[634] _Ibid._, p. 70._The I. W. W.: A Study of American Syndicalism

[635] _Ibid._, p. 56, col. 2.

[636] Report to the Seventh Convention, _Industrial Worker_, Oct. 24,

1912, p. 6, col. 1.

[637] Onlooker, "The Question of Decentralization," _Voice of the

People_, Oct. 9, 1913, p. 4, col. 2.

[638] Alexander Berkman, "The I. W. W. Convention," _Mother Earth_,

Oct., 1913, vol. viii, pp. 233, 234.

[639] Ben Reitman, "Impressions of the Chicago Convention," _Mother

Earth_, October, 1913, vol. viii, pp. 241-242.

[640] Editorial, "Sensationalism _vs._ Organizing Ability,"

_Solidarity_, Aug. 23, 1913.

CHAPTER XIV

RECENT TENDENCIES

The mutual hostility between the Western Federation of Miners and

the I. W. W. has not lessened since 1907. This antagonism has been

most acute in Arizona, Nevada and Montana mining camps. In the

Arizona-Montana territory the feeling on the side of the Federation

is indicated by the following extract from a letter written to the

twenty-first convention of that organization by a member in Jerome,

Ariz.

We are very sorry [he writes] that we are unable to send a

delegate to Denver, but we have the fight of our life here

with an I. W. W. bunch. They are coming here from all over;

already they have got in some dirty work by getting some of our

members to quit the W. F. M., ... there seems to be a concerted

movement on the part of the I. W. W. to get in where the W. F.

M. are doing good work and disrupt the union.[641]

It is not unnatural that there should be increasing friction between

the two organizations, inasmuch as the Western Federation has become on

the whole more conservative, while the I. W. W. has grown constantly

more revolutionary. In June, 1910, the W. F. M. voted for affiliation

with the American Federation of Labor and the alliance was finally

consummated in May, 1911. "What the mine owners failed to do by

force," declares the I. W. W., "they have accomplished through Civic

Federation methods. The process will doubtless continue, until the

W. F. of M, becomes as completely the football of metalliferous mine

owners as the United Mine Workers is of the coal barons."[642] At

its twentieth annual convention in 1912, the W. F. M. now not only

divorced from the I. W. W., but wedded to the A. F. of L., reversed its

traditional embargo on agreements and accepted the policy of entering

into contracts with the operators.[643]

Article V, section 4. of the Federation's _Constitution_ (1910 edition)

stipulated that "no local union or unions of the W. F. M. shall enter

into any signed contract or verbal agreement for any specified length

of time with their employers." This clause was stricken out in 1912.

The revised edition of the _Constitution_ for that year expressed the

new policy of the Federation (now the International Union of Mine, Mill

and Smelter Workers) in these terms: "Local unions or groups of local

unions may enter into wage agreements for a specified time, providing

such agreements have the approval of the Executive Board...."[644]

The bitterness between the two organizations was most acute in the

Butte (Mont.) mining fields. The situation reached a dramatic climax in

the summer of 1914 when, on June 13, the Union Hall of Butte Miners'

Union No. 1 (W. F. M.) was dynamited. The writer is not sufficiently

familiar with the facts to tell this story in detail, or to express an

opinion as to whether or to what extent the I. W, W. element in Butte

was responsible for the dynamiting.

The friction between I. W. W. sympathizers and the management of the

local W. F. M. union--Butte Miners' Union No. 1--was unquestionably a

factor in the quarrel which culminated in the dynamiting outrage. There

were certainly other factors. The local organization had been gradually

dividing into two factors--the "Reds" and the "Yellows." Among the

"Reds," I. W. W. members and sympathizers predominated. The "Yellows"

comprised the local officials of the union and their followers, and

they were in a majority. It was alleged by the "Reds" that at the

union meetings the administration element deliberately packed the

hall with the "reactionaries" before the hour of opening, so that the

"Reds" could not even voice their grievances. Then the hall was blown

up. The administration accused the I. W. W. and pointed out that such

a deed was to be expected of a group which avowed its belief in the

doctrine of "direct action by the militant minority." The _Miners'

Magazine_ declares that "the 'Red' faction composed of I. W. W. members

dynamited the Union Hall."[645] At the last W. F. M. convention (1916),

President Moyer said that the real cause of the Butte tragedy was the

"poison the I. W. W. promoters were scattering" in the minds of the

Butte miners.[646] A large portion of the two weeks' session of the

twenty-first W. F. M. convention (Denver, 1914) was taken up with a

discussion of the Butte dynamiting and the alleged complicity of the

I. W. W. therein. One of the delegates related the following incident,

which he said took place in front of the Union Hall in Butte a short

time before the dynamiting:

Three of the mob ... presented I. W. W. cards ... at the door

and asked to be admitted to the meeting, and on being refused,

one of them laid his I. W. W. card on the sidewalk, stooped

down and patted it with his hand and said, "We will make you

fellows eat that card before long."[647]

Lewis J. Duncan, the Socialist mayor of Butte, declared that the I. W.

W.s did not take part in the dynamiting. In a letter dated June 29,

1914, and addressed to the _United Labor Bulletin_ (Denver), he asserts

that

the responsibility for Tuesday's disturbance cannot truthfully

be placed on the I. W. W. The "600 itinerant I. W. W.

trouble-makers" on whom your report lays the blame for the June

13th trouble, are non-existent.... The men in revolt against

the local officers of the miners [union] and against the W.

F. of M. officials are a majority of the miners of Butte, and

only a small minority of them are connected with the Propaganda

League of the I. W. W. here, or are even sympathetic with the

I. W. W.s. We have no economic organization of the I. W. W. in

this city. It is untrue that even all those in the lead of the

local revolt are connected with the I. W. W....[648]

But scarcely more than a week after the dynamiting it was announced in

the newspapers that

plans for forming an independent union of miners were made

today at a meeting ... attended by 5000 miners.... The seceders

[the dispatch continued] have an executive committee of twenty,

a majority of whom are known to be members of the Industrial

Workers of the World....[649]

Apparently nothing came of this in the way of an I. W. W.

organization, for there was no I. W. W. local in Butte in 1914. At the

present time, however, there is an active local there.

Entirely apart from the Butte controversy there has been a marked

feeling among the officials of the Western Federation that the I. W.

W. had deliberately attempted to disrupt the Federation. President

Moyer thought the I. W. W.s had tried by crooked methods to get control

of, or disrupt the W. F. M.[650] He alleged that "there had been a

conspiracy entered into both in and out of the Western Federation of

Miners ... to secure control of this organization for the purpose of

getting it back into the I. W. W.,"[651] and that "publications edited

by this direct-action, sabotage-howling coterie have lent their aid to

this campaign...."[652] Mr. J. M. O'Neill, the editor of the _Miners'

Magazine_, a man who has since 1907 been particularly lavish of

epithets on I. W. W.-ism, complained that

Since the Western Federation of Miners repudiated by referendum

vote the aggregation of characterless fanatics, who make up

the official coterie of the International Workless Wonders,

the officials of the Western Federation of Miners have

been assailed by every disreputable hoodlum in the I. W.

W....[653] The time has come [he went on] when the labor and

socialist press of America must hold up to the arc-light these

professional degenerates who create riots, and then, in the

name of _free speech_, solicit revenue to feed the prostituted

parasites who yell "_scab_" and "_fakiration_" at every

labor body whose members refuse to gulp down the lunacy of a

"bummery" that would disgrace the lower confines of Hades.[654]

Each faction of the I. W. W., according to O'Neill, claims to

be "the genuine brand of unionism that is ultimately destined to

shatter empires, scatter kingdoms and strangle economic slavery to

death...."[655] Another editorial in the same journal declares that the

Federation is

unalterably opposed to their tactics and methods.... Industrial

unionism will not come through soup houses, spectacular

free-speech fights, sabotage or insults to the flags of

nations.... Men will not be organized or educated by means of

violence, for violence is but the weapon of ignorance, blind to

the cause that subjugates humanity and sightless to the remedy

that will break the fetters of wage slavery.

There has been less trouble between the coal miners' union and the

I. W. W. because the United Mine Workers have always been much less

radical than the Western Federation and the I. W. W. has really never

succeeded in making inroads of any consequence among the United Mine

Workers. Max Hayes, International Vice President of the U. M. W., told

the United States Commission on Industrial Relations that the I. W.

W. was "rather an unknown quantity among the coal miners. In fact,"

he said, "we do not let them propagate their doctrines; at least, we

try to prevent their ideas from becoming accepted by our people....

There is nothing constructive about their philosophy: it is all

destructive."[656]

The Mine Workers' Union is perhaps the most constructively

business-like, and certainly one of the most successful, unions in the

world. Their hard-headed constructive work is most of all evidences

in the business agreements which they negotiate with the operators at

regular intervals.

To the I. W. W., agreements--particularly all _time_ agreements--are

in themselves evil. Consequently the friction between the world's

smallest and most revolutionary industrial union and its largest

and most conservative industrial union was experienced primarily in

connection with these agreements. "Wherever the _bona fide_ labor

unions have succeeded in effecting a satisfactory agreement with the

employers," declares the _Miners' Magazine_, "... there will be found

the I. W. W. organizer, attempting to create dissension."[657]

The Wobblies justified their attacks upon the Mine Workers

[said President John Mitchell at the U. M. W. convention in

1906] by saying that we make trade agreements which so tie the

hands of our members as to render us unable to strike at any

time during the year when conditions would seem propitious.

They lost sight of the fact that if we ... were ... at liberty

to strike at our own sweet will, the operators would have

precisely the same right and could lock us out whenever trade

was dull....[658]

The most recent conflict between the I. W. W. and the Mine Workers was

in the anthracite region around Scranton, Pennsylvania. In April, 1916,

entirely against the will of the United Mine Workers, according to a

conservative writer,

the I. W. W. leaders decided to close down certain of the

collieries about Scranton. The method ... was to picket the

collieries in the early morning hours, from four o'clock

until seven, to urge the men not to go to work, and then, if

unsuccessful by that means, to drive them off by force.[659]

At about this time (1914) Eugene Debs, one of the founders of the

I. W. W., was again urging the formation of a great revolutionary

industrial union. He proposed to begin with the two big miners'

unions--the Western Federation and the United Mine Workers--which

organizations were to form the head and center of the new union.

It is vain to talk about the I. W. W. [he said]; the Chicago

faction, it now seems plain, stands for anarchy. So be it. Let

all who oppose political action and favor sabotage and the

program of anarchism join that faction. The Detroit faction,

for reasons not necessary to discuss here, will never amount to

more than it does today. A new organization must be built with

the miners, the leading industrial body, at the head of the

movement.[660]

"The consolidated miners and the reunited I. W. W.," he said, "would

draw to themselves all the trade unions with industrial tendencies,

and thus would the reactionary federation of craft unions [A. F. of

L.] be transformed from both within and without, into a revolutionary

industrial organization."[661] In the same article Debs advocated a

reunion of the Socialist and Socialist Labor parties, and William

English Walling in commenting on Debs' proposal for uniting the W.

F. M. and the U. M. W. says that such an outcome "if not immediately

probable, is decidedly possible."[662]

The ninth I. W. W. convention, which met in Chicago, Sept. 21, 1914,

as not an important one. It was in session less than a week and

there were not more than twenty-five delegates present.[663] The

writer attended the sessions of September 22, 23 and 24. On the

22nd he counted ten delegates actually present, and about the same

number of spectators. The next morning there were sixteen delegates

on hand, and on the 27th, seventeen. No stenographic report of the

proceedings--indeed, no complete report of any kind whatsoever--has

ever been issued. A very brief account was printed in _Solidarity_,

which emphasized the fact that all the delegates were "typical

specimens of the working class rank and file, with some contempt for

empty theorizing and a marked preference for action."[664] On the 23rd,

resolutions were presented asking for a reduction in the amount of

dues payable to the national office and proposing to limit convention

delegates to one vote each irrespective of the size of the locals which

they represented. Both were lost. The latter resolution was supported

by a militant minority which very naturally believed that the majority

is sluggish--always behind time--and therefore nearly always wrong.

They insisted that the new and fruitful ideas always come from the

minority and that it should, therefore, be given representation rather

according to its (assumed) revolutionary initiative than according to

its numerical strength. Their attitude was primarily the result of

the difficulty they experienced both in and out of the organization

in getting their militant ideas "across" to the large majority. In a

lesser degree they were stimulated by the example set them by their

fellow syndicalists in France where the "militant minorities" in the

small unions of the C. G. T. are given the same representation and

voting power as the large unions of that body. For this reason small

groups which make up the "extreme left" in the C. G. T. have more

influence than similar groups in this country.[665]

The unemployment situation had been particularly acute the preceding

winter and it was reported that the greater part of the membership of

the I. W. W. were out of employment at the time of the convention.

"... the I. W. W. has no apologies to offer," says _Solidarity_, "for

the smallness of its last convention ... most of our members are out

of work, and few, if any, Pacific Coast locals could have financed a

delegate for even four days in Chicago."[666]

According to the account appearing in the I. W. W. press, it was the

understanding of the convention

that [unemployed] parades to City Halls, Capitols, _etc._,

should be discouraged as nothing more substantial than hot air

is to be found in these political centers. The delegates agreed

with Haywood that the places for the unemployed to demonstrate

were the places where there was plenty of food and clothing so

that they could help themselves.[667]

At the same time the delegates decided to take definite steps toward

organizing the unemployed. According to the Chicago papers, Haywood had

said: "Millions have been appropriated for the militia; nothing for the

wealth producers who will be without work. Where warehouses are full of

food, go in and take it; where machinery is lying idle, use it for your

purposes; where houses are unoccupied, enter them and sleep."[668] At

a later session (on September 24) there was adopted unanimously and

without discussion a resolution which, in effect, stipulated that all

speakers be instructed to recommend to the workers the necessity of

curtailing production by "slowing down" and the use of sabotage. The

resolution also suggested the publication of an explanatory leaflet

on this subject.[669] The _Daily News_ dispatch, just quoted, reports

F. H. Little, an executive board member from California, as saying,

"Wherever I go, I inaugurate sabotage among the workers. Eventually the

bosses will learn why it is that their machinery is spoiled and their

workers slowing down."

At the same session it was proposed that a conference on harvest

organization be held, and from this time on the harvest and the other

agricultural workers attracted more and more of the organization's

attention.

There was some discussion of the methods used in conducting the

business of the local unions, especially in regard to the bookkeeping

system--or lack of system. No definite decision was reached, but the

remarks of the delegates show that they were beginning to realize that

financial and membership records cannot be kept by the futurist or

impressionistic methods which are so effective on the soap-box. It was

realized also that responsible persons must be selected for the work

of the local secretary-treasurer, and it was urged that some uniform

system of bookkeeping be adopted for the use of local secretaries.

Some I. W. W. officials, like some bank officials, no doubt abuse the

confidence placed in them, although the daily press probably heralds

to the world the I. W. W. defalcation with greater promptness and

enthusiasm than it does that of the banker. A dispatch in the _Omaha

Bee_ (Nov. 24, 1916) says that the local "secretary-treasurer of the

Industrial Workers of the World has been missing for the last four

days and so is $250 which was to be used for the relief of strikers

and their families in Duluth, Minn." In another instance, according to

Vincent St. John, "the National Secretary [of the 'National Industrial

Union of Forest and Lumber Workers' of the I. W. W.] left with all the

funds in his charge six or eight months ago and the organization had to

start all over again...."[670]

The European war had broken out less than two months before this

convention met and the delegates did not fail to adopt a resolution

against war. It was worded in part as follows:

... The ignorance of the working class is the reason for the

continuation of the war.... The [German] Social Democracy

was a movement that engendered a spirit of patriotism within

political boundary lines. The industrial movement will wipe out

all boundaries and will establish an international relationship

between all races engaged in industry.... We, as members of the

industrial army, will refuse to fight for any purpose except

for the realization of industrial freedom.[671]

Only two constitutional amendments of importance were passed at the

ninth convention. One was a further development of the machinery of the

referendum and constituted a victory for the decentralist boosters of

the "rank and file." The first three clauses read as follows:

(a) Any local union in good standing with the General Office

may institute or initiate a call for a referendum to be

submitted to the General Office at once, with reasons and

arguments for same.

(b) Upon receipt of the initiative call for a referendum the

General Office shall publish same with arguments for and

against, and must submit it to all Local Unions, National

Industrial Unions and Industrial Departments for seconds within

30 days.

same must be seconded by at least ten [local] unions in good

standing in at least three different industries.[672]

The other amendment expressed in more specific terms than ever before

the attitude of the organization toward agreements between employers

and employees. It replaced the former blanket prohibition with a clause

which specifically defines the kinds of agreements which _must_ be

avoided, and, inferentially, permits the making of agreements which are

free from the objectionable features specified. The amendment is to

Article III., and is as follows:

No Local Union affiliated with the General Organization,

Industrial department, or National Industrial Union of the I.

W. W. shall enter into any contract with an individual, or

corporation of employers, binding the members to any of the

following conditions:

1. Any agreement wherein any specified length of time is

mentioned for the continuance of the said agreement.

2. Any agreement wherein the membership is bound to give notice

before making demands affecting hours, wages or shop conditions.

3. Any agreement wherein it is specified that the members will

work only for employers who belong to an Association of the

employers.

4. Any agreement that proposes to regulate the selling price of

the product they are employed in making.[673]

These two years of unprecedented field activity were naturally years

of growth in membership. This is more especially true of 1912 than of

1913, during the latter part of which a decline set in. The membership

was at its high tide in 1912 after the Lawrence strike. The I. W. W.

then boasted more than 18,000 members.[674]

Never since that time has it reached that point nor had it previously,

unless we include the W. F. M. in the membership for 1905. There was

also during both years a net increase in the number of locals in the

organization. During the year ending August 31, 1913, two hundred

and thirty-six new locals were organized, and during the same period

one hundred were disbanded. The new locals were organized in largest

numbers in the lumber, textile, and metal and machinery industries.

Thirty were "mixed" locals.[675]

In the following table is a complete list of these new and defunct

locals classified to show the number gained and lost in each industry:

TABLE 4

Number of local unions organized and disbanded during the year ending

August 31, 1913, classified by industries as reported.[676]

_Industry_ _Organized_ _Disbanded_

Agricultural 1 2

Amusement 1 ..

Automobile 1 1

Bakery 4 1

Brass 1 ..

Brewery and distillery 1 ..

Brick, tile and terra cotta 1 2

Building construction 13 2

Building employees 1 2

Button 2 2

Clerks, butchers and delivery 2 1

Confectionery and fruits 2 1

Car .. 1

Coal miners 3 2

Construction (general) 4 2

Corn products .. 1

Department store 1 1

Domestic service 1 1

Electrical 1 1

Fishermen .. 1

Furniture 2 ..

Glass 1 1

Hotel and restaurant 2 3

Laborers, general 2 3

Leather 2 2

Light and power plant 1 ..

Lumber 41 ..

Marine transport 3 ..

Match 1 1

Metal and machinery 18 10

Miners 1 ..

Mixed locals 30 19

Musical and theatrical 1 ..

Oilcloth .. 1

Oil workers 3 1

Packing house 1 3

Paper mills .. 1

Piano and instruments 4 ..

Plaster composition 1 ..

Pottery 1 1

Printing plant 1 1

Propaganda League 1 2

Public service 10 2

Railroad construction 5 4

Railroad employees 5 5

Reed, willow, and rattan 4 1

Rubber 3 3

Ship construction 1 ..

Steel 5 4

Street car 2 ..

Sugar plant 2 2

Textile 32 ..

Tobacco 6 3

Transport 1 2

Watch and clock .. 1

Wood 3 ..

---- ----

236 100

The membership declined considerably in 1913 and 1914, since which

time it appears to have increased slightly. Conservative estimates fix

it at about 15,000 in 1913, 11,000 in 1914, and 15,000 in 1915.[677]

The author has not yet been able to get a reliable estimate of the

membership for 1916. The reports of the tenth convention (November,

1916) as published in _Solidarity_ give no clue. A dispatch to the

_Weekly People_ (December 9, 1916, p. 1) reports that the delegates

claimed to represent a constituency of 35,000 to 40,000. As to 1912,

Professor Hoxie said the average paid-up membership was 14,300 and that

"local and national bodies have an additional dues-paying membership

of 25,000 on which no _per-capita_ tax has been paid to the General

Organization," and credits the organization (for 1913) with a "nominal

non-dues-paying _enrolment_ of from 50,000 to 60,000." He came to the

conclusion "that 100,000 or more men _have had_ I. W. W. dues cards

in their possession during the past five years."[678] The figures in

Appendix IV indicate that more than 191,000 persons have at one time

or another during the last ten years been members of the I. W. W.

This table also shows that the I. W. W. often gives very exaggerated

membership estimates. This was true in 1913 when unofficial I. W.

W. estimates ran into the hundreds of thousands. At this time, it

is reported that, "Hoxie walked into the office of St. John, the

General Secretary, and said, 'Look here, St. John, I've got the

goods on you. You have only 14,300 members.' 'You're a liar, Hoxie,'

replied St. John, 'we have 14,310.'"[679] Levine gives an estimate

(doubtless furnished by the general office of the I. W. W.) which

is unquestionably much too high. He puts the membership for August,

1913, at 70,000, distributed as follows: textile industry, 40,000;

lumber industry, 15,000; railroad construction, 10,000; metal and

machinery industry, 1,000; and miscellaneous, 4,000.[680] The numerical

insignificance of the I. W. W. as compared to the American Federation

of Labor was strikingly indicated by Professor Hoxie in the course of

his remarks before the American Economic Association in December, 1913.

He said that in 1913 the I. W. W. had paid-up membership amounting to

(1) Less than one-hundredth of the membership of the American

Federation of Labor;

(2) Less than one-sixtieth of the voters of the Socialist

ticket in 1912;

(3) Less than one-twentieth of the membership of a single

industrial union in the A. F. of L.;

(4) Less than six one-thousandths of the general body of

organized workmen;

(5) Less than one in 2,000 of American wage-workers.[681]

The years 1914 and 1915 were marked by a definite slump in the

fortunes of the I. W. W. followed in 1916 by a noticeable increase of

activity. St. John says that the decrease in membership during these

years was most marked in the following industries: "lumber, railroad

construction, building, packing house, amusement workers and the

public service industries."[682] A possible exception to this general

inactivity is the National Industrial Union of Marine Transport

Workers of the I. W. W., which affiliated with the I. W. W. in April,

1913, and has since made some progress.[683] St. John informed the

United States Commission on Industrial Relations that the cause of this

falling-off was the industrial depression. He said that "the membership

on the Pacific Coast from one end of it to the other, seventy-five per

cent of them, have been out of work in the last year and have not paid

any dues."[684] Leonard Abbott thought that the reaction or slump of

1914-15 in the I. W. W. was "due perhaps to the great emotional strain

of revolutionary activity...."

There is something almost pathologic [he said] in the present

reaction of the I. W. W. It has stressed too much the

destructive side--sabotage, violence. Acts of violence have a

very violent rebound--the boomerang effect. Violence should not

be made a tactic. You can see the apotheosis of violence in

Europe today. The I. W. W. has too much gloried in it.[685]

In the latter part of 1915 and in 1916 came a revival of I. W. W.

activity. The most energetic group of all has been the Agricultural

Workers' Organization or the "A. W. O." (organized April, 1915),

which has taken great strides in pushing the propaganda of industrial

unionism among the farm laborers and harvest hands and organizing these

hitherto unorganized workers. At the tenth convention "the A. W. O.

held the center of the stage, being represented by seven delegates

with 36 votes each."[686] The "A. W. O." has its headquarters in

Minneapolis and is strongest in the Middle West and Northwest. The

following extracts from a daily press dispatch will give an idea of the

stir which is being made by the "A. W. O." of the I. W. W. The accuracy

of the report is questionable but it is presented for what it is worth.

State and city officials of the states comprising the great

American grain belt are considering holding a conference in the

near future to devise methods of coping with the Industrial

Workers of the World. Thousands of these migratory mendicants

have thronged the Middle West this year creating a reign of

terror throughout the rural communities and intimidating all

who do not join their organization....

Coming with the slogan "Six Dollars a Day or No Work,"

thousands of I. W. W. members and organizers have spread over

the agricultural district of the Middle West, attempting to

organize harvest hands into a semblance of a union and compel

the farmers to grant their demands....

I. W. W. gangs have taken possession of trains, clubbing off

all who could not show a membership card in their organization.

In most cases they have even driven trainmen from their

trains.... Often they travel in mobs of 300 or 400....

Great camps are established, not only by the I. W. W. but

by those who are not members of that organization. The

men congregate at these "jungles," cook their food, often

pilfered from nearby farms, wash their clothes, bathe, and not

infrequently stage drunken orgies. This year the I. W. W.s have

posted signs at their "jungles" reading, "For I. W. W.s only,"

and any man who dares wander into their camp without proper

credentials is due for a beating.... This year they have been

more numerous than ever....

All methods of handling the situation have proven

unavailing.... One method suggested is for each state to employ

forces of mounted police similar to the famous Northwest

Mounted Police of Canada to keep the bands from congregating,

break up their "jungles" and otherwise deal with them. Power

seems the only force they recognize, and they laugh at the

county sheriffs and town constables.[687]

The year 1916 saw a recrudescence of both free-speech and strike

activities. The most important were the Everett Free Speech fight

culminating in the tragedy of November 6 and the miners' strike on the

Mesaba range during the spring and summer. The scope of the present

study does not permit of a detailed account of either of these highly

important labor struggles. Indeed, this is hardly possible now, since

in neither case is the story complete.

Many signs suggest the possibility of a split in the I. W. W. before

many months. The growing strength of the A. W. O. and its natural

yearning to be a big independent organization as well as the failure of

the Pacific Coast to send more than one solitary delegate to the tenth

convention, both indicate a possible development of internal discord

sufficient to divide the I. W. W. into eastern and western wings.

Mr. Roger W. Babson in one of his recent confidential labor reports

suggests another way in which a shifting of power may come. "A very

large labor organization ... has taken steps," he says, "to leave the

Federation of Labor and form an industrial union.... A convention for

this purpose is planned for Chicago in the near future. _The Industrial

Workers of the World plan to gain control of this convention and may

succeed._"[688]

A correspondent in the _Weekly People_ says that one delegate at

the tenth I. W. W. convention declared that there was very likely to

be a split in the organization and intimated that, in such an event,

the Agricultural Workers' Organization would be the chief factor in

bringing it about.[689] The same writer continues:

The A. W. O.... has a membership of from 18,000 to 20,000. This

seems to be a lot, but last night one who just arrived from the

harvest fields told me that workers traveling through the West

on box cars were thrown off if they had no red card of the I.

W. W., and many were beaten up.... He told me that eight or

more go in groups with revolvers and board trains going out

from the limits of a town and go through the train kicking and

beating-up anyone who has no red card.[690]

No convention was held in 1915. The tenth convention met at Chicago

in the latter part of November, 1916. Fairly complete reports have

been published in the columns of _Solidarity_.[691] There were in

attendance about 25 delegates, including three members of the General

Executive Board and the General Secretary. The delegates were almost

entirely from the East and Middle West, only one coming from the

Pacific Coast.[692] The editor of _Solidarity_, commenting upon

the charter of the convention, says that "the tenth convention is

remarkable as denoting the decline of the 'soap-boxers' as the dominant

element." "The dominant tone," he says, "was constructive rather than

controversial and the general demand was for such constitutional and

other changes as would make for greater efficiency in the work of the

organization," and he approvingly quotes one delegate as exclaiming,

"The I. W. W. is passing out of the purely propaganda stage and is

entering the stage of constructive organization."[693]

The most recent official report says that the organization now (January

1, 1917) "consists of six industrial unions: Marine Transport Workers,

Metal and Machinery Workers, Agricultural Workers (A. W. O.), Iron

Miners, Lumber Workers, and Railway Workers, having fifty branches

and 200 unions in other industries, together with 100 recruiting

unions directly united with the general organization."[694] The

paid-up membership is put at 60,000 on January 1st, 1917, up to which

date it is claimed that an aggregate of 300,000 membership cards had

been issued since 1905.[695] The bulk of the present membership is

distributed among the following industries: textile, steel, lumber,

mining, farming, railroad construction, and marine transportation.

Except in the textile industries, the majority of these workers are

migratory unskilled laborers.[696]

The activities of the I. W. W. are by no means confined to the United

States and Canada. The organization has been gradually extending its

propaganda in most English-speaking countries. This study is primarily

concerned with the I. W. W. in the United States. But in any case it

would be impossible to present any adequate record of its work in

other countries because of the difficulty of getting at the facts

of the situation. The announcements from the Chicago headquarters

make reference to four foreign jurisdictions, viz.: its British, New

Zealand, Australian and South African "administrations." It is unlikely

that the "British Administration" amounts to anything. The writer has

happened upon vague references to an "I. W. W. local" in London, but

has not been able to either disprove or verify them. It is in the

British colonies of South Africa[697] and Australia that the I. W.

W. has made headway with its propaganda and organizing work. After

the outbreak of the European War the I. W. W. in Australia became the

object of no little attention on the part of the government because of

their anti-militarist agitation. Finally in Australia several of the

Wobblies were arrested, tried and convicted on charges of high treason.

All the machinery of the capitalist state has been turned

loose against us [says an I. W. W. paper published in

Sydney]. Our hall has been raided periodically as a matter of

principle, our literature, our papers, pictures, and press

have all been confiscated; our members and speakers have been

arrested and charged with almost every crime on the calendar;

the authorities are making unscrupulous, bitter and frantic

attempts to stifle the propaganda of the I. W. W.[698]

Some idea of the nature and seriousness of that propaganda may be had

from the meagre reports which have reached this country. A writer in

the _Sunset Magazine_[699] says that the striking coal miners

had Australia at their mercy.... In vain did the government

plead with the strikers for coal to start troop and wheat

ships.... As a last resort, the leaders ... were arrested....

The Industrial Workers of the World, the militant aggressive

organization whose doctrine of a general rebellion is rapidly

spreading through the "paradise of labor," demanded the release

of the miners [and] threatened to burn down Sydney if their

demands were not complied with. They made good. Night after

night the incendiary work went on in Sydney.... Terrorized by

the handful of industrial rebels, the commonwealth was forced

to yield. The strike leaders were finally released [and] the

demands of the strikers were granted.

A month later the _New York Times_ published some special

correspondence on the subject. It appears that in October, 1916,

charges were preferred against 15 I. W. W.s in New South Wales.[700]

These charges involved, in Sydney, according to this report, treason,

and wholesale arson amounting to $1,250,000. The chief issue involved

was the conscription policy of the government, to which the I. W. W.

was opposed. They were brought to trial on October 10th. The warrant

against them charged that they were preaching sabotage by means of

surreptitious pamphlets and openly upon the streets. Further, the

warrant alleged, says the _Times_ correspondent, "that they plotted

rebellion against the King; that they conspired to burn down buildings

in Sydney ... endeavored to put force or restraint upon the Parliament

of New South Wales, [and that] they endeavored to intimidate and

overawe Parliament."[701]

Their anti-war campaign at last became so obnoxious to the government

that the House of Representatives, in December, 1916, passed a statute,

called "The Unlawful Associations Act," which practically made it a

criminal offense to be a member of the I. W. W.; the apparent intention

of the authorities being to arrest all prominent I. W. W. speakers and

hold them for the duration of the war.[702]

The Australian _Unlawful Associations Act_[703] is to "continue in

force for the duration of the present war and a period of six months

thereafter, but no longer." Section 3 runs in part as follows: "The

following are hereby declared to be unlawful associations, namely: (a)

the association known as the Industrial Workers of the World; and (b)

any association which, by its constitution or propaganda, advocates

or encourages, or incites or instigates to, the taking or endangering

of human life, or the destruction or injury of property...." The act

imposes the penalty of imprisonment for six months upon any person who

"continues to be a member of an unlawful association," who "advocates

or encourages [or who "prints or publishes any writing advocating or

encouraging"] ... the taking or endangering of human life, or the

destruction or injury of property," who "advocates or encourages ...

any action intended or calculated to prevent or hinder the production,

manufacture or transport ... of troops, arms, munitions or war-like

material," or who "knowingly gives or contributes money or goods to an

unlawful association."

In Australia as in the United States there were prior to the war

two I. W. W. organizations in existence: a political I. W. W. and a

non-political I. W. W. In that country, however, the political group

(counterpart of the Detroit wing in the United States) has been by

all odds the more influential. Although both these groups were pretty

well smothered by the war and the _Unlawful Associations Act_, the I.

W. W. industrial union idea made its appearance in another form in the

summer of 1918. In July of that year representatives of some of the

most powerful unions of New South Wales held a conference in Sydney.

This so-called "Industrial Conference Board" drew up a constitution for

an organization on the I. W. W. model, adopted the I. W. W. preamble

almost word for word, and launched "The Workers Industrial Union of

Australia."[704] Four of the six clauses of the preamble are almost

identical in phrasing with that of the American I. W. W. The other two

clauses are worded as follows:

Between these two classes [proletarian and capitalist] the

struggle must continue until capitalism is abolished ...

by the workers uniting in one class-conscious economic

organization to take and hold the means of production by

revolutionary industrial and political action. "Revolutionary

action" means to secure a complete change, namely the

abolition of capitalistic class ownership of the means of

production--whether privately or through the state--and the

establishment in its place of social ownership by the whole

community.... We hold that, as the working class creates and

operates the socially operated machinery of production, it

should direct production and determine working conditions.[705]

In the United States the Federal government has enacted no law

analogous to the Australian _Unlawful Associations Act_. Several

of the individual States, however, have passed so-called "criminal

syndicalism" laws and the United States Senate on May 6, 1918, passed

a so-called anti-sabotage bill[706] which the newspapers declared was

aimed at the I. W. W. The State laws referred to are quite generally

understood to be directed against that organization. None of these

statutes, however, mentions the I. W. W. by name. The Senate bill

referred to declares to be unlawful any association

one of whose purposes or professed purposes is to bring about

any governmental, social, industrial or economic change within

the United States by the use, without authority of law, of

physical force, violence or physical injury to person or

property, or by threats of such injury, or which teaches,

advocates, advises or defends the use ... of physical force,

violence or physical injury to person or property, or threats

of such injury, to accomplish such change or for any other

purpose, and which, during any war in which the United States

is engaged, shall by any such means prosecute or pursue such

purpose or professed purpose, or shall so teach, advocate,

advise or defend....[707]

The penalties proposed in the bill are more severe than in the

Australian law. It would punish by imprisonment for not more than ten

years or by a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both such fine and

imprisonment, anyone who, while the United States is at war, (a) acts

as an officer, or speaks as the representative, of such an association,

(b) becomes or continues to be a member of, or contributes anything to,

such an organization, or (c) publishes or distributes any publication

whatever which defends the use of "physical force, violence of physical

injury to person or property ... as a means of accomplishing any

governmental, social, industrial or economic change." The last section

of the bill would impose a fine of not more than $500 and imprisonment

for not more than one year, or both, upon any landlord who permits on

his premises, while the United States is at war, any meeting of such an

association or any assemblage of persons who teach or advocate the use

of physical force or violence, etc.[708]

So-called "criminal syndicalism" or _sabotage_ laws have been

enacted by the States of California,[709] Idaho,[710] Michigan,[711]

Minnesota,[712] North Dakota,[713] Montana,[714] South Dakota,[715] and

Nebraska.[716] In the State of Washington a "syndicalism bill," and

in Arizona a "_sabotage_" law, were passed by the State legislatures

in 1918 but were vetoed by the governor in each case.[717] The

"criminal syndicalism" laws of Minnesota, Idaho and Montana are

reprinted in Appendix X. The South Dakota statute is very similar to

that of Minnesota. It defines criminal syndicalism "as any doctrine

which teaches or advocates crime, sabotage (sabotage as used in this

act means wilful and malicious damage or injury to the property of

another), violence or other methods of terrorism, or the destruction

of life or property, for the accomplishment of social, economic,

industrial or political ends." It declares such advocacy to be a

felony and punishes "by imprisonment in the state penitentiary for

not less than one nor more than twenty-five years, or by a fine of

not less than $1000 nor more than $10,000, or by both such fine

and imprisonment ..." anyone who (1) advocates or "suggests" such

doctrines, (2) publishes, circulates or has in his (or her) possession

printed matter which advocates or "suggests" any doctrine that economic

or political ends should be brought about by "crime, sabotage," etc.,

(3) belongs to or assembles with any group or organization which

advocates or suggests such a doctrine, or (4) permits in any room or

building owned or controlled by him (or her) any assemblage of this

character. This statute is not limited to the duration of the war,

which, indeed, is not mentioned. The North Dakota and Nebraska laws are

less comprehensive and less drastic than the law of Minnesota. They are

anti-_sabotage_ laws within the scope of the definition of _sabotage_

given above in the South Dakota act. Of all the "criminal syndicalism"

statutes referred to in these pages that of South Dakota inflicts

the heaviest penalties. The Minnesota law has recently come into the

courts[718] and the State Supreme Court, in a decision rendered April

19, 1918, held it to be constitutional.[719]

The I. W. W. does not lack constructive ideas. The trouble has been

always that those ideas have not been applied very extensively.

They have remained merely a part of the Wobblies' varied collection

of slogans and doctrines. As the delegates at the tenth convention

realized, the first decade of I. W. W.-ism in America has been marked

by excessive propaganda activity--critical and non-constructive,

if not destructive ... and very little constructive activity.[720]

This fact is strikingly illustrated by the very transient character

of its membership. The "turnover" for the decade 1905-1915 has been

exceedingly heavy--not only as measured by individual members but also

by local unions. The most favorable report of the present strength of

the I. W. W. is given in the _World Almanac_ for 1917, where it is

stated that the I. W. W. is composed of five hundred and thirty-five

recruiting and industrial unions (not including five [foreign]

"national administrations") and has a membership of 85,000.[721] This

latter figure probably included delinquent members, and in any case

is almost certainly much exaggerated. The same statement applies

to the figure given for local unions. But even on such a generous

assumption, the figures in columns 7 and 11 of Table A (Appendix IV)

show, first, that there have been more than five times as many local

unions chartered by the I. W. W. as are now in the organization, and

second, that there have been _at least_ twice and probably ten times

as many membership cards issued during the past ten years as there

are members in the organization today. But the real situation is much

worse. Conservative estimates of the active membership in 1915 put it

at 15,000, distributed among 150 local unions.[722] Not less than 2,000

locals were chartered and approximately 200,000 membership cards issued

in the ten-year period 1905-1916. This indicates that only 7.5 per

cent of the locals chartered and of the individuals enrolled in the I.

W. W. have remained in the organization. This means an average annual

turnover (of individual members and locals) for the past ten years of

133 per cent. As the table shows, the numerical strength of the I. W.

W. in comparison with the whole number in labor organizations and the

whole number gainfully employed is very insignificant. Its membership

in 1910 was four-tenths of one per cent of all trade-unionists and

two-hundredths of one per cent of all gainfully employed. In the

textile industry where the I. W. W. is numerically strongest, the

Detroit I. W. W. had enrolled in 1910 one per cent and the Chicago I.

W. W. fourteen per cent of all trade-unionists.

It is not easy to say to what extent the I. W. W. is likely to develop

its constructive features. In so far as more and more stress is placed

on job organization, the I. W. W. is and will continue to become a more

constructive organization. But it is not easy to credit the statement

made at the tenth convention that the I. W. W. has "passed out of the

propaganda stage." It will become more actively constructive, probably,

but only its complete annihilation can put a period to its propaganda

work.

FOOTNOTES:

[641] T. P. Esmond, letter dated July 17, 1914, _Proceedings, 21st

Convention, W. F. M._ (1914), p. 26.

[642] Editorial, _Solidarity_, July 9, 1910, p. 2, col. 4.

[643] _Proceedings, 20th W. F. M. Convention_, p. 426.

[644] _Constitution and By-Laws of the W. F. M._ (1912), art. viii,

sec. 4. President Moyer discusses this change of policy on trade

agreements in his report to the 22nd (1914) convention (_Proceedings_,

pp. 37, 40). For constitutional provisions of the I. W. W. on

contracts, _cf. infra_, p. 332.

[645] July 2, 1914, p. 5.

[646] Report of Proceedings, 22nd W. F. M. Convention, _Miners'

Magazine_, Aug. 17, 1916, p. 2.

[647] Delegate Murray, _Proceedings, 21st Convention W. F. M._ (1914),

p. 146.

[648] _Miners' Magazine_, July 16, 1914, p. 7. Mayor Duncan's

statements were denied by the editor, _ibid._, pp. 8-10.

[649] _The New York Times_, June 22, 1914, p. 18, col. 3. Butte

dispatch, dated June 21.

[650] Report to the 20th Convention, W. F. M., _Proceedings_ (1912) p.

14.

[651] _Proceedings_, 20th Convention, W. F. M., p. 283.

[652] _Ibid._, p. 24.

[653] Editorial, Aug. 1, 1912, p. 6, col. 1.

[654] _Ibid._, p. 7, col. 2.

[655] _Miners' Magazine_, June 20, 1912, p. 9.

[656] Hearings, Washington, D. C., Apr. 6, 1914. _Final report and

testimony_, vol. i. p. 453.

[657] Editorial, _United Mine Workers' Journal_, reprinted in _Miners'

Magazine_, July 2, 1914, p. 9.

[658] Report to 17th Annual Convention (1906), _Minutes_, pp. 53-4.

[659] Katherine Mayo, _Justice to All: The Story of the Pennsylvania

State Police_ (Putnams, 1917), p. 225.

[660] "Industrial Organization," _Miners' Magazine_, May 7, 1914, p. 6,

col. 2.

[661] "A plea for solidarity," _International Socialist Review_, March,

1914, p. 538.

[662] "Debs, revolutionary unionist," _New Review_, vol. ii, p. 426,

July, 1914.

[663] _Solidarity_ (Oct. 3, 1914, p. 1).

[664] _Ibid._, Oct. 3, 1914, pp. 1, 4.

[665] _Cf._ Louis Levine, _Revolutionary Syndicalism in France_, ch.

viii, for a more adequate description of the "one union, one vote" plan

of representation.

[666] Editorial, Oct. 24, 1914, p. 2, col. 2.

[667] _Solidarity_, Oct. 3, 1914, p. 1, col. 4.

[668] _Chicago Daily News_, September 22, 1914. This same dispatch

stated that there were fifty delegates present--twice as many as the

"Wobblies" themselves claimed.

[669] See the report in _Solidarity_, Oct. 3, 1914, p. 4, col. 4.

[670] Letter dated July 16, 1913, to W. Beech, _Proceedings, 8th

Convention, I. W. W._, p. 24, col. 1.

[671] _Solidarity_, Oct. 3, 1914, p. 4, col. 4.

[672] _Preamble and Constitution of the I. W. W._, 1916, art. vii, sec.

[673] _Ibid._, art. iii, pp. 11-12.

[674] _Cf._ Appendix iv.

[675] _Proceedings, Eighth I. W. W. Convention_, p. 30.

[676] Adapted from data in _Proceedings, Eighth I. W. W. Convention_,

p. 30.

[677] _Cf._ appendix iv, table A. For the status of the I. W. W. in

California in 1914, see the writer's report to the U. S. Commission on

Industrial Relations on "The I. W. W. in California."

[678] "The Truth about the I. W. W.," _Journal of Political Economy_,

Nov., 1913, vol. xxi, p. 786.

[679] "The Development of Hoxie's Economics," _Journal of Political

Economy_, vol. xxiv, p. 875, note (Nov., 1916).

[680] "The Development of Syndicalism in America," _Political Science

Quarterly_, Sept., 1913, vol. xxviii, p. 478.

[681] Proceedings of the 26th meeting, _American Economic Review_, vol.

iv, no. 1, supplement, pp. 140-141 (March, 1914).

[682] Letter to the author, Feb. 1, 1915.

[683] _Proceedings, Eighth I. W. W. Convention_, p. 5, col. 2, p. 6,

col. 1. In this branch of the I. W. W. in New York City there were in

1917 about 5000 members (mostly Spaniards) of whom not less than half

were in good standing.

[684] _Industrial Relations (Hearings)_, vol. ii, p. 1462.

[685] Speech at the I. W. W. Hall in 81st Street, New York City,

January 31, 1915.

[686] _Solidarity_, Dec. 2, 1916, p. 1. General Secretary Haywood

reported to the convention that the A. W. O. had enrolled at that time

18,000 members. _Proceedings_, p. 36.

[687] The New York _World_, Aug. 13, 1916, p. 11, col. 1 (dated Sioux

City, Ia., Aug. 12).

[688] R. W. Babson, _Reports on Labor_, "The I. W. W.'s latest move,"

_Confidential Bulletin of the Co-operation Service_, no. L-59, Aug.,

1916.

[689] Dec. 9, 1916, p. 1, col. 3. Dispatch signed "R. E. P."

[690] _Ibid._

[691] Issues of December 2, 9, and 16, 1916. The _Proceedings_ were

published in full in 1917.

[692] _Solidarity_, Dec. 2, 1916, p. 1, col. 1.

[693] _Solidarity_, Dec. 2, 1916, p. 1.

[694] St. John, _The I. W. W., History, Structure and Methods_ (1917

edition), p. 23.

[695] _Ibid._, p. 24. Charters were issued to 116 locals (in 27 States

and 2 Canadian provinces) during the two years ending Sept. 1, 1916.

These included 8 recruiting unions and 9 Propaganda Leagues. (_Vide_

Report of General Secretary, _Proceedings, Tenth Convention_ [1916],

pp. 33-36, where there is a list of these new locals.)

[696] St. John, _op. cit._, p. 23.

[697] In the summer of 1918 it was reported in a press dispatch from

Johannesburg that a branch of the I. W. W. had been established among

the natives at Durban (_New York Times_, July 19, 1918, p. 15, col. 5).

[698] _Direct Action_ (Sydney), reprinted in _Solidarity_, Mar. 17,

1917, p. 4.

[699] March, 1917, p. 11, col. 1, "The Raised Fist of Labor."

[700] One of them was the editor of _Direct Action_, an I. W. W. paper

published in Sydney.

[701] _New York Times_, April 14, 1917, p. 6.

[702] _Cf._ letter from the General Secretary of the Australian

Administration, in _Report of General-Secretary-Treasurer_ to the Tenth

I. W. W. Convention (1916), _Proceedings_, pp. 42-43. _Vide_, also,

_New York Times_, Dec. 20, 1916, p. 5, col. 2.

[703] The _Unlawful Associations Act_ (No. 41 of 1916), assented to

Dec. 21, 1916, and amended by the _Unlawful Associations Act_ (No. 14

of 1917), assented to July 27, 1917.

[704] _Christian Science Monitor_, October 4, 1918.

[705] The preamble is printed in full in _The World_ (Oakland,

Cal.), October 18, 1918, p. 3. (Reprinted from the _British Columbia

Federationist_, Sept. 27, 1918, article by W. Francis Ahern, Australian

correspondent.) Mr. Ahern gives a detailed description of the structure

of the new union and shows that in this respect, also, it follows the

American I. W. W. very closely. Other meetings in furtherance of this

project are reported to have been held in the fall of 1918 in Brisbane

and Melbourne. (_Ibid._) This recrudescence of militant industrialism

in Australia appears to be an indirect outcome of the defeat of the

Labor party in the federal election of 1917.

[706] 65th Cong., 2nd sess., S. 4471.

[707] _Ibid._ The bill was amended by the Judiciary committee and

favorably reported to the House.

[708] 65th Cong., 2nd sess., S. 4471. The one hundred odd members

of the I. W. W., who were indicted in 1917, were indicted, tried

and convicted, not under any specific anti-_sabotage_, "criminal

syndicalism" or unlawful associations statute, but under section 4 of

the "Espionage Act" of June 15, 1917, and sections 6, 19 and 37 of the

Criminal Code of the United States. (_The United States of America vs.

William D. Haywood et al._, no. 6125 in the District Court of the U.

S., Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.)

[709] Acts of 1919, ch. 188. Approved May 5, 1919.

[710] Acts of 1917, ch. 145. Approved Mar. 14, 1917.

[711] Act no. 139.

[712] Acts of 1917, ch. 215. Approved Apr. 13, 1917.

[713] Approved Jan. 30, 1918.

[714] Acts of 1918, ch. 7. Approved Feb. 21, 1918.

[715] Special Session, 15th legislative assembly (1918), Senate bill

no. 12. Approved Mar. 23, 1918.

[716] Laws and resolutions passed at the 36th (extraordinary) session

of the legislature (1918), ch. 9. Approved Apr. 9, 1918.

[717] On January 14, 1919, the Washington Syndicalism bill was passed

over the Governor's veto. Session laws of 1919, ch. 3. [S. B. 264,

Session of 1917].

[718] In the case of State _vs._ Moilen, 167 N. W. 345.

[719] A digest of the court's opinion is given in the _Monthly Labor

Review_ (U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics), vol. vii, pp. 177-179

(July, 1918).

[720] _Cf._ Caroline Nelson on "The Constructive Side of the New

Unionism," in her pamphlet, _Aggressive Unionism_, pp. 20-24.

[721] P. 125. The five "national administrations" reported are:

Australia, Great Britain, Hawaii, New Zealand, and South Africa. _The

World Almanac_ for 1916 reported 300 local unions.

[722] In the case of the United States of America _vs._ William

D. Haywood _et al._, now (June, 1918) being tried in Chicago, the

Government indictment credits the I. W. W. with a membership of

200,000. The author believes this is much too high, although the

organization has unquestionably grown. It is probably based on gross

accumulated memberships and would give a fair indication of the number

of persons who have, at one time or another, been members of the I. W.

W. (Indictment in U. S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois,

Eastern Division, no. 6125, p. 7).

APPENDIX I

[Illustration: FIRST I. W. W. CLASSIFICATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL

POPULATION[723]

("FATHER HAGGERTY'S WHEEL OF FORTUNE")]

FOOTNOTES:

[723] Reproduced from _The Miners Magazine_, vol. vi, p. 15 (April 20,

1905). _Cf. supra_, p. 79.

APPENDIX II

THE I. W. W. PREAMBLE[724]

A. CHICAGO

The working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There

can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among millions of

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 all the toilers

come together on the political, as well as on the industrial field,

and take hold of that which they produce by their labor through an

economic organization of the working class, without affiliation with

any political party.]

_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 management of industries into fewer and

fewer hands makes the trade unions unable 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 defeat one another

in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to

mislead the workers into the belief that the workers have interest in

common with their employers.

These conditions can be changed and the interest 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 industries 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 revolutionary 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 every-day struggle with capitalists, but

to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By

organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society

within the shell of the old. [Therefore we, the working class, unite

under the following constitution.]_

_[Therefore without endorsing or desiring the endorsement of any

political party, we unite under the following constitution.]_

_Knowing, therefore, that such an organization is absolutely necessary

for our emancipation, we unite under the following constitution_:

B. DETROIT[725]

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

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 all the toilers

come together on the political, as well as the industrial field,

and take and hold that which they produce by their labor through an

economic organization of the working class, without affiliation with

any political party.]

_Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the toilers

come together on the political field under the banner of a distinct

revolutionary political party governed by the workers' class interest,

and on the industrial field under the banner of One Great Industrial

Union to take and hold all means of production and distribution, and

to run them for the benefit of all wealth producers._

The rapid gathering of wealth and the centering of the management of

industries into fewer and fewer hands make the trade unions unable to

cope with the ever-growing power of the employing class, because the

trade unions foster a state of things which allows one set of workers

to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry,

thereby helping defeat one another in wage wars. 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 said conditions must be changed, the interests of the working

class upheld _and while the capitalist rule still prevails all possible

relief for the workers must be secured_. _That can only be done by

an organization aiming steadily at the complete overthrow of the

capitalist wage system_ and formed in such a way that all its members

in any one industry or in all industries, 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.

[_Therefore, without endorsing any political party, we unite under the

following constitution._]

_Therefore we unite under the following constitution._

FOOTNOTES:

[724] Additions to the original preamble are printed in italics.

Clauses dropped from it are enclosed in square brackets.

[725] Additions to the original preamble are printed in italics.

Clauses dropped from it are enclosed in square brackets.

APPENDIX III

STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF THE I. W. W.[726] (1917)

[Illustration:

Chicago, _e. g._ Seattle, _e. g._]

FOOTNOTES:

[726] For chart showing structure of the I. W. W. in 1912 _vide_ St.

John, _The I. W. W.--its history, structure and methods_, (1st ed.) p.

2, St. John's chart is reproduced in the author's _Launching of the I.

W. W._

APPENDIX IV. MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS.

TABLE A.--MEMBERSHIP FIGURES--DETROIT AND CHICAGO FACTIONS

--------------------------------------------------------

| Total Membership. |

|---------------------------------------------------|

| | | |

| Secretary- | Barnett.[G] | Miscel- |

| Treasurer. | | laneous.[H] |

----+-------------------+-------------+-----------------|

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

----+-------------------+-------------+-----------------|

1905| _14,000_ | 14,300 | --- |

1906| _23,219_[A] | 10,400 | 60,000 |

| | | |

1907| _5,931_ | 6,700 | 28,000 |

|-------------------+-------------+-----------------|

| Chicago.| Detroit.| C. | D. | C. | D. |

1908| _5,397_ | ---- |13,200| ---- | ---- | ---- |

1909| _3,719_ | ---- |10,700| ---- | ---- | ---- |

| | | | | | |

1910| _4,617_ | ---- | 9,100| ---- |9,137[I]|3,475[I]|

| | | | | | |

1911| _4,330_ |10,000 |12,800| 3,500| ---- | ---- |

1912|_18,387_ |20,000 |18,300|10,700| ---- |9,765 |

1913|_14,851_ |11,000[C]|14,300| 5,000|{23,061 | ---- |

| | | | |{70,000 | |

1914|_11,365_ | ---- |12,000| 2,000|{14,310 | ---- |

| | | | |{23,840 | |

1915|15,000[B]| 5,000[D]| ---- | ---- | 70,000 | ---- |

|-------------------+-------------+-----------------|

1916| | | { 35,000 |

| 60,000 | [E] | { 85,000 |

1917| 60,000[F] | ---- | 200,000 |

---------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+---------

1 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

----+----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+---------

1905| [E] | 2 | [E] | [E] | [E] | [E] | [E]

1906| [E] | 2 | { 394 | 466[Q]| 466 | 185[T] | 185

| | | { | 113 | 579 | |

| | | { 200 | 281 | 860 | |

1907| [E] | [E] | 362 | 118 | 928 | |

|----------+----------+----------+---------+----------+----------+---------

| C. | C. | C. | D. | C. | D. | C. | D. | C. | D. | C. | D.

1908| [E] | [E] | 322 | 164 | 1102 | 63[U] | 248

1909| [E] | [E] | 100 |_23_|_90_| _1_| 1192| 1 | _33_| | 281 |[E]

| | {| 97 | | | | | | | | |

1910| | 1 {| _98_|_14_|_160| 7_| 1352| 8 | _54_|_16_| 335 | 16

| | {| 115 | | | | | | | | |

1911| 60,000[J]| [E] {|_105_|_26_|_150| 18_| 1502| 26 | _69_| _6_| 404 | 22

| | {| 107 | | | | | | | | |

1912| 9,000[K]| [E] | 210 |_34_|_190| 32_| 1692| 58 | _53_|_24_| 457 | 46

1913| [E] | 3 | 236 | 58 |_236| 22_| 1928| 80 | _99_|_17_| 556 | 63

| | | |_39_| | | | | | | |

| | {| 150 | 50 |_78_|_14_| 2006| 94 |_125_| _4_| 681 | 67

1914| | 3 {|_128_|_49_| | | | | | | |

| | {| 222 | | | | | | | | |

1915|191,293[L]| [E] | 300 |_51_| [E]| _2_| [E]| 96 | [E] | [E]| [E] |[E]

| 15,000[M]| | 150 | 25 | | | | | | | |

|----------+----------+-----+---------+----------+----------+----------+----

1916|{ 35,000 | | 4 | 535 | 33[R] | [E] | [E] |[E]

|{ 85,000 | | | | | | |

|{ |300,000[L]| | 350 | | | |

1917| 200,000 | [E] | 6 | [E] | [E] | [E] | [E] |[E]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES TO TABLE A.

Here are assembled most of the available figures relating to I. W. W.

membership and fluctuations in membership during the period 1905-1917.

The figures are fragmentary and, for the most part, approximations;

those in columns 1, 6, 7 and 11 being especially rough and fragmentary.

For example, it will be observed, in comparing columns 7 and 9 with

column 11 for the year 1914, that there must have been at least 1784

defunct locals at that time instead of 681 as the record shows.

The figures in italics were furnished by the secretary-treasurers,

Vincent St. John for the Chicago I. W. W., and Hermann Richter for the

Detroit I. W. W.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Average membership 1905-1906. Computed from record of receipts for

the General Defense Fund (_Proceedings Second Convention_, p. 586.)

[B] Approximate. W. D. Haywood before U. S. Commission on Industrial

Relations, Washington, D. C., May 12, 1915. (_Final Report and

Testimony_, vol. xi, p. 10581.)

[C] _Weekly People_, Sept. 27, 1913; also testimony of Rudolph Katz

before U. S. Commission on Industrial Relations (_Final Report and

Testimony_, vol. iii, 2485).

[D] Only 2000 were "in good standing."

[E] No data available.

[F] St. John, _The I. W. W.--Its History, Structure and Methods_ (1917

ed.), p. 23.

[G] The figures in column 3 are from Professor Geo. E. Barnett,

"Membership of American Trade Unions," _Quarterly Journal of

Economics_, vol. xxx, p. 846 (August, 1916). His figures come,

apparently, from I. W. W. headquarters in Chicago, but they do not

agree entirely with those furnished the author by Secretary St. John.

[H] In this and some of the following columns more than one figure

has been included in years for which varying estimates were found.

The sources for column 4 are as follows: _Proceedings 2nd I. W.

W. Convention_, p. 60; Report of the I. W. W. to the Stuttgart

International Socialist Congress, _Industrial Union Bulletin_, Aug.

10, 1907, p. 4; _Bulletin New York State Department of Labor_, no. 67

("International trade union statistics"), p. 3; Louis Levine, "The

development of syndicalism in America," _Political Science Quarterly_,

vol. xxviii, p. 478 (Sept., 1913); Vincent St. John's testimony before

U. S. Commission on Industrial Relations (_Final Report and Testimony_,

vol. ii, p. 1456; _Weekly People_, Dec. 9. 1916, p. 1, col. 3).

[I] Leo Wolman, "Extent of labor organization," _Quarterly Journal of

Economics_, vol. xxx, p. 603 (May, 1916). Wolman shows sex distribution

as follows:

Chicago I. W. W.: males 7137, females 2000.

Detroit I. W. W.: males 3130, females 345.

[J] Number issued between February 1910, and October, 1911.

[K] For the Detroit I. W. W. Approximate number issued during the

textile workers strikes.

[L] Accumulated number from 1905.

[M] For the Detroit I. W. W. Approximate. October 1, 1908, to February

1, 1915.

[N] Sources: _Industrial Worker_ (I), August, 1906; _Miners Magazine_,

Sept. 7, 1905, p. 15; Marot, _American Labor Unions_, p. 59; St. John,

_op. cit._, p. 23.

[O] Sources: _Proceedings 2nd I. W. W. Convention_, p. 43; _Third I.

W. W. Convention, Official Report No. 1_, p. 2; Report of the I. W. W.

to the Stuttgart International Socialist Congress, _Industrial Union

Bulletin_, August 10, 1907, p. 3, col. 3; Massachusetts Bureau of Labor

and Industry, _Annual Report on Labor Organizations_, 2nd to 7th,

inclusive (1909-1914); _The Industrial Worker_, May 14, 1910, p. 2, and

Jan. 5, 1911, p. 2; Marot, _op. cit._, Appendix.

[P] Sources: _Miners Magazine_, issues from Oct. 1, 1906, to Feb. 1,

1907; Report of the secretary-treasurer to 3rd I. W. W. Convention,

_Industrial Union Bulletin_, Sept. 14, 1907, p. 7, col. 1.

[Q] Number issued up to Feb. 1, 1906, including 185 charters issued to

the Mining Department (W. F. of M.) (_Miners Magazine_, Feb. 22, 1906,

p. 14).

[R] _Solidarity_, May 27, 1916, p. 3, col. 1. This figure is for the

first five months of 1916.

[S] Figures in the Detroit column are from Oct. 1, 1908.

[T] W. F. M. (Mining Department) locals. _Miners Magazine_, Sept. 7,

1905, p. 15.

[U] Oct. 1, 1907, to Oct. 1, 1908 (_Industrial Union Bulletin_, Oct.

10, 1908, p. 2, col. 3).

TABLE B.--COMPARATIVE MEMBERSHIP FIGURES, 1910[727]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

| | | Members of the I. W. W.

| | |----------------------------

| | | | Per | Per

|industry. |--------------+-----------+--------+-------

| | |Per |Chi- |Det- | | | |

| | Number. |cent|cago.|roit.| C.| D.| C.| D.

-------------------------+----------+---------+----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---

Mining[728] | 834,456| 254,779|30.5| 200| .. | 0.1| ..|0.0| ..

Clothing industries[729] | 608,892| 102,972|16.9| .. | 300 | ..|0.3| ..|0.0

Quarrying | 85,919| 6,309| 7.3| | | | | |

and natural gas | 37,476| | | | | | | |

industries | 73,585| 268| 0.4| | | | | |

industries | 309,341| 63,416|20.5| | | | | |

products[730] | 299,176| 22,744| 7.6| 100| .. | 0.4| ..|0.0| ..

Iron and steel products | 1,746,387| 173,169| 9.9| 300| 600 | 0.2|0.4|0.0|0.0

Leather industries | 293,035| 42,644|14.5| | | | | |

industries | 73,475| 49,665|67.6| | | | | |

Lumber and furniture | 597,174| 63,934|10.7| 1300| 200 | 2.0|0.3|0.2|0.0

iron and steel) | 320,041| 15,013| 4.7| | | | | |

Paper and pulp industries| 101,797| 2,683| 2.6| | | | | |

Printing and bookbinding | 249,456| 85,479|34.3| | | | | |

Textile industries | 800,251| 29,862| 3.7| 4300| 300 |14.4|1.0|0.5|0.0

Button factories | 12,879| 32| 0.2| | | | | |

Broom & brush factories| 12,922| 897| 6.9| | | | | |

Charcoal and coke works| 23,294| 500| 2.1| | | | | |

factories | 170,904| 46,742|27.3| 100| 200| 0.2|0.4|0.0|0.1

factories, etc. | 252,883| 36,092|14.3| | | | | |

Gas works | 22,783| 605| 2.6| | | | | |

pentine distilleries | 22,551| | | | | | | |

Rubber factories | 45,864| 50| 0.1| | | | | |

Straw factories | 6,458| 684|10.6| | | | | |

not specified industries| 323,534| | | | | | | |

Transportation[731] | 2,862,260| 494,662|17.3| 1000| .. | 0.2| ..|0.0|

Hand trades | 713,659| 4,346| 0.6| | | | | |

Building trades | 2,444,395| 396,674|16.2| 150| 400 | 0.0|0.1|0.0|0.0

Stationary engineers | 215,053| 9,990| 4.6| | | | | |

Stationary firemen | 84,685| 8,100| 9.5| | | | | |

Trade | 3,411,677| 17,676| 0.5| | | | | |

elsewhere classified) | 441,180| 11,843| 2.6| | | | | |

Professional service | 1,628,970| 77,976| 4.8| | | | | |

service | 3,691,493| 65,579| 1.8| 150| .. | 0.2| ..|0.0|

animal husbandry |12,640,734| 2,262| 0.0| | | | | |

supervisory groups | 980,012| | | | | | | |

Clerical groups | 1,696,061| 28,853| 1.7| | | | | |

I. W. W. mixed locals | .. .. | .. .. | .. | 1437| 1475| | | |

Total |38,134,712|2,116,500| 5.5| 9037| 3475| 0.4|0.2|0.0|0.0

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE C.--MEMBERSHIP OF CERTAIN UNIONS AND GROUPS OF UNIONS IN THE

UNITED STATES, 1897-1914[732] (00's omitted.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name of union and | 97. | 98. | 99. | 00. | 01. | 02. | 03. |

--------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|

W. F. M. | 80| 100| 120| 140| 177| 196| 283|

U. M. W. | 97| 329| 618| 1155| 1980| 1753| 2472|

Total in group | 209| 442| 749| 1307| 2171| 1964| 2795|

| | | | | | | |

United Metal Workers| ..| ..| ..| 10| 21| 43| 87|

Textile Workers | 27| 25| 22| 34| 27| 106| 150|

Total in group | 81| 85| 69| 80| 70| 147| 195|

| | | | | | | |

organizations) | 55| 117| 159| 256| 318| 341| 479|

Bakery Workers | 20| 21| 31| 45| 64| 102| 154|

Brewery Workers | 100| 100| 107| 183| 235| 291| 300|

organizations) | 64| 92| 121| 280| 408| 575| 1144|

I. W. W. (Chicago) | ..| ..| ..| ..| ..| ..| ..|

I. W. W. (Detroit) | ..| ..| ..| ..| ..| ..| ..|

--------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------

Total in all groups | 4445| 4971| 6041| 8654|11,236|13,743|19,129|

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Name of union and | 04. | 05. | 06. | 07. | 08. | 09. | 10. |

--------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|

W. F. M. | 241| 263| 286| 442| 305| 353| 371||

U. M. W. | 2510| 2650| 2307| 2607| 2520| 2652| 2314|

Total in group | 2789| 2962| 2653| 3120| 2897| 3071| 2749|

| | | | | | | |

United Metal Workers| 96| [733]| | | | | |

Textile Workers | 105| 100| 100| 114| 129| 100| 100|

Total in group | 151| 145| 147| 161| 176| 148| 214|

| | | | | | | |

organizations) | 516| 419| 359| 270| 198| 190| 280|

Bakery Workers | 162| 120| 106| 110| 105| 107| 127|

Brewery Workers | 305| 340| 360| 400| 425| 452| 454|

organizations) | 1338| 949| 895| 916| 949| 581| 594|

I. W. W. (Chicago) | | 143| 104| 67| 132| 107| 91|

I. W. W. (Detroit) | | ..| ..| ..| ..| ..| ..|

--------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------

Total in all groups |20,726|19,450|19,063|20,776|20,904|20,031|21,380|

----------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------

Name of union and | 11. | 12. | 13. | 14. |

--------------------+------+------+------+------|

W. F. M. | 502| 492| 495| 369|

U. M. W. | 2563| 2893| 3777| 3390|

Total in group | 3107| 3429| 4315| 3802|

| | | | |

Textile Workers | 100| 109| 162| 180|

Total in group | 217| 230| 295| 303|

| | | | |

organizations) | 290| 255| 251| 248|

Bakery Workers | 138| 146| 151| 157|

Brewery Workers | 533| 625| 650| 676|

organizations) | 631| 686| 913| 948|

I. W. W. (Chicago) | 138| 183| 143| 120|

I. W. W. (Detroit) | 35| 107| 50| 20|

--------------------+------+------+------+-------

Total in all groups |23,365|24,408|27,010|26,744|

-------------------------------------------------

TABLE D.--MEMBERSHIP OF THE I. W. W. (CHICAGO AND DETROIT) AND OF ALL

LABOR ORGANIZATIONS IN THE U. S., 1905-1917[734]

--------------------------------------------------------------

|Members of labor| Members of the I. W. W.

| organizations |---------------------------------------

| in the U. S. | Chicago. | Detroit.

| |(St. John)[735] (Barnett)| (Barnett)

-----+----------------+--------------+-----------+------------

1905 | 1,945,000 | 23,219 | 14,300 |

1906 | 1,906,300 | .. | 10,400 |

1907 | 2,077,600 | 5,931 | 6,700 |

1908 | 2,090,400 | 5,397 | 13,200 |

1909 | 2,003,100 | 3,719 | 10,700 |

1910 | 2,138,000 | 4,617 | 9,100 | 3,475[739]

1911 | 2,336,000 | 4,330 | 13,800 | 3,500

1912 | 2,440,800 | 18,387 | 18,300 | 10,700

1913 | 2,701,000 | 14,851 | 14,300 | 5,000

1914 | 2,674,400 | 11,365 | 12,000 | 2,000

1915 | .. | 15,000[736]| .. | 2,000

1916 | .. | 60,000[737]| |

1917 | .. | 200,000[738]| |

--------------------------------------------------------------

FOOTNOTES:

[727] Adapted by permission from Wolman, Leo, "Extent of Labor

Organization," _Quar. Jour. Econ._ (May, 1916), 30: 606-13.

[728] All I. W. W. membership in coal mines.

[729] All I. W. W. membership in clothing, shirt, collar and cuff

factories.

[730] All I. W. W. membership in slaughter and packing houses.

[731] All I. W. W. membership on steam railroads.

[732] Adapted by permission from Geo. E. Barnett, _Quar. Jour. Econ._

(Aug., 1916, Appendix), vol. 30: pp. 838-46.

[733] Merged in the I. W. W. in 1905.

[734] Adapted from Barnett, _op. cit._ (_Quar. Jour. Econ._, Aug.,

1916.)

[735] Private correspondence. (1905-1914.)

[736] Haywood, W. D. Testimony Industrial Relations Commission,

Washington, May 12, 1915 (_Final report and testimony_, vol. xi, p.

10581).

[737] St. John, V. _The I. W. W. History, Structure and Methods._ (1917

Ed. p. 23.)

[738] Credited in the government indictment in the case of The United

States of America _v._ William D. Haywood, _et al._, no. 6125, p. 7.

[739] Wolman, _op. cit._

APPENDIX V. LOCAL UNIONS OF THE I. W. W.--CHICAGO AND DETROIT, 1914[740]

-------------+----------------+------------------------+------------------------

| | Chicago. | Detroit.

State. | City. +------------+-----------+------------+-----------

-------------+----------------+------------+-----------+------------+-----------

| | 147, 173 | Mixed | 8 | Musicians

| | 73 | Mixed | |

| | | | |

|Vancouver, B. C.| 332 | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| |85, Br 2; | Mixed | 431 |Foodstuffs

| |85, Br 3; | Mixed | 102 | Mixed

| |85, Br 5; | Mixed | 102 Br 2| Mixed

| |85, Br 6; | Mixed | |

| |144; | Mixed | |

| |144, Br 3; | Mixed | |

| |341; | Mixed | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | 34, Br 3; | Mixed | |

| | | | |

| | 192, Br 2; | Textile | |

| | 371 | Mixed | |

| | | | |

| | 16, Br 1; | Mixed | 26; 551; |Automobile

| | 16, Br 2; | Mixed | 551, Br 1; |Automobile

| | 16, Br 3 | Mixed | 551, Br 2 |Automobile

| | 62 | Mixed | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | 214 |Machinists

| | 76 | Mixed | |

| | 1 | Marine | 100 | Mixed

| | 9, 46, 179;| Mixed | |

| | 179, Br 3 | Mixed | |

| | 466 | Mixed | 701 | Printing

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | 425, Br 1; | Textile | 451 | Furniture

| | 533 | Textile | 218 | Textile

| | 8 | Marine | |

| | 57; | Mixed | |

| | 57, Br 2; | Mixed | |

| | 405; | Mixed | |

| | 405, Br 1; | Mixed | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | 252 | Marine | 427 | Foodstuffs

| | 178; 178, | Mixed | 675 | Lumber

| | Br 2 | Mixed | |

| | 382 | Mixed | |

| | 380 | Marine | |

==============================================================================

RECAPITULATION.

Chicago.

Totals: Mixed locals 74

National industrial unions: Textile 22 locals.

Lumber 9 locals.

Marine transport 10 locals.

Agricultural Workers Organization (L. U. no. 400) --

Propaganda leagues 8

---

Total 123

Detroit.

Mixed locals 20

Textile locals 2

Lumber 1

Transportation 3

Musicians 2

Garment workers 1

Machinists 5

Foodstuffs 2

Tobacco 3

Automobile 4

Building 2

Printing 1

Furniture 2

Public service 1

Total 49

FOOTNOTES:

[740] Based on mailing lists furnished by Secretary-Treasurers St.

John and Richter of the Chicago and Detroit factions of the I. W. W.,

respectively. _Cf._ Helen Marot, _American Labor Unions_, Appendix.

APPENDIX VI

REASONS FOR LOCALS DISBANDING[741]

(Aug. 31, 1910 to Sept. 1, 1911)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Location. | Industry. | Reasons for Disbanding.

--------------------+----------------------+----------------------------------

Muncie, Ind. | Metal workers | Strike.

Jackson, Mich. | Metal workers | Lack of interest.

Reading, Pa. | Metal workers | Strike.

Dunkirk, N. Y. | Metal workers | Members left town.

W. Pullman, Ill. | Metal workers | Shop closed.

Missoula, Mont. | Lumber | Lack of interest.

Olean, N. Y. | Mixed | Strike.

Negaunee, Mich. | Mixed | Lack of interest.

National, Nev. | Mixed | W. F. M. and Business Men's Asso'n.

Lorain, Ohio | Mixed | Lack of interest.

New York. | Building workers | Members left town.

Woonsocket, R. I. | Mixed | Lack of interest. (?)

Anaconda, Mont. | Mixed | Disrupted by A. F. of L. & W. F. M.

Providence, R. I. | Mixed | Lack of interest. (?)

Seattle | Hotel | Lack of interest.

Honolulu | Building constructors| Lack of interest.

Roundup, Mont. | Building constructors| Members blacklisted out of town.

Sioux City, Ia. | Building constructors| No record.

Pittsburgh | Packing house | Internal wrangles.

Chicago | Show workers | Lack of interest.

New York | Public service | Lack of interest.

St. Louis | Clothing | Joined A. F. of L.

New York | Clothing | Disrupted by A. F. of L.

Chicago | Clothing | Lack of work.

Anderson, Ind. | Metal workers | No record.

Pittsburgh | Mixed | Lack of interest.

New Haven | R. R. workers | Lack of interest.

Portland, Ore. | R. R. workers | Lack of interest.

Providence | Metal workers | Lack of interest.

Pittsburgh | Steel workers | Shut down.

Woods Run, Pa. | Car builders | Shut down.

McKees Rocks | Steel workers | Shut down.

Massillon, Ohio | Tin plate | Strike.

New Castle, Pa. | Tin plate | Strike.

Lyndora (?), Pa. | Car builders | "Bum" [defaulting?] secretary.

Hammond, Ind. | Car builders | "Bum" [defaulting?] secretary.

Hegewisch (?), Ill. | Car builders | Lack of interest.

South Chicago, Ill. | Steel workers | Lack of interest.

East Chicago, Ind. | Steel workers | Lack of interest.

Fostoria, Ohio | Metal workers | Strike.

Anacortes, Wash. | Lumber | Lack of interest (?)

San Diego, Cal. | Public service | Mexican Revolution.

Vancouver, B. C. | Public service | Lack of interest.

Butte, Mont. | Bakery | Joined A. F. of L.

Redlands, Cal. | Agricultural | No record.

Kalispell, Mont. | Lumber | Lack of interest.

Deer River, Minn. | Lumber | Lack of interest.

Honolulu | Agricultural | Lack of interest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOOTNOTES:

[741] Adapted from _Report of Secretary-Treasurer to the 6th I. W. W.

Convention; Appendix to Minutes_.

APPENDIX VII

FREE SPEECH FIGHTS OF THE I. W. W.

(Partial list.)

------------------------------------------------

Date. | Begun. | Place.

-------+---------------+------------------------

1906. | April | San Francisco, Cal.

| |

1909. | October | Missoula, Mont.

| November | Spokane, Wash.

| December | New Castle, Pa.

| |

1910. | May | Wenatchee, Wash.

| June | Walla Walla, Wash.

| October | Fresno, Cal.

| |

1911. | July | Duluth, Minn.

| | Victoria, B. C.

| August | Denver, Colo.

| | Superior, Wis.

| September | Kansas City, Mo.

| November | Aberdeen, Wash.

| |

1912. | February | San Diego, Cal.

| | Aberdeen, S. D.

| June | New Bedford, Mass.

| September | Minneapolis, Minn.

| |

1913. | February | Denver, Colo.

| April | Grand Junction, Colo.

| July | Minot, N. D.

| | Seattle, Wash.

| December | Kansas City, Mo.

| |

1914. | July | Aberdeen, S. Dak.

| |

1915. | November | Paterson, N. J.

| |

1916. | September | Old Forge, Pa.

| November | Everett, Wash.

-------+---------------+------------------------

APPENDIX VIII

PARTIAL LIST OF STRIKES MANAGED OR PARTICIPATED IN BY THE I. W. W.

----+---------------------+---------------------+------------------------

Year and| | |

month| Place. | Class of workers | Issue.

called.| | affected. |

----+---------------------+---------------------+-----------------------

1906|New Haven, Ct. |Paper makers. |Account of discharge

| | |of

Aug | | |

| | |

Dec |West New Brighton, |Silk workers. |

|Ct. | |

| | |

? |Skowhegan, Me. | |I. W. W.

| | |

? |Goldfield, Nev. |Miners and others. |

| | |

1907| | |

| | |

Feb |Somers, Mont. |Lumbermen |Recognition of I. W.

| | |W.; company store;

| | |hospital.

Apr |Portland, Ore. |Saw-mill workers. |

| | |

May |Missoula, Mont. |Lumbermen |Higher wages.

| | |

Oct |Vancouver, B. C. |Lumbermen |Against cut in wages

| | |and longer hours.

| | |

Nov |Yonkers, N. Y. |Street car men. |

| | |

Nov |Lancaster, Pa. |Silk workers. |

| | |

1908| | |

| | |

Apr |Marble, Colo |Quarry workers. |

| | |

Aug |Lawrence, Mass. |Textile |Against wage cuts.

| | |

1909| | |

| | |

May |Somers, Mont. |Lumbermen. |

| | |

May |Kalispell, Mont. |Lumbermen. |

| | |

May |Prince Rupert, B. C. |Lumbermen. |

| | |

July|New Castle, Pa. |Sheet and tin plate. |For open shop.

| | |

Aug |Shenango, Pa. |Sheet and tin plate. |

| | |

? |McKees Rocks, Pa. |Pressed Steel Car Co.|Wages, hours and

| | |general conditions.

| | |

? |Waterville, Wash. |Farm laborers |For $3.00 a day.

| | |

1910| | |

| | |

Mar |Muncie, Ind. |Glass workers |Higher wages.

| | |

Apr |North Yamhill, Ore. |Farm hands. |Against discharge of

| | |I. W. W.'s.

| | |

May |New Bedford, Mass. |Textile |Against cut in wages.

| | |

June|St. Louis, Mo. |Garment workers. |

| | |

July|Reading, Pa. |Auto. workers. |

| | |

Aug |San Diego, Cal. |Gas works laborers |Wages (Mexicans).

| | |

Oct |Providence, R. I. |Window cleaners. |Closed shop; wages.

| | |

Nov |Pittsburgh, Pa |Meat packers. |

| | |

Nov |Brooklyn, N. Y. |Shoe workers |Wages.

| | |

1911| | |

| | |

Jan |La Grande, Wash. |Miners |Against cut in wages.

| | |

Jan |New York, N. Y. |Boot and shoe. |

| | |

1912| | |

| | |

Jan |Lawrence, Mass |Textile workers |Against cut in wages.

| | |

Apr |Willimantic, Ct. |Textile workers |Wages.

| | |

Apr |Kansas City, Mo. |Street railroad |

| |construction. |

| | |

Apr |New York |Piano and organ. |

| | |

Mar |Hoquiam, Wash. |Lumbermen |Wages.

| | |

Mar |Aberdeen, Wash. |Lumbermen. |

| | |

May |Portland, Ore |Street car workers |Wages.

| | |

June|White Salmon, Wash. |Construction workers.|Wages; conditions.

| | |

June|Clinton, Mass |Textile. |

| | |

July|New Bedford, Mass |Textile. |

| | |

July|San Pedro, Cal |Dock workers. |

| | |

Oct |Little Falls, N.Y. |Textile. |Against cut in wages.

| | |

Nov |Cleveland, Ohio |Cyclone wire fence |Laborers (Slavonian

| |works. |I. W. W.'s).

| | |

Dec |Portland, Ore |Construction |Against cut in wages

| |laborers. |(to camps on the

| | |Portland, Eugene and

| | |Eastern, between

| | |Portland and Eugene,

| | |300 out).

| | |

Dec |Merryville, La |Lumbermen. |

| | |

? |Grays Harbor | |

| | |

? |British Columbia |Construction camps |

| |on the Canadian |

| |Northern. |

| | |

? |North Yamhill, Ore |Farm Laborers |30 cents per hour

| | |and decent quarters.

| | |

1913| | |

| | |

Jan |Big Creek, Cal. |Construction work |Wages, hours,

| |(Stone and Webster) |conditions.

| | |

Feb |Akron, Ohio |Rubber workers. |

| | |

Feb |Paterson, N.J. |Silk workers. |

| | |

Feb |Hazelton, N.J. |Silk workers. |Wage increase.

| | |

Jan |San Francisco, Cal. |Cannery workers. |Against cut in wages.

| | |

Mar |Esmond, R.I. |Textile. |

| | |

Mar |Cleveland, Ohio |Rubber workers. |

| | |

Mar |Seattle, Wash |Tailors. |

| | |

Apr |Stockton, Cal |Electrical workers. |

| | |

Apr |Rock Island, Ill. |Sash and door. |

| | |

May |Marshfield, Ore. |Lumbermen. |

| | |

June|Ipswich, Mass |Textile. |

| | |

Aug |Wheatland, Cal. |Hop pickers. |General conditions.

| | |

Sept|Pittsburgh, Pa. |Tobacco workers. |

| | |

Nov |Shelton, Conn |Textile. |

| | |

? |Duluth, Minn |Dock laborers. |

| | |

? |New York, N.Y. |Barbers. |

| | |

1916| | |

| | |

June|Mesaba Range, Minn |Iron miners. |

| | |

June|Red Granite, Wis |Quarry workers. |Discharge of I. W.

| | |W.'s.

Aug |Scranton, Pa |Miners. |

| | |

Oct |Old Forge, Pa |Miners. |

| | |

1917| | |

| | |

Feb |Philadelphia, Pa |Sugar workers. |Wages, hours,

| | |conditions.

| | |

Feb |Philadelphia, Pa |Longshoremen. |In sympathy with

| | |sugar workers.

| | |

Apr |Exeter, Cal |Irrigation |Wages and hours.

| |construction. |

| | |

----+---------------------+---------------------+---------------------

APPENDIX IX

SELECTIONS FROM THE I. W. W. SONG BOOK[742]

ARE YOU A WOBBLY?

BY JOE FOLEY

(Tune: "Are You from Dixie?")

Hello, there, worker, how do you do?

You're up against it; broke, hungry, too.

Don't be surprised, you're recognized,

I know a slave by the look in his eyes.

You want what I want--well, that's liberty,

Your frowning face seems to tell it to me.

Where there's a will, Bill, there's a way, Bill,

So listen to what I say.

CHORUS

Are you a wobbly? then listen, Buddy,

For the One Big Union beckons to you--

The Workers' Union, the Industrial Union;

Tell every slave you see along the line:

It makes no difference what your color,

Creed or sex or kind,

If you are a worker, then it's kick right in and join.

Become a wobbly and then we'll probably

Free ourselves from slavery.

You like the idea, but then you say,

"How can we do it--when is the day?"

When all the ladies and all the babies

And every man who works for a wage

Gets in the Union--One Union Grand--

All hands together we'll make our demand;

When you and I, Bill, lay down our tools, Bill,

Fold up our arms, Bill, and walk off the job.

DUMP THE BOSSES OFF YOUR BACK

BY JOHN BRILL

(Tune: "Take it to the Lord in Prayer")

Are you poor, forlorn and hungry?

Are there lots of things you lack?

Is you life made up of misery?

Then dump the bosses off your back.

Are your clothes all patched and tattered?

Are you living in a shack?

Would you have your troubles scattered?

Then dump the bosses off your back.

Are you almost split asunder?

Loaded like a long-eared jack?

Boob--why don't you buck like thunder?

And dump the bosses off your back.

All the agonies you suffer,

You can end with one good whack--

Stiffen up, you orn'ry duffer--

And dump the bosses off your back.

HALLELUJAH! I'M A BUM![743]

O! I like my boss,

He's a good friend of mine.

And that's why I'm starving

Out on the picket-line!

Hallelujah! I'm a bum!

Hallelujah! Bum again!

Hallelujah! Give us a hand-out

To revive us again!

MR. BLOCK

BY JOE HILL

(Air: "It Looks to Me like a Big Time Tonight")

Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you

A man that is a credit to "Our Red, White and Blue";

His head is made of lumber, and solid as a rock;

He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block.

And Block he thinks he may

Be President some day.

CHORUS

Oh, Mr. Block, you were born by mistake,

You take the cake,

You make me ache.

Tie on a rock to your block and then jump in the lake,

Kindly do that for Liberty's sake.

Yes, Mr. Block is lucky; he found a job, by gee!

The sharks got seven dollars, for job and fare and fee.

They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck,

But when he tried to find his job, he sure was out of luck.

He shouted, "That's too raw,

I'll fix them with the law."

Block hiked back to the city, but wasn't doing well.

He said, "I'll join the union--the great A. F. of L."

He got a job next morning, got fired in the night,

He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right."

Sam Gompers said, "You see

You've got our sympathy."

Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!"

The "comrade" got elected, he happy was for fair,

But after the election he got an awful shock.

A great big Socialist Bull did rap him on the block.

And Comrade Block did sob,

"I helped him to his job."

* * * * *

TIE 'EM UP!

(Words and music by G. G. Allen)

We have no fight with brothers of the old A. F. of L.

But we ask you use your reason with the facts we have to tell.

Your craft is but protection for a form of property,

The skill that you are losing, don't you see.

Improvements on machinery take your tool and skill away,

And you'll be among the common slaves upon some fateful day.

Now the things of which we're talking we are mighty sure about.--

So what's the use to strike the way you can't win out?

CHORUS

Tie 'em up! tie 'em up; that's the way to win.

Don't notify the bosses till hostilities begin.

Don't furnish chance for gunmen, scabs and all their like;

What you need is One Big Union and the One Big Strike.

Why do you make agreements that divide you when you fight

And let the bosses bluff you with the contract's "sacred right"?

Why stay at work when other crafts are battling with the foe?

You all must stick together, don't you know?

The day when you begin to see the classes waging war

You can join the biggest tie-up that was ever known before.

When the strikes all o'er the country are united into one

Then the workers' One Big Union all the wheels shall run.

A. F. OF L. SYMPATHY

BY B. L. WEBER

(Tune: "All I Got was Sympathy")

Bill Brown was a worker in a great big shop,

Where there worked two thousand others;

They all belonged to the A. F. of L.,

And they called each other "brothers."

One day Bill Brown's union went out on strike,

And they went out for higher pay;

All the other crafts remained on the job,

And Bill Brown did sadly say:

CHORUS

All we got was sympathy;

So we were bound to lose, you see;

All the others had craft autonomy,

Or else they would have struck with glee,

But I got good and hungry,

And no craft unions go for me.

Gee! Ain't it hell, in the A. F. of L.

All you get is sympathy.

Bill Brown was a thinker, and he was not a fool,

And fools there are many, we know.

So he decided the A. F. of L.

And its craft divisions must go.

Industrial Unions are just the thing,

Where the workers can all join the fight;

So now on the soap box boldly he stands,

A-singing with all of his might:

CHORUS

* * * * *

THE MESSAGE FROM O'ER THE SEA

(Tune: "Don't Bite the Hand that's Feeding You")

One day as I sat pining

A message of cheer came to me,

A light of revolt was shining

On a country far over the sea,

The forces of rulers to sever

And the flag of the earth to unfold

To secure our freedom forever

And a world of beauty untold.

CHORUS

All hail to the Bolsheviki!

We will fight for our Class and be free,

A Kaiser, King or Czar, no matter which you are

You're nothing of interest to me;

If you don't like the red flag of Russia,

If you don't like the spirit so true,

Then just be like the cur in the story

And lick the hand that's robbing you.

We have lived in meek submission

Thru ages of toil and despair,

To comply with the plutes' ambition

With never a thought nor a care.

An echo from Russia is sounding

'Tis the chimes of a True Liberty,

It's a message for millions resounding

To throw off your chains and be free.

SCISSOR BILL

BY JOE HILL

(Tune: "Steamboat Bill")

You may ramble 'round the country anywhere you will,

You'll always run across the same old Scissor Bill.

He's found upon the desert, he is on the hill,

He's found in every mining camp and lumber mill.

He looks just like a human, he can eat and walk,

But you will find he isn't when he starts to talk.

He'll say, "This is my country," with an honest face,

While all the cops they chase him out of every place.

CHORUS

Scissor Bill, he is a little dippy,

Scissor Bill, he has a funny face.

Scissor Bill should drown in Mississippi,

He is the missing link that Darwin tried to trace.

* * * * *

PAINT 'ER RED

BY RALPH CHAPLIN

(Tune: "Marching through Georgia")

Come with us, you workingmen, and join the rebel band;

Come, you discontented ones, and give a helping hand,

We march against the parasite to drive him from the land.

With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!

CHORUS

Hurrah! hurrah! we're going to paint 'er red!

Hurrah! hurrah! the way is clear ahead--

We're gaining shop democracy and liberty and bread

With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!

* * * * *

"Slaves" they call us, "working plugs," inferior by birth,

But when we hit their pocketbooks we'll spoil their smiles or mirth--

We'll stop their dirty dividends and drive them from the earth

With ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!

We hate their rotten system more than any mortals do,

Our aim is not to patch it up, but build it all anew,

And what we'll have for government, when finally we're through,

Is ONE BIG INDUSTRIAL UNION!

CASEY JONES--THE UNION SCAB

BY JOE HILL

The Workers on the S. P. line to strike sent out a call;

But Casey Jones, the engineer, he wouldn't strike at all;

His boiler it was leaking, and its drivers on the bum,

And his engine and its bearings, they were all out of plumb.

CHORUS

Casey Jones kept his junk pile running;

Casey Jones was working double time;

Casey Jones got a wooden medal,

For being good and faithful on the S. P. line.

The Workers said to Casey: "Won't you help us win this strike?"

But Casey said: "Let me alone, you'd better take a hike."

Then some one put a bunch of railroad ties across the track,

And Casey hit the river with an awful crack.

Casey Jones hit the river bottom;

Casey Jones broke his blooming spine,

Casey Jones was an Angeleno,

He took a trip to heaven on the S. P. line.

When Casey Jones got up to heaven to the Pearly Gate

He said: "I'm Casey Jones, the guy that pulled the S. P. freight."

"You're just the man," said Peter; "our musicians went on strike;

You can get a job a-scabbing any time you like."

Casey Jones got a job in heaven;

Casey Jones was doing mighty fine;

Casey Jones went scabbing on the angels,

Just like he did to workers on the S. P. line.

The angels got together, and they said it wasn't fair,

For Casey Jones to go around a-scabbing everywhere.

The Angels' Union No. 23, they sure were there,

And they promptly fired Casey down the Golden Stair.

Casey Jones went to Hell a-flying.

"Casey Jones," the Devil said, "Oh, fine;

Casey Jones, get busy shoveling sulphur;

That's what you get for scabbing on the S. P. line."

THE PREACHER AND THE SLAVE

BY JOE HILL

(Tune: "Sweet Bye and Bye")

Long-haired preachers come out every night,

Try to tell you what's wrong and what's right;

But when asked how 'bout something to eat

They will answer with voices so sweet:

CHORUS

You will eat, bye and bye,

In that glorious land above the sky;

Work and pray, live on hay,

You'll get pie in the sky when you die.

And the Starvation army they play,

And they sing and they clap and they pray.

Till they get all your coin on the drum,

Then they'll tell you when you're on the bum:

CHORUS

Holy Rollers and jumpers come out,

And they holler, they jump and they shout.

"Give your money to Jesus," they say,

"He will cure all diseases today."

If you fight hard for children and wife--

Try to get something good in this life--

You're a sinner and bad man, they tell,

When you die you will sure go to Hell.

Workingmen of all countries, unite,

Side by side we for freedom will fight:

When the world and its wealth we have gained

To the grafters we'll sing this refrain:

LAST CHORUS

You will eat, bye and bye,

When you've learned how to cook and to fry

Chop some wood, 'twill do you good,

And you'll eat in the sweet bye and bye.

THE RED FLAG

BY JAMES CONNELL

The workers' flag is deepest red,

It shrouded oft our martyred dead;

And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold

Their life-blood dyed its every fold.

CHORUS

Then raise the scarlet standard high;

Beneath its folds we'll live and die,

Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,

We'll keep the red flag flying here.

Look 'round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,

The sturdy German chants its praise;

In Moscow's vaults its hymns are sung,

Chicago swells its surging song.

It waved above our infant might

When all ahead seemed dark as night;

It witnessed many a deed and vow,

We will not change its color now.

It suits today the meek and base,

Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place,

To cringe beneath the rich man's frown,

And haul that sacred emblem down.

With heads uncovered, swear we all,

To bear it onward till we fall;

Come dungeons dark, or gallows grim,

This song shall be our parting hymn!

WHAT WE WANT

BY JOE HILL

(Tune: "Rainbow")