Mr. William Green, speaking last night on "Modern Trade-Unionism" before the Harvard Union audience, made the first declaration of his career as president of the American Federation of Labor. This long awaited pronouncement was set forth briefly in his address and many individual points were elucidated later when he answered a large number of questions from the floor.

Optimism distinguishes Mr. Green's view of the labor situation. He depicted the steady rise of workers through centuries of slavery, serfdom, and industrial bondage and showed that the only solution to the differences between labor and capital lies in equal rights for both.

Trade Unions Pioneers in Reform

"The trade-union," Mr. Green declared, "is about to come into its own. Where the right of the workers to organize is conceded and collective bargaining is practiced, the possibility of strikes is minimized, but where the exercise of this right is denied and the workers are not permitted to act collectively through their chosen representatives, a spirit of revolt manifests itself and the resort to strikes becomes increasingly probable. Capital realizes this and becomes increasingly willing to withdraw its opposition to the rights of labor. Trade-unions are pioneers in demanding free education and the abolition of child-labor."

Trade-unions are the most advanced factor in the whole industrial scheme and they are the only idealistic organizations, was the contention of the speaker. This point was more emphatically brought out in the questions following the address.

Communism Chief Foe of Labor

When asked about the stand of laborunions in the matter of Communism, Mr. Green declared that in its present form it is the chief enemy of labor. Labor is fighting desperately against the spread of Russian propaganda for it realizes that Communism in the place of monarchy is simply tyranny of the Communist leaders instead of the tyranny of the Czar.