Gompers

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

SAMUEL, an American labor leader, born in London, England, Jan. 27, 1850. He was apprenticed to a cigar maker as a young boy and came to the United States in 1863. In spite of his youth he became in the following year, 1864, the first registered member of the Cigar Makers' International Union, serving later as its secretary and president and making it one of most successful of all American trade unions. He was one of the founders of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR (q. v.), and the editor of its official magazine. In 1881 he was elected its vicepresident, and from 1882 on he was annually elected president with the single exception of 1894, in which year he was defeated by John McBride. Under his influence and direction the American Federation of Labor became one of the most powerful and successful labor organizations in the world. Gompers, though sponsoring and supporting many movements and measures in favor of and for the improvement of labor, has consistently thrown his influence toward the conservative elements of American labor. His opposition to socialistic tendencies SAMUEL GOMPERS within the ranks of American trade unionists has been outspoken and unfaltering. In 1907 he came into special prominence, together with other officers of the American Federation of Labor, for failing to observe an injunction granted to the Buck Stove and Range Company in the latter's complaint against the Federation for having been included in the list of unfair concerns published in the official magazine of the Federation. Mr. Gompers was tried for contempt and sentenced to a term of prison. Repeated appeals eventually brought the matter before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1914, when this court decided that the statute of limitations made further actions impossible. As the presi esident of the American Federation of Labor, he was, of course, identified with, and, indeed, frequently initiated this organization's policies, as in respect to the eight-hour day, employers' liability laws, etc. He has tried at various times, but without any marked degree of success, to control the labor vote on behalf of candidates favorable to labor. During the World War he was a member of the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense. At the Peace Confer-s ence in Paris in 1918-1919 he acted as the representative of the American Federation of Labor. At the same time he the International served as president of Commission on Labor Legislation. In 1919 he was the chairman of the delega- del Federation of tion from the American Labor to the convention of the International Federation of Trades Unions at Amsterdam. He also served as 1st vicepresident of the National Civic Federation. He published "Labor in Europe Labor and the and America"; "American War"; "Labor and the Common Wel- دوو fare," as well as numerous pamphlets on labor questions and movements. GONAÏVES, a harbor on the west coast of the Island of Haiti, 67 miles N. W. of Port-au-Prince. It was here that the independence of the Republic of Haiti was proclaimed in 1804 by Dessalines. In 1914 it was the center of heavy fighting between the insurgents and the government, which resulted in by temporary occupation of the country the United States naval forces. The population is about 15,500.