,:"'
The Commot
12
VOL. 17, NO. 5
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Labor's Position in Peace or War
fBelow will bo found tho complete declaration
adoptod by the labor conference hold at Wash
ington, March 12, In relation to labor's policy
in peace or war. Tho naturo of this declaration
makes it a document of national and historical
importance at tho presont time. Ed.
Washington, D. C,. March 12, 1917.
A conference of tho representatives of tho na
tional andinternational trade unions of Amer
ica, called by tho executive council of tho Amer
ican Federation of Labor, was held in tho
American Federation of Labor Building, March
12, 1917, in. which conference tho representa
tives of affiliated national and International
trade unions and tho railroad brotherhoods par
ticipated. Tho executive council of tho American Fed
eration of Labor had tho subject-matter for
three days under advisement prior to tho con
ference and submitted a declaration to the con
ference. Tho entiro day was given over to a
discussion of tho recommendation and such
suggestions as were submitted. After a thor
ough discussion tho following document was
adoptod by a unanimous voto:
We speak for millions of Americans. We
are not a sect. Wo are not a party. Wo rep
resent tho organizations held together by the
pressure of our common needs. Wo represent
the part of tho nation closest to tho funda
mentals of life. Those wo represent wield tne
nation's tools and grapple with the forces that
are brought under control in our material civ
ilization. The power and use of industrial tools
(is greater than tho tools of war and will in time
supersedo agencies of destruction.
A world war is on. The time has not yet
coma when war has been abolished.
"Whether we approve it or not, wo must rec
ognize that war is a situation with which we
must reckon. The present European war, in
volving as it does tho majority of civilized na
tions and affecting- tho industry and commerce
of the whole world, threatens at any moment
to draw all countries, including our own, into
the conflict. Our immediate problem, then, is
to bring to bear upon war conditions instruc
tive forethought, vision, principles of human
welfare, and conservation that should direct our
course in every eventuality of life. The way to
avert war is to establish constructive- agencies
for justice in times of peace and thus control
for peaco situations and forces that might
otherwise result in war.
The methods of modern warfare, its new tac
tics, its jjrast organization, both, military and in
dustrial, present problems vastly differentVfrom
those of previous wars. But the nation's prob
lems afford an opportunity for tho establish
ment of new freedom and wider opportunities
for all tho people. Modern warfare includes
contests between workshops, factories, tho land,
financial and transportation resources of the
countries involved; and necessarily applies to
' the relations between employers and employes,
and as our own country now faces an impend
ing peril, it is fitting that tho masses of tho
people of the United States should take counsel
and determine what course they shall pursue
should a crisis arise necessitating the protection
of our republic as;d defense of the ideals for
which it standsi
In the struggle between tho forces of democ
racy and special privilege, for just and historic
reasons the masses of the people necessarily
represent the ideals and tho institutions of dem-
" cracy. There is in organized society one po
tential organization whose purpose is to further
these ideals and Institutions i tho organized
labor movement.
In no previous war has the organized labor
movement taken a directing part.
Labor has riow reached an understanding of its
rights, of its' power and resources, of its value
and contributions to society, and must make
definite constructive proposals.
It is timely that we frankly present experi
ences and conditions which in former times
' havo prevented nations from benefiting by tho
voluntary, whole-hearted co-operation of wage
earners in war time, and then make sugges-
t "
tions how those hindrances to our national
strength and vigor can bo removed.
War has never put a stop to tho necessity for
struggle to establish and maintain industrial
rights. Wage-earners in war times muBt, as
has been said, keep ono eyo on tho exploiters
,at homo and tho other uppn the enemy threab
onlng the national government. Such exploita
tion mado it impossible for a "warring nation,
to mobilize effectively its full strength for out
ward defense.
Wo maintain that it is the fundamental step
in preparedness for tho nation to set its own
'house in order and to establish at home justice
in relations between men. Previous wars, for
whatever purpose waged, developed new opporr
tunities for exploiting wagcPearners. Not only
was there failure to recognize the necessity for
protecting rights of workers that they might
give that whole-hearted service to the country
that can como only when every citizen enjoys
rights, freedom and opportunity, but under
guise of national necessity, labor was stripped
of its means of defense against enemies at homo
and was robbed of the advantages, the protec
tions, the guarantees of justice that had been,
achieved after ages of struggle. For these rea
sons workers have felt that no matter what the
result of war, as wage-earners they generally
lost.
In previous times labor had no representa
tives in the councils authorized to deal with the
conduct of war. The rights, Interests and wel
fare of workers were autocratically sacrificed
for the slogan, of "national safety."
The European war has demonstrated the de
pendence of tho governments upon the co-operation
of tho masses of the people. Since the
masses perform indispensable service, it follows
that they should have a voice in determining
the conditions upon which they give service.
The workers of America mako known their
beliefs, their demands and their purposes
through a voluntary agency which they have es
tablished the organized labor movement. This
agency is not only the representative of those
who directly constitute it, but it is the repre
sentative of all those persons who have common
problems and purposes but who have not yet
organized for their achievement.
Whether in peace or in war the organized
labor movement seeks to make all else subor
dinate to human welfaro and human opportun
ity. The labor movement stands as the de
fender of this principle and undertakes to pro
tect the wealth-producers against the exhorbit
ant greed of special interests, against profiteer
ing, against exploitation, against the detestable
methods of irresponsible greed, against the in
humanity and crime of heartless corporations
and employers.
Labor demands the right in war times to be
the recognized defender of wage-earners against
the same forces which in former wars have
made national necessity an excuse for more
ruthless methods.
As the representatives of the wage-earners
we assert that conditions of work and pay in
government employment and in. all occupations
should conform to principles of human welfare
and justice.
A nation can not make an effective defense
against an outside danger if groups of citizens
are asked to take part in a war though smart
ing with a sense of keen injustice inflicted by
the government they are expected to and" will
defend.
The cornerstone of national defense is justice
In fundamental relations of life economic
jUSllCQ
The one agency which accomplishes this for
the workers is the organized labor movement.
2?J F?Ve8t S.texD t?,at can be made for national
f IT UL to uma ana throttle the organ
ized labor movement but to afford its greatest
scope and opportunity for voluntary effective
co-operation in spirit and in action.
??J?5 the l0TiS perIod In Mcb. it has been
establishing itself, the labor movement has fc
25 ?7?amlc force in owning the human
side of industry and commerce. It is a great
social factor, which must bo recognized in all
Plans which affect wage-earners.
Whether planning for peace or war thn
eminent must recognize the organized law
movement as the agency through which it t I
co-operato with wage-earners. h U must
Industrial justice is the right of thoso im
within our country. With this right tJ I g
associated obligation. In war time oblSJ8
takes the form of service in defense o no
public against enemies. n re
We recognize that this service may he eltw
military or industrial, both equally essential 1
fcattonai defense. We hold this to bo incontr
vertible that the government which aZT
that men and women give their law nda
their bodies or their lives to it servke Ed
also demand the service, in the interest of till
human beings, of all wealth and tho products
of human toil property. A UUCB
We hold that if workers may be askert in
time of national peril or emergency to -iJS
more exhausting service than the principles of
human welfare warrant, that service should hi
asked only when accompanied by increased
guarantees and safeguards, and when tho profits
which the employer shall secure from the in
duster in Which they are .engaged have been
limited to fixed percentages.
We declare that such determination of profits
should be base on costs of processes actually
needed for product.
Workers have no delusions regarding the
policy which property owners and exploiting
employers pursue in peace or in war and they
also recognize, that wrapped up with the safety
of this republic are ideals of democracy, a
heritage which the masses of the people received
from our forefathers, who fought that liberty
might live in this country a heritage that is
to be maintained and handed down to each gen
eration with undiminished power and useful
ness. The labor movement recognizes the value of
freedom and it knows that- freedom and rights
can be maintained only by those willing to as
sert their claims and to defend their rights.
The American labor movement has always op
posed unnecessary conflicts and all wars for
aggrandizement, exploitation and enslavement,
and yet it has done its part in the world's rev
olutions, in the 'struggles to establish greater
freedom, democratic institutions and ideals of
human justice.
Our labor movement distrusts and protests
against militarism, because it knows that mil
itarism, represents privilege and is the tool of
special interests, exploiters and despots. But
while it opposes militarismr it holds that it is
the duty of a nation to defend itself against in
justice and invasion.
The menace of militarism arises through iso
isolating the defensive functions of the state
from civic activities and from creating military
agencies out sof touch with the masses of tho
people. Isolation is subversive to democracy it
harbors and nurtures the germs of arbitrary
power.
The labor movement demands that a clear
differentiation be made against military service
for the nation and police duty, and that mili
tary service should be carefully distingushed
from service in industrial disputes.
We hold that industrial service shall be
deemed equally meritorious as military service.
Organization for industrial and commercial
service is upon a different basis from military
service the civic ideals still dominate. This
should be recognized in mobilizing for this pur
pose. The same voluntary institutions that or
ganized industrial commercial and transporta
tion workers in times of peace will best take
care of the same problems in time of war.
It is fundamental, therefore, that tho gov
ernment co-operate with the American organ
ized labor movement for this purpose. Service
in government factories and private establish
ments, in transportation agencies, all should
conform to trade union standards.
The guarantees of human conservation should
be recognized in war as well as in peace.
Wherever changes in the organization of indus
try are necessary upon a war basis, they shouia
be made in accord with plans agreed upon oy
representatives of the government and tnose
engaged and employed in the Industry. "J
recognize that in war, in certain employment
requiring- high skill, it is. necessary to retain w
industrial service the workers specially n"
therefor. In any eventuality when women may
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