of the Legislature the act was further amended, increasing the amount of the penalty for the violation of the Child Labor law. This progress, though slight, will be the means of encouraging our State and District Federation to further endeavors in behalf of protection for the children. At the instance of our Federation a very complete bill was introduced in the House of Dele. gates, on March 4, 1912, and after persistent endeavors on the part of our State Federation officials and kindred organizations, the bill was enacted into law. L. A. STERNE, D. F. MANNING, Delegates to Maryland and District of Columbia Federation of Labor Conventions. Michigan. KALAMAZOO, MICH., March 16, 1912. The State Federation of Labor secured amendments to the acts regulating the employment and school attendance of children, at the session of the Legislature in the spring of 1911. The act governs the hours per day to be worked, the hours per week to be worked, the regulation of night work; prohibits the employment of children in certain occupations; provides more drastic requirements for proof of age and granting of permits; increases the penalty for false statements. Taking it all in all, we feel that the accomplishments of the Michigan State Federation of Labor in behalf of the children during that session of the Legislature were eminently successful. Fraternally yours, HOMER F. WATERMAN, Secretary-Treasurer, Michigan Federation of Labor. Texas. DENISON, TEX., May 11, 1912. For some time the labor forces in Texas have been battling for an improvement of the Child Labor law of Texas, because of its defectiveness. We believe that organized labor has educated the masses of people in our State to the point where there will be little if any opposition to compulsory education, one of the preferred measures adopted by the Texas State Federation of Labor at the recent Palestine convention. If we can get this law through the next State Legislature, our child labor problem will be solved in spite of all opposition. Fraternally yours, R. M. HALEY, Secretary, Denison Labor Trades Council. Virginia. RICHMOND, VA., March 6, 1912. The laws enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia in the interest of children, during the last six years, have been the result of efforts put forth by the labor organizations of the State, but at the present session of the General Assembly the labor organizations, to a large extent, have been assisted by other public spirited organizations. In the past, the efforts of the Virginia Federation of Labor to secure adequate Child Labor legislation have been minimized by the cotton mill owners, who succeeded in making the farming interests believe that the legislation sought was detrimental to agriculturists and would prevent the working of children on farms. As the Gen eral Assembly of Virginia has been controlled in the past by farming interests and corporation attorneys, it can be readily seen why our efforts have not been more successful. But, at the present session of the Legislature, we succeeded in having the farming interests co-operate with us, and, with the assistance of the most influential women in the State, we are in hopes that we shall be able to overcome the influence of the mill owners and the corporation attorneys who do not hesitate to say that they will see to it that no laws are passed at this session of the Legislature that will interfere with their clients-the mill owners. The great assistance given in this fight for the welfare of children by the National Child Labor Com. mittee, of which the officers of the State Federation are a part, can not be overestimated and is fully appreciated by the labor organizations. The assistance given us by Miss Mary Johnston and many other leading women of the State has served to prove to the labor men who have conducted this fight single handed in the past, that the most powerful allies in such a struggle are the women, who are untiring in their efforts to relieve the horrible industrial conditions under which the children work in the cotton and knitting mills. The Virginia Federation of Labor is engaged in educating the people of the State to the true conditions under which children are employed, and at the next session of the General Assembly we will make such demand that the State of Virginia shall have the best laws for the protection of the children. Fraternally yours, E. C. DAVISON, Secretary, West Virginia. CHARLESTON, W. VA., May 2, 1912. Due to the persistence and activity of the organ. ized labor forces of West Virginia, we succeeded in securing amendments to the law regulating the employment of children, increasing the age limit requiring certificates, centralizing enforcement of penalty, and in other ways strengthening the provisions of the act. In fact, this was the only piece of constructive legislation, outside of the appointment of a commission to investigate employers' liability and workmen's compensation, which was enacted by the State Legislature in the interest of labor during that session. We hope to be able to make a more extensive report on such matters at the close of the next session of our State Legislature. Fraternally yours, FRANK W. SNYDER, Secretary-Treasurer, West Virginia State Federation of Labor. Wyoming. CHEYENNE, Wyo., May 25, 1912. During the last session of the Legislature we caused to be introduced in the Senate a bill limiting the hours of employment for women and chil dren under 18 years of age, to eight hours per day. The bill passed the Senate but received a cold reception in the House. The speaker, instead of referring it to the Committee on Labor, referred it to the Committee on Medical and Sanitary Affairs. This committee held the bill until we made it so hot for them that they turned it in, saying that it did not belong to their committee. It then went to the Committee on Ways and Means. We followed this committee up so closely they were not able to find any "ways and means" of disposing of it; so they turned it over to the sifting committee, thinking that this committee would never report it out, but, owing to the fact that we had one friend on this committee, we saw to it that the bill was reported out. When the bill reached the House and was in Committee of the Whole, the opponents tried to attach an amendment which would make it unconstitutional. We succeeded in defeating this objectionable amendment, and the bill finally went to third reading and was placed on its final passage, the vote being 39 ayes, 14 nays, and. 3 absentees. The bill having received the affirmative vote of all members elected to the House, the Speaker pro tempore declared the bill duly passed. It seems as though our opponents were determined that this bill should not become a law, for it never reached the Engrossing Committee, but turned up in the Senate with an amendment on it a week after the adjournment of the Legislature. The clerk's record in the House shows that the bill was turned over to him with the amendment attached to it. He forwarded it to the Senate asking them to concur in the amendment adopted by the House. There are no records in the Senate in regard to the bill whatever, but we found the bill there a week later after the clerk of the Senate had returned from a trip of 200 miles West. I give the Speaker pro tem. of the House the credit of kidnapping this bill; in fact, he does not deny it. Fraternally yours, C. R. MCKINSTRY, Secretary-Treasurer, CONVENTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL UNIONS, 1912. September, Boston, Mass., United Association of Plumbers, Gasfitters, Steamfitters and Steamfitters' Helpers of United States and Canada. September 2-3-4, Salt Lake City, Utah, National Federation of Post-office Clerks. September 9, St. Louis, Mo., Coopers' International Union of North America. September 9, Blue Island, Ill., International Brick, Tile, and Terra Cotta Workers' Alli ance. September 9, St. Paul, Minn., International Union of Steam Engineers. Second week in September, Denver, Colo., International Union of the United Brewery Workmen. September 12, Boston, Mass., Spinners' International Union. September 13-14, New York City, Pocket Knife Blade Grinders and Finishers' National Union. September 16, Peoria, Ill., International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers. September 17, Washington, D. C., United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of Amer ica. September 17, Baltimore, Md., Cigarmakers' International Union. September 30, Milwaukee, Wis., Operative Plasterers' International Association of the United States and Canada. October 7, Indianapolis, Ind., International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen, and Helpers of America. November 4, St. Louis, Mo., International Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes. November 11, Rochester, N. Y., American Federation of Labor. First week in December, New York City, International Alliance of Billposters and Billers of America. LABOR DAY EDITORIAL. By SAMUEL GOMPERS. Social wisdom has decreed that we set aside certain days as dedicated to great epoch-making decisions and to purposes that have determined the destiny of the people. "Holy days," as the older form indicates, are days consecrated when men review past associations and victories, consider the present, and gird themselves for the future. The immediate daily problems are so insistent; each day's work so full; purposes, ideals, proper proportions, are so obscured by direct contact with seeming necessities, that we need occasionally to lay aside ordinary affairs lest we forget the forces that made us, the ideals that have guided us-the things of greater import. Most of our national holidays are associated with crises in our country's history, with deeds of men who decided great questions. To unite in honoring their work and in contemplation of their patriotism, means the quickening of devotion to country, the nurturing of emotions of incalculable value. Many of these celebrations are connected with the unusual, but one concerns itself primarily with the things of every day life-Labor Day. The emotions which lie deepest are those associated with the common things of daily living the common life we share with our fellow-men. Those things which are so intimately interwoven with our existence, that we scarcely can tell where self begins and they cease are generally valued crudely. To assign them their true values requires that we step aside from our egoistic viewpoint and regard these familiar elements externally, thereby to appreciate how essential is each minutest part to the whole of life, that importance is not absolute but relative. Labor Day serves this function for organized labor. In innumerable ways devotion to principles and organizations is revived-by the intercourse of kindred spirits, the taking stock of achievements, the big, wordless inspiration and feeling of power that grows as comrades march shoulder to shoulder and feel that they are typifying the common purpose, the common cause of the workshop, and the uplift of all humanity. It is a day that leaves the workman with a deeper appreciation of what his union has done for him, a keener realization of the necessity of maintaining the organization and more conscientiously performing duties that repetition has made seem commonplace. It is a day that reveals again the truth-nothing touching human experience is commonplace. But the influences from the celebration do not stop with the organized workers. The day carries messages to the unorganized toilers, and to the general public. To the former its significance arises from contrasts which serve as a spur to their pride and ambition. The public is afforded an illustration in concrete form, of the strength of the movement and the principles for which it stands. Intellectual and emotional forces are most elusive of measurement, yet it is certain that even the most thoughtless, viewing the ranks of strong, earnest men peacefully and inspiringly marching onward, with banners lifted on high, can not but register some impression that will have its bearing in making up that intangible something we call public opinion. To the open-minded citizens, there drifts in a new realization of the great social force at work that the working people may share opportunities equally with all mankind, that social justice may prevail. It is a sacred trust you have, organized men of labor, this bearing and lifting of the burden of the poor. Ours is a high calling that needs strong, true, honest, able men and women to whom "all men count, but none too much." 'Twas a wise man who chose to write the songs of his nation for he chose to mold the emotions that are the springs to all action. There are wordless songs for those who can hear, songs of truth and the meanings of life and nature. Such a song of labor and humanity is the inspiration of Labor Day. LABOR'S PROGRESS AND HOPE. We have used the phrase "Labor's Progress and Hope" as the title for this issue, for the guiding motive in its preparation has been to convey some conception of the achievements of organized labor in America. The contents represent only a partial summary of Labor's successes and cheering prospects for future progress. To relate all that has been done in the many fields of activity, to trace, in a comprehensive way, the effects of Labor's accomplishments through their many ramifications would be a superhuman taskencyclopædic in volume. Our object is to record in a more general manner the economic and material advantages that have come to the toilers through the instrumentality of the organized labor movement, not to record the legislative enactments of Federal, State, or local governments. Such digests may be secured from various sources readily accessible. The import of our message is the meaning of these laws in human terms and experiences, their bearing upon social welfare and individual development, and the agency which secured them. We would regard this legislative activity in its proper relation as only a medium for serving the purposes and welfare of humanity. Hence it is not the laws we would emphasize, but their social value in securing the health, safety, and comfort of the working people. Labor legislation is an attempt to solve some of the problems of labor which are the problems of life. The records of Labor's progress and achievements are stored away in the archives of the various labor organizations throughout the continent of America, but the effects of these accomplishments are patent to any thoughtful observer-in the homes and lives of America's toilers, in the greater comfort, dignity, and joy of their living. Perhaps some day the real history of the labor movement may be written, but not now. We are too close to events to get proportions, or to estimate the dynamic power of policies, movements, or men-things are yet too warm from human contact to be estimated coolly and impartially. Those who know the data best, are too busy making history to take time for the writing, even could they give the real interpretation. What Labor has done is the result of persistent, well directed, rational activity. Conserving our energy through wise generalship, appreciating unity of interests, realizing the economic and psychic value of solidarity, the toilers in their organized capacity have day by day presented their claims and demands, slowly, aye, perhaps all too slowly, but surely, made advancements. We have said slowly, all too slowly, have advancements been madebut made as fast, however, as the organization, the intelligence and the solidarity of the workers were made manifest. As each upward step afforded a wider view and presented greater opportunities and possibilities, Labor did not stop or stay in contentment, but pressed onward, upward after the better things ever just beyond. Such is the law of life and development. Some of the things Labor has done in this process of development we attempt to present in this issue. These achievements are most gratifying; they crown Labor's endeavors with satisfaction that encourages all to continue; they open up a hope-filled vista leading on to better things. But while there are joy, hope, and courage in meditating upon what is, it should not be forgotten that work lies before us all, exigent, difficult, dangerous, and that so long as one man, woman, or child does not share the opportunity of self-realization, social justice prevails not. A great work lies just ahead. Labor Day is the time for introspection, for recounting experiences and achievements, as well as an inspiration for future endeavor. Men of Labor, be up and doing! Organize the yet unorganized. Let unity, solidarity, and federation be our guiding stars of activity and hope. The future is ours. In the August issue of the AMERICAN FEDERATIONIST we published the LABOR ON GUARD AND INSISTENT-NO. 3. labor planks incorporated in the platforms of the Republican and Democratic parties. This month we publish excerpts from the addresses of acceptance made by the men who are the representatives chosen by these parties as their candidates for President. The following excerpts from President Taft's speech of acceptance bear upon the subject of pending and future legislation affecting Labor: "Congress has sought to encourage the movement toward eight hours a day for all manual labor by the recent enactment of a new law on the subject more stringent in its provisions regarding works on Government contracts. "In the making of the contract of employment between a railway employe and the the company, the two do not stand on an equality, and the terms of the contract which |