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“...other Party
members in his treasonable plotting. As a scheme it was
about as foolish a thing as could be imagined; only a person
utterly ignorant as to the spirit of the S. L. P. membership
could have conceived such a plan. He no doubt took
chances. If he succeeded, all the better, for he could then
enter the S. P. a conquering hero; if he failed he could point
out that he had made an effort and get credit for that. But
his inborn ineptitude cropped out again when he tried to
make Reinstein a partner in his scheme. He never made a
bigger mistake in his life when he permitted himself to as-...”
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“...time that Gompers with his lieutenants organized
the various existing national trade unions into the American
Federation of Labor (this was in 1881) the cigar makers re-
ferred to formed the Progressive Cigar Makers union, which
had locals in several large cities. Some of these locals were
affiliated also with the Knights of Labor. In 1884 this Progres-
sive Cigar Makers Union was whipped into line by Adolph
Strasser, the chief mogul of the International Cigar Makers
Union and Gomperss side-partner. The Progressives claimed
a membership of ten thousand, hence the preponderance of
borers from within in the Cigar Makers Union.
Whether or not the membership of the old Progressive
Cigar Makers Union had the correct instinct of what an or-
ganization of workingmen should be is a question I cannot an-
swer. It is quite certain, however, that whatever virtues they...”
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