First World War Centennial

It has been the poor, the workers, the hewers of wood and the drawers of water, upon whose shoulders has been placed the burden to struggle upward and onward.

Before the Fifty-fourth Annual Convention, New York State Federation of Labor, Jamestown, N. Y., August 31st, 1917.

IT is gratifying to know of the magnificent work and growth and the achievements of the New York State Federation of Labor and the organized labor movement of our state and of our country. There are many who live in the fond hope that regard­less of inactivity, somehow or other, improvement will come to the lot and the condition of the toilers of our country. It is good to have optimism. It is good to look upon the brighter side of life; but he who fails to understand, he who fails to take action to remedy existing wrongs and evils, fails in his first duty to him­self and to his fellows. And not only now, but for all time to come.

Things do not happen for human betterment in the world of affairs except through the thought and the devotion and activity of the masses whom wrongs af­fect and who aspire for a better life.

The fatalist, the optimist purely, who imagines that things happen anyway, reminds me of the story of the hunter who had a companion who was a fatalist and believed that all things would happen regardless of any particular activity.

The hunter and his friend went out one day into the fields, and after awhile a great flock of wild ducks flew along the horizon. The hunter leveled his field-piece and shot; when lo and behold, a duck fell to the ground very nearly before the feet of the hunter and his friend.

The hunter, turning to his friend, said: "You fatalist, I ask you about this duck lying dead at my feet; you shot him."

And the answer came back: "Yes, my good friend, it is true that it is lying dead at your feet, but it wasn't a question of the shot, the fall killed the poor duck."

The whole history of the world is one of struggle, but the written history up to our time fails to record these sacrifices which have been made by the toiling masses that they may be spared some of the burdens of life. The men of means and of title have always been free in every state or country in which they have lived. They have enjoyed privileges and emoluments as well as riches and titles. It has been the poor, the workers, the hewers of wood and the drawers of water upon whose shoulders has been placed the burden to strug­gle upward and onward. And through all life, in all ages, it has devolved upon the great masses of the people to contend for a larger and better concept of the rights to which the toilers are entitled.

The whole history of the world is marked by the sacrifices which have been made. Every movement and every sacrifice which have been made have resulted in some distinct improvement in the condition of the toilers, until in our day the world is stirred by the con­cept as well as the slogan that the world must be made safe for democracy, for the people of the whole world.

I am proud to have been permitted to be associated with this wonderful movement of labor of America, for it is my judgment, as the result of long investiga­tion and study, as well as travel and participation in movements, that there is no movement organized in all the world that is comparable with the American trade union movement as represented by the American Fed­eration of Labor. We have indulged ourselves in less fantasy, we have indulged ourselves in fewer declara­tions, but we have consecrated our movement to tangible achievements, which shall bring and have brought light into the lives and the homes and the work of the toilers of America.

It has been our aim constantly to press home upon the political affairs of our country and the industrial affairs of our every-day lives, a larger participation of Labor in all the agencies of government as well as of industry. So we find now that Labor has a larger representation and a bigger voice in the determination of the affairs of industry and of our country.

I would not have any man or woman either under­stand or infer from what I have said that we—you and I—are satisfied with existing conditions. All our ac­tivities are in themselves the expression of dissatis­faction with evils and wrongs which have too long existed and are a demand for the rights to which the toilers are entitled. Your meeting and the meeting of the thousands of unions and central bodies, and the conventions of the American Federation of Labor, are in almost per­petual session to devise the ways and means by which we can still further press upon the political, the indus­trial, the commercial and intellectual agencies of our country, in order that the toilers shall at last come into their own.

But he who realizes the wrongs and the evils still ex­isting and aims to secure improvements in the condi­tion of the toilers, if unwilling to acknowledge that which has been accomplished, will to that same extent minimize and neutralize the things that he would like to do for the betterment of the people and libel the movement and himself included.

Now more than ever is it necessary for the work­ing people to organize more thoroughly into their union, now more than ever it is essential for the work­ers themselves to be more completely united for the common welfare of the toilers and to make common cause with every man, with every group of men, with our own country and with all other countries that have the common concept of liberty and freedom and uni­versal democracy.

We in the United States of America felt that the time had passed when any one could think, much less see, a conflict between the peoples of the nations of Europe such as we have seen since August, 1914. By direction of the American Federation of Labor, of which you are an integral and so important a part, I was directed to proceed to Paris, France, in the year 1909, and there participate in a conference of Labor of all countries, to carry your mandate to them. Find­ing there the representative men of the toilers of each country heartened me, encouraged me in the hope that at last the dream of the poet and philosopher was about to be consummated and the brotherhood of man of the whole world realized.

As a part of that international labor conference, a mass meeting was held at which the representative of each of the labor movements of the countries partici­pating in the congress, spoke for the toilers of his country. I have never yet seen a mass gathering more truly sincere, enthusiastic and devoted to a particular cause than that great meeting. And with others I pledged myself and held myself sponsor for the funda­mental thought and high ideal that America's workers would stand true to the principle of international peace and for the abolition of international wars.

I found myself so thoroughly in accord with the universal peace sentiment that perhaps you can imagine how my mind and heart and soul were racked to their very centers when this bloody war was thrust upon the people.

It was some time before I could realize really what had occurred. Men in all of these countries were working for a common uplift; scientists were burn­ing the midnight oil that they might find some relief for the slightest ill that might occur to the most in­significant of the peoples of the world; every one was trying his level best to make of this life a better life when, out of the clear sky, this war broke, and at the call of a great autocrat, the people who had been try­ing to do so much for themselves and for the people of the world, were ordered to clutch at the very hearts and the throats of their fellow-men. The destruction of human life and property going on is unparalleled in the history of the world and staggering to the con­science of decent men and women.

And so we found the world startled and shocked at the beginning of this terrific war; we found the peoples of the other countries responding also to the call to the colors. The mightiest war of all the world was in full swing. We in America, regardless of how our sympathies may have swayed our judgment, main­tained a strict and an impartial neutrality.

May I say here, for a moment, something upon the subject of neutrality? I desire to mention it simply because there are some people who have in their minds the thought that, after all, our Government was not neutral. I refer to the charge which has been made that the United States and her people furnished some of the countries at war with arms and ammunition and foods, etc., and that these acts were acts in con­flict with the principles of neutrality. Let me say this, that the Government of the United States up to the time of our entrance into the war did not side with any of the contending countries. The people of the United States were engaged in the manufacture and production of certain articles, which, under the laws of the country and under the laws of the world, were perfectly lawful productions. They had the right to sell them to any one who came to the United States and desired to buy.

The American producer and manufacturer sold to those who wanted to buy a lawful product. Now, if one or two of the countries could not buy these products and could not take them to their own homes, that was not the fault of the United States. And let me say in connection with this, that no country now contending in the war repeats that charge against the United States or attempts now to argue that the United States was unneutral because it sold its products to those who wanted to buy.

But in addition, during the Spanish-American War the manufacturers of arms and munitions in Ger­many sold these products to Spain, as well as to the United States. During the Boer War—a war in which my sympathies went with the Boers—Germany as well as other countries sold munitions to the Boers, as well as they did to England. During our Civil War the countries of Europe furnished munitions and supplies to the Southern Confederacy, as well as to the Federal Government.

No one, no nation ever before attempted to cast a reflection upon any other nation because of the sale of munitions and supplies to any one of the other countries.

But to come to the more vital subject; we are now engaged in war. We have joined the other countries in fighting for democracy and freedom, the world over—not alone for the United States, not for England and France and Russia and poor outraged Belgium, but for the people of Germany and Austria-Hungary as well.

Is it not true that no man in public life was ever more assailed and criticised and denounced than was the President of the United States because he had kept us out of this great war for so long a time; urged on, egged on, ridiculed in every form because he had kept us out of the war and because he declared that some­times a people may be too proud to fight?

He believed at that time that there was some honor and some conscience in the ruling family of Germany. When our people, engaged in legitimate travel, were by the hundreds sent to untimely death, when our prop­erty was destroyed—property might be made good in some fashion, but for life destroyed there is no compensation—the President declared that there must be some pledge given to safeguard the lives of Ameri­can men and women and children, and the pledge was given that it would not be repeated.

Then came the warning of ruthless destruction of all life and property of any people who might come within a zone where they had a perfect, lawful right to go. That promise and pledge made by the Imperial German Government, like that treaty that held Bel­gium sacred from invasion, was regarded as a mere scrap of paper and torn into shreds, trodden under foot, and the wholesale destruction and murder went on.

Pacifist as I had been from my boyhood until this war broke out, I am free to say to you this, that I could not bind myself to the altered situation in the world's affairs; that the gaunt­let had been thrown down to democracy and that un­less the challenge was accepted autocracy would run rough-shod over the peoples of the whole world; and from pacifist came my evolution into a fighting man. I hold that in this great time there can be no just foundation for pacifism until militarism is crushed. I could wish that the war would come to an end, that human life be conserved and suffering saved, but a peace at this time without any one thing being deter­mined finally and absolutely to guarantee that such a ruthless war cannot again be brought as a curse upon the people of the world, is both undesirable and im­possible.

When the people of the Colonies of America took up arms for the establishment of this new nation, the Republic of the United States, there could be no end­ing of that war until either the people of those colonies were subjugated or freed to enjoy the privileges and the advantages of self-government. It was so de­termined, and we won.

During the Civil War, the four years' struggle be­tween the North and the South for the abolition of human slavery and the maintenance of the Union, there could be no compromise, there could be no peace until the issue was settled.

I saw a few days ago a statement published in a so-called pacifist paper, which said, "Why not at this time emulate the good example of Gen. Grant, who said, 'Let us have peace'?" But the writer was either ignorant of the facts or purposely misrepresented Gen. Grant and the incident to suit a purpose which is un­justified.

When Gen. Grant uttered that immortal slogan, "Let us have peace," Gen. Lee had surrendered to Gen. Grant more than six months before and peace had been established; Gen. Grant had been nominated for the Presidency, and as his slogan for the purpose of help­ing the people of the South rehabilitate themselves, he said to the people of the North and of the South, "Let us have peace."

It is my judgment that we want to fight for the liberation and the democracy of the people of Germany and Austria and Hungary, as well as for the people of the United States, so that after militarism and im­perialism and autocracy are crushed, we can say with Grant, "Let us have peace."

We are engaged in war. We are in it! You and I—members of organized labor—we sometimes enter into contests in which every one is not fully satisfied that it is the best thing to do. In our unions we have rules and laws, among which we prescribe that a strike can only be undertaken when two-thirds of the mem­bership vote in favor of the strike. Some unions have the regulation that it shall be a majority, others three-fourths. When I worked at the bench, I was in a number of strikes. There was one strike in the shop in which I was working, and my judgment was that it was an in­opportune time for the men in that shop to strike. I was firmly convinced that they were justified in strik­ing, but I knew as well as I know anything that has not yet occurred, that we would be defeated if we in­augurated the strike.

I was the only man in that shop who had that view. I did not vote against the strike. I expressed my views to the boys, but they did not hold my view and they decided that we should strike. Do you think for a moment that I would remain in that shop and work while they went on strike?

Supposing in any of our unions a question, a wage reduction or a demand for a wage increase came up and the question of striking was adopted by two-thirds of the men, or three-fourths of them—do you think for a moment that the one-third or the one-fourth of them have the right to say that the three-fourths are wrong and that they are going to continue to work and play the part of the scab and the strike-breaker? I hold that the same rule applies to the republic in which we live. I suppose that there are not many, in our time, who will hold that our country can be gov­erned without laws of some kind.

We have a Constitution—the Constitution of the United States. We are living under the Declara­tion of Independence. The laws and the Constitution of the United States provide that the people of the United States through the Representatives and Sen­ators in Congress assembled shall have the power to declare and make war. In the Senate of the United States, in the House of Representatives of the United States, there were not more than two or three who voted against the Government and the people of the United States making war upon the Imperial Govern­ment of Germany. In other words, the representa­tives of the people of this Republic, in Congress as­sembled, under the authority of the Constitution of the United States, made that declaration of war.

Any man living in our country who is unwilling to stand behind that declaration is unworthy to enjoy the guarantees of peace. I can not carry a gun with the accouterments of war, I can not fight in the trenches; if I attempted it, after a few days or a week or two, instead of being a help, I would be a burden. And consequently it is of no use for me to attempt in braggadocio or any other mood to volunteer my serv­ice to enter into the military or the naval force of our Government. But I have done something. There is a need in America and in all wars, for organizers; and some people have flattered me by saying that I am somewhat of an organizer. There is a need for ad­ministrators, and some have said that I am not such a bad administrator of affairs. There is need of advice and judgment, and my friends have flattered me by saying that I am not much of a fool. So, feeling the obligation to give service, I am giving the service, the best that is in me, for the cause in which the labor movement and our country are engaged.

A little bit of an incident, perhaps, to you, but a great big one to me, occurred a few days ago when I received from my grandson, nineteen years of age, a letter telling me that three months ago he had volun­tarily enlisted in the service of our country in the Aviation Corps at San Antonio, Texas. His telling me about his voluntary action made me grow about six feet taller than I am.

I do know this, that I said to my family group that any one of them who would not serve the United States in this war is not of my blood and I repudiate him. I am in this war, with the people, behind the President and the Government of the United States. At the same time, and during the war, I propose to see to it, as best I can, that the standards of the American workers shall not be lowered; on the contrary, that every opportunity shall be given for the working men and women in our country; that in all the industrial and commercial pursuits and activities of our Govern­ment where they contribute toward bringing profit, the toilers shall share in the largest proportion of that profit.

At a conference held in Washington in the Execu­tive Council meeting room of our beautiful structure, the officers of nearly all the international unions as­sembled there and adopted a declaration on March 1 2th, nearly a month before the entrance of our country into the war, insisting upon the maintenance and the improvement of the standards of life of the American working people.

Some time later with the four labor representatives sent from Great Britain to the United States to con­fer with the labor men of America, the Committee on Labor was received by the President. I was deputized to make a few remarks, which I undertook to do as best I could. The President's response was to the ef­fect that the working people engaged in industry and commerce in the United States during this war shall have their rights guaranteed and their standards main­tained.

When the Pennsylvania Legislature undertook to repeal the full crew law, the President wrote a letter to Governor Brumbaugh urging him to veto that prop­osition as against the interests of Labor, which interests should be maintained at all hazards. I may say that I have tried to do something that would be helpful upon that subject. I think you will be pleased to hear that there have been agreements made between the Secretary of War, Mr. Baker, and myself, as Presi­dent of the American Federation of Labor, the terms of which provide that in the construction of canton­ments and all appurtenances to them, the union scale of wages and the hours and conditions of employment of the union in the vicinity shall prevail as standards. A committee was created consisting of three men, a representative of the army, a representative of the public, and a representative of Labor, appointed by me. The man I appointed was John R. Alpine, third Vice-President of the American Federation of Labor.

The Secretary of War, by further agreement with me, extended the terms to the aviation plants, to the aviation construction cantonments, and then the Secre­tary of the Navy accepted that same agreement for all construction on land coming under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department.

This morning's Jamestown papers contain the state­ment of the creation of similar boards under similar conditions for the Emergency Fleet Corporation and for the Shipping Board. An agreement was consum­mated between the Seamen's Union and the vessel own­ers for improved conditions for the seamen and to stop any agitation for the repeal of the Seamen's Act, making it secure now for all time.

Secretary Baker, for the War Department, cancelled contracts for army clothing to the extent of nearly half a million dollars a few days ago, because this clothing was manufactured in the homes of the work­ers, and he wanted to abolish the sweat-shop system.

I freely admit that there are still many wrongs pre­vailing, that many evils still exist in the trades and many misconceptions and many injustices are being inflicted, but we have just declared war. We are really not in it yet, and what other governments have taken three and four years to accomplish, cannot be accomplished with a turn of the hand. It takes time. There is a disposition among the officers of the Govern­ment of the United States to deal fairly with labor.

I am not going to defend the I. W. W.'s, those who are irresponsible to each other, irresponsible toward Labor and irresponsible toward the Government of the Republic of the United States, but I do hold that every man living in our country, no matter what his opinions may be, no matter what is the charge that may be made against him, is entitled to the protection of the laws of our country.

I do not think that there are many men who have been more openly hostile to this gang of industrial free­booters than I have. Well, if men calling themselves labor men undertake by their irresponsible and irra­tional action to undermine all that we have tried to build up for years, if they then declare that they do not hold themselves responsible to any authority and give no accounting of their conduct to anybody, if there be any other title than that which I have just ger­minated in my mind and called them, I do not know it.

The man who is charged with the gravest crime known to the human mind is given the protection of a trial, confronted by a jury of his peers. He has his day in court. Even these industrial free-booters are entitled to that.

It was my pleasure last week to have had the honor of a long conference with the President, and the mat­ter was brought to his attention of the attempt of some employers of labor not only to take advantage of this situation brought about by these so-called I. W. W.'s, but also with their attorneys and corporations, to make common war upon all organized labor,—trade unions, bona fide, constructive, conservative as they all are. I am not violating the President's confidence, nor would I violate the confidence of the Council of National Defense, but I think I am justified in telling you that as a result of those incidents, the Council of National Defense adopted and the President approved, the creation of a commission to make an investigation of the situation in the West and Northwest and to report to the Council and to the President. Upon that com­mission Labor will undoubtedly have one or more representatives.

All along, in the activities in connection with pro­duction, transportation, or war contracts there is the disposition to deal fairly and honorably with Labor and to see that representatives of Labor are on the various boards and agencies.

Now, my friends, that is what we are trying to do. This one thing I know, we are in the war and we can­not get out of it. We dare not get out of it until America and the world are safe, so that all the peoples of the world may each live out their own lives, may each of them evolve and develop as best they can to attain their highest ideals.

As Lincoln said in his time, that "America cannot long remain half slave and half free," so the President of the United States in his great message to Congress on April 2, sounded the keynote for the whole world. It is by the wisdom of his great character, by his vi­sion that the world shall be free, and it is by the com­mon consent of the democratic peoples of all the world that he is the standard-bearer and leader of the war of our time.

With the aid of the Central Federated Union of New York, with the organizations of New York State, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and a few other places, we have organized a movement of trade unionists and men who have declared their unalterable fealty to the American trade union movement as represented by the American Federation of Labor, accepting these two standards, separately and combined. First, there shall be solidarity in the American labor movement; the fight against secession and duality in the labor move­ment must be crushed out; and second, with the American trade union movement we shall undertake a campaign for the more thorough organization and the more thorough Americanization of the working people of our country. Standing loyally by our Republic that movement has gone on and on, and, as you have heard read, an invitation has been extended to the trade union central bodies and state federations to send representatives to a national conference to be held at Minneapolis, Minn., September 5th, 6th and 7th. It is my earnest hope, as I am convinced it will be to the advantage of the labor movement of the State of New York and of our country itself, that the men of labor shall be at Minneapolis on September 5th.

In some of the countries, the liberties of many of the people have been taken away from them during this war. In the United States thus far no such attempt has been made, and if I read the signs of the times correctly, and I think I do, if the men of labor of our country will be true to themselves and true to their unions and true to the Republic of the United States and the cause in which we are all engaged, there will be no attempt made to take away any of our liberties. But on the contrary, that for which we have striven so long, that for which we have given so many hours and years of our lives, will be maintained forever, ex­cept as improvements may come. It is all depending upon us. The course is open for us. We have no choice. I was about to say we must make our choice,—there is no choice. There is only one way, and that is the straight way; not only the straight way to labor patriotism, but to group patriotism, to human patri­otism and to the patriotism and loyalty to the cause of Labor and the cause of our Republic the cause of justice, of freedom and of democracy.