AFTER THE FIRST BATTLE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 2 March 1907, Page 9

AFTER THE FIRST BATTLE.

ByH. H. LUSK. The first political struggle. In which organised labour in America was engaged as a separate parly took place at the general elections of November last. The event was probably in some respects the most important that has yet happened in the political development of the great American Republic, as sit certainly was the least expected by the professional politicians of the country. The growing discontent of the labour unions with the legislation, both of the Federal and State Parliaments, indeed, was well known, and their even greater dissatisfaction at tiie way in which the laws were administered was no secret, but the prevalent idea was that the matter would stop there. , In seme respects the average American is, decidedly conservative in his ideas, and in politics especially he finds it hard to imagine any serious change taking place. The appeal made to the President by the Council of the Labour Federation of America was read with a smile by American politicians in the early months" of last year, and nothing was farther from the anticipations of the bosses and leaders of the two eld-established parties thanthat the implied threat which it contained would come to anything. That it did so, and did it, moreover, on such short notice, was both a surprise and a shock such as they never before experienced. The decision come to by the leaders of unionist labour to break away from all the traditions of American politics by form-, ing a third parti', intended to be taken seriously, was Arrived at most reluctantly, and, it may be added, it was too late to be given full effect to at the elections of last year. It was not only that the work of organisation could not be at once hurriedly and effectively done, but the peculiar methods of American politics are such as to make it almost impossible to do anything at once hastily and effectively.. Under the circumstances it -was found impossible, even if it had been desirable, to hold a Labour Convention for the purpose of nominating candidates and formally agreeing on a political platform to lay before the electors. That it was not considered advisable to make the attempt need surprise nobody when it is remembered what an opportunity such a meeting would have afforded "the opponents of the new departure in politics to sow, dissension in the ranks of the new. and as yet, unconsolidated party. No such tempt; therefore, was made, and the rival, Conventions of Republicans and Democrats were held as' usual in June andJuly. The feeling of danger wasj bowever; in the political atmosphere; and not only did the questions specially affectingLabour occupy a larger place both in the discussions and ■ formal declarations • of policy than usual, but the Labour leaders were in many cases approached on the question of the nominations that would be most agreeable to them both for the , Federal and State Parliaments. In some of

the States in which the Unionist vote was unusually strong—as. for instance, in Pennsylvania, where the coal-miners' unions command about one-fourth of the votes—they even went so far as to nominate on the Republican party ticket wellknown Union men for seats in Congress and in the State Parliament.

In the meantime, the Council of the Federation of Labour' made no sign, and was careful to commit itself to nobody and to nothing. The work of consolidating and accustoming the minds of the workers to the new policy, and what it might involve, was quite enough to attend to, and it is no exaggeration to say that it was well done. The field to be covered was a wide one, and the difficulties and prejudices to be overcome were, as had been foreseen, many; the result arrived at, under the circumstances, was far in advance of anything anticipated by their opponents, or, indeed, by. any but the most sanguine of their own party.

It was not until the conventions of both the great parties had been held that the work of the Labour leaders really began. They then knew exactly what candidates were proposed on cither side, and were able to decide which of these were to be looked upon as friends and which as enemies _ of their cause, both in the National Congress and State Parliaments. For the most part, indeed, it may be said, with very few exceptions, the selected candidates were the best friends to the

demands of labour, subject to the needs of their own party, but there were a good many—especially among the Republican nominees—who were notoriously creatures of the Trusts and firmly opposed to every one of Labour's demands. The policy adopted by the Council of the Federation of Labour was to oppose the notorious enemies of the cause in every case by throwing all the weight of the votes at their command into the scale opposed to them, and to do so with special- force and energy in cases in which the > nominee of the opposite party—as a general rule the Democratic nominee-r-was known to be friendly. In this way, although no convention was held, and no list of Labour candidates put forward, the new political party was able to take a very real part in the elections, and one which resulted .in some actual gains of voting power in the Legislatures, and ia v a great educational step for its members.

As a matter of fact, four Labour meu were "actually returned as members of Congress—all- four of them from Pennsylvania, and all well-known Labour leaders, though hitherto staunch Republicans. Their nomination was undoubtedly intended as a sop to the new party, whose attitudei was uncertain,, and their subsequent election, after it was- clear that the Council of the new party was far from well-disposed towards most of the Republican- candidates, is a tribute to the strength of the Unions in Republican Pennyslvania. Nearly, every one of the State Parliaments has now in addition a small section of members who will form the beginning ol a

Labour party there, and in several of them it is large enough to demand consideration from both the other parties, where they chance to be at all equal in numbers. As the Labour party put forward no candidates directly, the struggle was not a straightforward issue, but rather a matter of experimental training for the unionists, and; it really affords little or no indication of what can be done another year when the party is fully organised, and has a platform and candidates of its own. In spite of this, however, the results may be looked upon ao most satisfactory to the cause of labour in America.

The electoral campaign was an unusually bitter one, as it may be said to have been conducted almost entirely on personal lines. The American Press, never too particular at such times, outdid itself in the bitterness of its attacks on the Labour party and its' objects, but it was easy to read between the lines that surprise at the strength' of the' hew element, and uneasiness as to its future, were the chief reasons for the violence of the attacks made. To these attacks there was scarcely any reply on the part of Labour, and fortunately none was required. The Press of America is almost wholly in the hands of the capitalists, and it was in every instance their nominees, and subservient creatures, who ■ were opposed in the interests of labour everybody knew what to expect from their organs. The result, as has been said already, was a success, greater than had been* or could reasonably have been, expected under the circumstances. Briefly, it may be regarded as of three kinds. In the first place the elections themselves resulted in the defeat of at least 38 candidates for Congress, every one of whom-was a well-known opponent of all that the Labour party demanded, and had the strenuous support of the political machine of the Republican party. In addition to this hundreds of members were returned to the State Parliaments who were either unionists themselves or well-known as friends of the cause, and thus the nucleus ,i'aas been formed of a third party in nearly every State Legislature througnout the country. In the second place the effect of what was accomplished in so short a time has been to call the of both the older parties to the fact that a new power has made its appearance in the political field that cannot he disregarded. This will undoubtedly have'an influence at once both on the legislation arid administration of the whole country, in the hope of taking weapons out of the hands of Labour at next elections. Most important of all its results, however, are those on the ranks of organised Labour itself. Its leaders now know, what they only ventured to hope before, that the unions can be fused into a solid party, so powerful that it may hope ere long to take a leading part in the politics both of t the; States and Federation*