Show TOILERS A labor chov convention elltion a at chicago r ADDRESS OF it tells of much suffering amone amona ba laborers borers what is now wanted special to tut TUN R I 1 dec ll 11 tho thirteenth annual convention of the american federation of labor which la is exit expected eted to broye one ol of the most vitally important in tho history of this gigantic trade combination opened hero here today delegates baying been arri arriving ying for several severah days past those coming other than individually being received ived at the depots iv DV a reception committee and escorted escorted to their various varinna stopping ng places the arrangements of the local committee provided for a general open mg lally of tho inthe in the council chamber ot of tho the cita hall and at nine that spacious auditorium wits filled to wing without any business being trant frank acted the delegates adjourned to battery D to which place they were wera escortel by a large procession representing the canoua local trade unions with music and flying banners in the ranks ot of the delegates were represented most of the lending leading national trade unions of the country it was wag a representative gathering of the leading lights of the tha wage earners of the country such euch as chicago haa baa never befort before witnessed despite the inclement weather a large crowd had assembled on the streets bet teLi A een veen the city hall and the battery and the unionists were loudly applaud ed cd I 1 the convention had been formally called to aider at battery D hearty ad addresses dremea of welcome vel come were delivered by john J mcgrath M H madden E J mass and other leaders of local traded irasid 11 and responses word were made oy Pr esideLl samul gom perr P J guiro of saw naw Y ur urk and delegates from different of the country the tha call for the convention was then read and dealing as it did with existing conditions was attentively listened to and loudly applauded I 1 among other thinas it taid eaid your attention la is directed dir grave grava situation which confronts the toiling masses of our country ina in a land varied in ia climate abounding in wealth all nature smiling upon it with will willing hands we yet see aaa hundreds of thousands of our fellow human beings anxious to fashion and produce wealth ald necessities and luxuries 0 of lift life yet yei unable to find an opportunity of being so BO employed seer se eer er in the history of tle the world haa baa su so large lara a number of vainly sought tor for an opportunity to earn a livelihood and contribute to the support of thair fellows Ina in a society where such abnormal conditions prevail there must of necos necessity sity be something eom ething wrong at we me basic foundation and it requires require it hut but little study to come to the sion that the ownership and control of wealth of the means ot of product production tion by p irate corporations which nave no sympathy pathy or apparent cespon the cause of the ills and wonis borne b by y ahe human family fhe right to lifo liberty and the vu tiu suit of 5 be ba a guar autee that employment remunerative a heat healthful ahful should be accorded v x all ali W V ut tit raver these rietta and guarantees are denied it becomes those devoted to the interest of the tha people and toe pro progress gresa of our race raca to take such ai tion as will necessarily make the de orations actualities and not meaning teeb phrases tho the forthcoming convention will afford an excellent wity for the wage workers of the antry who are more directly interested than all others in the solution tion of tue great g reat problems lemd ema confronting our oar peon peo pie to declare for and to take such each act 11 oa u as will crystallize cryst alize develop and a at lain fain the noble purposes of our ilion to protect against the tha violation Tio lation of aw and to the omission to enforce ther other laws enacted in he be interests interest of if the ats toiling masses to demand the tha PILE pass a sage have oi of laws lawa protective and progressive in n their character and wield the bonds bonda it 11 unity sul and fraternity more firmly araca among the wage earning classes claf isaa ot of our country aid to review the events of the past pan year ag aa well as to profit by our exi ex perien cesare amone the matt mattera er a which ill come belore the convention ven tion after the of the call and the appointment of the usual committees on crad credentials credentia sand and reio lations the conven 4 tion took a brief recess PRESIDENT GOMPERS ADDRESS the annual address of president gompers is ia a lengthy document and in its entirety would fill nearly a page of a metropolitan newspaper it deals hii ditl ta the indu industrial trial depes depression sion its effect upon labor or organization ionization g iniza tion the necessity necee oty for har haroy harmony oy child lanor political action the organization of new unions federal labor legislation and kindred topics his utter utterances ancee on th industrial industry 0 depression 1 1 are of interest iu lereal at it thib juncture 8 aada ays president ident gompers oa outbid this topic since august of this year wo we have bare been in the greatest industrial depression 0 this th i c country untra has ever witnessed atit atia t ia n no 0 g to s by ty that moie moi a than three millions of our follow fellow toilers boilers throng bout the country are without employment and have been so since t the he time named this thia lamentable lamen industrial condition is ie attributed by many to vari ous oua causes and it seems to me that the jac accurate curate statement of them here is both requisite and appropriate so BO that we may be better enabled to so frame oar legislation that it mav tend to lo r proper solution of in irol tin yuwu the wage jokers fr fir BOKI in i in n prow lie ha timo industry hogaj to emerge from the panic of 1873 79 atan the introduction of vastly improved ved machinery wold aud and methods oils of prod production n the inventions in electricity the general application of this force as wel as steam tu to industry was waa indeed displacing labor faster toan now new industries indas tries could be fonn founded ded 11 production pron pro production faster greater was the impulse the thought phoui bt an aej I 1 motive of the capitalist capi talise class ahat in ia the end the great body of workers com prisa choie who must of necessity consume the production was given no consideration whatever hy by our captains 0 of industry As a result the great storehouses are gutted batted with the very articles required by the people without their ability or rather their opportunity to obtain con consume them hem does doea it require more than ordinary ion to discern t that bat from conditions so BO abnormal and abominable industrial Bt stagnation agnation must ensue we the representatives of the organized toiling masses of th thi country count rv offered the only seasonable lea ies practicable abe and tangible eo solution lution to meet the chuff ed conri iti ons of industry the federation early aarle foresaw the great difficulty which confronted the people and in 1884 declared for the movement to REDUCE THE HOURS OF LABOR it is unnecessary to repeat the la man table incident which frustrated the eight hour movement of 1886 but in 1893 J the federation of labor true to its mission resolved to engage in the movement to gradually enforce the eight hour work flay day in which we were partially successful had we been met bv less lesa antagonism of the capital class cias sana and uy by mone wito shoula have been our friends it is safe 0 say eay that the panic ot of 1893 would have been averted deferred and certainly ren dared less intense the only method by which a practical just ard and safe equilibrium can be preserved in the industrial world for the last fast and ever increasing uz introduction of machinery is ia a commensurate reduction of the hours of labor 1 I am very sure that if employers were to on substitute a division ot of the work required among all their workers instead of the discharge of a number we would much sooner emerge from the present industrial and commercial stagnation stac nation THE UPON LABOR LABOE organizations ebere can be no question but that the present industrial conditions have bad aud and are having a deleterious effect upon the organization of lalor labor and that in many instances losses in member ship have occurred particularly in such organizations of recent origin or which have failed in time ot of peace to prepare for war dv by providing themselves with funds by which such euch eras eraa as the pre present sent are tided over in considering the subject ot of the great number of idle unemployed woi kers the almost countless thousands of our men and women who are suf suffering faring the pangs of bunger the poignancy of distress and dependence the heart of the toiler is touched his mind almost ap appalled ailed to know that because human ingenuity has rendered it easier to produce all that mankind may rt ra quire or desire is abe asger assertion tion in it self of a tary system based upon injustice and cruelty and in total disregard of human and natural rights righta to str struggle to supplant such auch a system by one ona in which mans inhumanity t to man beall be a thing relegated to and regarded as aa the barbarism of the past ls is the duty of every man who loves his kind and la is the tha mis mission sion of organized labor upon the subject of political action mr gompers spoke as follows d the last convention recommended to lathe the organized workmen that they take such fiction action politically as shall hali secure the best beat results to labor and place the movi ment upon a beeber plane I 1 desire to record not only that in my judgment juds meat tle the trend will a soon oon be in that direction bat but that every earnest effort made has met the 1118 operation cooperation co of the members embers ot of the executive council an intelligent use of the ballot by the toilers boilers must largely contribute to lighten the burdens of our economic straggles let us ua elect m min in from the ranks of labor to represent us in congress and the legislatures Legisla turea whenever and and nd wherever the opportunity offers let us never be recreant to our trust and regardless of political p affiliation or predictions always vote against those whose interests ore are inimical to labor there is still too great a division and lack of ai tion among the toiling masses ot of our country not only on political lines but on eco amic lines also the greatest factor in antagonize iniz the demands of labor is the large number of unorganized workers in economic di disputes is with employers or in the controversies arising in the courts or in the leg legislative gisla tive halls this factor is ia used need to 10 the detriment of the tha entire body of wage workers EIGHT BIGHT SOUS HOUR LAW tle the attorney Attorn ev general under the luat last administration in n response rea to a iatter from 0 one ne of the departments r aa at 1 I a pinion opinion which de declared clarea iha L the ana duperat operations ions of the eight hour IM 1 v of august 1 1892 apply only to buik performed directly by or on be hah h I 1 if id tile the covern ove rumont mont that it did not havo any linding binding force upon a sub con tractor that any orr performed in preparing material etc for government work did net come u 13 der the provisions pra visions of the law opinion was wag at such variance with what we had looked upon the law to state and mean that the executive C uncil determined r parly arly to have the opinion rt viewed reviewed and reversed we had interviews itter views with several assistant of the treasury and with ae 1 e assistant supervising architect gibout much result we finally had a conference cun arence wita the secretary of the treasury rv of the present administration aaion an anil th the e entire matter was gone over fir r Car carlisle liale then stated that bat he vias was unprepared to give eive us a positive decia sion as to what his bis fiction action would be under the tha law but from the plain reading of it tie he was inclined to the belief that our interpretation of its provisions was waa correct the executive council was to have a case prepared and submitted to the secretary when he would issue an order to the department on the mat ter this matter has occurred too recently for the preparation and subbie sion aion of the case until after the close of the convention it is ia but scant justice to sav that our friend the hon henry W blair has rendered us na very material assistance in regard to having the eight hour hoar law enforced ALIEN CONTRACT labok notwithstanding ding that the depressed condition of industry bra cheesed checked im mig migration ratiba to ayery iii large ge extent it lias has not detert fd many of the hIg class from either violating or encouraging the violation of aba tbd allen alien contract labor law when the fact is is known that within the ibe past six air months more violations of the law were detected 1 I and a larger number of alien contract laborers returned to whence they came than in any other previous year an idea can be for formed madof of the extent to which this traffic in laborers was carried on when tubes were better the immigration and other cf ficera in I 1 n this department should be appointed because of their sympathy with the law and their ability to enforce it they should be clothed with full discretion and power in the tha premises premi seg and rs to the executive power only we must uphold the off officers leers who are attempting with the limited powers at their command to enforce the law or with a L revival of trade a lull full flood of laborers under contract will cume come upon us EXCLUSION ACT t when the tha act known as aa the geary law was wag passed the tha chinese resident in this country were compelled to comply with certain regulations one of which was anat they should present themselves for registration before bedora an official of the federal government on or before may 5 1893 at the behest of the chinese six companies which set themselves up as a higher autho authority ty than the united states government the chinese set the law at defiance and refused to comply with its provisions the chinese hy by this act if by no other acts demonstrated that neither the laws of our country not noi the will of the petiole are binding upon them when the six companies decree otherwise nor have the government officials attempted their deportation as required by law on the contrary at the extraordinary session of congress Con eress becenti recently held a supplementary law was passed f extending tho the time for far rezi registration six months from he be time of its passage although six elk weeks hive haye passed since the passage at this extension no disposition is manifested the law will he be complied with it in ia quite evident that the chinese ani and their six companies do not regard our government covern ment as aa seriously inclined to enforce the law CHILD LABOR while it is true that the efforts of our organization have bave somewhat mitigated tho inhuman practice of allowing lowine nl your children to ha be emp employed loved the fact remains that the damnable system which permits young and innocent children to have their very lives worked out cut of them in factories mills workshops and stores is ia one of the very worst of labor grievances one which the trade unions have protested against again st for years and in the reformation of which we shall never cease cur agitation until we have rescued them and blaed ed them where they should be toe school room and the playground play ground HOMESTEAD aa AND JD OTHER CASES when we last met in session at a philadelphia indictments were hanging banging over the heads |