The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 17, 1916, Page 11

i { | i | ! o G HEN an organization of work- ers will expend $303,000 in ~ a year for the purpose of keeping up the organization, and carrying out its purposes, they are confident it is an organization worth whi- le. People who work, whether they are ~mechanics, farm laborers, or farmers who own their own lands, do not draw excessive - reinrns from their labor. Many get only a bare living, and that has been found too true in many instances of the farmers of North Dakota. . Very rare are those individuals who can be considered “flush” on the basis of any money they get from labor alone. But even from these meager returns, the members of the American Federation of Labor last year expended $25,332 per month in the cause. - With this money they fought the effort of employers in many places to break up their organization and reduce them to individual weakness as they were before they united to enforce united demands. They extended their organization to new units "and to many new individuals. They paid the expense of 46 organizers and their salaries to repair fences that had been broken down, and to carry the gospel of organization to fellow workers. This one item of the 46 organizers and- their ‘expenses alone amounted to $72,342.90 for that year. - STEADY COGNTRIBUTIONS ARE MADE TO CAUSE “This was not an unusual year, as com- parisons of yearly expense from the annual report show. The lowest year’s expense shown for apy year since 1905 was $159,960, and the total for the past 10. yeafs was $2,238,429, or a yearly - average of $223,842. This expense has been climbing steadily and “aside from the item of $40,000 us>d for the national building, the balance sheet for 1915 was ghout like those of previous years, with a inght increase, ‘as has been customary . ever since the organization was formed. In introducing its annual report the. committee which framed it used language that might have been used by members of the Nonpartisan“League in setting forth the view of the North Dakota farmer on’ - their organization, when it said: -“It has become a generally accepted fact that all relations of life must be sd. organized that there shall be in exist- . erice agencies for constructive develop-: ment and gradual and natural pregress: —agencies whereby the problems arising in-these various relationships can be worked ‘out without u'phesvals or unnec-' essary disturbances.” “This is a generally accepted fact. . Organization is the only channel through which constructive development can take place. : EXPERIENCE OF FARMERS PROVES, LABOR’S DISCOVERY Farmérs of the prairie states have but’ to look back a few ‘years to recall the - time when they were wholly at the. mercy 'of the buyers of their produce. - They -are still at ‘their mercy except in- a lmut:ed degree and in certam places. s 'This plcture shows the 1916 executive council of the Amencan Federatlon of Lakor. The men stand lohn R. Alpine, H. B. Perham, Frank Duffy, William Green; those sitting are: Big Sums Spent Freely to Hold Men Together and to Carry on the Fight Through the formation of cooperative elevator companies, cooperative buying concerns, the Equity and the Equity Exchange, they have improved their position,. but all these agencies were forms of organization, and every one of them cost the farmers much hard-earned cash. Many farmers know that they paid out hundreds: of dollars to see such enter- prises win, and some of them-have been remarkably successful. “Some have failed,.as was inevitable. - But every suc- cessful enterprise that the farmers have undertaken has been successful only because of the organization back of it, and every such instance corroborates the statement above of the American Federation of Labor, that all relations of life must be organized. ‘»The "farmers’ organization in their purely commercial activities showed them two things: first the value of organization itself; second, that it was not alone in their commercial or econ- omic power that their prosperity lay, but in their political power as well. With knowledge of these two truths in their minds, they set about organizing a political ‘association that would repre- sent: them at their capital, dispose of some old legislation that clogged the way of progress, and substitute for its laws based upon conditions of today instead of yesterday. They were practicing what the laborers of the United States had learned was absolutely essential-as long as 35 or 40 years ago, and which they had with increasing success. been prac- ticing ever since..' FEDERATION EVERY YEAR PROVES ITS VALUE Last week the Leader touched upon a few of the many advantages.that have accrued to labor through. its now power- ful organization, and cited the instances. These might be repeated with scores of subsidiary organizations, and any one year of the history of the Federation vindicates the wisdom of the workels in having formed it. But this has cost money, and the determination of the workers as shown by their generous financial support through a long series of years is given in this artiele, to show how similar is the experience of all groups of produc- ers who organize to advance their own interests and those of their fellows. UNION MEN CONSIDER THEIR PAPER IMPORTANT The American Federation of - Labor, like the Nonpartisan League, has found it necessary to maintain a regular pub- lication through which it could reach its members, and give them the facts con- cerning their own affairs, that could not be obtained in any other newspaper or magazine in the United States. Last year this publication, which is a monthly, cost the organized laborers of the United States (that is, those embraced within"~ this ~organization) $35,294.06. The 12 issues cost on an average, $2941.17 each. But through it the leaders of the movement were able to inform their followers, and direct their efforts into channels where they would be most effective; were able to give warning of sinister attempts being made against them by Big Business and by legislative bodies; were able to carry the message of organization to unorgan- yzed communities and industries. Like the Nonpartisan League, the Federation of Labor has large job print- ing bills to pay, postage bills, traveling expenses, expressage, freight and dray- age. Its postage stamps for that one year cost it $4501.02, besides $1011 for stamped envelopes, and its drayage and similar expenses were $1173. The salaries and wages of its other office employes amounted to $41,730. Its bill for telegrams alone was $2090 64. Mr. L. J. Frazier, Hoople, N Dl Friend Frazier: or arguments to win. of the people of the state. ° Wlth best wishes to you, I am,” Burdlck Congratulates Frazier The Leader has received from Usher L. Burdick the following copy of a letter addressed to Lynn J. Frazxer, republican nominee for governor: Since the primary I have been out on the farm and haven’t attended to any correspondence.” I am now going ‘over my mail and want to congratulate yon on the splendid vote you received on June 28. As you know I tried to win but you will find that I used no urifair methods” So far as you were concerned I want to congratulate you upon your fair and manly statements made while you were out on the cam- paign. ' I differed with you on a question of principle only and now that you have won I hope your program w:ll work to the benefit of the great majority Under the primary law: you are entxtled to the support of the party and if I can"do you any.good in the fall campaign 1 shall be glad to'do what I can. Smcerely yours, ocoooooooooooooooooooo0000001“0ooooooooooooooo.oooooooc PAGE ELEVEN “Williston, N D., Aug 8, 1916. U. L. BURDICK. from left to rnght are: James O’Connell, Frank Mornscn, Samuel Gompers, John R. Lennon and James Duncan. ‘,.i..fi....‘..O...l........o....... Joseph F. Valentine, D. A. Hayes, All these things are but incidents of organization, and no orgamzatxon can be maintained without them in greater or less degree. No matter how great the enthusiasm of the members or how rapid their success in their efforts, there are these necessities to be met. No organization could curtail the efficiency of its working ‘mechanism and expect to continue getting results. No organization could afford to withhold enough support to keep up efficiency. It was with this idea in view that the mem- bership of the American Federation of Labor last year paid special assessments to fight the most desperate efforts of Big Business for its destruction. “No organization can foresee all the crises that may occur, and the American Federation of Labor was no exception. Its regular dues did not provide a suffic~ iently large fund to fight two of the biggest battles that the workers have ever had to fight against enemies seek- ing to crush them through the courts. The famous Danbury Hatters’ case, which has been known for several years was still pending. This was a suit against individual members of the hat- ters’ union for damages as the result of a boycott. To defend these men the feder- ation levied a special assessment which totaled near]y $12,000. The other case was that in the supreme court of the District of Columbia in which the Buck’s Stove & Range company had the Feder- ation officials cited for alleged contempt of court, and which cost the organized workers many thousands of dollars on special assessment. MONEY IS SET ASIDE TO HELP - WOMEN WORKERS After this case had been settled and all : expenses paid, there still remained - a balance of $4061 in this special fund, and the union, far from asking that it be refunded, set it aside for the organ- ization of women workers, thus reiter- atmg its faith in organization, and show- ing that the women, the weakest labor element in the country except little children, c¢an only hope for justice through forming an organization strong enough to enforce their rights. . "The whole history of this Federation of common working people is filled with - evidences of its faith in united and sus- tained action to procure justice, and one of them 1is the fact that a special assess- nient of one cent per member was levied to build up a fund for the organization of women workers. This. totaled for the year $9192, besides the $4061 just nientioned. One comment on the power of organ- ization in the 1915 annual report is worth quoting as showmg both sides of the question. It is this: “Fifty-five lockouts involving the entire membership (of the timber work- ers) were lost, resulting in wage reduc- tions; however average wages are still higher than those prevailing prior to organization.” What would the lot .of these workers have been had they never : orgamzed at all" RIS 2 i i : 2 -y S i £