Library Institute of Industrial Relations University of California Los Angeles 24, California i Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/pamphletskitof1101indu Third Revised Edition What Is The I.W.W.? A Candid Statement of Its Principles, Objects and Methods Price, Ten Cents Published by the INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD 1001 W. Madison St. Chicago, III, U S. A. What Is The I . W. W. ? A Candid Statement of Its Principles, Objects and Methods MOST every person in America has heard or read of the organization called THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD, or the L W. W., as it is commonly called, but very few people know what it really is and what it seeks to accomplish. Around the name ^'L W. W." has grown up an enormous crop of mis- conceptions. The press of the country has given the 1. W. W. a status in public opinion which very little corre- sponds with facts. For that reason we are sure that you will be interested in an authoritative statement of the prin- ciples, objects and methods of this organization, as well as of some other pertinent facts. The belief is not uncommon among the general public that the I. W. W. is a secret organization ; that it mainly consists of foreigners; that we are an organization plot- ting in the dark to commit violence and bloodshed and to destroy life and property, and, finally, to overthrow the United States Government ! There are large and powerful organizations in this country which make it their special business to create such misconceptions about the I. W. W. The I. W. W. has absolutely nothing to do with political revolution nor with political action of any kind, as you will easily understand when you have read further. We do I. THE I. W. W. SOME MISCONCEPTIONS OF THE I. W. W. 1495593 not ask a man what his politics are no more than we ask him what his religion is or what the color of his skin is. That does not interest us. We have cancelled all such classi- fications of our fellowmen. In fact, so disinterested are we, as an organization, in political, religious or race prob- lems that we prohibit all such propaganda within our or- ganization, as tending to distract attention from our ob- jects and conducive to strife and disruption. We classify, instead, our fellowmen according to their economic status in society into a capitalist or parasite class and a working class. We center our attention upon a ques- tion that equally concerns everybody, namely, the economic question, paying passing attention to other questions only when other currents cross our path and interfere with our work, or for purely educational purposes, but never in order to make propaganda for one party, creed, or race in prefer- ence to some other. THE I. W. W. IS A REVOLUTIONARY LABOR UNION The initiative in the forming of the 1. W. W. was taken in 1904, but the formation of the new labor union was accomplsihed at a great convention in Chicago in 1905, when the principles, objects, methods and structure of the organization were laid down and adopted, having re- mained unchanged unto this very day in all essential fea- tures. The I. W. W. was made into a labor union then, and has remained so to this day. Anyone who tries to tell you anything else is misrepresenting it. The members of this economic movement have not their eyes riveted on the government buildings, like the political parties, but on the factories, the mills, the shops and the other places of production and distribution. We draw no lines of distinc- tion between the native American entitled to a vote and the foreigner who is not. Every one who works for wages, whether man, woman or child, is eligible to membership and permitted to vote in the union. THE I. W. W. IS AN INDUSTRIAL WORLD UNION The founders of this now world famous labor union gave it the name of THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD, thereby indicating that the aim of the or- ganization would be to unite all the industrial workers of the world into one body. That object has not yet been realized, but the boundaries of its influence are far-flung. Administrations have been formed in England, Australia and South Africa; in Mexico, Argentina and Chile; in Scandinavia and in other countries. The I. W. W.'s chief claim to being a world union is, however, based on the fact that we have exerted a very strong influence on other labor organizations and caused them to adopt our pro- gram in spirit or in letter. Although the present dues-paying membership is less than 100,000 in U. S. A., we are a mighty world power, j Over one million cards have been issued and our members are now scattered in every country under the sun. You find them in the coal mines in Spitzbergen, close to the North Pole. You find them in the whaling stations in South Georgia, away towards the South Pole. You find them in every ship that sails the oceans, carrying the seed of our propaganda with them to every port and planting it in fer- tile soil on distant shores. At the present time, when all other social theories and movements have failed, and give no promise for the future, the I. W.-W. stands alone in the workers' thought through- out the world as the master of the situation. In that sense the ideal of the founders has been realized. It now re- mains to transplant the idea from the worker's brain into the soil of industrial life, and the idea of the founders will be a complete reality. With the aid of the industrial unionists in other countries we hope to realize this plan in the near future by forming an Industrial International. 5 II. I. W. W. HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD From the start the I. W. W. consisted largely of West- ern miners, metal workers, railroad men and migratory workers. In the course of the years it has extended its activity to a number of industries and has at the present I time 29 Industrial Unions of a national scope, and one of these, the Marine Transport Workers' Industrial Union, is \ even now reaching out for international control. These you will find enumerated further on. A large part of the mem- bership consists of migratory workers, and the strongest unions are those formed by the miners, the lumber work- ers, the agricultural workers, the construction workers, the marine transport workers, the metal workers, the textile workers and the railroad workers. The organization has conducted many great and small strikes in many industries with varying success in the past, but recently with very great success. Particularly success- ful the I. W. W. has been in improving the lot of the migratory worker in the agricultural, mining and lumber- ing industries, and the marine transport workers' and the textile workers have also gained great advantages under the I. W. W. banner. Before the advent of the I. W. W. and during its earliest stages, the lot of the migratory workers, who roamed over the country with their blankets on their backs, was desperate. Once a man had dropped down into their ranks there was little or no hope for him to ever rise to his feet again socially. He was actually down and out. It is different today — thanks to the I. W. W. These workers have now both hope, self-respect and power through their organization. But we cannot go into details in this brief statement. Naturally, the main activity of the organization up to date has been of an educational nature. In the carrying out of this work the organization has on several occasions come into conflict with the authorities on the issue of free speech, free press and free assemblage. 10,000 PUT IN JAIL If we were to publish the names of all the I. W. W. members who have been put in jail since its inception, it would fill a book as large as the telephone directory of a large city. Over 1,000 members were thrown in jail dur- ing the free speech fights which have been forced upon 6 the I. W. W. in various parts of the country. About 900 I. W. W. members were arrested during the textile strike in Lawrence, Mass., in 1912. About 100 members a little later in Little Falls, N. Y. (1912-1913). Eighteen hundred L W. W. members were incarcerated during the textile strike in Paterson, N. J. Eleven hundred and sixty-four men, mostly L W. W., were kidnapped and forcibly "de- ported'' from Bisbee, Ariz., in 1917 and kept in stockade for months without a semblance of legal procedure. Thou- sands of members of the Western Federation of Miners were thrown in jail while that organization was part of the L W. W. In 1920 a partial list was compiled of mem- bers thrown in jail since the beginning of the war. That list showed 1,327 names. Since then there has been a con- stant stream of our members through the jail doors. Only recently 450 L W. W. men were arrested in Portland, Ore., for no valid reason. At present there are still a couple of hundred men behind the walls, some of them serving life sentences, others condemned to five, ten, fifteen or twenty years at hard labor in the penitentiaries — all because of their activities in the L W. W. The total number of L W. W. members imprisoned since 1905 is more than 10,000. OUTSIDE THE SOCIAL PALE A score of L W. W. members, or more, have been foully murdered by our enemies and their tools. Outside of these major crimes against our members there are innumerable other crimes that have been com- mitted against us, either in the name of "law and order'' or without official sanction. I. W. W. members have been tarred and feathered, de- ported, beaten, denied the right of citizenship, exiled, have had their homes invaded, have had their property and papers seized, have been denied the privilege of de- fense, have been held in exorbitant bail, have been sub- jected to involuntary servitude, have been kidnapped, have been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, have been framed and unjustly accused, have been exces- sively fined, have died in jail waiting for trial, have been driven insane through persecution, have been denied the use of the mails, have been denied the right of free press, free speech and free assembly, and have been denied every other privilege guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. 7 I. W. W. members have been denied the inherent rights proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence — life, lib- erty and pursuit of happiness. 1. W. W. halls, offices and headquarters have been raided without warrant of law. L W. W. property, books, pamphlets, stamps, literature and office fixtures have been unlawfully seized or de- stroyed. I. W. W. SURVIVES BECAUSE IT RESTS ON THE BEDROCK OF ECONOMIC NECESSITY It is easy to understand that only men and women of courage and conviction will voluntarily join such an or- ganization. But the majority do not join it voluntarily. They are swept into it by hunger, suffering, poverty, mis- ery and despair, just as the river banks are swept away by the turbulent river and carried to the sea. The turbu- lent river of collapsing capitalism is furnishing the mem- bership to the I. W. W. Thus the terrible persecution has failed in its attempt to suppress or extinguish the I. W. W. On the contrary, our teachings spread like a prairie fire, which neither blood nor violence can put out. For every hundred mem- bers put in jail, tens of thousands step forward to join and cheer with their presence those who are fighting the battle. ^ This very fact, it seems to us, should indicate to the out- side world, that there is a great natural force back of this movement, and that it is just as stupid to persecute us, as it was for Xerxes, the Persian king of antiquity, to have his soldiers whip and lash and chain the waves of the Bos- porus, in order that they might subside and allow his army to pass. This natural force, economic necessity, gives to our movement an intellectual and moral power that no gallows can kill, no prisons subdue. Even the most bigoted of our enemies should understand that, in order to sur- vive such a terrible ordeal, our organization must have back of it a fundamental truth which cannot with impun- ity be ignored, but which should be investigated. The people are accepting our principles as a message of salva- tion m spite of all personal danger to them. What won- derful principles can these be? They are expressed in the Preamble to our Constitution and are as follows: 8 III. PREAMBLE OF THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace as long as hunger and want are found among millions of the working people and the few, who make up the employing class, have all the good things of life. Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system. We find that the centering of the management of indus- tries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions un- able to cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping to defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the working class have interests in common with their employers. These conditions can be changed and the interests of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all its members in any one industry, or in all indus- tries if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all. Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wage for a fair day's work," we must inscribe on our banner the revolu- tionary watchword, "Abolition of the wage system." It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for the everyday struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been over- thrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the struc- ture of the new society within the shell of the old. 9 IV. THE OBJECT OF THE I. W. W. In accordance with this declaration of principles the I. W. W. proposes to organize all the productive human forces, in this and, eventually, in other countries, that is, all workers with hand and brain, industrially, into Indus- trial Unions, Industrial Union Branches in the shops, and Industrial Councils. We shall later enumerate the main divisions of the new society we propose to organize. INDUSTRIAL UNIONISM AND CRAFT UNIONISM COMPARED To organize industrially was an idea that was born as a negation of or as a reaction against the old craft form of organization. To organize craft unions means to organ- ize units of those who use the same tools, carpenters by themselves, painters by themselves, engineers by them- selves, boilermakers by themselves, etc. Thus you get as many different unions as you have kinds of tool chests. This kind of unionism separates the workers in an indus- try into as many unions as there are crafts employed and thus builds fences between the workers rubbing elbows daily, instead of uniting them. To illustrate, let us use an American shipyard as an ex- ample. In a shipyard where they are building iron ships, there are some forty different trades or occupations, more or less. We will enumerate some of them. There are the shipfitters, who cut the plate, there are the boilermakers, the machinists, the engineers, the electricians, the plumb- ers, the steamfitters, the asbestos workers, the ship car- penters, the joiners, the caulkers, the painters, the riggers, and so on. According to the craft union plan there will be a separate "international" union for each such trade, having nothing in common with the rest, except that they pay per capita tax to a common headquarters. Some of these 40 trades may have gotten together in one "interna- tional" craft union, but as a rule each shipyard in America counts a great number of such craft unions. These craft unions in the same yard are frequently at outs with one an- other, and when discontent boils over it is nothing unusual for them to strike one at a time, one union thus being de- feated by the others who are not on strike, as our Pre- amble says. Most everyone who has worked in American shipyards recognizes this description as correct. But what is more, it fits practically all other industries, organized by craft unions. This is what we call ''organized scab- bery." It leaves the workers at the mercy of the employ- ers. Those craft fences which cut the yard up into a score or more craft conscious groups, eyeing one another with suspicious glances, are just what he needs to keep the wages low, the workday long and conditions bad. We will not here go into other bad features of craft union- ism in detail. Suffice it to say, that the 1. W. W. sprang into existence partly as a reaction against such intolerable and irrational conditions. ^ — Add to this the complete lack of idealism that charac-/ terizes craft unionism in all countries, their acceptance of capitalism and wage labor as a finality, their failure to hold out any hope for the future to the workers as a class and their tendency to organize so-called labor trusts with a view to shutting off outsiders from work rather than^ solving the problems of life for the masses, and you have the background against which the Preamble of the I. W. W. constitution was written. The way the new union movement proposed to set all these things right was through industrial organization, as stated above. Let us return to the example of the shipyard, in order to show what a typical industrial organization would look like. The first thing the I. W. W. does in a craft union yard, when it has a chance, is to tear down those fences which separate the crafts. It takes away the craft union cards of the boilermaker, the engineer, the plumber, the carpenter, the painter, etc., and tells them: 'Tou are now no longer divided as boilermakers, engineers, plumbers, carpenters and painters. You are now united as shipbuild- ing workers, all of you, every person employed in this yard and all other yards. Instead of having twenty or thirly unions in this and in other yards we shall hence- forth have only one union, The Shipbuilding Workers' Industrial Union.' Each yard forms a branch of that union, and in that branch we shall have the necessary councils or committees to secure co-operation between the workers of the different departments of the yard." In this manner all the workers of the yard will form one unified body; all the yards of the country, and eventually of the whole world, will form one Industrial Union, and the 11 workers ©f that industry will thus be united for common action. There will also be Industrial Councils for each shipbuilding center. After that there will be no such a thing as one group of workers remaining at work when another group is on strike, thus defeating one another. When they strike, they will all strike together and win. Thus argue those industrial unionists who in the indus- trial union see mainly a superior instrument of warfare for battle with the employer. IMMEDIATE AND ULTIMATE OBJECT OF THE I. W. W. The object of the Industrial Union is twofold. The first object, for the present, of the Industrial Union, is to serve as a militant organ in the daily struggle with the employing class for higher wages, shorter hours and better conditions. This needs no further explanation, ex- cept to state that we maintain that the Industrial Union, by uniting all workers in one body, is a much better fight- ing organ for this purpose than the craft union ever can be, being that the latter includes only the members of one craft. Our second object is to have the Industrial Union serve as a means of taking over the industry by the work- ers and to function as a productive or distributive organ "when capitalism shall have been overthrown," or shall have ceased to function, i. e., collapsed. And as this col- lapse progresses the second object overshadows the first. THE COLLAPSE OF CAPITALISM We hold that the capitalist system of production and distribution is in a state of serious breakdown throughout the world, this country included, in spite of the present hectic flush on its cheeks, and we consider it doubtful if the system will be able to get on its feet again as it has after every preceding crisis. The old organs do not func- tion. The world is in a state of bankruptcy. It appears that billions of dollars will soon have to be written off the books of the world's capitalist class as a complete loss, and we know what that means to those who have nothing but their labor power to sell. The old organs of production, i. e., the private owner with his usually small establishment, the stock company, the trust, the combination of trusts, seem no longer to be ^ 12 able to supply the needs of men. Hundrede of millions of people have to go without the bare necessities in all parts of the world, because they have no access to the soil or other natural resources or the industrial and commercial machinery. The necessities of life are getting beyond the reach of ever greater masses of the people, who are becom- ing desperate and threaten to blindly smash the system. Insurrections, riots, race wars, lynchings, military law, ter- rorism and great strikes have been the order of the day in many parts of the world for some time past, and par- ticularly in America. Furthermore, there has been pro- tracted unemployment on a scale hitjierto unknown, though temporarily somewhat relieved in 1922-1923. Poverty and misery are driving people to despair. All these social phenomena are symptoms of the pro- gressive collapse of capitalism. Conditions in Europe and elsewhere warrant the belief that a final crash is impend- ing when capitalist credit shall be completely deranged, and, as a result, nearly all industrial enterprises shall be shut down. At least these terrible possibilities are not ex- cluded, as the capitalist press admits. Thus economic insecurity and worry for the present and the future are making life unbearable to millions. They feel that they are being enslaved, that they slowly but surely are being drawn into a world activity that serves no useful ends, that promises no security for the future. The tension resulting from this state of affairs causes the owners of the means of production and distribution to in- augurate a system of force and violence, in order to main- tain their ownership and control. Production is now largely being carried on at the point of hidden bayonets or at the draped muzzles of machine guns, while gas bombs that will put a whole rebellious city to sleep or make the population die in paroxysms of laughter are be- ing discussed in the press as a not distant possibility. The system can no longer stand on its merits. It can main- tain its life only by force or threats of force, just as a dying person is kept alive through the administration of ozone. Under these circumstances millions of workers are slowly but surely perishing, being shoved over the edge of the social precipice, and the rest of us are threatened with the same fate, unless we do something pretty soon. We 13 cannot bear up under this mountain of misery indefi- nitely, and if and when the final crash comes we will all face starvation, exposure and other sufferings in- describable. Chaos, dissolution, civil war, terrorism by roving bands, and every man at the other fellow's throat^such are admittedly the prospects in many parts. And is there anyone who dares to say that this country is immune to such fate? On the contrary, due to the ruthlessness and brutality of our capitalist class, the great number of races and creeds, the animosity against the foreigner and the negro, the pernicious activity of professional "patriots" and hate breeders, such as the Ku-Klux Klan and the other similar societies, we have, in spite of the wealth of the country, the ingredients of the worst hellbroth the world ever tasted. Certain elements seem to purposely steer for a head-on collision. It is time for all far-sighted, responsible men and women of labor, the only ones to depend on, to take steps to prevent a catastrophe of this kind. It is under these circumstances that the I. W. W., hard- ened and chastened through years of cruel persecution, comes to the front with its program of world salvation, the only program conceivable that will solve the social problem and lead us into the calm harbor of a new society with peace and happiness and abundance. By means of our Industrial Unions we propose to pick up the threads of production and distribution where they fall out of the impotent hands of the capitalist class and continue to produce food, clothing and shelter, thus coming to the rescue of suffering mankind. We propose to in- augurate a rational system of production and distribution, without class oppression and exploitation of man by man. We maintain that the union of workers in each establish- ment is the organ best fitted to run that establishment. In other words, we would replace private ownership and con- trol with common ownership and control, replace capital- ism with Industrial Communism. 14 V. THE METHODS OF THE I. W. W. When it comes to the question of methods the 1. W. W. has perhaps been more misunderstood and misrepresented than in any other respect. We ourselves prefer to describe our methods as Economic Direct Action. What is it? There is political or indirect action and economic or direct action. To make it easier to understand I. W. W. methods, let us define both of them. DIFFERENT FORMS OF ACTION Political or indirect action is that kind of action^ which the workers use when they seek to attain their object by securing influence over or control of the governmental machinery. Such action may consist of ballots, lobbying, bribery, so-called mass action, bullets and political revo- lution. These are all means of political action. The 1. W. W. as an organization rejects all these methods of attaining the aims described above, without in any way interfering with the political conviction of its members. Economic or direct action is that kind of action which the workers use when they seek to attain their object by securing control of the place of work, the factory, the mill, the shop, through their own personal efforts. There are certain ^^revolutionary'' politicians, — political actionists — ^who want to use the economic organs, the unions, as a club with which to beat their way into possession and control of the government buildings. The 1. W. W. does not wish to be a party to any such useless procedure. A. F. OF L. RUNS ECONOMIC DIRECT ACTION INTO THE DITCH This difference between effective and ineffective eco- nomic direct action is best illustrated by comparing the I. W. W. with the craft unions, for instance, of Chi- cago. The I. W. W. officials in accordance with their program and their instructions, constantly and systematic- ally are unloading the power and responsibility, which has a natural tendency to fall upon an official of the labor movement, and driving it back to the rank and file in order to secure direct action by them. The craft union officials of Chicago (and other cities), on the other hand, beat the membership on every point and in many cases make them- selves czars of their unions, surrounding themselves with terrorist gangs of sluggers and gunmen, who bulldoze the members and practice extortion and graft. All signs of op- position, in meetings or places of work, are held down with terror or beaten down with force, if necessary. When union men seek to attain their aims through such methods they are not properly using direct action. The members stay away from the meetings and attend to their pleasures, while pay- ing the czars and the sluggers so much a month to "act'' for them. There may be some craft unions which this de- scription does not fit, but everybody knows it fits a great number of them. Even when these craft unionists strike— and the strike certainly is a form of direct action — they are frequently merely obeying orders, whereby even the strike loses its character of economic direct action. Everybody has heard how "the men are called off the job" and "ordered back.'' It is the czars, the sluggers and the bullies who "call off" and "order back" as their secret grafting operations re- quire. Even when a strike vote is taken the members are often voting under durance, like the negroes of the South on election day. The strikers become the puppets of the czars. I. W. W. ACTION— JOB ACTION AND SOLIDARITY It is as a negation of and as a reaction against such methods that the I. W. W. preaches its own form of eco- nomic direct action. We want to stir the workers into personal activity and participation in the struggle against the exploiters and for a new society. We want them to keep matters in their own hands and govern their own affairs. If they do they cannot go very far wrong. But if they turn over their fate to other people's hands, they are most apt to be betrayed. Their officials should be their servants in- stead of their masters. Our direct action method throws the chief activity of the union on the job, where it results in training the work- ers for the task of taking over and running the industry. Craft union tactics throw the activity of the union into the union office and consist mostly in the questionable arm- chair work of the leaders. 16 For the present, direct action in the 1. W. W. takes expression in job action and solidarity. Wherever 1. W. W. men are employed they see that they get one or several job delegates and a job committee. Having thus gotten the job machine in working order they begin to exert pres- sure on their fellow workers and their employers and their slave drivers in the thousand and one ways that are open to the man on the job, who earnestly wishes to improve his own lot and that of his fellow workers. By common ac- tion they pare off a little of the burden here and a little there, until life on the jobs becomes at least bearable. Be- fore the advent of the 1. W. W. it was customary to work a migratory worker to death as fast as the boss liked. Job action has put a stop to that. The I. W. W. has reduced the hours in agriculture, lumbering and mining, marine transportation and other industries. Through this direct job action with which the officials have little or nothing to do, the members have saved their lives and got a foot- ing on the first step leading towards a new society. I. W. W. STRIKE ACTION The I. W. W. also practises that form of direct action known as the strike and the boycott, but it is always the members who decide the calling of a strike or a boycott, not the officials. The I. W. W. prefers the strike on the job to the strike off the job, resorting to the latter only when all other means have failed. The strike on the job consists in a withdrawal of efficiency calculated to force the employer to the desired concessions. Such a strike has the advantage that it forestalls the procuring of strike- breakers and leaves the workers' income undiminished, unless it results in a lock-out, which is always a possibility but not a necessary result. The I. W. W. members realize that the strike off the job frequently turns into a prolonged fast while the employer seeks to fill the jobs with strike breakers, and for that reason they are loath to abandon the field of battle, that is the job, to the enemy. The fundamental principles of the organization lead the workers to try to stay with the job and control it the best they can rather than lose control altogether by aban- doning it. Outside the gates the workers have little power. This is in keeping with the ultimate object of the I. W. W. which is to have the job organization, the job branch of the 17 industrial union, take complete control and serve as the organ of production or distribution, as the case may be, when capitalist production has come to a deadlock. When the last job strike is fought and won we will stay for good. 18 VI. INDUSTRIAL ADMINISTRATION VERSUS POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION The important changes in the economic structure of society which are being forced on us, by social evolution, faster, almost, than we can disentangle ourselves from the debris of the old society, carry with them other im- portant changes in the organization of society. COLLAPSE OF POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION We hold that, in the nature of things, the economic collapse of capitalism will soon be followed by a political collapse. This is fully in accordance with the materialist conception of history, according to which all social insti- tutions are traceable to the economic structure of society. H the economic structure collapses the governments will no doubt soon collapse also. Unless the political ad- ministrations quickly adjust themselves to the economic changes they cannot stand. The political collapse will partly be due to a lack of revenue. When production and distribution are shut down, the government's income from taxes, etc., will be greatly diminished. But in a private ownership society the government needs funds just as much as an industrial en- terprise or any other kind of business. Due to the indus- trial collapse in Europe, for instance, many European gov- ernments are trying to borrow money with which to rule. The political collapse follows closely upon the heels of the economic collapse. If there are no funds with which to run city, state or national government, the officials and politicians will have to close up shop in one department after another. But even if it had great treasure stored, no government based on private ownersliip and taxes could continue long in a so- ciety where private control of production and distribution have collapsed. Such a government would be left hanging in the air and would shrivel up, unable to function as an administration. This being our philosophy, we are, consequently, not engaged in the useless task of attacking governments that oppress us. A dog, when beaten with a stick, buries its fangs in the stick. The workers should have more sense than that. The government is the stick or club in the hands of the economic masters of every country. 19 Leave the stick alone and turn upon the master, as the 1. W. W. program provides. The workers of Russia, Sweden and Germany have twisted the governmental stick from the economic master, and are trying socialist governments. But the socialist stick is as bad as the capitalist stick. The government, the administration, is merely the reflex, the shadow of the prevailing economic system, and we are not running after shadows and reflexes. We are after the substance that throws the shadow. When the sub- stance will crumble up in a heap and shorten, the shadow will shorten also. This philosophy of ours does not deprive the 1. W. W. members of the right to vote politically. They have per- fect political liberty, but must not try to put our organiza- tion under any political control. INDUSTRIAL ADMINISTRATION BORN OF ECONOMIC NECESSITY As said before, when the economic collapse has gone so far that the sufferings of the people are unendurable, the people will have to have new organs with which to produce food, clothing and shelter, or perish. The whole mass of usefully employed people will have to line up industrially, in order to jointly bring order out of chaos and save society from destruction. We cannot possibly think of starting capitalism all over again. About that time they will find that the old adminis- trations are entirely unsuited to function. People will find that it will be necessary to shift from a political ad- ministration to an Industrial Administration. We know how the political administrations are built up. Voting and representation are on geographical lines. The citizens vote promiscuously in their precincts, most of them unknown to one another and unacquainted with the nominees. These are generally presented to the voters by a political machine with many secrets that cannot stand the light of day. The officials are not selected for their fitness as much as for the power they wield in the political machine, or for their willingness to run the ques- tionable errands of the political machine. As a result we see a highly industrialized society like the United States largely run by lawyers and professional politicians. Poli- tical administrations thus tend to become incompetent and 20 help to run capitalism into the ditch. This applies not only to capitalist adminitrations but also to the socialist ones. "Fill all the important offices with dependable bolsheviks irrespective of their competence/' was the order of Russia. The industrial collapse of Soviet Russia was the result. Modern industrial society is too complex an economic mechanism to be run by party politicians and political ad- ministrations. An industrial society, in order to prosper, must have an administration of experts in every field, i. e., an Industrial Administration. We no longer want a haphazard mixture of lawyers and other silver-tongued orators to govern us. The citi- zens of an industrial society want to elect their adminis- tration from their shop, their industry, their place of work, their occupation, whatever it may be. They all of them want to send their best and most expert men and women to form the administration. Every branch of human activ- ity will be represented in this administration, whereas the political party administration is largely made up with- out any reference to their fitness. In fact, most politicians know no useful work. Their business is party intrigue and party machine "work.'* By means of the Industrial Franchise, which gives the vote to all useful workers in their productive capacity; by means of Industrial Representation, which gives us expert public servants from every line of human activity, and by means of the resulting Industrial Administration, we propose to anchor all power for all times to come with the deep layers of the people who do the useful work with hand and brain, SO that it cannot possibly slip away from them and give rise to another system of class rule. The industrial union machinery described in the next chapter is the anchor by means of which the 1. W. W. pro- poses to secure the freedom of the peoples for coming ages. This is truly what we mean when we speak of Indus- trial Democracy and Industrial Communism. 21 VII. THE STRUCTURE OF THE I. W. W. As mentioned before, the L W. W. has at present 29 Industrial Unions in working order, grouped into six de- partments. Some of the Industrial Unions are as yet small, and are to be considered merely as a starter. THE FIGHTING FRONT OF TODAY— THE FRAMEWORK OF THE SOCIETY OF TOMORROW The following is a list of the Industrial Departments and of the Industrial Unions: Department of Agriculture — No. 100 Agricultural Workers Industrial Union No. 110. Lumber Workers Industrial Union No. 120. Fishermen's Industrial Union No. 130. Floricultural and Horticultural Workers Industrial Union No. 140. Department of Mining — No. 200 Metal Mine Workers Industrial Union No. 210. Coal Miners and Coke Oven Workers Industrial Union No. 220. Oil, Gas, and Petroleum Workers Industrial Union No. 230. Department of Construction — No. 300 Railroad, Road, Canal, Tunnel and Bridge Construction Workers Industrial Union No. 310. Ship Builders Industrial Union No. 320. House and Building Construction Workers Industrial Union No. 330. Department of Manufacture and General Production — No. 400 Textile and Clothing Workers Industrial Union No. 410. Woodworkers Industrial Union No. 420. Chemical Workers Industrial Union No. 430. Metal and Machinery Workers Industrial Union No. 440. Printing and Publishing House Workers Industrial Unioti No. 450. Foodstuff Workers Industrial Union No. 460. Leather Workers Industrial Union No. 470. Glass and Pottery Workers Industrial Union No. 480. 22 Department of Transportation — No. 500 Marine Transportation Workers Industrial Union No. 510. Railroad Workers Industrial Union No. 520. Telegraph, Telephone and Wireless Workers Industrial tJnion No. 530. Municipal Transportation Workers Industrial Union No. 540. Aerial Navigation Workers Industrial Union No. 550. Department of Public Service — No. 600 Health and Sanitation Workers Industrial Union No. 610. Park and Highway Maintenance Workers Industrial Union No. 620. Educational Workers Industrial Union No. 630. General Distribution Workers Industrial Union No. 640. Public Utilities Workers Industrial Union No. 650. Amusement Workers Industrial Union No. 660. This decimal numbering makes it possible to insert new Industrial Unions in the numbering scheme, when they are needed. STRUCTURAL DETAILS As stated before, these Industrial Unions are composed of job branches. When the necessity arises for a depart- mental administration comprising several industrial un- ions, the necessary provisions will be made. The "law" making bodies of the I. W. W. are the General Convention, the Industrial Union Convention, the Indus- trial District Convention, etc. Other law-making bodies will be provided for as they are needed. The executive organs of the I. W. W. are the General Executive Board and a General Secretary-Treasurer. The Industrial Unions have a Secretary-Treasurer and a Gen- eral Organization Committee. The above is the fighting front of today as well as the skeleton of the productive and distributive machinery of the new society as conceived of by the I. W. W., and this machinery we hope to make the industrial administration of the future. In addition there are administrative organs of a geo- graphical character needed for local and regional ad- ministration, to take over the functions of the existing local administrations when they shall have ceased to function to the satisfaction of the majority of the people. These organs will also be elected by means of the Indus- 1 trial franchise. They will be industrial in character, and not political. These Industrial Local and Regional Coun- cils have their counterpart in the present Labor Councils, the Russian Soviet, the French Bureau du Travail, the German Arbeiterboerse, the Italian Camera di Lavoro, the Scandinavian Lokal Samorganisation. , As a matter of principle, however, the 1. W. W. refrains from laying down detailed rules of cast iron rigidity, for future generations to follow. We prefer to build the new- organs as we go along, adapting ourselves to the economic pressure rather than complying with any dogmas or any authoritarian philosophy like socialism, bolshevism or anarchism. The 1. W. W. may include many members who still proclaim themselves as socialists, bolsheviks or anarchists, as the case may be, but neither of them can call the organization their child or servant. The I. W. W. is breaking a path of its own. If you must give us a short name call us Industrial Communists. We are the product of the economic condi- tions of the highest developed industrial country in the world, our whole life is identified with these industrial activities, we think and speak in terms of industry, we seek salvation through industrial organization. We are Industrial Communists. Socialists, bolsheviks and anar- chists and all other workers of different trends of thought are adopting our philosophy, principles, objects, method, structure and even our name. On the basis of these prin- ciples we stretch out our hand across the seas ready to join with industrial unionists in an INDUSTRIAL INTER- NATIONAL, which will be a realization of the dream of the founders which caused them to select the name ^'The Industrial Workers of the World." 24 VIII. THE EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE 1. W. W. Important though the achievements of the 1. W. W. may be on the industrial field, its chief function so tar has been education. It is through its efforts on that field that the 1. W. W. has become a world movement. Untor- tunatelv the L W. W. is able to furnish only the most elementary industrial education at present. But the crying need is first of all a greatly improved general education. ILLITERACY AND NEAR-ILLITERACY Statistics show that illiteracy in the U. S. reaches a staggering figure. The illiterates are found not only among negroes and foreigners but among native whites, as well. The figure for the latter is greater m cer- tain parts than is generally believed. On the basis oi the last big military census, authorities estimate illiteracy among the adult citizens to be about 25%. And these illit- erates are practically all in the working class. Immediately above this group in the scale is another large group of near-illiterates. Only a comparatively small percentage of the workers can be reached with the printed word at this time, perhaps only 10 millions of the 40 million workers. The rest are indifferent or inaccessible, due to ignorance and illiteracy. How bad educational matters stand is proven by^ the war census. The psychologists have officially determined after examining 1,700,000 army recruits, that thirteen years is the average intellectual age of Americans fit for military service. Less than one-third are above this aver- age and only 41/2 per cent are of superior intelligence, according to the same official statistics. It is this sad state of affairs that accounts for the relative slowness with which our organization breaks ground. The craft union is often a mere conspiracy headed by a bully who knows it all, while the membership does not have to know anything beyond paying dues. It is different with the I. W. W. It requires a somewhat trained mind, with an intellectuality above the statistically determined figure of thirteen years, in order to grasp its significance and its world wide scope. Thus ignorance is the greatest obstacle we have to overcome, many times greater than capitalist persecution. The capitalists know what they do, when they refuse to build schools. 25 An illiterate workingman is as dangerous to the aspira- tions of the workers in these trying times as a small-pox or bubonic plague patient would be to our health. For this reason we tactfully but firmly try to prevail upon our illiterate fellow workers to go and learn how to read and write. The opportunities for learning are manifold if we only look them up. An illiterate man is next to impossible to reach with a coherent statement on any subject, and his opinion in big matters is, naturally, next to worthless. He knows little or nothing beyond what he experiences. He is mentally blind-folded, but he is still our brother and fellow worker. What we have said about the illiterate applies also to the near-illiterate who may be able to spell through a word and scrawl his name, but is unable to digest any- thing beyond the scandals in the yellow press. Like his illiterate brother he is helplessly drifting to social destruc- tion unless somebody comes to his aid. THE FIGHT AGAINST DARKNESS Ever since its inception the I. W. W. has carried at the top of the first page of its official organ the three words ^'education, organization, emancipation." They tell the whole story. Before we can emancipate ourselves we must first educate and organize. If the people want a peaceful transition, they should build school houses. If they want a catastrophe, they should close their doors. Instead of subduing desperate workers with jails and machine guns help them by edu- cating them so they can solve the social problem. Unless the workers have a good general education to start with, a good deal of our industrial education falls on barren soil, or it will have to be of such elementary nature as to be of little help for dealing with the giant problems of the day, problems frequently too complicated for even a highly trained mind. However, there is small chance for improvement in the educational facilities, unless the teachers organize into one big union and put their united strength behind a most far- reaching program of general education, with particular stress on history, practical economics and evolution in its various aspects. 26 The I. W. W. members have in the course of the years made thousands of speeches and distributed tens of mil- lions of pieces of literature, books, pamphlets, papers, handbills, etc. Most of the education thus dissemmated has been of a general sociological nature. As yet the organization has not been able to specialize to any great extent on higher industrial education, but plans have for some time been under discussion of establishmg a per- manent "Bureau of Industrial Research'' or an "Educa- tional Bureau'' for the purpose of specializing on one in- dustry after another, in order to create a series of Industrial Union Handbooks and other industrial literature cover- ing the whole industrial field. Such a series of handbooks, leaflets and pamphlets would give the workers a firmer grip on the situation when they are confronted with the question of taking over industry. This plan may be a reality in the near future. For the rest we recommend the reader to consult our book list which may be had on application. The 1. W. W. publishes over a dozen daily, weekly and monthly papers and magazines and you are requested to get in touch with our General Secretary-Treasurer in order to secure the reading matter you desire. 27 IX. THE ETHICAL SIDE OF THE I. W. W. The Preamble of the I. W. W. is on the surface an eco- nomic document, but if you stop and think, you will real- ize that it is essentially a document of "hope, faith and charity," hope for ultimate justice, faith in humanity, and charity to one another. "An injury to one is an injury to all," says our declaration of principles, and this is only the golden rule from a working class viewpoint. The magic power of our gospel is not in the material ad- vantages our program offers. Men would not go to jail by the thousands for the sake of a few dollars and cents alone. The fact of the matter is that our Declaration of Prin- ciples, in addition to being the trumpet blast of capitalist doomsday, is also one of the most powerful ethical docu- ments of the ages. Yes, to many the I. W. W. is a religion. It has accomplished with them what no other religion could. It has "saved" them, given peace to their minds and hope for the future. What holds us together under such terrible diffusing pressure is not merely the economic necessity of having a union but also the hope and the inspiration derived from the principle of human solidarity and the world-wide broth- erhood of man which are at the bottom of our activities. Men are becoming tired and worn out mentally in the hell of present day society. They are looking for some- thing better for the future, if not for themselves, at least for^ future generations of men. They are looking for deliverance, or "salvation" as it is commonly called, from the sodden, unclean and degrading life of capitalist society. They are longing for peace, purity, justice, love and hap- pmess, and they feel that they have found the right way when they join the I. W. W. The sentiments, the ideas, the ethical principles easily read between the brief lines of the I. W. W. Preamble have thus become the intangible religion of the poor which carries them through the greatest trials and tribulations and protects them from breaking down, and from giving up hope. This religion helps them in trying to lead clean lives, makes them courageous against the strong, and kind towards the weak and defenseless, ready to throw their personality into the break wherever the desperate struggle of the masses breaks into flames. It is the kindly light that leads them through life. 28 The Only Magazine in America That Is Of, For and By the Workers = The = WILL RESUME PUBLICATION First Issue will be out May First Brimful of Timely and Telling Articles Cover- ing Every Phase of the Class Struggle from Fight- ing Labor's Own Viewpoint — Handsome Illustra- tions, Able Editorials, and a Host of Other Splendid Features. ORDER YOUR BUNDLE NOW Price Per Year, $2.00 Single Copies, 20 cents Published Monthly by the INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD 1001 West Madison St., - Chicago, 111. I. W. W. LITERATURE The Economic Interpretation of the Job. — lOc What Is the I. W. W. Peamble? lOc The I. W. W. in Theory and Practice. By Justus Ebeit 15c What is the I. W. W.? lOc The Lumber Industry and Its Workers. 25c Coal Mines and Coal Miners' Handbook 25c Shop Talks on Economics. By Mary Marcy lOc THE I. W. W. SONGS (Sheet Music) Single copy 15 cents. Lots of 10 — $1.00. Workers of the World, Awaken. Rebel Girl. Don't Take My Papa Away from Me. Advancing Proletariat. We Have Fed You All for a Thousand Years. Funeral Song of the Russian Revolution. Ancient Jewish Lullaby and Child Labor Song. The International. BOOKS OF OTHER PUBLISHERS Industrial Autocracy. By Mary Marcy lOc Right to Strike. By Mary Marcy 10c Open Shop. By Clarence Darrow. 10c Crime and Criminals. By Clarence Darrow 10c An Appeal to the Young. By Peter Kropotkin 5c Militant Proletariat. By Austin Lewis. (Cloth)-. 50c The Apostate. By Jack London 10c Dreams of Debs. By Jack London 10c Value, Price and Profit. By Carl Marx 15c Communist Manifesto. By Carl Marx 10c Wage Labor and Capital. By Carl Marx lOc Class Struggle in America. By Simmons 10c Right to be Lazy. By LaFargue 10c V. 7 To Be Posted---- ON CURRENT LABOR NEWS, ESPECIALLY L W. W. NEWS, Read Industrial Solidarity Published by the I. W. W., 1001 W. Madison St., Chicago, 111., 1 Year, $2.00; 6 months, $1.00; 3 months 50c. Subscribe now. Do it now. Correspondence from all parts of the world. Special articles on economics and all phases of working class activity and education. You can't be without it. Send for a free copy. Five cents a copy ; five or more copies, 3c. each. Read The Industrial Worker Official Organ of the Western Branches of the I. W. W. PUBLISHED TO AROUSE THE WESTERN WORKERS Local News of Lumbering, Fishing, Construction and other western industries. Pacific Coast Northwestern strikes and other labor interests fully covered as well as the whole United States and all foreign countries. Telling Cartoons, Special Articles and Good Editorials from the Working Class Viewpoint. Mail Address Box 1857 Seattle, Wash. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Per year $4.00 Six months 2.00 Three months 1.00 Bundle orders ....3 cents per copy Foreign countries, per year ....... ......... 5.00 mmmms "iiflryNi NIT" in U. S. A. i^atituis, of . IMustrial Relationl*W€E M CENTS Universit:/ of . California Los Angeles 24, California LA BELLE SANSCULOTTE By Covington Hall Writer and Oldtime Industrial Unionist She is coming, O my masters, she is coming in her might, With the red flag o'er her legions and her sword sharp, clean and bright; She is breaking through your dungeons, she is tearing off your chain, ^ She is coming to take vengeance without mercy once again! She is coming, O my masters, with a new might in her arms, Her vision clear, unclouded by a dying Satan's charms; She is coming in hate's beauty, with love's fierceness in her eye, Like a maddened mother hast'ning where your tortured child-slaves die I She is coming, O my masters, with her strong, steel-muscled hands. She is reaching for your factories, your gardens and your lands; She is calling to her standard all the sons of grief and toil. She is promising your soldiers all your stolen wealth for spoil. She is coming, O my masters! 'Neath her red, triumphal arch, Lo! the guards that now surround you in her rebel ranks shall march ! She is coming as forever and forever she has come, Arm in arm with Hope and Freedom, to the long roll of Right's drum! She is coming, O my masters! Soon her troops shall rest their feet In the limpid waters flowing through your bowers, cool and sweet; Soon her hungered hosts shall gather in your gold-roofed banquets hall. And to ecstatic music hold high revel o'er your fall! She is coming, O my masters, she is coming in her might, With the red flag o'er her legions and her sword sharp, clean and bright! She is coming in hate's beauty, with love's fierceness in her eye, Like a maddened mother hast'ning where your tortured child-slaves die! LIXT Cr €€NTCNTX La Belle Sansculotte (Poem) Covington Hall. .Cover Introduction 2 Revolutionary Class Union James P. Thompson. .3 Free Speech Fights of the L W. W. . . .Roger N. Baldwin . .13 How The I. W. W. Defends Labor . . .Ralph Chaplin .... .21 Build For Power C. E. Payne ...... .29 The Industrial Union In Agriculture . . Tom Connors 35 The Way Of The Wobbly F. W. Thompson. . . .43 The Colorado Conquest Ed Delaney 51 Education Clifford B. Ellis .... 59 International Relations of the L W. W. . Joseph Wagner 67 At The Crossroads ................ John A. Gahan 74 INTI2€i:)U€TI€N In step with productive development to industrial pro- portions, the lodMstrial Workers of the World was formed by a groisp, of revolutionary umonists at Chicago, June 27, 1905. Among its fo-imders were such figures 'as Eugene V. Debs, Thos J. Haggerty, Wm. E. Trautman, William D. Haywood, and several of the m&n who have contributed articles for this commemorative pamphlet. Froam its inception the I. W. W. has produced its own dauntless working class voices, and in these pages, marked by keen intelligence, broad information, clarity of logic, diversity of expression and loftiness of vision, leading writers, produced by the organization's power to rally articulation, have created a work that will endure to the greater glory of our glorious movement. Because of the fortunate factors just enumerated it is believed by those privileged to have read the pamphlet in manuscript that this work is unsurpassed in its field, if, indeed, it has ever been equalled. The widest possible distribution of this 25th Anniversary of the 1. W. W. pamphlet is certain to redound to the greater prestige and growth of the I. W. W., and to this end let all in our organization, or animated by a wish to see it flourish, pledge themselves to carry the pamphlet to the dark places of working class ignorance and light them with its working class truth. REVOLUTIONARY CLASS UNION By JAMES F. THOMPSON Labor Orator and One of the I. W. W. Founders "In order to understamd the social movement it must be looked at as a process of natural history, governed by laws not only independent of the human will, consciousness and in- telligence, but rather, on the contrary, determinijiig that will, consciousness and intelligence." *'j'ust as the real reason why people dress differently in winter than in summer is to be found in the different climatic conditions, so, *the real causes of all social changes and revo- lutions are to be sought, not in men's brains, not in their more or less confused ideas of right and wrong or of truth and justice, not in the philosophy but in the economics of each particular epoch." (1). Cannibaiiism was very prevalent among the ancients. We of today are shocked at the very thought of cannibalism. And yet, cannibalism is, in many ways, one of the most humane forms in which man was ever devoured by his fellowman. When the praductiveness of labor reached the point where man was able to produce not only eno'Ugh to maintain him- self, but more, then cannibalism died out and slavery began. With the 'beginning of slavery, of course, society divided into classes. Morality took on a class character. Instead of "whatever is in the interest of the tribe is good", we have this formula, Anything that is in the interest of the ruling class is good and anything against their interest is had." 'The rul- ing ideas of each age have ever been the ideas of its ruling class." (4). The master class was forced to organize in order to rule, and behold, *The State" appears! The State is merely the or- ganized powers of oppression and coercion used by the ruling 3 class to maintain themiselves in their potsition as a rul'ing class. The State changes in form from time to time as conditions change, and it wears many different national uniforms, but it never loses its identity as 'The State". The class machine of oppression known as ''The State" will only disappear when the world's last class struggle ends. In the fifth century the barbarians of the north swept down over western Europe and plundered everywhere until they reached the sea, then turned back. The slaves who fled to the woods at their approach were tilling the soil. They trembled at the sight of the organized barbarians, but the barbarians said to them, "Fear not, we will not kill you. Go on and till the soil, but remember, all you produce over and above what is necessary to maintain you you must give to us." Then followed over a thousand years of feudalism, those hor- rible centuries of blood and tears known as the dark ages dur- ing which the ruling class, led by their kings, claimed a divine right to rule and roh their fellowmen. It was indeed a darik age. The phantom-haunted fogs of ignorance, superstition and fear hung like a pall over the human race. "The voice of liberty was strangled and mur- derers sat 'Upon the thrones. The fires of persecution climbed around the limbs of countless martyrs. Brave men and women languished in dungeons and darkness." (5). "All the Mount Calvaries of truth and discovery were white with the fire- bleached bones of thinkers." (6). Fortunately, society is not a solid crystal. It is an organ- ism, not only capable of change but constantly changing. Gradually within feudal society, production for exchange, i. e. the capitalist mode of production, developed. The factory system came and later on machinery and modern industry. The discovery of America and the opening up of the world's markets increased the demand for commodities. A commodity, by the way, is "any useful thing produced by labor for exchange" (7), and, note carefully, production for exchange is the capitalist mode of production. As cap- italism developed within feudal' society the capitalist class, i. e. the bourgeoisie, grew in wealth and power. They were compelled to pay heavy tribute to the Bishop and the King, but in spite of the reactionary forces that were hampering and trying to block and roll back the wheels of progress, 4 capitalism developed. The capitalist class grew in wealth and power until they were able se.riously to challenge the ruling class. Here we have a situation that must exist before a revolu- tion iis possible, i. e. "the old society must be pregnant with the new.'^ (8). Finally came the trial of strength between the new and the old. A series of revolutions shook the world. The old went down before the greater power of the new! The capitalist class ibecame the ruling class. The capitalist mode of produc- tion prevailed. The whole social structure changed to con- form to the conditions arising from the capitalist mode of pro- duction. And behold ! Capitalism, the paradise of the cap- italist, the epoch of the bourgeoisie. In feudal society the land owning class was the ruling class and that one great interest was represented by govern- ments in the form of absolute monarchies. As the capitalist mode of production develops in any country there develops alongside of the "land interest" many other interests: mer- chant, manufacture, transportation, oil, steel, lumber, etc., all among the. capitalist class. In the early stages of capitalism none of these interests was powerful enough to rule its own in- dustry, to say nothing of rule the country. Here we have the foundation for Democracy. With the triumph of this class capitalist governments were formed. The absolute monarchy gave way to the constitutional monarcy or the Republic. The representative form of government appeared. "The economic mode of production and exchange forms the basis of the whole social structure." (9). Capitalism demands an educated working class. Workers who could neither read nor write would not be able to sort freight, read price tags, count money, keep books, use the tape measure, the square, the micrometer, etc. With the coming of capitalism the free school system appears. It is to the in- terest of the capitalist class to increase the productiveness of labor, in order to shorten that part of the working day during which we produce wealth for ourselves and correspondingly lengthen that part of the working day during which we 'pro- duce surplus value for them. They educate us in order to make of us perfected instruments of production. But it is not enough 5 that we merely work for them. They mis-educate us in order to get us to fight for them ! Think cf a slave class fighting to defend a slave system! Capitalism is based on wage slavery. The capitalists hire wage workers to produce wealth, give them part of that wealth in the form of wages and keep the rest. We do not sell our lalbor to the capitalists; we sell our labor power. 'That which confronts the capitalist in the market is not labor but the laborer and that which we sell is our labor power". (10). Labor power is just as differe^nt from labor as a machine is different from the work it does. ''Labor (power is the mental and physical capabilities of man which he exercises when he produces wealth". (11). To illustrate what a wage slave is, suppose you owned a nice, automobile land some one should say to you, *1 want to use your car until it is all worn out. I will give it gas and oil enough to keep it running until it can't run any more." Surely you would not agree to that. You wouldn't allow anybody to use your car until it was all v/orn out just for gas and oil. But, mark you well, if you are a wage worker that is what you are doing with your body. The capitalists use you until you are all worn out and all they aim to give you is what the chattel slaves got, what the serfs got, what a horse gets, a bare living, and you are not even sure of that. How about your children? You parents spend many happy hours teaching your children how to walk and how to talk. Long years are spent upon their education. When they get to be wonderful young men and women with their eyes brightly shining like the headlights on a new car, and with their veins and arteries like the wiring on a new car, and their hearts beating with- out a murmur, like the smooth running of new engines, then the capitalists say to the proud parents, *'We want to use your children to produce wealth for us and for our children. Just as we have used you to produce wealth for us, so our children want to use your children to -produce wealth for them when we are gone." The parents ask, ''What are our children to get for the use of their bodies during the precious years of their lives?" Answer, "Gas and oil". A mere living wage. The endless chain that starts and ends with work. Work to get money, to buy food, to get strength to work. Every increase in the productiv- 6 ity of labor, every invention, every victory of science and triumph of genius in the line of industrial progress, only goes to increase the wealth of a parasite class while the workers are only supposed to get what slave classes always got, a bare living and often not even that. This is wage slavery, the founda- tion of ca'pitalism. But capitalism is only a passing stage in the economic dev- elopment of mankind. Ais capitalism spreads over the earth it produces the wage working class, i. e. the proletariat, the great class whoise historic mission is to end exploitation of man by his fellow man. "Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class. The other classes decay and finally disappear in the. face of m.odern industry; the proletariat is its special and essential product/*' (12) "The lower middle class, the small manufacturer, the shopkeeper, the artisan, the peasant, all these fight against the bourgeoisie to save from extinction their existence as factions of the middle class. They are, therefore, not revolutionary, but conservative. Nay, more, they are reactionary, for they try to roll badk the wheels of history." (13). In the early days of capitalism the wage workers were, not conscious of their historic mission, they had no idea of revolution. Their whole idea of success was to work hard, save the.ir money and get into ibusiness. V/hen looking for employment they would take any job they could get, no mat- ter how long the hours or how short the pay. They reasoned, "it is better to work hard for small wages than to remain idle, and consume what you have saved.'* Of course, the employers, the buyers of labor power, when they found that the sellers of labor power were willing to take any price offered, didn't offer much. As a result, the workers soon found theimselves working many hours a day for very small pay. They didn't get enough to live and keep themselves in normal condition, to say nothing of saving anything. They grew rapidly weaker and smaller. They were perishing. Then the unrest began. They realized that something must be done,. But still no idea of revolution. They reasoned that capitalism was all right but it needed some improvements, some reforms. The capitalists in some cases gave such improveiments as seemed necessary to keep from 7 •'killing the chickens that were laying the golden eggs." Marx siaid, speaking of the English Factory Acts: ^*Apart from the working class movement that daily grew more threatening, the. limiting of factory labor was dictated by the same neces- sity which spread guano over the English fields. The same blind eagerness for plunder that in the one case exhausted the soil had, in the other, torn up by the roots the living force of the nation." (14) But the workers were not satisfied. They w)a.nted more than a living wage. They wanted a saving wage. What hope was there for them if they could not save something for their old age? And how were they to get into business? In some cases, the politician framed up the old age pension idea. They told the. workers: "With an old age pension you won't need to save lanything for your old age. When you get old the dear government will take care of you." They aim to get the work- ers to be satisfied with a mere, existence wage and then work them to death before they have a chance to get old. But the workers want to escape from wage slavery. Some, of them soon learned that the laws of society are not made by the subject class, that reforms are e,ither economically unsound or politically impossible. That the workers can get only what they have the power to take. If they have the power to take, and begin to exercise that power, the capitalists will often try to get /ahead of them and give, hoping to get credit that they do not deserve and deceive the workers into the belief that the benefits do not come because, of their own organized powers but ibecause of kindness in the hearts of the capitalists. Rest assured, that if the workers allow their organized power to weaken, the hearts of the capitalists will harden accordingly. In the light of this fact how foolish it is for the workers to ask the ciapitalists to give tliem the shorter working day or v/eek, or any other thing that they have the power to take. Many workers have, not learned these things yet and so much valuable energy is wasted in building organization founded upon the rights of labor, the right to vote, etc. "The rights of labor are only for times of relative peace in the. class war. When the crisis comes these so-called tissues of civiliza- tion are brushed aside and the maile;d-fist of the capitalist class is thrust in our faces." (15) Organizations founded upon the rights of labor are built upon sand, and when the 8 &torm comes the winds ;blow the sandy foundation away and the org-aniziation collapses. Clearly, the orig^anization of the, proletariat must he founded upon the solid rock of proletarian power. Liberty and power are identical. A favorite plan of the workers in the. early days was for one alone to ask the employer for more pay. It usually worked out about as follows : One worker would say to the others, *1 lam going to ask the boss for more pay and if he doe.sn't give it to me I am going to quit.'' The other workers, each speak- ing for himiself, would say, "'Go ahead and ask him and if he gives it to you, I will ask him." The boss usually answered by saying, **No, if I give you more, pay all the others will want more." Finally the workers got the union idea! Then, instead of "I want more," they went up together land said, **We want more, and if we don't get it We will all quit." It was a good idea and worked well. The organized workers having power were respected more and, aibove all, they respected themselves more. The. union movement developed fast. The employers were afraid of this ne.w power. They, 'being the ruling class, finally passed a law taking away from labor ^^'fhe right to strike" — ^^but they could not enforce it! The workers said, '*We may not have the right to strike^ 'but we have the powe.r to strike !" And they went on strike in protest against the law that tried to miake it a crime to strike. After a long and bitter struggle, during which many brave union workers went to jail, the right to strike was won by the organized workers. Thus early in the labor movement was demonstrated a vital point, one that should ibe caref ully noted, and that is, the •difference fbetween, and the relation be.tween, the rights of labor and the powers of labor. The unions at first were rather smiall autonomous groups, formed for the most part on trade, or craft lines and with lit- tle, or no, idea of class solidarity. They did not recognize the irrepressible class struggle in society. Their idea was that capital and labor were {brothers. In other words, the interest of the robbers and the robbed are identical! Their only hope of escape from wage slavery was to *'work hard, save money, and get into busine.ss." With the development of machinery and modern indus- try the meager savings of an individual worker are unable to 9 cope, in a business way, with the giant combinations of capi- tal. With the. coming- of "'Big Business," millions of petty land holders, small shop keepers and petty bourgeoisie generally are being crushed out of business and forced into the ranks of the proletariat. "In the sphere of agriculture, modern industry has a more revolutionary effect than elsewhere, for this reason, that it [annihilates the. peasant, that bulwark of the old society, and replaces him by the wage worker." (16) The wage working class, the proletariat, is rapidly increas- ing in numbers and importance. *They dominate the ne,rve centers of the economic life." (17) They are the living parts of modern industry. The industries run whe.n they run them, and istop when they stop. They are the only class that is alble to operate the. modern machinery of production. "The prole- tariat cannot stir, cannot raise itself up, without the whole superincumbent strata of official society 'being sprung into the air." (18) This great class is coming! All other classes are going! 'The centering of the management of industry into fewe,r and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever growing power of the employing class." (19) When one craft is on strike all the other crafts remain at work and help to break the strike. When coal miners are on strike in one district or country, the. transportation workers help the employing class by bringing in coal from other districts or countries. Thus the workers of one industry scab on the work- ers of another industry. The capitalist class cannot whip the v/orking class. They can only defeat us so long as they can get one part of our class to whip the other part. We ''defeat one another in wage wars." The employing class, organized as a class, in employers' associations, etc. transfer orders, where possible, and back up each other in the. class war. They know that if one group of workers fight and win, other workers will :be encouraged to do likewise, and the more they get the more they will want. So, no matter how much the capitalists fight among them- f;elves, they are as one against labor. Now, we, have, on la bigger scale, somewhat the same con- dition as existed before the first labor union was formed. When 10 the members of one craft ask for more pay the employers say: 'If we give, you more, then all the other crafts will want more." From these conditions, and not from the Ibrain of any savior or superman, comes the idea of industrial unionism. The idea that the industrial workers of the world, the prole- tariat, should organize as a class and back up each other in the great struggle for life and freedom. This grand idea of solidarity of labor, a solidarity that knows no race, no creed, no country, is a result of historically developed conditions and has been developing for ye.ars in in- dustrial countries. Not only are the wage, workers getting the idea of class crganization but, because of the development of "'big busi- ness", they are giving up the idea of becoming capitalists and, glory of glories, they are ibe.coming consciously revolutionary! In Chicago, Illinois, U. S. A., in the year 1905, an organi- zation named "The Industrial Workers of the World" was formed. The present writer had the privilege of re.writing the Preamble of this organization in 1908, and it has stood unchanged from that day to this. A study of the Preamble and Constitution of this or- ganization will show the form and spirit of a 20th century revolutionary labor organization. The Preamble says in part, '•It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must !be organized; not only for the every day struggle with capitalists, hut also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been over- thrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the struc- ture of the new society within the shell of the old." Thus the old society is pregnant with the new. The powers that rule the world today will never surrender to a weaker power. Clearly the. thing to do is to build the power of organized labor. To try to save the petty bourgeoisie farmers, shop keepers, etc. is not revolutionary but reaction- ary. Reformers try to patch up capitalism. Reactioneries try to roll back the wheels of history. Revolutionists ibuild the new within the shell of the old. Capitalism is rapidly spreading over the earth, but the coming of the modern world is the coming of the, proletariat. 11 As Marx so well said, '"What the bourgeoisie therefore pro- duces, above all, /are its own grave-diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are eq'ually inevitable." When the organized power of the proletariat becomes greater than the organized power of other classes, then will come, the revolution ! The old power will go down before the greater power of the new. Capitalism based on production for sale will give way to production for use. Thus will end the world's last class struggle. The age-long exploitation of man by his fe.llowman will cease forever, and this will be the crown- ing achievement of the human race. Industrial Workers of the World, unite. You have a world and life itself to gain ! (I) Frederick Engels (4) Karl Marx (10) Karl Marx (II) Karl Marx (12) Karl Marx (13) Karl Marx (14) Karl Marx Capital, Page 264, Kerr Edition (16) Karl Marx Capital, Page 554, Kerr Edition 12 FREE SPEECH FIGHTS OF THE My first real contact with the I. W. W., when I was a hopeful young reformer in St. Louis in 1912, came about as the result of the Kansas City free speech fight. Some of the boys just out of jail dropped in to undeceive me about Kansas City's boasted municipal workhouse. They simply and dra- matically told the story, ne,w to me, of how free speech really is won. That technique, developed by the I. W. W. in its ten year struggle to speak on the public streets despite police orders, is unique in American history. It demonstrated the power- lessness of all the forces of law and order in the face of men determined to fill the jails if necessary to win their right to talk. No power on earth can beat men with the courage to go to jail, willingly and cheerfully, for a principle. Not if there are enough of them. I learned of that technique in the Kansas City fight; the same tactics that marked the score of struggles chiefly in mid-western and Pacific Coast states in the years 1906 to 1916. First the gag on street-speaking, the arrests of the speakers on any handy charge, their conviction and sentence. Then the call for volunteers, the continued stream of soap-boxers night after night on crowded downtov/n streets, the ce.aseless arrests, and then the city's awakening in alarm to the menace of a jail filled to overflowing and new candidates arriving by every freight. The pre,s3 calls for stern measures. Cham- bers of Commerce resolve on emergency committees, patriots rave. But nothing stops the invasion nor checks the. soap- boxing. The men in jail won't work; they will sing songs. They hecome front-page copy. Every speech in court is print- By ROGER N. BALDWIN Director, American Civil Liberties Union 13 ed in full; every incident in the, jail makes drama. Finally, hopeless of stemming the tide and having no more jails, the champions of free speech are released; the fight is won. In Kansas 'City, sane heads in influential places pointed out the futility of hoarding all these men at the city's expense just because they wanted to talk on the streets, and the chief of police surrendered, agreeing to le.t all the men loose on one condition as a face-saver, — that they could speak freely if they would not abuse the police. Since they had no inten- tion of abusing the defenseless police, they agreed. ; I watched similar tactics at work in St. Louis that winter in a campaign to make the city provide food and shelter for the thousands of homeless men who had come to town from the fields and camps. The I. W. W. men dropped into a res- taurant, ate, and then presented their checks to the cashier, telling him to charge them to the mayor. Arrested, they made speeches in court that broke on the. front pages. The town got excited over the prospect of thousands of men heading for St. Louis to eat on the mayor, — for out of jail or in it that was just what they did. After a few score had made, the point clear, the City Council hastily passed an emergency bill to set up a lodging house with free meals, and the fight was won. And won on precisely the same tactics, the same dramatic and moral appeal that won free speech. No amount of lawful pro- paganda or public appeals could have turned the trick. Cour- age, num'bers, team-work and dra.matic sense did it. These fre.e speech fights of the L W. W. cropped out without planning wherever the police put on the lid. They rarely had any relation to a strike. They were an outgrowth of street propaganda in cities where organizers were attempt- ing to recruit members. As advertising for the I. W. W. they were a huge success. Thousands of citizens who had only heard remotely of the organization were aroused to fear and hate by the menace they saw to prope.rty interests in the •organization of these ^'outcasts of society." Revolutionary words seemed to take on reality when accompanied by such v^illing martyrdom. The shafts of revolt hit home 'because the guardians of property and law had no answer to the accusations. Here were men with a vision and nothing to lose. They could not he bought off nor intimidated. Short of killing them there w^as no answer to their determination to 14 sneak save surrender. And as some old farmer is quoted as paying, "You can't kill 'em; the law protects 'em." This resistance of the I. W. W. boys, combine.d with revo- lutionary propaganda and songs couched in words anybody could understand, aroused passionate prejudice. Sober citi- zens forgot all law and order; they called for blood. And they got it. Though not a single case of violence by a single memiber of the I. W. W. marked a single conviction in scores of free speech fights, the violence against them was colossal. It would 'be. futile to record the ibeatings, kidnappings, tor- ture. Some ten men lost their lives in these fights. Some- thing over 2,000 were sent to jail out of more thousands arrested. And yet the. net effect on the public mind was that the violence was chiefly on the part of the I. W. W. or directly incited by them. That the sworn guardians of the law and the leading citizens were incited to violence merely by ideas they feared is not held against them outside radical circles. They did their patriotic duty against those seeking to overthrow socie.ty. Charges of violence against the I. W. W. even in the total absence of proof, were gladly accepted to justify the vio- lence against them. I know of no movement in recent history which so withstood the temptation to violent re.prisals as did the I. W. W. in these free speech and other fights to keep the organization going. As a vindication of the power of organ- ized non-violent resistance it is one of the outstanding examples of all time. Practically every fight was won. Of course the price paid 'by the organization for these victories was high. Whether they were worth it in terms of the. purposes of the I. W. W. is a matter of opinion. Many in the L W. W. criticized the diversion of energy to a strug- 2:le against the police instead of against the bosses, and to win- ning a free speech that did not build unions. To win the right to talk te.nded to become the goal rather than the use to which that right was put. But I venture to appraise the effect of the struggle on the morale of the workers as far more im- rortant than its victories. The exhibitions of solidarity, of the sacrifice, of the individual to the interests of his class, of un- compromising purpose, all 'built a personality around the I. W. W. which made it the unrivalled spokesman of native x\merican militancy. It had miore of the old revoltionary tra- 15 dition in it, and in precisely its original spirit — 1776 — than any moveiment in or out of the working class since. Certainly no fight for free speech before or since has approached it in determination, dramatic tactics or success in its immediate purposes. One of the significant factors in this struggle was its al- most e.xclusive isolation in the I. W. W. Ordinarily free speech fights arouse widespread participation by those not directly affected who accept the old tradition of "letting them talk." But the violent prejudice aroused by the I. W. W. scared off timid liberals. Outside the Socialists land anarchists only a few staunch libertarians championed their rights. Contriibutions to defense funds came from middle-class so'urces in considerable amount, but they did not embarrass the givers by public identification with the I. W. W. It is commonly said that most of those who fight for free speech do so to get their own rights, but would not lift a finger to get such rights for others. And it is charged, with, unhap- pily, considerable evidence to prove it, that some who have 'been loudest in demanding their own rights have denied those rights to others. One radical party breaks up the meetings of another. One A. F. of L. leader, an avowed champion of free speech, a few years ago called for the prosecution of the I. W. W. under the criminal syndicalism laws. He hired thugs to raid their halls and break 'up their me.etings. But I have never heard of a single instance in which the I. W. W. has 'broken up a meeting of rivals or opponents. They accept for others the. principle of a tolerance they fought so hard to gain. The period of these struggles for the right to speak on the stre.ets came to an end with the war. Everett was the last scene of significant conflict. With the war prosecutions, the energies of the organization were directed to saving It from attack by far more powerful forces than local police, and chambers of commerce. A.nd since the war, propaganda on the soap-box has gone out of fashion with the changes broug-ht about in industry, in the tactics of radical organiza- tions and in the I. W. W. itself. Of the score of fights, two stand out as most conspicuous because most dramatic and tragic, — ^Everett, Wash, in 1916 and San Diego in 1912. Lives were lost in both; scores of 16 men were beaten, tortured, kidnapped, deported, moibbed, prosecuted. They are so different in cliaracter that they de- !cerve description, — that at Everett an exclusive I. W. W. strug- gle, the other in San Diego shared by Socialists, anarchists, liberals and orthodox trade-imionists. The San Die:go fight was significant b^e^cause of the long- continued lawless violence by the police and a citizens' com- mittee of "'vigilantes** who deported and ibeat the free ispeech fighters; ibecause of the undaunted resistance of the I. W. W. men who supplied most of the recruits; and because of the united front p'ut up hy organized labor, Socialists, liberals and even religious leaders. The active struggle lasted longer than any free speech fight on re.cord—nine months. It attracted nation-wide attention and involved iboth state and federal governments. The issue arose suddenly in Dece.miber, 1911 when the San Diego City Council, in response to the urging of merchants, adopted an ordinance ibarring the customary street-speaking in the ce.nter of the city. Fifty blocks were closed. Socialists, single-taxers, trade unionists, the I. W, W. and religious groups at once formed the California Free Speech League to fight for their common rights. The day the. law took effect, 40 speakers, including two lawyers, were arrested. They were held without trial under excessive hail, A hundred more were soon added, jamming the jails. Overcrowding, rotten food, illness, 'brutality marked their confinement. The I. W. W. sent out a call for men. The trade unions pledged support to the fight. The reactionary press called for hanging or shooting without trial. The I. W. W, men be- gan arriving. The police threw a mounted guard along the, county line to turn them back. In the course of the eight months of the fight scores were seized, beate.n, turned back; one group were forced to kiss the flag at the point of guns, another to run a gauntlet of thugs who ^beat them mercilessly. One la'bor man, not an I. W. W., was kidnapped, taken into tiie country and warned to keep going on pain of death if he returned. Other deportations followed. Altogether hun- dreds were seized by a self-appointed citizens' committee — vigilantes — ^taken far out into one desert, beaten and warned not to return. 17 Mass protest meetings were held in San Diego and Los Angeles. At one, in San Diego led by a woman evangelist, the fire hose was turned on speakers and audience for over an hour, injuring many. The fight, with its daily skirmishes, aroused the press all over the state.. The death of one prisoner from a beating put iron into the fighters. Rising protests from all quarters over the state prompted Governor Hiram Johnson, to appoint an official investigator. Just when the fight seemed on its way to settlement with acquittals in co'urt, a clash with the police resulted in the kill- ing of one I. W. W., the wounding of several more, and of two police officers. Wholesale persecution followed. Raids and deportations were renewed. A visiting anarchist speaker was •seized, taken out into the country by vigilantes, ibeaten, brand- ed and tarred. The report of the governor's investigator, sustaining the charges against the police and vigilantes, together with a further inquiry by the attorney-general, prompted the indict- ment of leading vigilantes. Even the federal government or- dered an investigation. The free speech fighters resumed their meetings; distinguished outside speakers came in; press support grew. The men arrested were finally brought to trial. Some were sentenced to six months. But arrests stopped. The vigilantes were, never tried. The fight was over and won. The conflict in the seaport lumber town of Everett, Wash- ington, in 1916, in contrast to the San Diego struggle, was short — less than a month — and it was an exclusive I. W. W. movement. The issue arose in a strike of the A. F. of L. shingle-weavers, when police and thugs ibroke up picket lines and meetings. The I. W. W. decided then to try its hand .at opening up the, town. Attempts to rent a hall resulted in the arrest and beating of organizers, who were run out. The leaders then decided to approach the city from the sea. A boat was chartered in Seattle. When it landed in Everett, the 41 men on 'board were seized by the sheriff and his men, loaded into trucks and taken out of town. There they were made, to run a gauntlet on a railroad track — kicked, beaten and stuck with sharp sticks. Driven from town, they deter- mined to recruit larger forces. The week following 300 men cn two chartered steamers left Seattle. Arriving at the dock in Everett, singing ''Hold the Fort for we are coming," they 18 were met by a fusillade of shots and scores of rifles in the. hands of the sheriff and his deputies, many of them recruited by the lumber interests. Five, men lay dead on the decks, others fell into the sea; 31 were wounded. Two deputy sheriffs were killed, 16 wounde.d — ^by crossfire, the defense contended in the trials, due to firing on the boats from three sides. All the remaining- 1. W. W. men were, arrested at once, with all others who could be found in town, including three women. Seventy-four were charged with murder. The. dauntless spirit of the I. W. W. was evident when the very next day two men tried to hold a street meeting of protest. Arrested, they were tortured and 'be.aten. Of the men charged with murder, one was brought to trial in Seattle several months later, and after two months acquitted. The others were then freed. Not a single one of the scores of deputies who fired on men me.rely seeking to land in town to speak on the streets, was arrested or prosecuted. The sheriff in charge of them later got a state job. The Everett fight resulted in the establishment of free speech after the trials. The I. W. W. opened a hall and held street meetings without interference. San Diego and Everett — not typical of the many I. W. W. free speech fights, ibut the ibest evidence of the. spirit of de- termination behind them. They emphasize what Mr. Dooley long ago said of rights. ''Don't ask for rights; take. them. There's something the matter with a right that is handed to you.'' And they illustrate the truth that law is only what its agents choose to make it. When the war 'began there, were few places where the I. W. W. was unable to keep open a hall or to speak on the streets. The war hysteria and the criminal syndicalism laws, together with the federal prosecutions, soon closed most of them. The fighting front of the organization shifted from the streets to the criminal courts. Shortly in many states it be- came a crime to be a member of the. I. W, W. Yet after the war,the halls opened up again, though street speaking was far less common. Except for the period of terrorism following Ce.ntralia, the halls stayed open. But no fight for free speech on the streets has marked the years since, save for a little flurry in Toledo. 19 Among the outstanding free speech fights of the 1. W. W. are the following: 1906, San Francisco, Cal.; 1909, Missoula, Mont., Spokane, Wash., New Castle, Pa.; 1910, Wenatchee, Walla Walla, Wash., Fresno, Cal.; 1911, Duluth, Minn., Vic- toria, B. C, Denver, Colo., Superior, Wis., Kansas City, M., Aberdeen, Wash.; 1912, San Diego, Cal., Aberdeen, S. D., New Bedford, Mass., Minneapolis, Minn.; 1913, Denver, Grand Junction, Colo., Minot, N. B., Seattle, Wash., Kansas City, Mo.; 1914, Aberdeen, S. D. ; 1915, Paterson, N, J.; 1916, Old Forge, Pa., Everett, Wash. Noibo'dy in the United States today, where free, speech remains a challenging issue, in strikes and out, carries on the tactics so dramatically worked out by the I. W. W. They wrote a chapter in the history of American liberties like that of the struggle of the Quakers for freedom to meet and wor- ship, of the militant suffragists to carry their propaganda to the seats of government, and of the Abolitionists to be. heard. Far more effective is this direct action of open conflict than all the legal maneuvres in the courts to ge,t rights that no government willingly grants. Power wins rights,— the power of determination backed by willingness to suffer jail or vio- lence, to get them. The little minority of the working class represented in the I. W. W. blazed the trail in those ten year^i of fighting for free speech which the entire American working class must in some fashion follow. Without that spirit no revolutionary program can succeed. Without it, the elemen- tary rights of agitation remain a myth. 20 HOW THE LW.W. DEFENDS LABOR While education has be.en its chief achievement, militant industrial unionism in America has in the main followed two major lines— -comib at and defense. Both of these have been spectacular in the extreme. At every point where the Indus- trial Workers of the World contacted the powerful and firmly entrenched employing interests, friction developed on a scale, hitherto unprecedented. With its revolutionary ideal and deeply rooted scepticism of all methods save those of the direct action of the workers at the point of production, the I. W. W., Bs might be supposed, was from the 'beginning destined for a stormy career. In fact, the first ye?ar of its existence, was marked 'by one of the most outstanding labor defense cases in history. The Moyer, Haywood, Pettibone, case was in reality the aftermath of the great strike of the Western Federation of Miners, which culminated in the gigantic frame-up against thre.e of the officers of the Union. On Jianuary 19, 1906 Wil- liam D. Haywood, Charles Moyer and George A. Pettibone were arrested in Colorado and spirited away to Idaho, No opportunity was given these men to see, their families or to consult lawyers. One Harry Orchard, a stoolpigeon, made a purported confession in which the three miners were, accused of conspiracy to cause the murder of ex^Governor Frank Stue- nenburg of Idaho. This now famous case was made a matter of national importance by the energetic measures used by the defense. Publicity, both in the labor and capitalist press, resulted in stirring up public opinion all over the nation and the world. The I. W. W. learned its first big lesson in the tactics of lahor defense from this case — one that was to ibe of utmost value in the years to come. Pu'blicity won the day. By RALPH CHAPLIN Labor Poet, Artist and Speaker 21 Eugene V. Debs' ringing slogan, "If they hang Bill Hay- wood they've got to hang me." became the battle cry that was echoed in many parts of the world. Clarence Darrow's masterly plea for acquittal prevailed over the narrowness and prejudice, of the times. The acquittal of Haywood resulted in the dropping of the case against the others. In July, August land September, 1909 the 1. W. W. led the strike of 8,000 workers at the Pressed Steel Car Company at McKees Rocks, Penn. These men represented sixtee.n na- tionalities. The notorious state constabulary or, as the strik- ers called them, the American Cossacks, were called out. An amazing series of brutalities resulted. In order to call atten- tion to the injustices being perpetrated against helpless work- ers, the strike committee issued an ultimatum which focused ihe attention of the nation on the scene. Ben Williams, editor of Solidarity, and a n'umber of fellow workers had been ar- rested. Meetings were held all over the country land defense funds were raised. The true story of the eleven weeks of police, brutality was given to the nation. The ''Cossacks" made one last desperate attempt to break the strike with customary violence. A terrible encounter ensued in which the. state policemen were forced to seek shelter in the. company plants. The strike ended. The defendants were released. A similar story on a smaller scale was repeated in 1912-13 in Little Falls, N. Y. While the Spokane free speech fight is mentioned else- w^here, the defense features are worthy of note. Six hundred members of the L W. W. were arrested in Spokane, Washing- ton, in the, latter part of 1909. In order to put their purpose on the front page of the daily papers, more than 200 of them went on a hunger strike of from eleven to thirteen days. The persistence of the hunger strikers, coupled with the attendant pu'blicity, forced the officials of the city to yield. In San Diego, Kansas City and other cities which sought to deny workers the right of free speech, similar tactics were, used with similar results. In 1912 a strike occurred in the textile mills at Lawrence, Massachusetts. This was another of the great strikes of labor history. About 30,000 workers speaking 27 different lan- guages participated. The strike was well organized and splendidly directed. This and the Paterson, N. J. strike, un- 22 dou'btedly reveal Wm. D. Haywood at his best in the role of strike strategist. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, the "Joan of Arc" of the. American Labor Movement, and Joe Ettor and Arturo Giovannitti, for their courage and ability, toecame figures of national prominence during this strike. The two latter were falsely accused of the murder of a little girl who was killed In what wais alleged to have been a street riot. Ettor, Giovan- nitti land another Italian named Caruso, were held in jail a 5^e;ar. The result of the trial was an acquittal. The defense work had been very extensive in scope. Public opinion, which rejoiced in the victory of the strikers, was emphatic in de- manding the rele.ase of the defendants. It was discovered that one of the mill operators had planted evidence to help convict the unjustly accused men. This operator afterwards was reported as having committed suicide in Florida. In the latter part of 1913 another great textile strike under I. W. W. leadership occurred in Paterson, N. J. The Doherty mill, owned chie.fly by Japanese capitalists, was one of the largest units involved. All the hoary subterfuges of the employing class were used to discredit the strikers; the frame-up, pjatriotism, the spy system and open police brutality. This strike produced some of the most spectacular defense features in labor history. At one time the entire child-popula- tion of Paterson was removed to other cities to ^be looked after until the end of the strike, thus leaving their parents free to endure the hardships of the industrial struggle without wor- rying about their offspring. Bob Fitzsimmons, the. fighter and Bertha Kalich, the actress contributed their talent at benefit performances. But the famous PEterson Pageant was by far the greatest strike.-ibenefit and defense-p'ublicity stunt on record. Madison Square Garden in New York City was ^e scene of a colossal reproduction of the entire strike. An- other striking feature, of defense publicity was Bill Haywood's exposure of the millowners methods of processing silk for profitable sale. This process is known as "dynamiting" and consisted of the loading of the fabric with leiad, tin or zinc. These adulterations were exposed, to the consternation of the textile barons and the advantage of the strikers. The Ford and Suhr case is another of the great mile- stones in the story of labor defense. In Wheatland, California, in 1913 a strike occurred in the height of the hop picking 23 season. Richard Ford and Herman Suhr were arrested charged with the murder of Prose.cuting Attorney Manwell and Deputy Sheriff Riordan. The trial aroused widespread interest and resulted in conviction for the death of Manwell. But the terrible conditions prevailing in the hop fields were exposed. For twelve years agitation for the release of Ford and Suhr was carried on in the face of the most intense (bitter- ness on the part of the California ruling class and its prose- cutors. Ford was released on parole in 19:26. Re-arrested and tried again for murder; this time with a verdict of ac- quittal. Suhr was released in 1926. The trial was handled by the California Branch of the. General Defense Committee which obtained the signtatures of a majority of the trial jury to a petition stating that they believed the convictions amount- ed to a miscarriage of justice. The strike of the Southern lumberjacks which occurred in 1913 offers another example of the benefits to labor of well organized defense work. Intolerable conditions had driven the lumber workers to revolt. The strike was organized and directed by the I. W. W. A riot was planned and executed iby compiamy directors and gun-men. Fifty-eight men were arrested and thrown into jaiL Four men belonging to the A. F. of L. were killed outright in a daylight massacre. At- tempt to organize was the only reason given or required. Blacklist was used freely. Men and women were driven out of the, country. The 58 men were confined in jail for months until news of the frightful conditions spread to all parts of the country. Thus the I. W. W. opened up the semi-fuedal South for labor organization. The ciase of Rangel and Cline, like the one mentioned above, attracted a great deal of attention. The widest pub- licity was given to the facts in the case., but like Ford and Suhr, the two men were forced to serve a large part of their time in prison. In 1914, Charles Cline, an i. W. W. and a Mexican fellow worker named Rangel, were arrested near the border. They were charged with violation of the neutrality act for attempting to join forces with Mexican rebels across the Rio Grande who were attempting to overthrow the tyranny cf Porfirio Diaz, dictator of Mexico. Both served thirteen years. The wide interest aroused by their case was still alive 24 whe,n both men were pardoned by the Governor of Tems, '*Ma" Ferguson. The famous Joe Hill case occurred in Utah in 1914. It was a classical case of the *'frame-up" used against labor. A f.trike against the Utah Construction Company occurred at Bingham Canyon. It was a success. The I. W. W. song writer, Joe Hill, was the chief agitator and organizer. He was arrest- ed in Salt Lake City for the murder of a local groceryman named Morrison. He was tried and convicted; appealed and lost. Gurley Flynn visited Joe Hill in jail, and urged him to accept the defense of the organization. Then started a period of defense activity only paralleled by the Sacco-Vanzetti case. The Governor's mansion was inundated with letters and telegrams. The Swedish Ambassador and even President Wilson were induced to appeal for clemency for Joe Hill. Protest meetings were held in all parts of the. world. On No- vemher 17, 1915 Joe Hill faced a firing squad in the Utah penitentiary. His last message was *'Don't mourn for me; organize.'' Joe. Hill's body was sent to Chicago and cremated at Graceland Cemetery. His funeral was one of the liarge&t in the history of Chicago. The Everett Massacre occurred in 1916. Striking shingle weavejs were denied the right to speak on the streets of Everett, Wn. Lumber workers were, beaten with ax-handles and driven out of town. Loggers from Seattle attempted to come to Evejett by steamship to hold a meeting. These were met as the steamer Veroma reached the city docks, by a fusillade of bullets from gun-men about the wharves. Two hundred and ninety-four workers were arrested. Seventy-four were charged with murder of a gunman named Jefferson Beard, who was killed by crossfire of the sheriff's forces. The in- dictment was reduced and Tom Tracy went to trial. George Vanderveer of Seattle was the defense attorney. Great pub- licity wias given this case. The defendant was acquitted. The remaining men were freed. The Mesaba strike in 1916 ran true to form. The entire iron range was flooded with gunmen. Sixteen thousand miners were involved. There were kidnappings, sluggings and other forms of police, 'brutality, culminating in the arrest of three organizers for libel. These men had said in open meeting that company gun-men had killed a striking miner 25 r.amed John Aliar. They were, freed later. Another miner sent to the penitentiary at Stillwater, Minn, was finally re- leased, largely as a result of defense activities. .| Among the, war-time cases the one tried at Chicago was the largest. An attempt was made under the cloiak of the "war for -democracy'' to crush the I. W. W. once and for all, by arresting all of its officials and many of the most active workers. One hundred and thirtee,n were put on trial. Eighty- seven were confined in the Cook County jail for a year awiait- ing trial. The defense was hampered in every conceivable way. One hundred men were convicted and sentenced to from a year and a day to twenty years. The expense of the trial and defense publicity work were enormous. During the first year of imprisonment only a little over ?7,000 had been raised for the defense. When Bill Haywood was released on bail he suggested the organization of a general defense committee. The famous letter '"Tn Memoriam" bordered with black, which was the first thing Haywood got out, brought in $9,000 in about a month. While the Wichita and Sacramento cases were going on another famous document, "'With Drops of Blood," was published. The first month's returns from this were over $22,000. The General Defense Committee was using profitably all the experiences of the past in I. W. W. defense work. Speak- ers were sent to all parts of the country. Each member re- leased from prison on bail was immediately sent on the firing line. The capital building in Washington was inundated with protests. A million special protest cards were circulated and 3,000,000 Amnesty by Christmas" stamps were prepared and used. In addition to these, hundre.ds of thousands of pamph- lets and leaflets were circulated, in spite of the efforts of the Government to obstruct such work. The ''Amnesty by Christ- mas" drive of the General Defense Committee in the Fall of 1923 is conceded to have been an important factor in securing a general release of political prisoners. The members of the I. W. W. arrested in Kansas were first arrested and charged with vagrancy. It will be remem- bered they were picked up in the oil fields suspected of try- ing to organize the oil workers, thus interfering with the profits of that great patriot, Harry Sinclair! These men were held in jail two years awaiting triaL The original charge of 26 vagrancy was changed on March 6 to violation of the Lever Act, which was quashed. New indictment was drawn charg- ing 38 men with conspiracy prior to and during their confine.- ment in jiail. Men convicted in the Chicago case were named as co-conspirators. Numerous attempts made by defense counsel to quash the. indictment were finally successful, but again a new indictment was drawn with certain changes made in it. Men went to trial on December 1, 1919. Verdict of guilty rendered with sentence^ ranging from three to nine years. During their confinement in jail two went insane; one died from influenza; three contriacte.d tuberculosis. The Sacramento Case, in 1917 also started with an explo- sion at the rear of the gubernatorial mansion, members of the I. W. W. being charged with the. crime. Charles M. Fickert, then running for re-election used this as political capital. Every I. W. W. in town was arrested. Five days after the explo- sion two I. W. W. members were, arrested. They had a pack- age containing nine sticks of dynamite, five cakes of soap and a quantity of 'bacon. They ,said they were going prospecting. Evidence was lacking, so evidence, was manufactured, with the help of the daily press. Defendants were charged with vio- lating every war act and with numerous fires occurring in California. Defe.ndants 'became convinced they could expect no justice and refused to employ counsel, using the *'silent defense" method. A. W. Fox, Theodora Pollock and Basile Saffores employed counsej )and were let off with fines. The others were convicted on all counts and sentenced to from one to ten years. The California Syndicalism cases began after the. pass- age of the law in the Spring of 1919. Eight members of the I. W. W. were prosecuted. Trials of I. W. W. members oc- curred for a period of over five years, accusations being filed in twenty counties; actual triials were held in fourteen. Five liundred and thirty-one persons were accused by indictment; 292 dismissed without trial; 264 were actually tried; 164 ac- tually convicted. Thre.e professional witnesses — ^^Dymond, Coutts and Townsend — appeared against the accused at all trials, their method ibeing to recount their lacts while, members themselves of the organization. No attempt was made to check up their statements. The I. W. W. started a state.-wide campaign of organization and defense literature. Tom Con- 27 nors was indicted on a cliarge of tampering" with la juryman. These trials brought to light the character of the I. W. W. as an industrial union. To counteract the true facts and keep them from reaching the public, the injunction was resorted to, which meant that the accused would have, no right to a jury trial. Direct violence upon the part of the predatory interests resulted in a mob raid upon the hall of the I. W. W. at San Pedro, California, a number of people, including several children being severely injured. A grand jury investigation whitewashed the entire business. The I. W. W. continued to function with more, vigor than ever, and suibsequently all crimi- nal syndicalism cases were dismissed. In the Centralia, Wiashington case of Novemher 11, 1919, the charge was made that an American Legion man had been killed by members of the I. W. W. in Centralia. Ten men were involved. The trouble was the result of the Legion men going '^ut of the line of march to attack the I. W. W. hall. In the skirmish that ensued Lieutenant Warre.n O. Grimm a;nd three other Legionnaires were killed. On March 13, 1920 a verdict was returned that wa,s unacceptable to the court and the jury returned with new instructions. The new verdict rendered was "guilty of murder in the second degree" Britt Smith, Bert Bland, Commodore Bland, Ray Becker, James Mclnerney, Euge.ne Barnett and John Lamb ; Mike Sheehan and Elmer Smith were acquitted; Loren Roberts was adjudged insane. Since the imprisonment of the Centralia defendants in- creasing efforts have been made to secure their release,. Nu- merous books and leaflets have been circulated. Protest meetings have been held regularly land influential organiza- tions and publicists have been interested and induced to make an effort to secure belated justice. Statements exonerating the defendants have Ibe.en obtained from trial jurymen. It has been a hard and bitterly contested struggle from the begin- ning. Legal defense, publicity, prison relief and relief funds for the families of imprisoned men have been supplied wherever seeded by the General Defense Committee from the beginning. 28 BUILD FOR POWER By C. E. PAYNE I. W. W. Editor, Organizer and One of the Founders '''Not orthodox, ibut well planned." In the. fewest words possible that may be taken as an explanation of the methods of the strikes of the I. W. W. in the Pacific Northwest in the past quarter century. The strikes were not orthodox in that they did not follow any se,t rule, neither were they called by any officials. . They were planned, and very carefully, in that they we.re considered from every angle by the men who did the striking, and when calle.d off the decision as to time and terms of end- ing was made 'by the strikers on their own initiative. There were few questions of what course any officials would take. Officials followed instructions as a matter of course.. Instead, there were reports that *'We tightened up cur picket line," or "The camp is out solid," or '"Not a scab gretting through." The slogan — had these ainorthodox strikers stooped to slogans— might have been, "We run this strike." There we.re two elements in the making of these strug- gles, outside that of the unbearable industrial conditions which were the prime cause. The first was a spirit of independence on the part of the strikers. On this fertile soil the delegates of the Industrial Workers of the World sov/ed the seed of industrial solidarity. Before the.y came, protests had been an individual matter. When a man did not like conditions he had quit one job and sought another. But the delegates pro- claimed that "In Union there is strength," The, new idea took root and flourished. In the spring of 1907 a strike of saw mill workers in Portland, Oregon, broiught the organization vividly to the attention of the Northwest workers. The strike was a success in one respect, the mills were tied up solidly. In another respect it was not so successful. The workers did not yet have the idea they must stick on the picket lines 29 and see that none, but they should go hack to work. So many left that not enough remained to do picket duty, and the few who stayed called the strike off, allowing the mills to be filled with unorganized men. The workers struck as one, but con- sidered this their full duty. They did not yet understand that workers must claim a proprietary right in the jobs, even in the industry itself. In June, 190i8, lumber companies in Western Montana cut wages in the saw mills. They were working on the nine hour day and there was no dispute on that point. The strike started July 1 at Bonner and the mills were closed until next spring. The istrike was lost and the reduced scale held until 1916, when lumber pilers asked 25 cents a day increase. A short strike reisulted which gained an increase of 19 cents a day. In 1913 there had been a strike to hold the nine hour •day, which was won. A number of free speech fights in the Northwest in 1909, 1910 and 1911 had focused attention on the I. W. W. By the spring of 1912 the delegates, speakers and writers had envi- sioned to the workers the possibility of action in their own interest. The. cartoons of Ernest Riebe, '"'Mr. Block," were a large factor in showing the hoplessness of meekly accept- ing conditions imposed by the employers. In March, 1912, a strike of saw mill workers in Grays Harbor was bitterly fought for about a month. Men and wom- en formed solid picket lines which the companies could not break. As a last resort to break the strike, many of the active strikers were kidnapped and deported from the district, and the companies sent gun men and city officials to close the Fin- nish and Croatian halls where the strikers had headquarters. Those halls were nailed up with two inch planks and heavy •spikes, and the owning clubs were not allowed to reopen them until several weeks later under threat of having them burned. On March 28, 1912, a strike began on the Canadian Nor- thern construction work. All activity in this strike was car- ried on by the I. W. W. and large numbers of men joined while, it was going on. Considerable gains were made in wages and conditions, but the greatest gain was in the se;nse of power that arose. Five years later that feeling of power swept 40,000 lumber workers into the most spectacular strike, the Northwest has ever seen. 30 In a strike of shingleweavers in 1916, members of the I. W. W. had give.n much help to the Shingleweavers Unioii. The lumber companies in Everett tried to drive every union man, and especially the I. W. W., from the town. In making that effort they caused the. massacre of November 5 on the Everett dock, then charged 74 workers with murder to cover their own g"uilt. Thousands of Northwest workers joined the I. W. W. in protest against this trave.sty. Tom Tracy was the only one of the men ever brought into court. He was ac- quitted May 5, 1917, after a trial lasting two months. Excellent generalship was used in the strike.s of 1917. No action was attempted in the winter. When water began to run high in the spring, the river drivers in the "'short log" district of Western Montana, Idaho and Northeast Washing- ton demanded higher wages, and in many cases gained them. Where they did not gain, the. companies lost heavily in logs left on the shores of the streams to he damaged by worms and rot during the summer. In several woods camps in this district strikes started in June, against the rotten conditions and gained some headway. But no attempt was made until July to draw the loggers of Western Washington and Oregon into the strike. Camps and mills in the Northwest close one to three weeks in late June and early July. When the lay-off comes, men from every camp lare in Spokane, Seattle, Tacoma, Portland and Vancouver. There men hear of conditions in all camps and mills west of the Rocky Mountains. Discussion about ''solidarity for better conditions'' had been carried on for years. Speakers and organizers now held many meetings in the cities and towns during the lay-off, explaining principles and tactics to willing listeners. When the camps reopened, delegates and organizers went into the woods, picking up the few loose, ends of organization work and making ready for the next attack. Every camp op- erated with a full crew. But in three weeks after they start- ed, hundreds of camps were silent. Thousands of men came out and picketed strategic points. Committees were elected to have immediate charge of activities. There were central strike committees in all lumlber centers, and then one general strike committee for the lumber industry of the Northwest. 31 The demands were generally for the eight hour day, 50 cents a day increase in wages and better camp conditions. The saw mill workers were not on strike with the woods workers and no effort was made to stop the mills. They soon ran out of logs and had to close. Some companies tried to have their mill crews cut logs, hut the effort was a failure.. Some of the bosses in the Lumbermen's Aissociation wanted to .settle and they held many acrimonious sessions. When one of their meetings adjourned one ,great lumber baron came out with a blacked eye. But they had posted bonds that no com- pany might grant the demands of the strikers until the Asso- ciation should permit, so the strike went on. The workers were, fighting the Lumbermen's Association, not a number of individuals. When the strike had been on about two months, the ques- tion of further financing came up. Very little money had been received from outside sources. The strikers decided to * 'transfer the strike to the job.'* That is, go back to work and take the eight hour day, which was the principal issue. Wage increases of more than the. demands had been offered, and the companies stood ready to make some camp improvements, so the working time was practically the only one to gain, and all there was of that was to take it. Whe.n the strikers considered the time opportune, they instructed their committees to call the strike off. Woods workers formed themselves into crews and applied for jobs. They seemed satisfied with their holiday and ready to work. Things appeared right, until eight hours had been worked. In some instances men worked one day on the ten hour sched- ule, but mostly the eight hour day was taken at first. Then came the test of power. Some, crews were dis- charged when they first stopped work at the end of eight hours. But the companies were at heavy expense in preparing for operation, had the overhead costs for foremen and other items^ and had stocked np with fresh meats, fruits and vege.- tables. Many thousands of dollars would be lost by discharg- ing the men, so some companies gave in at first. Others dis- charged one or more crews before they realized all would act the same, but they finally accepted the eight hour day as an established fact. 32 The. improvements in camp conditions cost not less than $25 for e.ach of the 40,000 workers affected, an outlay of a million dollars. Two hours time off the work day reduced the value of the output by at least a dollar per man and the wage increase added /another dollar to the expense account, making well over $80,000 a day extra cost to the companies. No wonder the lumber ibarons raged like wild beasts in Cen- tral! a on Novemiber 11, 1919. There were many smaller strikes in the construction and lumber camps of the Northwest from 1917 until the spring of 1923. Each had its individual cause, but all were to resist encroachments by the 'bosses on what had be.en won in wages and conditions, or to enforce demands that had been made by the men but not granted by the companies at first. The strike in the spring of 1923 was not so much in the interest of the strikers themselves, as it was a show of solidarity for the Class War Prisoners. In each district, sometimes in each camp, there were local demands for improvement of certain conditions, but all were headed with the one demand, "'Release, the Class War Prisoners.** When action began to be discussed in the fall of 1922, the companie.s tried to turn the movement aside. They looked around to see what improvements could be made. The bosses did less driving. As strike talk gained in volume some companies raised wages 50 cents a day. But in spite of these sops the men struck and showed such solidarity the Class War Prisoners gained years in commutation of their sentences. When the strikers went back to work there was no effort by the companies to victimize them. Their organization was too Etrong. A sporadic attempt at a strike in the woods was made in Septemiber, 1923, which has be.en a source of much mis- understanding. There had been some talk after the May strike of another effort in the near future,. In August a rep- resentative committee elected from the various lumbering dis- tricts of the Northwest met in Portland to canvass the situa- tion. One committeeman was instructed to vote for a strike in Septemiber. All others were instructed to the general effect that the members who elected them did not consider a strike in their districts advisable at that time, but they would support any action the majority decided on. 33 Afte;' the. situation had been thoroughly canvassed, the committee decided, with only one dissenting vote, not to issue, a strike call. The decision was published everywhere., and men continued work with a determination that when they should strike again, it would be with more powe.r than ever. Then la few, who wanted a strike at all costs, met in one Branch, issued a ''"strike call" and published it broadcast in the name of the I. W. W. This caused much confusion for a time., but workers now generally have a clear understanding of the event. The strikes of the 1. W. W. are the. spectacular events that have miarked the progress of the organization. They are the mile posts that measure the distance, we have come, but they are not the road itself. That road is paved with the slow, painstaking work of many delegates and educators, proving to the. workers that emiancipation from wage slavery Is possible, and that it will come from the conscious act of the workers themselves. The road of organization leads to the full social value of all production to go to the producers. 34 THE INDUSTRIAL UNION IN AGRICULTURE By TOM CONNORS I. W. W. Speaker, Organizer and Defense Worker Looking down from a skyscraper one can scarcely discern the individual in the streets of the city ibelow. Only currents or masses of men weave in and out among the build- ings, and so it is that the history of a labor movement appears to the student who casually glances 'backw-ard. A continual interweaving of persons, events and trends comes before the mind's eye, with an occasional inlay set forth prominently because of the real or imaginary significance attached to the subject. One such gem in the history of the ilndustrial Work- ers of the World is the formation of the Agricultural Workers Organiziation of the I. W. W. in 1915. The signal importance attached to the formation of the Agricultural Workers Organization is due to the fact that around its development hinges the institution of the present structure of the I. W. W., a series of co-ordinating industrial unions. During the first eleven years of its existence the I. W. W. ardently advocated the industrial form of union structure, but only at the end of such period of time w^as ahle actually to install such system in its own organization. The story of the development of the A. W. lO. No. 400 also pre- sents a graphic picture of the part playe;d by the migratory worker in the upbuilding of industrial unionism in the United States. A 'brief survey of conditions as they existed in the harvest area of this country at that time will assist an under- standing of why such development took the particular trend it did take. The wheat belt in the middle west .section of this coun- try, through which the horde of migratory workers swarmed each year at harvest time, consisted of a territory extending from the Pan Handle of Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, 35; Nebraska, South and North Dakotas, Montana and Washing- ton. The latter four of the states mentioned depended greatly on the migratory worker for man power to harvest the small grain crops ; this to a much greater extent than at the. present time. An idea of the change occurring in this respect may be gleaned from the fact that in 1912 the State of Kansas required '85 per cent, of the necessary labor for the harvest period to enter the State from o'utside its iborder; today, the same State depends on other States to furnish a mere 10 per cent, of the needed harvest labor. The large number of workers which were needed from ■beyond the respective state lines caused the farming communir ties in each grain growing state to develop high-powered pub- licity methods to attract the desired workers. Several times the number needed were advertised for, usually with the de- sired result of flooding the various districts with job-seeking migratory workers, from two to five men often heing on the spot for each job. Once an oversupply of men was created, every available means of coercion was used to force the work- ers to accept a mere pittance as wages, while the ibusiness elements in the towns spared no effort to devise ways and means to retain each penny paid as harvest wages within the confines of their respective communities. To achieve success in this respect was not a difficult undertaking. The very finest types among the somewhat heterogeneous American working class were to 'be found amid the horde which rode the railroad trains into the job-promising land of golden wheat. On top of hoxcars, occasionally on the rods but usually inside of the boxcars, could he found hundreds of thousands of men from every walk in life. East, West, North and South, it mattered not as to direction, the most pic- turesque, and pathetic, one might say, aggregation of hungry and helpless workers ever assembled in one industry migrated about, seeking for an opportunity to exchange their labor power for some slight measure of the wherewithal of life. This was the ideal labor situation — ideal for the employing farmers — prevailing in the harvest fields of these United States prior to the formation of the A. W. O. No. 400 of the L W. W. Adding to the terrible situation described aibove a sprink- ling of high-jacks, tin-horn gamblers, bootleggers and pros- 36 titutes, g-ives oiie a fairly accurate idea of what the unorgan- ized agricultural worker faced as he entered the wheat grow- ing area to seek a living. The farming communities well knew how to use these degenerates to the interests of the local em- ployers. It is notorious that oftentimes the village or town marshal served as the village bootlegger much of the harvest country being in the local option belt and ''dry" at the time. It also was a very ordinary and usual occurrence for the mar- shal, as well as other town or village officials, to work in cahoots with the high-jacks, tin-horn gamblers and bootleg- gers. The general premise underlying these alignments with the social degenerates was that a slave without money, broke and hungry, was alwiays a servile slave. Under such conditions the individualist thought only to secure a job which meant that he would eat for a few days; never, under such circumstances would he scruple about wage rates. During the years 1913 and 1914, however, some substantial benefits accrued to cer- tain groups of harvest workers because of organization. Scat- tered memhers of various local unions of the I. W. W. formed temporary alliances on jobs and in harvest districts to curtail hours, and improve wages and job conditions. Prior to 1915 many admirable victories were won as the result of the activities of I. W. W. members in the harvest fields, but, usually owing to the lack of a cohesive and lasting organization, these gains were of a temporary nature. A few isolated instances are of record where a wage of three dollars for a ten hour working day was paid, although the general top wage to that time had heen two dollars and fifty cents, iand the working day period from a sun-up to sun-down day to a sun-up to a far-into-the-night *'day'*. The need for a more unified organization in the harvest fields was clearly recognized in 1914. Acting on a recommendation from Frank Little, General Executive Board member, the Ninth Annual Convention of the I. W. W., which convened in Chicago, Septemher 21, 1914, indorsed a resolution which instructed the general adminis- tration to call a conference early in 1915 of representatives from all I. W. W. locals whose members actively participated in the small grain harvest. In accordance with these instruc- tions a conference was called for April 15, 1915, to be held in Kansas City, Mo. 37 The confereince was called (to order by a General Execu- tive Board member on the date set. A total of nine delegates were se/ated from the following local unions of the 1. W. W. : Local '57, Des Moines, lla.; Local 66, Fresno, Calif.; Local 92, Portland, Ore.; Local 61, Kansas City, Mo.; Local 69, Salt Lake 'City, Utah; Local 173, San Francisco, Calif.; Local 64, Minneapolis, Minn.; and Local 26, Denver, iColo. The actual accomplishment of this conference was the formation of the Agricultural Workers Organization. A resolution adopted by the conference determined the formation of a permanent union as well as deciding on the name for such union. Another action of the ibody was to set a two dollar initiation fee and ask all local unions of the L W. W. located in the harvest area to bring their initiation fee to such level. A general isecretary-treasure^r was elected for the A. W. 0., and his wages were set at $18 per week. A general organization committee of five members was provided for, as was an undetermined number of field delegates, the latter to work without pay. A charter was issued 'by the general administration of the L W. W. to the Agricultural Workers Organization No. 400 on April 21, 1915. This charter gave the A. W. O. No. 400 the status of a national industrial union. At the time of issuing this charter from the organization general office the matter of designating a number for it arose. The then 'General Secre- tary-Treasurer of the I. W. W. commented that inasmuch as this local was being formed by the elite of the working class a suitable number was 400. During the respective period the term "400" was a common expression in use to designate a group of plutocrats in *''high society" who numbered around this figure, and who owned the greater portion of the wealth in this vast nation. It also was determined at this first conference that union operating programs must be determined close to the job, and provisions were made for field meetings to be held for the purpose of transacting such union business as was pertinent to each respective locality. Arrangements were made to pro- tect members from highnjacks when moving from jo'b to job. This was one of the outstanding pro'blems of the day because many of the high-jack gangs operated in conjunction with village and town officials, as well as railroad crews, and gen- SB erally presented a real menace. The destructive effect of booze and gambling among the workers was clearly recognized by the body, and a policy which provided for the separation of these disturbing influences from the organization's activi- ties was adopted. It is notorious that no booze or gambling was tolerated among organized harvest workers during the subsequent period. On July 25, 1915, three months after the formation of the A. W. lO. No. 400, a second conference was held in Kansas City, Mo. This meeting was called for the purpose of plan- ning an organized movement of harvest workers into the northern wheat areas, the harvest then being about completed in the southern districts. Reports made to this meeting showed that organization receipts for the three month period, and around 90 per cent, of the total was collected during the last ten days, were ?87'8, while expenses for the same period were $789. At this time the A. W. O. consisted of only one branch, the headquarters branch at Kansas City. At this conference a te.ntative wage scale of $3 for the South Dakota area was set, and a $3.50 scale for North Dakota, the hours to 'be a maximum of ten in both instances. Many cases reported to the conference showed that wages had been raised from the standard $2.50 to a wage of $3 for 10 hours work in Kansas, while from every section where the union was active came reports of a vicious and persistent persecution of union members. More than 100 arrests of active members prior to the end of July were reported, with all but 12 being released within a period of a few days. The July meeting in Kansas City decided to move the A. W. O. headquarters to Minneapolis, Minn. The following gen- eral meeting was held at the latter named city. Among the important actions taken at this meeting which was held No- vember 15 and 16 was to arrange for the opening of branches in Kansas City, Sioux City, la., Omxaha, Neb., and Des Moines, la. On December 12, 1915, a conference of 55 members was held in Sacramento, Cal., at which an additional local was formed. At the Minneapolis eonf eremce a plan of extending organization activities into the lumber camps and iron ore mines of the north central states was adopted. During the winter of 1915 and early in 1916 the A. W. O. 400, greatly assisted to achieve a substantial organization 39 in Iboth the Meisaba Range metal mining industry and the lum- ber industry of Minnesota and Wisconsin. So closely aligned with the organization activities in industries other than agri- culture was the A. W. O. that during the early months of 1916 two national industrial union charters were issued 'by the Gen- eral Administration of the il. W. W. wherein the headquarters of these unions were to be maintained jointly with that of the A.W.O. No. 400. On February 3, 1916 National Industrial Union charter 490 was issued to the iron ore miners in the Me^aba Range district. This union also formed branches throughout the respective territory while its headquarters was joined with that of the A. W. O. Likewise, on March 6, 1916, National Industrial Union charter No. 573 was issued to the general construction workers. This union was constituted and aligned similarly to I. U. No. 490. Official reports made to the fall, 1916, general meeting of the A. W. O. No. 400 showed that the A. W. O. had initiated more than 8,000 members, and that the finances of the union were in excellent condition. Substantial progress was made during 1916 in organizing workers in the cities of the middle west, as well as in the lumber, metal mining and construction, industries of the same area, the A. W. O. actively participating in these activities. The action of the 1916 general convention of the I. W. W. in revising the structure of the general organi- zation changed the A. W. O. No. 400 into the A. W. 1. U. No. 400. This structural revision by the Tenth (1916) General Convention of the I. W. W. arranged for the structure of the I. W. W. to consist of industrial unions and a general recruiting union. I. U. 490 became part of M. M. I. U., once No. 800, and severed its headquarters from that of the A. W. I. U,, while I. U. 573 became C. W. I. U. No. 573, and for a time continued to maintain its headquarters jointly with the A. W. I. U. No. 400. In May, 1917, the Construction Workers Industrial Union No. 573 held a convention in Omaha, Nebraska, and decided to sever its headquarters from that of the A. W. I. U. This convention represented 1200 members and five branches. The A. W. I. U. hall in Kansas City, Mo., was raided by the authorities twice during March, 1917, but on May 30 of the same year the spring convention of the industrial union was held in the same hall. In attendance at this 'convention 40 was a represemtative of the Non-Partisan League of America who requested a wage scale adjustment for the 1917 harvest between the A. W. I. U. No. 400 and members of the League. The Non-Partisan League members at the time comprised a majority of the .grain growers in the State of North Dakota, and a considerable number in South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota. The representative of the League promised to make an endeavor to secure free transportation on railroad passenger trains for union agriculture workers when moving from job to job. The convention elected a committee of five to discuss wages, hours, etc., with the League administrators. Some benefit resulted from the subsequent negotiations, and, although no general definite agreements were made, the A. W. L U. No. 400 achieved phenomenal success along organiza- tional lines throughout the League territory. During the first three years of its existence the agricul- tural v/orkers'. organization had effected a veritable revolu- tion within the harvest area. The 12 to 16 hour working day disappeared, wages doubled, and harvest workers were being housed either in the farmer's home or given adequate blankets and clean sleeping quarters over a considerable portion of the wheat harvest country. No organized body of agricultural workers now feared the high-jack, and a union man became a sort of terror to the bootlegger and the gambler; no indul- gence in liquor or gambling was tolerated either around the halls or outdoor meeting places. Likewise railroad train crews had changed from petty grafters, taking the razor or pocket knife from a worker who lacked the demanded $1 per divi- sion, to some of the most substantial friends of the A. W. L U. The numher of railroad workers, especially train crews, lined up in the L W. W. during this period is hard to approximate, but surely runs to a sizable figure. The membership of the agricultural workers' organization more than doubled during the year 1917. This increase con- tinued even after the .great national raids on L W. W. halls, September 5 of that year. In the course of these raids every scrap of paper, all records, even tables, filing cases and desks were removed from the headquarters of the A. W. L U. No. 400 in Minneapolis, Minn. The persistent "war-time" perse- cution meted out to industrial unionists in this country during the following months greatly hampered the work of organi- 41 zation. However, this very persecution may have heen partly responsible for the success achieved in organizing the agri- cultural v^orkers of this country a few years later. The tale of the more picturesque phases of the develop- ment of the A. W. O. No. 400 and the A. W. I. U. No. 400 (now A. W. I. U. No. 110) has been related. The delegates and members of this Industrial Union have at all times shown the greatest courage, in the face of lall obstacles which employ- ers naturally raised against them. Their activity is at all times a ringing challenge to the boss class that would, without A. W. I. U. opposition, at once make conditions worse than ever before,. 42 THE WAY OF THE WOBBLY The strikes of the I. W. W. best show what is meant by solidarity and militancy. Action is the test of unionism ; and the I. W. W. in action proves the merits of a unionism (based squarely on the class strug-g^le, untrammelled by any agree- ments or other ''respectahilities''. From call to settlement, the strikes of 25 years of struggle stand out as colorful, dra- matic exponents of industrial unionism. Many I. W. W. strikes — Lawrence and McKees Rocks for example — were not called by the organization. But where the I. W. W. calls a strike, it starts with a flourish. Sciarcely was the new organization born before a strike of its members broke out in the great General Electric works in Schenectady. That it was a new organization with a new way of striking was indicated by the fact that they stayed in the shop and just quit work one. December morning at 10 o'clock. Taking eintire command of the struck jo:b is a Wobbly ideal ; it found an early realization in Skowhegan, Me., when the employees of the Marston Mills, in revolt against discrim- ination and unfilled promises of Increases, all walked out, taking the 'boiler room crew with them, blowing off the steam and pulling the fires before they left. In Gray's Harbor, W^ash., in 1912, a strike broke out for higher wages in the saw mills. The Lytel Mill was surrounded by a stockade twelve feet high surmounted iby ibarbed wire and the guards at the gate were doubled. The wage slaves inside were to 'be kept immune. But 150 I. W. W.'s went over the top, cutting the wire, pulling the whistle, mingling with the saw mill workers as they swept out the. front gate past the astounded guards. ('Woehlke m Outlook, July 6, 1912). The Call of Solidarity 43 The auto industry has always been a hard nut for unions to crack. There have been many small walkouts from depart- ments, but few effective walkouts. The I. W. W. managed one. In the Studebaker plants in Detroit in 1913 the workers wanted weekly pay days. A constant agitation :by noon-day speakers had kept the I. W. W. before them for some months. June 16 those employed at plant No. 3 at Delray walked out in the morning, held a meeting in an adjoining lot, formed in line and paraded to plant No. 1 arriving there at noon and swelling their ranks in this way by another .2000. The next day :by the same tactics they brought out the men in other plants. In the last large strike of the I. W, W. — the Colorado coal miners in 1927-8 — it required still other tactics to make a clean walkout. For the first time in history the miners in all three fields in the state were ibrought out together by the call of solidarity. The state law required 30 days' notice before any strike; and the strike call for October 18 was given plenty of publicity. Particularly in the south there were closed mining camps difficult to penetrate, every inch of them company property. This was circumvented 'by calling at each house at supper time unobserved, leaving notice of a meeting that evening just outside the company line. The western coal field, high in the mountains and isolated from the main lines of communication was brought out by a cara- van of 100 cars that left Lafayette in the north, did its duty, and then steamed into the south, raising the spirit of their fellow workers and hringing out the workers in the big Ideal Mine, immunized up to that time by the blood-thirsty guards of Rockefeller, Working largely with the spread-out jo'bs of the lumber- jack and the construction worker the I. W. W. has often had the problem of inaccessibility 'before it in a strike call. In the Edison construction strike in California in 1922, many of the men on tunnel work were snow-bound high up in the mou i- tains. In such camps the company clerks do not hesitate to tamper with the U. S. mail to keep out the I. W. W. But iby December 1 the newspapers carried the news in headlines, and these men improvised snowshoes and skis for themselves and made their way through the deep snow of the mountain passes to join their fellow workers. The lumber strikes have 44 ordinarily