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 * Samuel Gompers**:

I am Samuel Gompers. I am the founder and president of the American Federation of Labor. I spent much of my life working in factories and have experienced industry's concern for its product rather than its workers. Workers need the luxuries of higher wages, shorter hours, and especially safe working conditions. How are they expected to survive under the conditions currently established by many industries. That is why I founded the AF of L, to aid the struggling American worker.

I am strongly against McKinley's plan to annex the Philippines. In fact, I am so against it that I have joined the Anti-Imperialist League to halt the atrocity. If the Philippines are annexed it will cause an influx in the amount of cheap labor available to industries. If the Philippines are annexed, then the likelihood of the Filipinos immigrating to our great nation increases. Immigrants offer a much cheaper labor. This cheap labor gives industries an option over the unionized American worker and, in-turn, hurts our everyday person. Workers are forced to accept lower wages to match that of the immigrants or they will lose their jobs. This is totally unacceptable. At least the Europeans are quickly able to assimilate with American culture and blend into our society, but the Asians seem incapable of accepting our ways of life. Even if the Filipinos do not move to the United States, the factories may move to the Philippines. Industries may realize that they don't even need to concern themselves with the American worker. If factories are taken overseas they will have freedom from the unions and even cheaper labor. The lessening of factories would leave less job openings for Americans and require them to lower their standards for accepting a job. This would actually be more harmful to the American worker than the Asians immigrating here. The American annexation of the Philippines will undoubtedly do more harm to the American people than good, and that is why I stand against it.