Iowa Unionist (Newspaper) - May 16, 1908, Des Moines, Iowa The ol Oa Is of DBS MOINES IOWA SATURDAY WAY IS 1908 ARE YOU ON RECORD The National Manufacturers Association Fur nish Union Labor Thunder WJ Candidate for Constable DM Moines aspire than is Mr Kibble He has which his been a resident of Des Moines or ami rf r ever employed nearly twenty born and Ms m he M ROBERTSON Candidate for Treasurer with reasonable assurance to a larger Come to annual convention New York which opens May IS When in American Industries of May 1 I made this appeal to every member of the National Association o Manufacturers I thought I had in mind nearly all the reasons which should prompt every member to attend the convention and I thought I had cited almost all of them But I was mistaken new reasons far attendance have come up since May 1 And they are stronger than any I Wi dle some of The leaders of the dominant party in Congress are making some cancel sions to organized labor which were not looked for a few weeks ago these concessions connect themselves with the and the to the Sherman aw There is some vague talk in the papers that one or both al these measures may pass Probably this talk is astray No i the on the of that not of Maryland introduced n the House on the first day ol the session by request can pass That is the measure the American federation of Labor is pushing But there are other bills before Congress wnich are much mild er than the by request meas ure In none of these has the Federa lion any interest and some of these it opposes Unless it is altered in many vital points the Hepburn will never go to the national statute book The American people have enough influence over Congress to prevent any such outrage on the ele mental principles of fair play and re publican and democratic government as the enactment of the Hepburn in its present shape would perpetrate But the fact that the Washington correspondents of the big journals talk of the passage of an Jill or an amendment of the Sherman law in any shade whatever in this session of Congress as a possibility shows a wavering of the line by some of the congressional leaders It is a retreat under re It is semblance of a desire to conciliate what is but erroneously called the labor vote The real labor vote of the is nor asking for the enactment of either or the Hepburn amendment is safe to say thai an immense majority of the workers are against both of these bills Through a mistaken idea of the scope and importance of these measures some wellmeaning persons in high places politically and socially are urg mg their passage and under the mis taken impression that a powerful ele ment of the people are demanding the enactment of these bills one or both of them may come for consideration The socalled labor vote of the country which is flaunted in face of timid politicians of the lican and Democratic parties is far less formidable than it pretends to be 1 will give a few figures here for the benefit of all the members of the Na tional Association of Manufacturers and to all others to whom they may concern There are 32000000 wage earners in the United States but there are only persons enrolled in oil the unions in the aggregate which com prise the American Federation of La bor These 1538970 Include women and children as well as men and al iens as well as voters Moreover as many of them work and reside in Can ada and other countries outside our boundaries they cannot be counted either among our working or our voi mg forces On its own official figures which are quoted here the number of persons in the American Federation of Labor constitute only a small fragment of Americas wage earners Eliminat and work in Can outside of our stale urge all our members to get alt the other manufacturers of their acquaintance and all their neighbors who are interested in goad to also aid them in placing these facts Congress immediately Lei all of them point out to Con gress that this minute fragment of the wage earners of the United otates is the organization which pretends to speak in the name of the working peo ple of the country out whose preten sions in that direction the workers of the repudiate and denounce Lei them point out that it is this fee ble petty combine which for years past has holding its club over the leaders of both is it over their beads pretense that its wrath will be fa fal to presidential and congres candidates who refuse to do its bidding Let our members also remind Con gress that labor bosses who are demanding special legislation in Wash ington at this moment probably do not speak for any considerable portion of even their own small membership Let them point out to their Senators and Representatives in Washington that many members of the American Fed of Labor rejected its dictation in 1906 when he urged them to strike down LIttlefield Cannon and omer courageous and honest congress men then running for reelection win had refused to support the special leg which that boss drew up There is a strong probability that these mem bers and many others will reject that personages dictation in the politics of 1908 also Every member of the National Asso of Manufacturers should point out to his Senators and Representa tives that any surrender to the Fed bosses would not only be cowardice buf would be stupidity These lack the power tocar fV out their threats Let Congress stand out against the arrogant demands of union mountebanks for special favors for their order and the real workers of the country Democrats and Republicans in and out of the I bar unions will stand up for Congress in the elections Congress should remember that any semblance of fear on its part will en courage the Federations chiefs to work all the harder in their demands for special legislate These reports from Washington of wavering line the leaders of the dominant parly will have a different effect from what those leaders desire The particular meas ures which the labor union chiefs are pushing have no chance of passage in any case But the enactment of any measures which offer any kind of con cession to them would not only be bad Americanism but would be bad poli BEN Candidate for Sheriff sS of Ben J Ness candidate for sheriff aM r Mr Ness is a Candida ef of lot course to the republican p Srie the 1 June 2 He is the chief or Y deputy for Sheriff Loper with whim hfr d he with the sTst loJa Sheriff he dulies s fully 88 ry ae he has himself of me to dis fully to admire him as a courageous soldier educated compe tent and true lo the core sei vice n the Philippines Mr Ness held a number of responsible posts and in every place to which he was assigned he proved his loyalty and his cy Above all he is a young man of character His ability is unquestioned w sheriff he appointed Mr Ness his chief assistant knowing him to possess ai tne qualifications requisite for the Mr Ness has a very iast c support among the young re publicans with whom he is quite DODU lar H y whom he has come in official or per sonal contact Especially does this apply to members of the bar whose convenience he has always given consideration Under his orderly methods the business of the office has been quietly and efficiently executed He is a fit man for the place one wno has been a consistent and since ne his As a union man Ben Ness carries a pressmans card and his attitude on question of organized labor is too well known to need comment For at least two reasons any con cessions which Congress could make to the labor union chiefs would be bad politics It would fail to placate these personages And at the same time those concessions would raise tip enemies among patriotic Americans to the congressmen making the surren ders and would take away votes from them which an Honest and courageous course would give them Congress should bear in mind that regardless of any concession which it nay make in the present session chiefs of the American Federation of Labor intend in the canvass of to be more arrogant and aggressive than ever In the words of one of We shall work every congres district in every state in the coming campaign and we shall hit every man who is an enemy of organ labor from the highest official in the nation to the lowest This means every public officer who refuses to sanction the Federations iniquitous and who refuses to aid in legalizing the Fed boycott On the Federations isl are the names of all the other employer who is outside of the Associations ranks which I have received from members all over the country tell me E most important year which the Asso has seen We want the largest possible ai tendance and the fullest and frees discussion Not only is the to pass judgment upon what cers of the Association have dov in the past twelve months but it mark a plan of campaign for AC tion throughout the presidential can vass which s soon to begin and for the remaining months between now and next May Our program arse this date and election in November but it must look beyond to the session Congress which comes after the elee 1809 C March 4 Signed James W Van Cleave To Members of the National ATso of Manufacturers K R i G MAcK JOHN A ELLIOTT THE MECHANICS SAVINGS BANK 35 FIFTH MANHATTAN Capital Surplus AS before mentioned these would include women snd children as welt as men and aliens as well as voters 4 OM nnn L i f ltle voles which will be cast In the United Stales for president in 1908 not more than 500000 will be cast or can be cast by all the organizations in ine aggregate who are mustered in A j of Labor Ana 90 per cent of this number will be cast for one or the other of the two na lonal parties according to Individ f dio In order to obtain the votes of of a majority of the 14 000 000 Americans who will go to the polls on November deposit their ballots Congress must leg sote in the public interest and not in interest of any small though element of the populace These are facts which cannot be brought to Con attention loo early or too of ten And the persons who can do this with especial effectiveness are the members ot National Association of Manufacturers Thc lime or n a o wire or letter cin before of In the o M by x letter thlt are reasons why dir of the an be the a
