Union Labor Bulletin

GET OUT THE VOTE
Mrs. John O. Miller, state chairman of the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, told a truth that needs constant emphasis when she declared that democracy is not working if people don't vote. "Pennsylvania," she added, "was thirty-seventh among the states in proportion of registered voters who cast their ballots at the last presidential election." Mrs. Miller's statement is in line with a recent appeal of President Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor, in which he urged the labor movement to work to get out the whole American vote. "We live today," said Mr. Gompers, "under a government composed of officials elected by a minority of our people. The trade unions can do as much as any other organized force in our national life toward bringing about an election in which a majority of the eligible voters will participate.
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The right to vote is not something which was given to the people, or which they came by easily. It was the result of tremendous effort and terrific sacrifice. It was gained because people had the conviction that no other kind of government could be tolerated and because they were willing to sacrifice everything for that conviction. The success of democracy can be assured only by intelligent participation in the selection of officials and the making of national decisions by an overwhelming majority of the people.
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Let the whole trade union movement begin now and keep constantly at the job of educating trade unionists and non-trade unionists alike to what is a paramount duty in every election--the casting of a vote by every person eligible to vote."