THE WORKINGMEN'S PROBLEM.
By Samuel Gompers
(By Samuel Gompers, copyright, in San Francisco "Examiner," by permission.) [On the two questions, "What are the fundamental differences between capital and labor?" "What is necessary in order to a permanent settlement and peace between the two great forces?" we asked Mr. Samuel Gompers, as the leading representative of labor, for an article for this issue, but received the reply that he was "so crowded with work" in connection with the position he holds, as president of the American Federation of Labor, and editor of the "American Federationist," that it was "absolutely out of the question" to comply with our request. He suggested the reproduction of an editorial from his paper, but designated none. We therefore reproduce, by permission, the following, which appeared in the San Francisco "Examiner" some months ago.] The problem that confronts labor at the outset of the year 1903 is, "How to get more." The workers want more wages; more of the comforts of life; more leisure; more chance for self-improvement as men, as trade unionists, as citizens. These were the wants of yesterday; they are the wants of to-day; they will be the wants of to-morrow, and of to-morrow's morrow. The struggle may assume new forms, but the issue is the immemorial one,—an effort of the producers to obtain an increasing measure of the wealth that flows from their production. It is the never-ending struggle for a fairer, a more equal distribution of wealth. What human motive could be more just, what more far-reaching than this? For upon a better distribution of wealth depends the physical, the mental, and the moral improvement of the working masses, the brawn and sinew of the nation. This fairer distribution of wealth manifests itself by yielding more of the necessities and comforts of life to a lessening effort,—in an increasing of wages, a shortening of the working hours, and an amelioration in other hard, working conditions of life. Advancement along these lines changes and recasts the character of the working people. If, then, the problem of labor is, "How to get more," the question of how the more is to be obtained must be pertinent. It must become a part of the problem facing labor in 1903.4It may be assumed that, by comparison with conditions of a century or more ago, the scale of wages has risen, the hours of labor have lessened, and the general conditions of toil have improved. This can be ascribed to no other cause than to the constant, concerted, intelligent effort of trade unionism. The workers now enjoy as a reality what the workers of generations before only dreamed of; because, banded together, they have had the spirit to see, the courage to demand, and the power to obtain a larger measure of social justice. And, in my judgment, it is in the efforts of trade unionism that the hope of further betterment for the masses lies. Now, if trade unionism has achieved so much for labor in the past, the more numerous, closer, and yet more intelligent trade unionism with which we commence the year 1903 gives high promise for the future in this country. Let us consider this somewhat. There have been a number of large general labor organizations in this country, and there have been in Great Britain numerous federations of labor unions. But there has never been anywhere in the world a federation of labor so powerful in numbers and so varied in its features as is the organization of which I have the honor to be president, the American Federation of Labor. There are in the United States, I believe, something less than sixteen million wage-earners. Of this number, about two and a half millions are organized. In Great Britain there is an annual trade-union congress, which deals with political and legislative matters interesting the working masses. There is also in that country a trade-union federation that avoids politics, and which deals only with economic questions and trade disputes. The American Federation of Labor embodies both of these lines of work, with the additional lines of educating and organizing. With this mighty army of organized workmen, we advance with confidence in the general cause of labor upon the now opening year. If it be said that the trusts represent multiplied and increasing power of the employers, that need cause trade unionists small apprehension. The employing combination in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania was never so strong as during the past summer; yet trade unionism there proved itself still stronger. If the association of capital and monopoly in combinations and trusts is bringing the management of industries into a few hands, those hands will be directed by the consciousness that ruptures with labor can only lead to strikes and lockouts that must be more extensive and more expensive than ever before. Hence the tendency will be to avoid ruptures through conciliation, and to settle differences by arbitration—not compulsory arbitration, for that may involve the forcible curtailment of liberty, to which workmen will not and should not submit, but free and voluntary arbitration. It is therefore with confident hope that I behold labor address itself at the opening of the year 1903 to the problem of “How to get more.”