Strikes are not favored by Mr. Gompers except under certain
circumstances and as a last resort. During the great Chicago strike,
the most intense pressure was brought to bear upon him to issue an
order calling out all the workingmen in the country. It took high
moral courage to resist the many strenuous appeals, but Samuel Gompers
possessed this courage and the country was saved from an experience
which might have proved most calamitous.
“I firmly believe in arbitration,” said Mr. Gompers, “but to arbitrate,
the power must be equal, or nearly so, on both sides; therefore labor
must be strongly organized.”