan Tradesman for $25,000 damages. The suit came to a conclusion satisfactory to President Lynch when, after paying the court costs, the editor of the Michigan Tradesman printed, as his leading editorial article, this apology in his edition of October 4, 1911: "While the editor of the Michigan Tradesman was in the preliminary stages of the attack of typhoid fever which so nearly ended his life's journey, and when the disease was proceeding to impair his mental and physical energy, his constant thought was still of this paper and its patrons, and he continued his labor upon its editorial pages until physical and mental distress and exhaustion compelled him to cease. "During this time without moral, but perhaps legal, responsibility he produced an article in the issue of October 5, 1910, headed The Fruits of Unionism. This article, written under these circumstances, the Tradesman now considers one which would not have contained all the statements were it not for the editor's illness, and is therefore withdrawn, so far as the following statements are concerned: "Our position relative to union labor and union leaders is well known and remains unchanged, but we respectfully withdraw the editorial mentioned and retract specifically the following statements therein contained, with apologies to James M. Lynch, President of the International Typographical Union: "When the men who conceived and carried into execution the despicable crime at Los Angeles are finally apprehended it will be found that they received their inspiration from the office of James M. Lynch, President of the International Typographical Union, at Indianapolis.' "Withdrawn and apologized for. "Gompers and Lynch pretend to the newspapers that they abhor incendiarism and murder, but they preach it privately to their associates and laugh behind their sleeves over the manner in which they dupe Graham Taylor, Lyman Abbott, and other well-meaning men by pretending to be lawabiding citizens, when they are constantly plotting against the lives of men who refuse to bow the knee to union bondage.' "Withdrawn and apologized for. "Without compromising its position. maintained for years upon the subject of union labor and unionism, this paper does not intend to inflict personal injury upon any person without reference to whether the injured person is a union or non-union man, and it respectfully does so in the case of James M. Lynch and Samuel Gompers, who were the subjects of the editorial of October 5, 1910." Labor's Critics. ANNIE C. MUIRHEAD in The Outlook. "I BELIEVE in labor unions," said the college president; But I think I could improve upon their rules. If with what the masters chose to give, the members were content, If they handed the non-unionist his tools, And patted him like brothers where his backbone ought to be For our rights are non conflicting in this country of the free, We're just as free to starve as you to sweat! If they strained their every nerve to turn out piecework by the heap If they welcomed in apprentices to do work on the cheap Why then I think trade unions would be great! With these few and slight restrictions which are well and wisely meant, I approve of labor unions, said the college president. “I believe in labor unions,” said the bishop to his flock, For the violence that boycotts and does injury to stock Let nation threaten nation, if the last's of smaller size, But unionists should never let their angry passions rise, For that is such a naughty thing to do. They should strike in white kid gloves and patent leather dancing shoes, And take little mincing steps to gain their ends; If they'll behave like gentlemen, of course, I'll not refuse To be among the staunchest of their friends. If there's nothing in their actions that our Christian nerves will shock, "I approve of labor unions," said the bishop to his flock. "We believe in labor unions," say the editors with tact, For the workingman's an angel; like an angel he must act, Although his sick wife freeze, he must be silent as a clam, He must bear the worst injustice with the meekness of a lamb, So that he may be always in the right. If the widow's mite be grabbed from her, she must not make a fuss, She must show an equanimity, such as you see in us, As cheerfully we bear our neighbor's woe! If they never make mistakes, and will always take a hint, If the president had logic, and the bishop had more sense, They might help to solve the problem as to how in self-defense Still they are but fellow-mortals and no doubt they've done their best. |