Problems in American Democracy Part 21

8. The nature of anarchism. (Carver, _Elementary Economics_, chapter xlvi.)

9. The life of Karl Marx. (Consult an encyclopedia.)

10. The law of capitalistic development. (Skelton, _Socialism, a Critical a.n.a.lysis_, chapter vii.)

11. The economic interpretation of history. (Skelton, _Socialism, a Critical a.n.a.lysis_, chapter v.)

CHAPTER XIV

MILITANT SOCIALISM: THE I. W. W.

134. ORIGIN OF THE I.W.W.--The letters I.W.W. are a convenient abbreviation which is used to designate a group of militant socialists calling themselves the Industrial Workers of the World. The I.W.W.

resemble a French socialist group known as syndicalists, and on that account the I.W.W. are sometimes called the American syndicalists. As a matter of fact, the I.W.W. are a distinct group, and are in no way affiliated with the French syndicalists.

The I.W.W. movement can be traced to a miners' strike in Colorado in 1903. As the result of the labor unrest which this strike accentuated, a conference of radical labor leaders was called in Chicago in 1904, to discuss the question of forming a socialist organization which should advocate methods more drastic than those of political socialism. In the summer of 1905 a second convention was held in Chicago, and a const.i.tution was drawn up and subscribed to. Section 1 of Article I of this const.i.tution reads: "This Organization shall be known as the 'Industrial Workers of the World.'"

135. THE I.W.W. AND THE POLITICAL SOCIALISTS: SIMILARITIES.--Like the political socialists, the I. W. W. go back to Karl Marx for their basic teachings. William D. Haywood, one of the I. W. W. leaders, accepted Marx's theory of surplus value in these terms: "The theory of surplus value is the beginning of all socialist knowledge. It shows the capitalist in his true light, that of an idler and a parasite. It proves to the workers that capitalists should no longer be permitted to take any of their product." The I. W. W. also stress the cla.s.s struggle. The preamble to their const.i.tution declares that "the working cla.s.s and the employing cla.s.s have nothing in common," and a.s.serts that "between these two cla.s.ses a struggle must go on until all the workers of the world organize as a cla.s.s, take possession of the earth, and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system." In these important particulars there is agreement between the I. W. W. and the political socialists.

136. THE I.W.W. AND THE POLITICAL SOCIALISTS: DIFFERENCES.--The chief difference between the two groups is one of method. The political socialists prefer political action to violence; the I.W.W. prefer violence to political action. The I.W.W. believe that political methods are altogether too slow and unreliable, and accordingly they have so far refused to affiliate with any political party. The extreme limits to which the I.W.W. have gone in the matter of violence have caused many political socialists to disavow this militant group. The attempt has even been made to prove that the I.W.W. are not socialists at all, though as a matter of fact they are as truly so as is any other socialist group.

137. I.W.W. METHODS: THE STRIKE.--The I.W.W. use the strike, not as a means of securing better working conditions, but as a method of fomenting revolution. "Instead of the conservative motto, 'A fair day's wages for a fair day's work,'" declares the preamble to their const.i.tution, "we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, 'Abolition of the wage system.'" In their use of the strike, the I.W.W. accordingly oppose conciliation or arbitration of any kind, and whether or not they gain their point, they go back to work with the intention of striking again at the next opportune time.

This policy has been formulated by the I.W.W. in the following words: "Strike; win as much as possible; go back to work; recuperate; strike again... whatever concessions from capitalism the workers secure, sooner or later they will strike again."

The princ.i.p.al strikes initiated in pursuance of this policy occurred at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, in 1909; Lawrence, Ma.s.sachusetts, in 1912; b.u.t.te, Montana, in 1914; and Bisbee, Arizona, in 1916. Violence and lawlessness have been prominent features of each of these strikes.

138. I.W.W. METHODS: SABOTAGE.--The word sabotage is of French origin, and is used to describe any sort of deliberate action on the part of workmen which results in the destruction of the employer's property.

Sabotage is a species of guerrilla warfare, designed to foment the cla.s.s struggle. Louis Levine, an I. W. W. sympathizer, has said that "stirring up strife and accentuating the struggle as much as is in his power is the duty" of the I. W. W. Some of the commoner forms of sabotage are injuring delicate machinery, exposing the employer's trade secrets to rival employers, lying to customers about the quality of the goods, crippling locomotives so that they cannot be operated, slashing the harness of teamsters, shipping perishable goods to the wrong destination, burning forests and wheat fields, sawing lumber into unusual lengths, and allowing foodstuffs to spoil or deteriorate.

139. I.W.W. METHODS: DESTRUCTION OF LIFE.--In their effort to destroy the existing order of society, some of the I.W.W. are frankly willing to go as far as a.s.sa.s.sination. I.W.W. leaders have advised their followers, both orally and through their writings, to extend the term sabotage to cover the destruction of human life. During the World War the I.W.W. caused a loss of life by putting poison in canned goods, and by causing train wrecks. They have advocated the placing of ground gla.s.s in food served in hotels and restaurants. Since the organization was formed in 1905, several bomb outrages resulting in loss of life have been charged against the I.W.W., but in justice to this group, it must be observed that these crimes have never been proved to have been committed by authorized I. W. W. agents.

140. NEGATIVE CHARACTER OF THE I.W.W.--The I.W.W. resemble the political socialists in their failure to offer a definite system which could be subst.i.tuted for the capitalistic system. Some of the I. W.

W., it is true, have formulated a plan by means of which society is some day to be organized primarily on an industrial basis. According to this program, the workers of a given industry, say the railroad industry, will be organized into a single union, rather than, as at present, into a number of trade unions, such as an engineers' union, as distinct from the firemen's union, the brakemen's union, etc. The railroad union would in turn become a branch of a great transportation union, and the transportation union would in turn become a division of the "One Big Union," which is to include all workers in all countries of the world.

If this plan were approved by the entire I. W. W. organization, it would mean that the I. W. W. intended industry to be controlled by a super-organization of workingmen, all other persons to be excluded from any control whatsoever. As a matter of fact, this is the program of only a faction of the I. W. W. The idea of "One Big Union" is opposed by a second group, which insists that after the destruction of capitalism, industry must be handed over to the exclusive control of small units of laborers, unaffiliated with, and uncontrolled by, any larger organization. Beyond the formulation of these two opposing views, a constructive I. W. W. program has never been developed.

Attention continues to be centered upon the destruction of the present system.

141. UNDEMOCRATIC CHARACTER OF THE I. W. W.--The I. W. W. oppose our present democracy. They oppose our Const.i.tution and its fundamental guarantees of personal liberty, individual rights, and private property. They seek revolution, not in order to secure justice for the ma.s.ses, but in order to place the laboring cla.s.s in complete power in industry and government. They announce their intention of continuing the cla.s.s struggle "until the working cla.s.s is able to take possession and control of the machinery, premises, and materials of production right from the capitalists' hands, and to use that control to distribute the product of industry _entirely_ among the workers."

142. LIMITED APPEAL OF THE I. W. W. PROGRAM.--It is a testimonial to the common sense of American workmen that the I. W. W. have made little headway. Until the Lawrence strike in 1912, the movement centered in the Far West, and it is even now practically confined to those parts of the West where industry is less well organized, and where family life is less stable. Miners, lumbermen, and railway construction workers are prominent in the movement. In general, the I.

W. W. theory appeals chiefly to the lower strata of unskilled labor, to young and homeless workers, to transients, and to una.s.similated immigrants. The better trained and the more intelligent American workmen reject the program of the I. W. W. These latter workmen believe in bettering their condition through the gradual development and enforcement of industrial standards, made possible by lawful cooperation with the employer. The truth of this statement is borne out by the fact that whereas the I. W. W. number scarcely 30,000, the American Federation of Labor has more than 4,000,000 members.

Numerically the I. W. W. are unimportant, and it is chiefly their violent and spectacular tactics which attract attention.

QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT

1. What do the letters I. W. W. stand for?

2. How did the I. W. W. organization come into existence?

3. In what ways are the I. W. W. like the political socialists?

4. In what way do the I. W. W. differ from the political socialists?

5. What use do the I. W. W. make of the strike?

6. Define sabotage, and give some examples.

7. Discuss "destruction of life" as an I. W. W. aim.

8. Upon what basis do the I. W. W. expect to reorganize society?

9. What is meant by "One Big Union"?

10. What is the att.i.tude of the I. W. W. toward democracy?

11. To what cla.s.ses of the population does the I. W. W. theory make its chief appeal?

REQUIRED READINGS

1. Williamson, _Readings in American Democracy_, chapter xiv.

Or all of the following:

2. Bloomfield, _Modern Industrial Movements_, pages 40-50 and 78-86.

3. Hoxie, _Trade Unionism in the United States_, chapter vi.

4. _International Encyclopedia_, vol. 12, article on "Industrial Workers of the World."

5. Preamble to the Const.i.tution of the Industrial Workers of the World.

QUESTIONS ON THE REQUIRED READINGS

1. Name some of the unions represented in the I.W.W. convention of 1905. (_International Encyclopedia,_ page 150.)

2. What do the I.W.W. insist must be the outcome of the cla.s.s struggle? (Preamble to the const.i.tution.)

3. What sort of an organization do the I. W. W. believe to be essential if the condition of the workers is to be improved? (Preamble to the const.i.tution.)

4. What are the three reasons why the I.W.W. expect to take over industry? (Bloomfield, page 80.)

5. What may be said as to the present att.i.tude of the I.W.W. toward political parties? (International Encyclopedia,_ page 151.)