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FRANK J. SCHNEIDER, Editor

Volume XIV

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Entered as second-class matter April 8, 1907, at the Post Office at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.

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President Wilson Re-charts the Industrial
Map of the United States in
His Buffalo Address

Speaking to the Delegates of the American Federation of
Labor Convention, He Applauds the
Loyalty of Trades Unionists

With a war President in attendance as guest and the principal speaker, the American Federation of Labor opened in Buffalo, Monday, November 12, 1917, its most important sessions since the formation of the great body. With the sound of his gavel calling the army of delegates to order, Samuel Gompers, the veteran chief of America's labor men, received a tremendous ovation, exceeded only by that given the President of the United States.

The Opening Day Program. Opening, Broadway Auditorium,

Stuart A. Hayward (President Central Labor Council.) "Star Spangled Banner,"

Band of One Hundred Pieces (Courtesy of Musicians' Union.) Patriotic number, "When They Tackle Your Uncle Sam"...James P. Doyle Soloist, Harry Mason

Pianist, George L. Lowry Invocation.. The Rev. Thos. J. O'Hern (Rector St. Bartholomew's R. C. Church)

Prayer..... Rev. Charles A. Jessup (Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church) Address Woodrow Wilson (President of the United States) . Charles S. Whitman (Governor of New York State)

Address...

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(District Attorney, Erie County) Address... Carlton E. Chase (President New York State Manufacturers' Association)

Address.. Archer A. Landon (President Buffalo Chamber of Commerce)

Address..
. James P. Holland
(President New York State Federation
of Labor)

Convention song, "When the Laborites
Convene"... ....James P. Doyle
Soloist, Harry Mason
Pianist, George L. Lowry

Arrival of the President. The three-car special train carrying President Wilson to Buffalo arrived at the New York Central station a few minutes after 9 o'clock, the train drawing up on track No. 1, which is immediately next to the station proper. The President remained in his private car until 9.40 o'clock, when the parade to the Broadway auditorium was begun.

Immediately upon the arrival of the

train, President Wilson received the delegation of labor leaders that formed the reception committee for his party. The committee included Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor; James Duncan and William Mahon, vicepresidents of the federation; James O'Connell, John B. Lennen, treasurer; A. O. Wharton, president of the railroad men's division of the federation; T. W. Hays, John Donlin, representing the building trades section; Tobin, G. W. Perkins and Frank Feeney. The labor leaders remained with the President for half an hour chatting informally.

D. J.

There were only four in the presidential party aside from the big staff of secret service men. Accompanying the President were Mrs. Wilson, Joseph P. Tumulty, the President's secretary, and Dr. T. Gary Grayson, the President's personal aide.

The President's train came in over the Pennsylvania railroad. Until East Aurora was reached the three cars assigned to the Presidential party formed part of the regular train from Washington. At East Aurora the three cars were detached and during the half hour they remained in the town waiting for another engine, the President and his party ate breakfast aboard the train. Leaving East Aurora the three-car train traveled to Buffalo as a special train.

Immediately upon the arrival of the train here, student officers from the training camp at Fort Niagara, who were sent here to act as escort to the President, formed a lane from the door of the President's car through the station to the limousine in which the President and his party rode from the station to the auditorium. student officers were under command of Colonel John R. Heavy.

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More than a thousand delegates, men and women, here for the labor convention, were at the station to greet the President, and a rousing cheer went up when the chief executive appeared for a moment on the way to his closed auto.

They formed an impromptu parade and marched up Main street, headed by a band. Everyone in line carried an American flag. The streets were lined with thousands who wanted to get a glimpse at labor's hosts and the head of the nation. Samuel Gompers, president, with Mrs. Gompers at his side, was in the lead, seated in an open automobile.

The second section of the parade was composed of Fort Niagara officers and soldiers in training. They acted as an escort to President Wilson. The soldiers made an impressive appearance. The men in training marched with soldierly bearing, there being more than 1,500 in the line of march.

Excerpts From President's Speech.

Speaking at a moment characterized as "more critical than the world has yet known," President Wilson, addressing the opening session of the thirty-seventh annual convention of the A. F. of L., gave voice to the determination of the hosts of organized labor, in common with all Americans, to prosecute the war to a victorious end. The most cogent statements in part of the great war executive were:

"I esteem it a great privilege and a real honor to be thus admitted to your public councils. When your Executive Committee paid me the compliment of inviting me here I gladly accepted the invitation because it seems to me that this, above all other times in our history, is the time for common counsel for the drawing not only of the energies, but of the minds of the nation together. I thought that it was a welcome opportunity for disclosing to you some of the thoughts that have been gathering in my mind during the last momentous months.

"I am introduced to you as the Presi dent of the United States, and yet I would be pleased if you would put the thought of the office in the background and regard me as one of your fellow citizens who has come here to speak, not the words of authority, but the words of counsel, the words which men should speak to one another, who

wish to be frank in a moment more critical perhaps than the history of the world has ever yet known, a moment when it is every man's duty to forget himself, to forget his own interests, to fill himself with the nobility of a great national and world conception, and act upon a new platform elevated above the ordinary affairs of life, elevated to where men have views of the long destiny of mankind.

"I think that in order to realize just what this moment of counsel is, it is very desirable that we should remind ourselves just how this war came about and just what it is for. You can explain most wars very simply, but the explanation of this is not so simple, its roots run deep into all the obscure soils of history, and in my view this is the last decisive issue between the old principles of power and the new principles of freedom.

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"And so, my fellow citizens, the reason that I came away from Washington is that I sometimes get lonely down there. There are SO many Washington people in who know things that are not so; and there are so few people in Washington who know anything about what the people of the United States are thinking about. I have to come away to get reminded of the rest of the country; I have to cut away and talk to men who are up against the real thing, and say to them: 'I am with you if you are with me.' And the only test of being with me is not to think about me personally at all, but merely to think of me as the expression for the time-being of

the power and dignity and hope of the United States."

The Building Trades Department of the A. F. of L. held the most important trade conference in its history prior to the A. F. of L. session. In the elections prior to adjournment, William J. Donlin was re-elected president, and William J. Spencer again chosen to the office of secretary-treas

urer.

START R. R. WAGE MOVEMENT. St. Louis, Mo.-President Wharton, of the Railway Employes' Department, A. F. of L., has asked the crafts in division No. 1 to vote on an eight-hour day and a wage increase proposal that will aggregate not less than 10 cents an hour for each mechanic.

This division includes all railroads north, south and west of Chicago.

The referendum is submitted at the request of a large percentage of the membership and executives of affiliates. All crafts, whether organized into a system federation or affiliated with the Railway Department, will vote.

In urging higher rates to meet increased living costs, President Wharton says railway shop employes realize the magnitude of the government's undertaking to check speculators and profiteers, and that:

"We also know that the earnings of those we represent have not kept pace with the increase in the cost of living and that our wages have never been on a fair basis, commensurate with service, skill and knowledge required. We are in full accord with the policies of our government; we regret the necessity of war, but now that our country has become involved, we shall do everything in our power to establish firmly forever the principles of democracy, so ably defined by President Wilson.

"We make this declaration now, so that the pro-German may not delude themselves in regard to the attitude of the membership represented and in affiliation with the Railway Employes' Department of the A. F. of L."

No Plundering and No Profiteering!

To make absolutely clear the position of the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy regarding strikes and other industrial and economic problems, the officers of the Alliance issued a formal statement bearing on these problems in order that whatever misunderstanding there is may be removed.

A studied effort has been made, the Alliance charges, by pacifists and proGermans to misrepresent the Alliance. The statement issued sets forth forcefully the exact character of the organization and leaves no room for doubt as to where it stands with relation to such subjects as strikes, high cost of living and profiteering.

The statement follows:

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"Whereas, There has been evident misunderstanding on the part of considerable section of the people concerning present and recent strikes of crganized workers, the American Alliance for Labor and Democracy issues this statement through its officers:

"The organized workers of America are engaged in a world-wide struggle for democracy. They deem it of vital importance that democracy be maintained and extended in America and they will not countenance any infringement of democratic rights under cover of patriotism.

"We are confident that the American Federation of Labor will not sanction any interference with the industrial processes of this country when such interference has for its object the embarrassment of the American

Government.

"But the labor movement will not remain idle while employers seek to grind down the workers under the pretense of war var necessity.

"The United States Government has committed itself to a policy of fairness toward labor. But the Government does not control all industry. Private employers have taken advan

In

tage of the war situation to seek to extend the hours of employment and to require intolerable conditions. many cases the employes have revolted against such processes and in cases have been branded by greedy employers as unpatriotic because of such opposition.

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"The first concern of this nation is the well-being of its working people. Its working people are the foundation of its existence. They are loyal and self-sacrificing to the last degree. And because of their loyalty to America they will not permit employers moved by greed to inflict conditions out of all harmony with the spirit of the American nation.

"In the San Francisco strike, for example, the working people were willing to negotiate with the employers through the machinery provided by the government. The employers were not willing to do this. This Alliance insists that whatever odium there may have been in connection with this strike should have been placed upon the employers.

"It may be well for the public to know that labor's loyalty to the American Government does not mean servility to greedy employers. There have been strikes of organized workers and doubtless there will be more. Labor is contending for a great principle and it must meet in combat any and all who oppose that principle, whether these enemies be within or without.

"Essential democracy is the watchword of the labor movement; it is the goal of this Alliance.

"Democracy can never countenance the plundering of the people by any profiteering group.

"This Alliance insists that one of the gravest menaces America has to meet is the menace of that profiteering group which places greed above country.

"It is regrettable that energy must be expended against enemies within at a time when the enemy from without presses so brutally at our gates; it is regrettable that there are within our borders any who will stoop to take advantage of the nation's need for the sake of gain. But it is so in every nation.

"As a helpful word, we point to that clause in our declaration of principle adopted at our national conference in Minneapolis, which says:

"We declare that industrial enterprises should be the servants and not the masters of the people; and that in cases where difference between owners and workers threaten a discontinuance of production necessary for war, the government should assume complete control of such industries and operate them for the exclusive benefit of the people.'

"And also to the following two sentences from the same declaration:

"We declare that a sturdy defense of the interests of labor is wholly compatible with supreme loyalty to the government.

"Our loyalty to the government is the loyalty of free men who will not acquiesce in any surrender of principle.'

"And we cite the actions of the President of the United States, his utterances and his written statements as being in complete harmony with the view-point here expressed-a solemn warning to those who would plunder our people for gain that they must desist, they must stop, or be stopped. America requires loyalty and devotion and service. America stands for democracy-democracy in which the common people may find justice and freedom and opportunity."

OIL WORKERS STRIKE. Houston, Tex.-Ten thousand workers in the large oil producing fields of Louisiana and this state are on strike for union recognition, an eight-hour day, higher wages and better working conditions.

SPEND MILLION A MONTH

RATHER THAN GIVE MEN

$750,000 A YEAR RAISE. San Francisco.-The United Railroads spent a million dollars a month the past summer to break a strike of its motormen and conductors.

When the workers asked for wage increases the company raised the "poverty" cry. This statement was investigated by the State Railroad Commission at the request of the Board of Supervisors.

The commission reported that the first two weeks of the strike cost the company $410,617, and the first six weeks $1,231,853.

The strike is still on.

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OHIO LABOR NOT SCARCE. Akron, Ohio.-The September report of the state-city free employment bureau shows there is no labor shortage in this city, or throughout the state. During the month 997 men obtained positions and there were 1,718 applications filed. Women to the number of 647 were given employment. There were 1,116 applications filed.

The 22 state-city employment bureaus received 45,796 applications during September and placed 26,576. Of the number applying 34,261 were men and 19,739 were provided with work.

TO ENFORCE LABOR LAWS.

Boston. For the first time in the history of the Massachusetts Medical Society this organization has appointed a committee to insure to industrial workers the full measure of health and safety from accidents guaranteed by state laws.

The committee made this statement:

"If doctors in general, employers and workers throughout the state will only combine to see that the laws for protecting the health of workers are enforced, Massachusetts will lead the country in the well-being and efficiency of its industrial population."

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