DURING THE POSTWAR YEARS, THE A.F. of L. SUF-
fered a serious decline in membership. After reaching a high
point of over four million in 1920, it began to lose large numbers
of workers in the war industries where employment had been ab-
normal and unionism had been encouraged by government pro-
tection. The open shop campaign also took its toll, and the
depression of 1921 removed many members from the rolls of the
unions. By 1924, in spite of business revival, the Federation counted
less than three million members. This was still fifty per cent
higher than the prewar figure, but decline during a period of
prosperity was a new phenomenon in the labor movement. It
reflected on Gompers' leadership, and while he was venerated as
the grand old chief of the labor movement, many in the A.F. of L.,
even among his friends, felt that he had little more to contribute,
especially in view of his poor health.

These conditions brought about Gompers' only setback in
the cigarmakers' union. He had been a perennial representative
of his local union since its organization over forty years before,
but in 1920 he was defeated by his old antagonist, the socialist
secretary of the union, Morris Brown. Out of a total membership
of 1,200, Gompers received only 82 votes, while Brown and two
other candidates received 420. However, Gompers was permitted
to attend the convention as first vice-president of the international
union, and was there re-elected to that position. ¹

His post as president of the A.F. of L. was also challenged
for the first time in a decade. In 1921, John L. Lewis was
nominated in opposition to him. His candidacy was probably
induced primarily by Gompers' opposition to the U.M.W.'s

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