OCR Text |
Show A Labor Leader of Modern Type. The Inherent weakness of the American Ameri-can Federation of Labor, especially during dur-ing lts'eatilcr years, and the cautious, careful, slow-paced policy which thla feebleness necessitated, called for a leader with a peculiar and unusual combination of qualities. There are many men of rare ability who would have signally failed' In the difficult task which Mr. Gompcrs Is accomplishing. To have succeeded, one would needs have been, like him, a worklngman, and the son of a worklngman, with a work-ingman's work-ingman's Ideals and a worklngman's-acute worklngman's-acute sense of what other workingmen think and feel. A selfish lender would have deserted the federation; an unpractical un-practical enthusiast would have been deserted by lu Mr. Gompers combined warm, generous enthusiasms with a cool, cautious, tentative policy; he was far-sighted in his plans, but careful, steady, opportunistic, even wisely temporizing tem-porizing In their execution; he spoke nnd wrote of the rights of labor, but he saw that the Federation finances were In good order, and he kept In touch with an Infinite multitude of petty details. Mr. Gompers represents, as complete ly as any one, the latter-day type of successful labor leader. Earnest and convincing In address, straightforward yet courteous In Intercourse, Intensely purposeful and tenacious yet. tolerant and moderate, bold In thought yet cautious cau-tious In action, Mr. Gompers, like other labor leaders, Is a determined fighter and a persistent pacifier. For years he has been a peacemaker, than whose there Is no more strenuous life, and by his Intimate acquaintance with thousands thou-sands of men, nnd his knowledge of their point of view, thpir bins, and their peculiarities, he has been able to pour oil upon many a troubled' stream. lie has assisted at the birth of many unions a task of midwifery that falls to the lot of all officials of the Federation. Federa-tion. In tho American Federatlonlst, which he edits, In hundreds of articles and In thousands of speeches, he has over and over again preached the "fundamentals "fun-damentals of trade-union policy. By the exercise of tact and forbearance, and by exertions which taxed the whole mental and physical endurance of the man, he has brought the Federation through manifold dangers, and, with others, has placed It In Its present advantageous ad-vantageous situation. Review of Reviews. |