The Republicans paid scant attention to the planks of the Federation.  Their platform merely reiterated the recognized law upon the allowance of equity relief; and as if to leave no further doubt in the minds of the labor leaders, proceeded to nominate for President, William H. Taft, who as a Federal judge in the early nineties was responsible for some of the most sweeping injunctions ever issued in labor disputes.  A year earlier Gompers had characterized Taft as “the injunction standard-bearer” and as an impossible candidate.  The Democratic platform, on the other hand, verbatim repeated the Federation plank on the injunction question and nominated Bryan.

After the party conventions had adjourned the American Federationist entered on a vigorous attack upon the Republican platform and candidate.  President Gompers recognized that this was equivalent to an endorsement of Bryan, but pleaded that “in performing a solemn duty at this time in support of a political party, labor does not become partisan to a political party, but partisan to a principle.”  Substantially, all prominent non-Socialist trade-union officials followed Gompers’ lead.  That the trade unionists did not vote solidly for Bryan, however, is apparent from the distribution of the vote.  On the other hand, it is true that the Socialist vote in 1908 in almost all trade-union centers was not materially above that of 1904, which would seem to warrant the conclusion that Gompers may have “delivered to Bryan” not a few labor votes which would otherwise have gone to Debs.

In the Congressional election of 1910 the Federation repeated the policy of “reward your friends, and punish your enemies.”  However, it avoided more successfully the appearance of partisanship.  Many progressive Republicans received as strong support as did Democratic candidates.  Nevertheless the Democratic majority in the new House meant that the Federation was at last “on the inside” of one branch of the government.  In addition, fifteen men holding cards of membership in unions, were elected to Congress, which was the largest number on record.  Furthermore William B. Wilson, Ex-Secretary of the United Mine Workers, was appointed chairman of the important House Committee on Labor.

The Congress of 1911-1913 with its Democratic House of Representatives passed a large portion of the legislation which the Federation had been urging for fifteen years.  It passed an eight-hour law on government contract work, as already noted, and a seaman’s bill, which went far to grant to the sailors the freedom of contract enjoyed by other wage earners.  It created a Department of Labor with a seat in the Cabinet.  It also attached a “rider” to the appropriation bill for the Department of Justice enjoining the use of any of the funds for purposes of prosecuting labor organizations under the Sherman Anti-Trust Law and other Federal laws.  In the presidential campaign of 1912 Gompers pointed to the legislation favorable