The policy of the Federation is fixed in open conventions held in a different city each year. For years these conventions were held in No vember. The 1917 convention changed the time to the second Monday of June. The affiliated organizations are entitled to but one delegate until their membership reaches 4,000, two delegates up to 8,000, three delegates up to 16,000, four delegates up to 32,000, five delegates up to 64,000 and so on. But delegates from organizations, either national, international or local unions, are en titled to cast one vote for every 100 members they represent. Thus the number of delegates is kept within such limits so that the conven tions shall be really legislative bodies, and yet the spirit and purpose of democracy is main tained so that the delegates have voting power in proportion to the numerical strength of their respective constituencies.
The American Federation of Labor confines its membership to wage workers, men and women, skilled and unskilled, not admitting even farmers who are employers of labor on their farms. The Federation realized that the organization of each trade in its particular union and the affiliation of all unions in a com prehensive federation was sure to strengthen each and bring advantage to all. The Knights of Labor confounded all distinctions and po tentially overruled each trade by the vote of outsiders. By recognizing the common-sense principle that each interest can manage its own affairs best, the Federation has grown, till, for the year ending 30 Sept. 1917, it has in affilia tion national and international unions, 111; State federations, 45; central unions, 762; local unions, 26,761; five departments and 441 local department councils. The total membership of unions for September 1917, 2,371,434. It does not contain all the trade-unions, a few are still remaining outside, as the great railroad federa tion of four unions; but it contains the United Mine Workers of America (its largest body), the International Typographical Union of North America, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the Cigar Makers' International Union, etc.
Its activity in securing favorable and defeat ing unfavorable legislation for laborers has been very great and very successful. These are too many to detail; but it may be said that its first convention of 1881 demanded a national eight-hour day for government employees and exclusion of Chinese and contract laborers; and all these have been enacted into law. It also secured the establishment by law of Labor Day.
Since then it has steadily favored shorter hours, non-employment of children, better sanitary conditions, regulation of convict employment, abolition of °government by injunction," etc.
The American Federation of Labor during the first part of its history followed the political policy of recommending to the members of its affiliated organizations the independent use of the ballot. This policy was pursued until 1906 when the Federation inaugurated an active non-partisan political policy of rewarding their friends and voting against their enemies. It was felt necessary to make this change of policy because of the urgent need of remedial legis lation. Abuse of the injunctive process and the perversion of the Sherman Anti-trust Law to apply to associations of wage-earners organ ized not for profit constituted such a menace to the activities and the very existence of the organizations of workers that the enactment of laws, regulating and limiting the issuance of injunctions and specifically taking associations of wage-earners from under the provisions of trust legislation, was imperative.
In 1906, the American Federation of Labor drew up its famous °Labor's Bill of Griev ances,° which enumerated laws demanded by labor for the protection of the rights and in terests and welfare of the working people. This political movement was given impetus by legal proceedings instituted against organized wage-earners. The two cases which were en dorsed by the American Federation of Labor as test cases were the so-called Hatters' case and the *Contempt° proceedings against Presi dent Gompers, Vice-President John Mitchell and Secretary Frank Morrison of the American Federation of Labor. Under these contempt proceedings they were twice sentenced to 12, 9 and 6 months' imprisonment, respectively, but the United States Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower courts in both cases. In the course of the Hatters' case, the Supreme Court of the United States decided that sections 1, 3 and 7 applied to associations of wage-earners. The contempt cases grew out of injunctions issued against the officers of the American Federation of La bor, forbidding them their constitutional rights of free speech and free press. These two cases were considered flagrant violations of the rights of citizens of a free government and demonstrated the imperative necessity for se curing the remedial legislation which labor demanded.