Albert Thomas, World Champion of Labor

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Albert Thomas, World Champion of Labor T THOMAS-WORLD CHAMPION OF LABO BY ~~ LEONARD S. KENWORTHY ~ /:J F AN institution is the lengthened I shadow of a single man, as is so often the case, then the International Labor Office today is the lengthened shadow of Albert Thomas, a short and stout French Jew, with a powerfully shaped head and a massive brown beard, and white hands that he used frequently in eloquent ges­ tures. Today the I. L. 0. is considered the most successful international organ­ ization growing out of World War I, and the only one to weather World War II without serious loss of prestige and power, but when Thomas took it over it was merely a dream written into Part 13 of the Treaty of Versailles. tion" that the treatv makers knew im­ suggesting changes in wording and em­ Who was this "wandering Jew of so­ periled the peace o{ the world. phasis, as well as fact, he could help to cial progress," as he came to be known, Intelligently, courageously, passionately "educate" his staff. and how did he breathe life into this he set out to perfect this "instrument of His door was always open and through paper organization? action." it streamed visitors from employer, em­ Thomas was born in a suburb of Paris Of supreme importance was the as­ ployee, and government groups from all on June 16, 1878, the son and grandson sembling of a competent staff to man over the globe. From them he garnered of village bakers. As a small boy he this new enterprise. T hese men must be much invaluable information and many h~lped his father with the petit pain and competent in their chosen fields and they important ideas. Then there was the con­ the long loaves of bread in the bakery, must think first in terms of the world, stant stream of papers, periodicals, and ~nd attended school on the side, then the secondly, in terms of their own nations. reports that he and his assistants perused Ecole _Normale Superieure and the Uni­ Such people were hard to find. and clipped-and a retentive memory in versity of Paris. He was a good student, Of equal importance was the develop­ which many items were file . excelling in literature, geography, and ment of an esprit de corps-morale. The fact that he read and spoke French history, and winning prizes ·which took There must be vision, imagination, faith and German and read English and Span­ him on a trip to Siberia and on a year's in the future of this group, and loyalty ish well helped immeasurably, as did his scholarship to study in Germany and to it. This must be shared by all. ability as a public speaker. travel to Crete, Turkey, and other parts No ordinary man could do all this. But Then too there was the Rapport, to of Asia Minor. Albert Thomas was no ordinary man. He which top-ranking officials came regu­ Completing his academic training, he was an extraordinary person. He was a larly-a kind of administrative town became a teacher, a writer, and a jour­ man of intelligence, insight, energy, cour­ meeting where administrative policy was nalist, acting for a time as assistant editor age, breadth, and imagination, organizing determined and divergent points of view to Jean Jaures, prominent French labor ability, humor, and personal charm. He reconciled. leader and editor. did not possess all these in equal measure, The easiest course open for the I. L. 0. His brilliant analyses of labor condi­ but he possessed a large enough portion :nas to become a research center, compil­ tions and policies and his energetic to win and retain the respect and in mg tome after tome for the libraries of espousal of the rights of labor brought many cases the admiration of employers, scholars all over the world and accumu­ him into local and then national prom­ employees, and government officials the lating a huge library of information on inence as a political figure, and he was world over. His first assistant and succes­ labor in various parts of the globe. But elected city councilor, mayor, a member sor, English-born Harold Butler, has said Albert Thomas was determined that it be of the French Chamber of Deputies, and, of Thomas, "His untiring energy, his much more. during World War I, Minister of Muni­ burning faith, his brilliance of intellect, Four of his ideas were particularly im­ tions. his warmth of heart, were an indispens­ portant in the growth of this international This was the man who was chosen by able part of his equipment, without which group: the world's labor parliament in Wash­ his work could not have been performed I. First of all he saw quite clearly the ington in November, 1919, to organize and cannot be understood." organizational setup of the Office. There and instill life into the newly created In those early months Thomas was the were to be four sections: the diplomatic, International Labor Office. I. L. 0. All letters were signed by him, the political, the research, and the tech­ Thomas envisaged the I. L. 0. as "an no matter who wrote them. This was per­ nical services. The first would deal with instrument of action encircling the haps dictatorial, but was intended to the governments in the making of laws globe." Everywhere where there were help him to keep informed on the activi­ on labor. The second would handle all working people there would be work for ties of all his subordinates. It was also matters pertaining to employer and em­ the organization to do. And that meant intended as a device to help to implant ployee groups. The third would delve in every land, on every continent. His a general philosophy in the group. By into problems of social insurance, voca­ passion was to achieve the "social justice" tional education, health. The fourth that the Treaty of Versailles asserted must Sketch by would furnish technicians and specialists undergird international peace, and to al­ to governments that wanted them, "on leviate the "injustice, hardship, and priva- Bill Wickham loan." 14 FORWABD 2. In order to decentralize the Organ­ ization, he set up branch offices and ad­ visers in strategic centers, including one What Is in a Na:me? in the United States, despite the fact that it did not become a member nation until 1934. BY M. ALEXANDER ARTHUR 3. He was certain "that it was not enough to bring the nations to Geneva, but that it was equally necessary that the RACE your name to discover an row" or "sharp." In this the tiger is well gospel of Geneva should be preached in Tinteresting ancestry! named. What animal leaps so swiftly on the nations' capitals. So he became a Most of the old, plain Anglo­ its prey or has sharper fangs with which globe-trotting spokesman for labor, visit­ Saxon surnames handed down through to rend it? Of course the name of the ing all the nations of Europe, the North the centuries were originally indicators lion comes from the Latin word leo, but and South American continents, Africa, of their owners' occupations and depicted it really goes much farther back to the China, Japan, and other parts of the the trade followed by the bearer of the Egyptian word labu, which is the name Orient. At the time of his death he was name. This is true of Draper, Weaver, the Egyptian gives the animal today. preparing to go to Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. Porter, Parson, and think of all the Of snakes, the words "reptile" and 4. The fourth great personal achieve­ Smiths there are! "serpent" come from the Latin, meaning ment was his publication each year of the A great many of the names of animals "creeping," but cobra-de-capello is Por­ Director's Report, a yearly summary of are connected with the attributes of those tuguese for "hooded snake," while "vi­ labor conditions in the world that em­ animals, some of the origins reaching far per," from the Roman word vipera, refers ployees, employers, and government of­ back in antiquity. You will find that the to the habit of this snake of bringing ficials eagerly awaited. Thomas' biog­ old root of the word "wolf" meant "one forth its young alive. rapher and associate, E. J. Phelan, refers who tears and rends"; the implication is "Squirrel" comes from the word in the to these as "his greatest individual con­ clear and the name singularly appropri­ Greek language, meaning "shadow tail," tribution to the material work of the ate for the animal who bears it. In olden and "porcupine" comes from two Latin Office." times in Germany the term "wolf' was words, porcus, a hog, and spina, a spine, Beginning with the first conference in considered a compliment to a soldier or which can easily be translated "spiny 1919 the Organization has accomplished warrior. Thus we have the name Adolph, hog." The name of the rhinoceros is much, recommending to nations such which means "Noble Wolf," or Rudolph, taken from the Greek, meaning "nose­ steps as the 48-hour week, the establish­ which means "Glory Wolf." horned." The little mouse gets his name ment of unemployment offices under pub­ The orangutan, an anthropoid ape from the old Sanskrit root which means lic control, the prohibition of the use of about two thirds the size of the gorilla "to steal." white phosphorus in matches, the aboli­ and a native of Sumatra and Borneo, One of the antonyms we find is that tion of the use of boys under fourteen as has for a name a word taken right from the Latin word canis, meaning "a dog," sailors, compulsory sickness insurance for the Malay language, meaning "wild has for the diminutive catulus, and this industrial and commercial workers and man." In fact, the few English and seems to be the most satisfactory root domestic servants, anafor agricultural American res idents or Bomeo are ad­ that can be found for the word "cat." workers as well, and the 7Y4-hour day dressed by the natives, "Orang Tuan," Though a cat and a dog may be, in adult for coal workers.
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