As Congress worked in the 1920s to draft immigration legislation, Samuel Gompers, president of the Executive Council of the American Federation of Labor voiced the concerns of the American working population. The correspondence is from the archives of H. Keith Thompson for the Thompson Collection in the Hoover Institution and was published in our Fall 1999 issue.April 28, 1921Mr. J. H. ReiterHaverford CollegeHaverford, Pa.Dear Sir Your letter of April 25 received and contents noted.You ask for information on the immigration question. The American Federation of Labor made an earnest effort to have immigration restricted for at least two years. It also urged that an immigration law be enacted containing the provision that after that period of two years an order can be issued absolutely prohibiting immigration during times of unemployment.Congress, however, passed a bill providing that only three percent of any one nationality, based on the foreign population of 1910, could enter the United States. This was not signed by the President. At the next session of Congress the American Federation of Labor will continue to urge the passage of legislation restricting immigration for two years or more.Every citizen of the United States should make protest against the influx of people from other countries. It is estimated that there are 5,000,000 unemployed in the country at the present time with the number increasing rapidly. In October 101,000 immigrants arrived in this country; in November, 103,000. Abbyy lingvo live. According to steamship men 10,000,000 people could be brought into this country in the next ten months if ships were available. This estimate is based on applications for passage already received. So many have moved from Belgium and Germany to Holland that tens of thousands of Hollanders have been forced to leave their country for the United States. When peace is declared between the United States and Austria, floods of residents of these countries will come to America. You can then very well understand that the United States is deeply interested in immigration.So many immigrants coming into this country will break down the standard of living of our people. In 1905 when efforts were made in Congress to open the doors to Oriental immigration the American Federation of Labor declared We make no pretense that the exclusion of Chinese can be defended upon a high ideal, ethical ground, but we insist that it is our essential duty to maintain and preserve our physical condition and standard of life and civilization, and thus to assure us the opportunity for the development of our intellectual and moral character. Self-preser-vation has always been regarded as the first law of nature. It is a principle and a necessity from which we ought not and must not depart.Shutting out from our shores the poor of other nations and races is caused by the law of necessity and self-protection consequent upon our industrial system. Labor does not desire to erect a wall around our country and prevent the poor of other nations from entering. It does not declare that America is for Americans alone, but it does insist that there should be and must be some restriction of immigration that will prevent disintegration of American economic standards.Those who favor unrestricted immigration care nothing for the people. They are simply desirous of flooding the country with unskilled as well as skilled labor of other lands for the purpose of breaking down American standards. You must not forget that if low wages, long hours of employment and unbearable working conditions are signs of prosperity China and India would be the greatest commercial and industrial countries in the world. They have no strikes in China. It is the Utopia of the 'open Shop.' America, however, where men are free to voice their desires for greater and still greater advancement in economic conditions, is the greatest country on earth. Its people live better than anywhere else, and the trade unions are responsible for maintaining those standards. Those who believe in unrestricted immigration want this country Chinaized. Call of duty modern warfare keygen download. But I firmly believe there are too many right-thinking people in our country to permit such an evil.Very truly yours,(s) Samuel GompersPresident,American Federation of Labor
Samuel Gompers Fun Facts
Samuel Gompers, (born January 27, 1850, London, England—died December 13, 1924, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.), American labour leader and first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Gompers emigrated in 1863 from England to New York City, where he took up his father's trade of cigar making and in 1872 became a naturalized citizen. Samuel Gompers was the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor; it is to him, as much as to anyone else, that the American labor movement owes its structure and characteristic strategies. Samuel Gompers was born in London and came to America with his family in 1863. Samuel Gompers was an early labor leader, first in his own union and later as president of the American Federation of Labor. As its president nearly continuously between 1886 and 1924, Gompers led the labor movement in achieving solid gains for workers. Samuel Gompers was born in London, England on January 27, 1850. He was born to a Jewish family that had originally come from Amsterdam. He began his education by attending the Jewish Free School. A 1982 statue honoring labor leader Samuel Gompers, the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL, now the AFL-CIO), was removed in March from its Market Street location due to significant structural issues. In vacating its spot, the statue has made way for the new River Walk Public Art Garden, a concept first.
Samuel Gompers, (born January 27, 1850, London, England—died December 13, 1924, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.), American labour leader and first president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL). Gompers emigrated in 1863 from England to New York City, where he took up his father's trade of cigar making and in 1872 became a naturalized citizen. Samuel Gompers was the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor; it is to him, as much as to anyone else, that the American labor movement owes its structure and characteristic strategies. Samuel Gompers was born in London and came to America with his family in 1863. Samuel Gompers was an early labor leader, first in his own union and later as president of the American Federation of Labor. As its president nearly continuously between 1886 and 1924, Gompers led the labor movement in achieving solid gains for workers. Samuel Gompers was born in London, England on January 27, 1850. He was born to a Jewish family that had originally come from Amsterdam. He began his education by attending the Jewish Free School. A 1982 statue honoring labor leader Samuel Gompers, the first and longest-serving president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL, now the AFL-CIO), was removed in March from its Market Street location due to significant structural issues. In vacating its spot, the statue has made way for the new River Walk Public Art Garden, a concept first.
Samuel Gompers Facts
Labor leader and founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), Samuel Gompers lived and worked in this house in DC's Bloomingdale neighborhood. The modest brick rowhouse served not only as his residence, but also as a forum for labor organizing and political debate. A former cigar maker, Gompers was president of the AFL for 37 years during which time he transformed labor conditions of workers across the nation.
Born into a working-class Jewish family in London tenement housing in 1850, Gompers and his family immigrated to New York City during the Civil War. Long before he rose to prominence as a spokesperson for organized labor, his father, Solomon, taught him the cigar-making trade. In 1864, Samuel joined the Cigar Makers Local Union No. 15. At age 17, he left his father to work in a New York City cigar factory. Around this time, he met and married Sophia Julian. They would remain married until her death in 1920.
Although he had little formal education, Gompers' learned through experience as he established himself at the factory. It was the custom at that time for one of the workers to read aloud to the others as they labored. All manner of social, economic, and political commentary was read and discussed, and it was here that Gompers was first awakened to the critical works of European intellectuals like Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Ferdinand Lassalle.
In 1875, Gompers became president of the Local 144 of the Cigar Makers International Union in New York City. Under his direction, the union professionalized by establishing a leadership hierarchy and creating an operating fund. It also adopted, or prepared to adopt, sickness, accident, and unemployment benefits.
Gompers became known for his poignant speeches and passionate appeals. He championed collective bargaining and contracts. His revitalization of the union prompted workers in other trades to model their labor organizations after the Cigar Makers International Union.
In 1877, Gompers and other union workers organized the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States of America and Canada, which became the AFL in 1886. This federation, comprised of various trade unions, collectively advocated for their rights. Gompers was elected president of the new organization, and served in that position (with the exception of the year 1895) until his death in 1924. Gompers succeeded in making the AFL the strongest voice for organized labor in the United States.
The AFL moved its headquarters from Indianapolis to Washington, D.C. in 1897 in order to give more direct attention to legislative affairs affecting the union. Gompers and his family lived in the three-story row-house on First Street, NW for 15 years (1902-1917). His house became a discussion center on labor issues and how to solve them.
By 1919 Samuel Gompers was at the height of his power and fame, and president of the largest trade union organization in the world. During World War I, AFL membership skyrocketed from two million to four million members. On behalf of President Woodrow Wilson, Gompers, as part of the Commission on International Labor Legislation, participated in the peace negotiations in Europe. This led him to international fame.
Gompers' health began to decline just as he reached the pinnacle of power. He suffered increasingly from kidney problems, and in April 1919 lost his eyesight. He could no longer work without assistance and only lived five years longer. Samuel Gompers died in 1924 at the age of 74, after attending a meeting of the Pan-American Federation of Labor in Mexico City. He is buried in Sleepy Hollow, New York.
Gompers worked tirelessly throughout his life in to increase the laborer's share of the profits of industrialism. As AFL president, Gompers believed there was only one direction toward which labor could unite: more wages, shorter hours, better working conditions. He directed all of his energies toward a realization of these goals for American workers. The house on First Street NW, which became a National Historic Landmark in 1974, still stands to commemorate him.
Sources:
'Samuel Gompers.' AFL-CIO.
'Samuel Gompers.' Jewish Virtual Library.
'Samuel Gompers, Labor's Grand Old Man.' Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room. The Library of Congress.
'The Samuel Gompers Papers.' The University of Maryland.
National Historic Landmark Nomination of the Samuel Gompers House.
National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are historic places that possess exceptional value in commemorating or illustrating the history of the United States. The National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks Program oversees the designation of such sites. There are just over 2,500 National Historic Landmarks. All NHLs are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
