| OCR Text |
Show I NEW YORK, May 28. The relations of capital and labor; the right to strike and- its legitimacy as regards the1 effect ef-fect on the public; the Kansas Indus-! Indus-! trial court law and its significance to 1 the- future of tho working man, were discussed from all angles in a reniark-j reniark-j able debate tonight in Carnegie hall j between Samuel Gomper3, president of j the American Federation of Labor, and Governor Henry J. Allen of Kansas. Gov. Allen's main contention was that the government has the right to protect the public against strikes when its welfare is imperilled, while Mr. Gornpers held to the argument that no law can prevent a man from stopping work if "by so doing so he may bene-i' bene-i' fit himself and his family. Mr. Gorap-. I ers labelled the Kansas industrial court law the "un-American slave law," and Governor Allen declared he had taken away from Mr. Gompers his divine di-vine right to order a man to quit work. The oratory of the ' debaters was punctuated with frequent cheers and boos by adherents of each side and f occasional questions shouted from the " floor and the balconies. I j In support of the right to strike, Mr. ' j Gompers declared that the coal miners' I strike took boys out of the mines; that the textile workers' strike brought, children out of the mills and put them in the schools, while the strike in tho needle trades broke up the sweatshops when laws had failed to do so. Gov. Allen's industrial commandment was "you shall not conspire to shut down the industry necessary to the I welfare of the people." "When the general public says we have had enough of this," he said, "it's over." M". "Who controls the divine right to "quit work?" Gov. Allen asked. He was answered wtih cheers and boos. The debate called for no decision, ' the committees in charge having purposely pur-posely divided the house equally between be-tween supporters of each speaker. NEW YORK, May 2S. Carnegie JfHall was packed to the doors tonight J;wken Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, and -Governor Henry J. Allen of Kansas, --met to debate the merits of the recent-ly recent-ly enacted Kansas industrial court law -and kindred subjects. Judge Alton B. Parker presided, jj Mr. Gompers and Gov. Allen walked non the stage shortly after S o'clock, -while the audience rose and cheered. 33ach was followed by a large body of lleupporters. When the first wave of I Tcheering had subsided a band struck up, "There'll Be a" Hot Time in the '.Old Town Tonight." j Mr. Gompers, the first speaker, prefaced pre-faced his argument with the announce-'inent announce-'inent that he had been in conference fdurlng the day with representatives of thb striking- longsl?4remen and that they had authorized .him to state that I -they were willing "tb submit pending controversies to a fair and unbiased , ;board of arbitration and will pledge ItheniBelves In advance to abide from Its decision." i He declared further that the lbng-'shoremen lbng-'shoremen would return to work within iBbc hours after the steamship companies compan-ies have signified their willingness to 1 arbitrate. ' Herbert Hoover, Dr. Nicholas M. But-I But-I ler, J. W. Gerard, Henry P.- Davison, Gr. W. Wickersham, Paul M. Warburg, , Taul D. Cravath, George Foster Pea-body Pea-body and Miss Mary Garrett Hay were among those occupying seats on the J platform or in the boxes when the de- bate began. I I At Parting of the Ways, i . "We are now at the parting of tire j! 1 ways In the great controversies which ij are now occupying the minds of the people," declared Mr. Gompers, beginning begin-ning his direct argument of the de- 1 bate. "On the one hand, we have the j great constructive movement for pro- , I gress for civilization and with all the j tasks these Impose, and on the other i hand, wo have those who are leading I the course of reaction, of injustice, of tyranny. The time is at hand when ! there must be determined whether the j eternal principles of freedom, justice i and democracy shall hold sway or be ; i supplanted by the tyranny and the in- l justice of old." i Labor's Fundamental Principles. lj Mr. Gompers said he wanted to lay I r down a few fundamental principles, c and one of his executive committee, j ( Mrs. Sarah A. Conboy, read the fol- i t lowing statement' C "The fact that" the voluntary organl- zations of the wage workers -are declared de-clared by tho courts to be trusts and i combinations in Illegal restraint of h trade, does not necessarily so consti- tute them. In fact, the unions of workers work-ers are not such. None of their achievements in behalf of tho toilers or society at large can be confused with the selfish and pernicious activities activ-ities of the illegal trusts. Tructc Essentially Different. "The trust, even at its best, is an organization of n few to monopolize production, and control distribution of material products. The voluntary associations as-sociations of tho wage workers for mutual mu-tual benefit and assistance are essentially essen-tially different. Tho fact must not be lost sight of that the power of labor la-bor is not a material commodity. There can be no trust in anything which is not yet produced." Resuming his address, Mr. Gompers said: "There is a common error in the mind of a large number of our people, and peoples of the whole world, who confuse the term 'labor and capital as being in exactly equal position toward to-ward each other. The fact of the matter mat-ter is that capital is the product of labor. "The difference between a slave and a free man is that the slave must work when his master or owner directs and wills. The free man may stop his work, and whatever consequences of suffering that may be involved is his suffering and the suffering of no one else. The right of a free man to dispose dis-pose of himself, of his labor and his labor power has been set forth in a supreme court decision In nn opinion read by tho then Associate Justice of tho Supreme court, Mr. Hughes in which the principle Is set forth clearly that no man 1b free, that Involuntary servitude exists, when a man must work against his will." Warning Is lacued. "There is one thing about the labor question which is axiomatic," Mr. Gompers declared, "and that is, If you attempt to outlaw strikes by legislation, legisla-tion, depend upon it, your law will be futile and you will simply, make criminals crim-inals and lawbreakers of workmen who are honest, patriotic citizens. "There is but one ground upon which any justification may be assumed to tie men to their jobs -and make strikes unlawful; that is the concession that our republican institutions and our democracy de-mocracy have ceased. Admit that and I havo no word to dobato, except that I combatted every moment of my life The Boston tea party waB a very nice affair. What was it except a strike against England, tyranny and injustice?" injus-tice?" Mr. Gompers' direct argument ended end-ed amid prolongod applause nnd cheers, at the conclusion of which a labor delegation presented him with a floral offering. |
