The G. A. R. and the Union Label
The delegates to the New York State convention of the Grand Army of the Republic, recently held at Buffalo, declined to adopt a resolution contained in a letter from the Allied Printing Trades Council, that all printed matter used by the department shall bear the union label. The old veterans evidently realize that they stand as representatives of the whole people—as they did during the war—and not as champions of a class or trust. As defenders of the flag, and coming from all classes, they could not consistently imagine, much less assume, that the emblem of liberty is designed to wave over a select few, who would fain be recognized as having the right to a monopoly of any line of industry. Surely the G. A. R. ought to be the very last element to be drawn into anything like a factional contention, or the granting of special favors to any class of citizens.