" For, "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 generation with undiminished power and usefulness."
We quote at such length because this document gives the quintessence of
the wise labor statesmanship which this crisis brought so clearly to
light. Turning away from the pacifism of the Socialist party, Samuel
Gompers and his associates believed that victory over world militarism
as well as over the forces of reaction at home depended on labor's
unequivocal support of the government. And in reality, by placing the
labor movement in the service of the war-making power of the nation they
assured for it, for the time being at least, a degree of national
prestige and a freedom to expand which could not have been conquered by
many years of the most persistent agitation and strikes.
The War, thus, far from being a trial for organized labor, proved
instead a great opportunity.
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