Correspondence between F. Takano and S. Gompers |
New York, March 9, 1894
Mr. F. Takano,
Great Barrington, Mass.
Dear Sir:--I am in receipt of your favor of the 6th inst. the contents of which are carefully noted.
In reply permit me to say that I experienced more pleasure in the perusal of your letter than I have time, or opportunity, or possibly the ability to express. To my mind it appears that no growth or permanent good can come either to the workers of America, Japan or any other country without the essential factor to secure it, namely, organization. That you after a stay of a few years in our country have arrived at the same conclusions and propose on your return to Japan to do what you can to instill this thought upon your fellow countrymen, is an evidence to me that your time has been well spent here, and that you may be in truth a benefactor to your fellow countrymen and to the human family.
Truly as you say I cannot enter into a full discussion of this subject in a letter nor answer your questions as I believe they deserve to be, but the initial step to be taken by any people must of necessity be the right to coalesce, the right to organization. That right I am aware is not accorded to the subjects of the Japanese empire.
The workers should be organized in the unions of their respective trades and callings at the earliest possible time. That brings unity of feeling and action and instills in the hearts and minds the feeling and knowledge of interdependence, security and progress. The indiscriminate organization of workers regardless of their trades and callings is by no means to be compared in its stability and results to the organization upon trade lines.
As per your request I mail a number of documents to you with this and commend them to your careful study.
Should you at any time be enabled to make a visit to this city and have an hour to spare, it would afford me pleasure to discuss this matter at length with you. In all likelihood a better understanding could be had than a mere correspondence could secure.
Again expressing my appreciation of your kind thoughts upon the organization of the Japanese workmen, and trusting that your effort may be entirely successful, I am,
Very Respectfully Yours
Samuel Gompers President
American Federation of Labor