We offer a most hearty welcome to Mr. Samuel Gompers,
the president of the powerful American Federation of Labour, who has arrived in England. The power of Mr. Gompers in the United States is said to be second only to that of the President himself. The labour organisation which he controls is much the largest in the world, and it is no exaggeration to say that he is the author of it in its present form. The influence of Mr. Gompers is indeed almost unlimited, and it is a matter of the utmost interest and importance to us to know how he will use his influence over here. His declared object in coming to Europe, we are glad to say, is " to unite the workers of the world to win the war." For this purpose special conferences will be held by the representatives of Allied labour. Mr. Gompers can discover no sense in meeting the representatives of enemy countries. " We will not meet them," he said in an interview, " or agree to any proposal for such a meeting until after we have won the war."
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