THE NEW UNIONISM By ANDRE TRIDON ACU 551 1ARY <> The NEW UNIONISM BY ANDR6 TRIDON NEW YORK B. W. HUEBSCH c i. W. HUEBSCH Copyright, I9I3 , by PRINTED IN O. 3. A. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFOH The author acknowledges his indebtedness to Messrs. Guy Bowman, London; Christian Cornelissen, Paris; Justus Ebert, Brooklyn; Joseph Ettor, New York ; Arturo Giovannitti, New York ; Sydney Green- bie, New York; William D. Haywood, Denver; Prof. Felix Le Dantec, University of Paris; Emile Pataud, Paris ; Emile Pouget, Paris ; Odon Por, Milan ; George G. Reeve, Sydney, Australia; Vincent St. John, Chi- cago; Dr. E. S. Slosson, New York; Walker C. Smith, Spokane; William E. Trautman, Pittsburg; B. H. Williams, New Castle, and Gaylord Wilshire, London, who either passed upon such of these cHap- ters as appeared in the New York Sun, the New York Tribune, The Independent, The International, The Industrial Worker, Solidarity, etc., or re- vised the proof sheets or gave him the benefit of their own observations in this and other countries. New York, May 1, 1913. .TABLE OF, CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE THE NEW UNIONISM: A DEFINITION. What it is called in the various countries. New Unionism versus Anarchism; Edouard Berth, F. Van Eeden, W. T. Trautman on anarchism. New Unionism versus trade unionism; B. H. Walker on craft organiza- tion; W. D. Haywood on the A. F. of L.; H. Lagar- delle's views; rivalry among English craft unions; E. V. Debs on " union scabs " ; the Owens machine versus the glassblowers union. The unskilled la- borer; hobo labor and the ballot. Socialism hailed by the capitalist press as a conservative force. Definition of the New Unionism. Is industrialism different from syndicalism? The great change. . .. 1 CHAPTER II DIBECT ACTION: I. THE STEIKE. Pouget and Vandervelde on Direct Action. The anti-injunction bill. The Dreyfus case and the Lawrence case. What a strike means to the New Unionist. Folded arms strikes. Sympathy strikes. Irritation strikes. Bumper strikes. How long should a strike last? Yvetot on strike funds. When is a strike successful? The general strike. Anti-militarism. The Mal- thusian strike. ...... ; . ,j , ; ;>J .. ,. 24 CHAPTER III DIBECT ACTION : II. SABOTAGE. The meaning of the word. Balzac's account of the Lyons weaver strike. The French telegraphists' " mastic." The Glasgow dockers and Ca Canny methods. The Toulouse congress and Pouget's motion. The congress appoints a committee on sabotage. Active sabotage ; described in the Bulle- tin of the Montpellier Labor Exchange; the French barbers' " badigeonnage " ; Haywood's observations ; La Voioo du Peuple on crippling the machinery before a walk out. Sabotage of telegraph lines. Open CONTENTS PAGB taouth sabotage; cooks, subway employees, grocery, drugstore and bank clerks muckrake their employers. Obstructionism; its origin; as applied by Italian railroaders. The ethics of sabotage. .. ., ; ., M ; . ; 37 CHAPTER IV THE NEW UNIONISM AND THE INTELLECTUALS. Intellect- uals managing the world's affairs. An antiparlia- mentary deputy. Radical lawyers and their fees. The French International tried to exclude intellec- tuals. Sorel, Edouard Berth and Leone on intellec- tuals. The art of to-morrow. Pouget and Pataud on art in the syndicalist commonwealth. Radical art and its vagaries. .... ... . ... . . 66 CHAPTER V THE NEW UNIONISM IN FBANCE: REVOLUTIONARY SYNDI- CALISM. Syndicalist tendencies and the French In- ternational. The Commune. The law of 1884. The first Labor Exchange. Aristide Briand, a parti- san of the general strike. Fernand Pelloutier and the anarchists. The first C. G. T. The second C. G. T. Parties within the C. G. T. Its organization; the two Federations and their work; the National Syndicates; growing spirit of industrialism. The re- sources of the C. G. T. La Voix du Peuple. The writers' syndicate. Government employees join the C. G. T. The teachers' fight for the right to affiliate with the C. G. T. The Soldier's Penny fund. The C. G. T. and the socialist party. The leaders: Pou- get, Griffuehles, Yvetot, Luquet, Pataud, etc. The management of the syndicalist commonwealth of the future. :. 67 CHAPTER VI THE NEW UNIONISM IN THE UNITED STATES: INDUSTRIAL- ISM. Pioneer industrialist organizations; the Na- tional Labor Union; the Knights of Labor; The In- ternational Working People's Association; The In- ternational Workingmen's Association; the American Railway Union; the Western Federation of Miners. The Chicago conference. The first I. W. W. pre- amble. Internal dissensions. The second preamble. The I. W. W., its history and methods. The strikes of the I. W. W. Its leaders St. John, Hay- CONTENTS PAGE wood, Ettor, Giovannitti, Trautman, Elizabeth Flynn. The industrialist idea and the A. F. of L. The Chicago newspaper strike and its consequences. The new policy of the A. F. of L.; organizing unskilled workers. The New Unionism and the I. W. W.; The Haywood case. ....... 92 CHAPTER VII THE NEW UNIONISM IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM. The chartist movement. The labor unrest of 1910. The Ben Tillett resolution. Tom Mann's activity; his pamphlets; Tom Mann on parliamentary action. The "open letter to British Soldiers." The call for amalgamation. Railroaders now united in one big union with 200,000 members. The socialist party dis- approves of syndicalism 124 CHAPTER VIII THE NEW UNIONISM IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM. The revolt of the Sicilian peasants. The year 1900. The Cen- tral Secretariat of Resistance. The organization of the C. G. L. The conservative policy of the C. G. L. ; its attitude to strikers. The cooperatives and their plight; the glassblowers and their financial difficul- ties. The Italian Syndical Union. Labriola and Leone on Italian syndicalism 148 CHAPTER IX THE NEW UNIONISM IN GEBMANY: LOCALISM. The trade union congress of 1900. The independent con- gress of 1907. The Freie Vereinigung; its press. The aims of the localists. Localists expelled from the socialist party . 160 CHAPTER X THE NEW UNIONISM IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTH AFRICA. Tom Mann and Dora Montefiore on " labor governments." Workers jailed for striking and for refusing to serve under the flag. The growth of the industrialist idea .., .. ,., ... . 16$ CHAPTER XI THE NEW UNIONISM IN OTHER COUNTRIES. Argentina; Austria; Chile; British Columbia; Holland; Japan; Scandinavia; Switzerland. .., ... M M ... * M .> 173 CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER XII INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS. The C. G. T. and the Inter- national Secretariate. Le Bulletin International. . 181 CHAPTER XIII THE INFLUENCE OP THE NEW UNIONISM ON MODERN THOUGHT. Cornelissen's warning. The Bergson case. Paulhan, Chide, Le Roy. Is Sorel a syndicalist ? Sorel's lack of understanding of the C. G. T.'s spirit; SorePs conservatism; his theory of myths; his "apol- ogy for violence " ; his puritanical views. Felix Le Dantec and his theory of rights; cynicism and revo- lution; parliaments and majorities; the unreasonable compensation of merit. . , ... ....... 186 Wi RICH THE NEW UNIONISM CHAPTER I THB NEW UNIONISM: A DEFINITION NEW UNIONISM. At the present day the New Un- ionism, that is labor's endeavor to free itself from the existing forms of organization and improve upon them, goes by a different name in almost every country. In the United States, Industrialism, in England, Syndicalism, in France, Revolutionary Syndicalism, in Germany, Localism or Anarcho- Socialism. Robert Rives La Monte even, attempted to call it New Socialism. Before attempting to tell what it is, we con- sider it imperative to tell what it is not. It is neither anarchism, nor trade unionism, nor reform- ism, nor political socialism, nor Marxian socialism. Radical papers and pamphlets are fond of display- ing the Marxian motto : " The emancipation of the workers must be accomplished by the workingmen themselves." Thusi far, however, the worker has always been prone to believe that someone else was going to emancipate him and could emancipate him quicker than he himself could. Certain theorists hold out a millennium to the workers on one appar- ently simple and fair condition : that the workers give the theorists a formal warrant to go forth and con c[uer it in their behalf. 2 THE NEW UNIONISM Other theorists also hold out a millennium to the workers but without pointing out any practical means to bring about the great change : this is why anarch- ism has never appealed to more than a handful of in- tellectuals with bucolic tastes. It has no modern solution to offer for any of to-day's problems. The criticisms formulated by anarchists against modern society are generally sound but purely negative. Rousseau, Proudhon, Tolstoy, Stirner have no mes- sage for the practical man who knows that the com- plexity of our civilization cannot be abolished by a mere act of negation. In Les Nouveaux Aspects dw SociaUsme Edouard Berth, a French syndicalist writer expressed himself as follows on the differences between the syndicalist and the anarchist viewpoint : Syndicalists are grateful to the capitalist system not only for the material wealth it has created but also and particu- larly for the moral and intellectual transformation it has brought about within the masses of the workers, who, owing to capitalism's iron discipline, have been lifted out of their original sluggishness and anarchistic individualism, and rendered capable of more and more perfect collective labor. Syndicalists admit that civilization began and had to be- gin with some form of coercion and furthermore, that such coercion was beneficial and creative, and that if we can look forward to a system of liberty without the tyranny of the employers or the tyranny of the state it is owing to the capitalist system of coercion which has disciplined man- kind and made it gradually capable of rising to labor freely and voluntarily performed. Against that system of coer- cion, anarchism has constantly protested; it curses civiliza- tion which demands so much effort and gives us so little happiness in return j we might say that this protest of the A DEFINITION 3 anarchist merely voices the revolt of the lazy individual, of the primitive savage, of the mature man against a sys- tem which tried to break him to the discipline of labor. . . . Such a protest is purely negative, nay, reactionary. . . . For society is a coordination of efforts, not a juxtaposition of egos seeking mere enjoyment. . . . Anarchism is merely exaggerated bourgeoisism. An anarchist is often a deca- dent bourgeois; his eagerness for a return to nature is very similar to the tired bourgeois' craving for a fresh air cure in the country. A recent convert who has come to syndicalism after nrachi social experimenting along the reformist and cooperative lines, Frederick Van Eeden, writes in the (London) Syndicalist: Anarchism neglected the immense importance of organ- ization, and supposed the workers to be capable without leadership, without discipline, of achieving the tremendous task of creating a well-organized commonwealth. This was indeed Utopia in its worst sense. It jumped long periods of slow and difficult education. It did not teach the workers the terrible strength of their opponents, the exploiters. It did not realize how the intricate structure of modern society demanded great organizing capacities, scientific knowledge, economical insight, first-rate leadership, and strict discipline, in order to replace the old order by a new and a better one. So anarchism was soon paralyzed and left behind in the struggle. It could strike, but not conquer. It proved to be destructive, not constructive. It withered for want of successful deeds. William E. Trautirian, a practical industrialist organizer, is emphatic in his defense of modern civil- ization, much maligned by anarchists ; he writes : No destruction, no waste,- no return to barbarism. A higher plane of civilization is to be achieved. When the $ THE NEW UNIONISM workers understand how the industrial system of to-day has developed, how one industrial pursuit dovetails into another, and all constitute an indivisible whole, they will not wan- tonly destroy what generations of industrial and social forces have brought forth. Trade unionism offered a seemingly more practical solution of labor problems and, what is more im- portant to the masses, immediate advantages. Every craft was to organize its members in local unions de- manding high entrance fees and monthly dues, prac- ticing collective bargaining with employers and par- liamentarians or electing their own representatives to parliament. Thus shorter hours and higher wages could be obtained at least for the organized minority, the aristocracy of labor, at the cost, it is true, of an increase in the cost of living for unionized and non- unionized workers alike. Craft organization is as exclusive as guild organization and aims at benefiting not labor but the chosen few who succeed in saving the required fee and also in being admitted to mem- bership (which is not always secured by the mere payment of a fee and perfect eligibility). The spirit of craft unions is well illustrated by a quotation from an address delivered by John H. Walker, President of the Illinois Miners before the Illinois convention. of 1912: I would also favor the discussion and consideration of the question of compelling new members to serve apprentice- ships and minimize the number of apprenticeships as much as possible, thus preventing an influx of new members. William D. Haywood said in a speech on the Gen- eral Strike, delivered on August 20, 1911 ; Remember that there are 35,000,000 workers in the United States who cannot join the American Federation of Labor. It isn't a working class organization. It realizes that by improving the labor power of a few individuals and keep- ing them on the inside of a corral, keeping others out by raising initiation fees or by closing the books, the favored few are made valuable to the capitalists ; it is simply a com- bination of job trusts. In Why strikes are lost, William E. Trautmau shows us the consequences of such a selfish policy on the part of craft unions : Because craft unions charge arbitrary initiation fees, some of them as the green bottle blowers, five hundred dol- lars, and others from fifty to two hundred dollars, it follows that men and women who have not the means are debarred and driven to become strike breakers. In the craft unions if a man loses his job and finds employment in another in- dustry, and wants to remain a union member, he is charged another initiation fee. Some workers have to carry cards of four or five different unions in their pocket and pay dues to as many. Do you wonder that strike breakers are bred out of such conditions? The same and other charges are brought up against French, English and German craft unions by the French syndicalist, Hubert Lagardelle: Unions are applying to their own members the autocratic rules laid down by capitalists. They have organized a work- ers' government as harsh as the bourgeois government, a workers' bureaucracy as heavy footed as the bourgeois bu- reaucracy, a central office which tells the workers what they can do or cannot do, a thing which destroys in the unions and in their members all spirit of independence and initia- tive and frequently leads its victims to wish for a return of capitalist autocracy. & THE NEW UNIONISM English and German unions have also observed that the most valuable thing in bourgeois society was money. . . . Hence their miserly practices, their habit of hoarding, their enormous reserve funds, the transformation of unions into mutualist enterprises, into provident and savings institu- tions, into financial agencies. What freedom have they con- quered, these workers who beside their employers have given themselves other workers as masters; in what respect are they revolutionary, those proletarians who are hoarding money in the belief that they can beat capitalists at the capitalistic game? Not only does craft organization preclude all solidarity between union laborers and non-union laborers but the history of craft unionism is a con- tinuous record of fights between closely allied crafts, one craft trying to prevent another craft from doing certain work or scabbing (as the English say, black legging), on another craft union strike. We quote from the journal of the (English) A. S. E. (Amalgamated Society of Engineers) the follow- ing items : The question has again come under consideration, in con- sequence of the boilermakers having threatened a stoppage of work, the demand made being that the whole of the stud- ding of armor plates, apart from the protection of am- munition hoists, was the work of the boilermakers. . . . Evidence was produced by the firm showing that since the introduction of this studded armor that studs had been put in by engineers, and we therefore, restated our full claim to put in all studs on machine-faced, scarphed joints. Encroachments upon our work by pipe fitters have been put right. These pipe fitters have now been taken under the wing of the Plumbers' Society. ... At another firm a question of demarcation as between ourselves and plumbers was settled in our favor. 'Jii DEFINITION fl 'A question of demarcation has arisen between the Boiler- makers' Society at the L. C. C., Generating Station, Green- wich. Apparently the management has not deemed it neces- sary to employ a boilermaker on the staff, and our members have been working on the tubes in some of the boilers, the scurfers doing the remainder. On attention being called to it, we have intimated that our members have no desire to continue on this work, and would be pleased to see a boiler- maker employed; but the management have so far declined to accede to the request of the Boilermakers' Society by em- ploying one, and it is now under consideration as to whether our members should refuse to do any such work, and thereby assist the boilermakers in obtaining the employment of one of their members on the work. What such, a spirit may lead to in time of strike ;was told graphically in a speech by Eugene V. Debs : While we are upon this question, let us consult industrial history a moment. We will begin with the craft union rail- road strike of 1888. The Brotherhood of Engineers and the Brotherhood of Firemen on the C. B. & Q. system went out on strike. Some 2000 engineers and firemen vacated their posts and went out on one of the most bitterly contested railroad strikes in the history of the country. When they went out, the rest of the employes, especially the conduct- ors, who were organized in craft unions of their own, re- mained at their posts, and the union conductors piloted the scab engineers over the line. I know whereof I speak. I was there. I took an active part in that strike. I saw craft union pitted against craft union, and I saw the Brotherhood of Engineers and the Brotherhood of Fire- men completely wiped from the C. B. & Q. system. And now you find these men, seventeen years later, scattered all over the United States. They had to pay the penalty of their ignorance in organizing a craft instead of organizing as a whole. In 1892 a strike occurred on the Lehigh Valley; the same S THE NEW UNIONISM result. Another on the Toledo, Ann Arbor & North Mich- igan. Same result. The engineers have had no strike from that time to this. Every time they have had a strike they have been defeated. The railroad corporations are shrewd enough to recognize the fact that if they can keep certain departments in their employ in a time of emergency they can defeat all the rest. A manager of a railroad who can keep control of fifteen per cent, of the old men can allow eighty-five per cent, to go out on strike and defeat them every time. That is why they have made some concessions to the engineers and conductors and brakemen, and now and then to the switchmen, the most militant labor union of them alL A year and a half ago the telegraph operators on the Mis- souri, Kansas & Texas went out on strike. The engineer re- mained at his post ; so did the fireman ; the conductor at his j and the brakeman at his. And they hauled the scabs that flocked from all parts of the country to the several points along the line, and delivered them in good order to take the places vacated by the strikers; worked all around them and with them until they had mastered the details of their sev- eral duties; and having done this, the strike was at an end, and the 1300 craft unionists out of jobs. You will find them scattered all over the country. Whatever apparent advantages were secured by the craft union system for an organized minority are now in danger of being totally obliterated by recent developments in the industrial field. The skilled worker entrenched in his union occupied a well nigh impregnable position when the mastery of one craft presupposed years of schooling and practice. Now- adays two factors are conspiring to reduce skilled labor to a rank of insignificance. The ever increas- ing specialization characteristic of industrial progress divides up jobs into almost every one of their com- A DEFINITION $ ponent motions so that any individual of average intelligence may learn in a day or a week how to run any mechanical appliance used in shop or mill. Besides specialized machinery, inventors have been at work producing apparatus which reduce not only the numher of unskilled laborers necessary to accom- plish a given task (we are not alluding to steam- shovels or grain elevators and the like), but the num- ber of highly skilled artisans, accomplishing the least mechanical type of work. For instance the organization of the glass blowers was so perfect that entrance fees had been raised to $500 and that it was contemplated to raise them to $1000 in the case of foreign workers. Of a sudden the Owens machine, at first considered as unpractical, threatens to wipe off entirely the craft of glassblowing. The Owens machine invented in 1903 can now be used to blow any glass receptacle from a half-ounce bottle to a twelve gallon demijohn. In the year 1909, forty-nine Owens machines with a producing capacity per machine of about 111 gross in twenty-four hours, produced about 1,700,824; gross. It would have required 1320 skilled blowers to pro- duce the same number of bottles. The union had 2395 men idle. Up to January, 1913, the advance of the machine was slow owing to the fact that the out- put of the Owens Company's machine shop was limited to fifty machines a year. The new shop which is now open will be able to turn out over one hundred automatic blowers a year. Furthermore the new machine having ten arms instead of six can turn 10 THE NEW, UNIONISM out 200 gross a day instead of 111. In less than two years the trade of glass blower will have entirely disappeared. This is of course an extreme case but statistics prove that many other crafts are threatened with extinction in a very near future. In the Westinghouse Electric Company's works in Pittsburg 19,000 men were employed in 1907. In 1911 the output was the same as in 1907 but the number of men employed was only 10,000. Im- proved machinery had reduced the working force by almost fifty per cent, in four years. The same tendency is observable in the iron, steel, cement and other basic industries. The high-priced stereotypers are being displaced very fast by the auto machine which even in its imperfect state, enables now one man and a boy to do the work of four men. Thus far " labor " in every country had meant organized skilled labor, the one force capital had to contend with. At present " everything combines to place the unskilled laborer in a strategic position in the labor struggle " as Austin Lewis writes in Proletarian and Petit Bourgeois: He has become the one vital factor without which no vic- tory in the fight between the laborer and the capitalist can be had. . . . The unskilled laborer is not as a rule a voter; he can seldom stay long enough in one place to acquire resi- dence. . . . The theory in the United States at least is that such employment is permanent only for the unfit ... it is no longer tenable. . . . The appropriation of public lands, the practical closing of opportunity, the degradation of the crafts in face of the consolidation of industry, all tend not only to shut the avenues of escape for the unskilled laborer but to greatly increase his numbers. A DEFINITION ID Although New Unionists are not concerned witH the opinions of dead theorists who could in no way foretell the gigantic industrial advance of the pres- ent day we may remind the reader that Marx always disparaged the role which trade unions were to play in the social revolution. He said, in an ad- dress delivered before the Workingmen's Interna- tional : Trade unions are efficient as centers of resistance against the encroachments of capital. They fail to a certain extent, however, from an injudicious use of their power. They fail generally because they confine themselves to a guerilla war against the effects of the existing system instead of trying to change it in its entirety, instead of using their organized forces as a lever for the final emancipation of the working class, that is to say, the ultimate abolition of the wage sys- tem. Eeformist and revolutionary socialists tell the workers that if socialists can. only capture the State through propaganda leading, either to an overwhelm- ing victory at the polls or to a successful revolution, the socialist state or the socialist government will run the nation and its industries for the benefit of the workers. Only it is not evident that the tyranny of a social- ist state would be more easily borne than that of a capitalist state. Furthermore the process may con- sume a great many years. Finally the failure of several socialist ministers and of one socialist premier in France to accord to the workers a treatment differ- ent from what they would have expected at the hands of a radical or reformist, is unlikely to spur 12 THE NEW UNIONISM the workers to renewed efforts to secure representation in parliament. The ballot has magnificent theoretical possibilities ; practically, its results are slow and doubtful ; besides the ballot is restricted to a certain class of the popula- tion and at least in every country to a certain race, while all classes and races work side by side in every country of the world. Hubert Lagardelle, at the socialist congress held in Nancy on August 14, 1907, said: The two tendencies of modern socialism (reformed and revolutionary) are equally Utopian, for they attribute to the coercive power of the state a creative value it lacks en- tirely. . . . You cannot conjure overnight out of nothing an organized system of society. Whatever authority you may dispose of, you will not impart to the workers who elected socialist candidates, to the voters, who for frequently futile and abstract motives are following you, the ability to reg- ulate production and distribution. You will be the masters of the hour, you will hold all the power which yesterday was vested in the middle classes, you will pile up decree upon de- cree, law upon law, but you will not work any miracle, you will not at a stroke enable the workers to replace the capi- talists. Why should the coming into power of a few socialist poli- ticians transform the psychology of the masses, modify their feelings, increase their ability, create new life habits and enable a society of free men to take the place of a society of masters and slaves? No, it is not upon a mere change in the governmental personnel that the transformation of the world depends. That would be too simple, and progress de- mands much more. A social system is not born without a long preparation and in this connection, syndicalism, with a more practical view of things pits against your theories, what I have called institutional socialism. We wish to re- mind the workers that no change will be possible until they have created with their own hands a system of institutions destined to replace the bourgeois system. The state, in its present form, is necessarily and essen- tially national. It was created to defend and bring pros- perity to a definite area of land, and with a tendency to enrich itself at the cost of all other national groups. This means simply capitalism the gospel of exploitation transferred to groups or states instead of individuals. The state is capitalistic in its deepest essence. It was started for the sake of exploitation, and the best governed state must always remain capitalistic, because its attitude to other states is either hostile or indifferent. Therefore, when socialists look to the state as the true commonwealth and want the state to take possession of the sources of wealth and to abolish the abuses of monopoly or exploitation, they will necessarily drift into Nationalism as we see it happen in Germany and France and thereby lose their true socialistic character. This was felt by the leaders of anarchism when the great schism between Bakunin and Marx took place. For identical reasons the Welsh miners who are ardent syndicalists oppose nationalization or govern- ment ownership of public utilities proposed by reform socialists. " It would," one of their speakers said, " lead to the formation of a national trust with all the force of the government behind it, whose one con- cern will be to see that the industry is run in such a way as to pay the interest on the bonds with which the coal owners are paid out, and to extract as much more profit as possible in order to relieve the taxation of other landlords and capitalists." Lagardelle considers that the socialist view of the great change is lazy and sterile. 141 THE STEW UNIONISM If in order to build up a freer world we must simply let capitalist society drift down the stream of its own evolution, what becomes of me, as an individual? Am I the weak tool of irresistible forces, of economic and political factors which are to save me against my wishes and transport me into some Earthly Paradise? ... If the workers wish to emancipate themselves from the tutelage of employer and state, and live without masters of production or masters of politics, they must first train themselves for action and educate their will power. This is why syndicalism says to them: Have faith in yourselves only! Your salvation is in yourselves. The world will only be what you will make it. ... And the syndicalist practice of "direct action" teaches men that nothing is preordained, for it is men who make history. . . . While indirect action lulls vitality to sleep, saps will power and panders to the lowest human instincts, direct syndicalist action stimulates the dormant powers of the individual and combats his low desire for passivity. . . . Even if the ballot and parliamentary action could solve the social problem for certain classes of workers there would remain the ever-increasing masses of un- skilled workers to whom the ballot is of no earthly use. Tossed from one end of the country to the other by the ebb and flow of the labor market they seldom remain long enough in one region to qualify as voters, not to mention being eligible to any office. According to John Sandgren there are in this country " approximately eighteen million people who can in no manner be directly interested in politics, to wit: 1,TOO,000 children wage workers, 4,800,000 women wage workers, 3,500,000 foreign wage workers, 5,000,000 negro wage workers, 3,000,000 floating and otherwise disfranchised wage workers." Furthermore, the demand for unskilled labor to- A DEFINITION 15 gether with the development of means of communica- tion may take the worker to foreign countries where he is denied the franchise unless it be some of the South American republics which give at least the mu- nicipal ballot to every newcomer. Everywhere else workers of that class lose their local and national in- terests and acquire more and more the international point of view. The question of taxation, municipali- zation or nationalization of public utilities, cannot interest them. The ballot, finally, is a way of delegating one's power to demand the satisfaction of one's wants to another individual designated more by his powers of persuasion than by his knowledge of our wants to speak in our behalf. More leisure, more education and the consequent growth of intelligent individual- ism have sapped the belief of the workers in the superiority and omniscience of leaders. They real- ize more and more keenly that the emancipation of the workers must be accomplished by the workers them- selves. " JSTo longer will the proletariat satisfy itself with the belief that parliamentary action will bring the relief which it so earnestly deserves. ... It has learned the lesson that political power is merely the reflex of economic power and that political advantage can only be had through economic superiority." (Austin Lewis in Proletarian and Petit Bourgeois.) The tendency among socialists all over the world is rather to keep the dogma pure than to look for practical results. Barring the French Socialist party in which three different groups have finally given up anathematizing one another and have agreed upon a 16 THE NEW UNIONISM modus vivendi, the various parties are busy expelling nonconformists, that is, in the last analysis, men who are more concerned with bringing about the great change in a modern and systematic way than with the oorrect interpretation of Marx's thought. The clear-headed worker who is unwilling to wait cen- turies for his emancipation is supplied with dam- nable evidence against socialist leaders in the form 'of praise showered upon socialism by the capitalist press. The Berliner Tageblatt for January 15, 1913, de- clared that " the Socialist party was at present so fettered by its bureaucracy and its dogmas that al- though one-third of the electorate was socialistic, conservatives did not have to feel in the least dis- turbed." In the United States, the Century Magazine greets the expulsion of Industrialists from the Socialist party as " a great gain for true conservatism." The World's Work foresees that " the socialists whom we have been brought up to regard as dangerous radicals, will be classified as one of the strong and conserva- tive bulwarks of the country." In devoting so much space to an exposition of what The New Unionism is not we have followed in the main the example of the syndicalist and industrialist writers, especially of England and France, who take great pains to make their position clear in regard to reformism, socialism, trade unionism and anarch- ism. When we consider how frequently socialism, a much older doctrine, is constantly associated in the lay mind with its absolute opposite, anarchism, such A DEFINITION If a protracted foreword may not appear out of place. What, then, is the New Unionism ? It is the practice which will enable the workers to assume as the return for their labor the full control of the various industries. It is, mark the word, a practice not a theory. It is, to quote the word of a former secretary of the French Confederation of Labor, " the result of much experimenting, and is shaped much more by actual conditions that by any individual in particular. These practical experi- ments haven't followed a straight line by any means ; the movement is characterized by much incoherence, it brims with inconsistency. And it is thus because it is not the result of actions performed in accord- ance with certain dogmas but because it is a prod- uct of life, modified and renewed from day to day. " The great difficulty one encounters in a move- ment of this type is the bringing into being of a truly syndicalist life which is not all on the surface. This cannot be done by making conditions and actions fit one given theory but by endeavoring to direct them towards some definite ends formulated as concisely as possible." All human beings regardless of age, sex, race, na- tionality or craft employed in any industry must en- roll themselves in "one big union." For administra- tive purposes only, the " big union " can be divided up into industrial unions, not craft unions. A craft union is organized according to the tools used, the industrial union according to the product created by the industrial group. For instance, in- 18 THE NEW UNIONISM stead of chartering a weavers' union, a loom-fixers' union, a menders' union, a twisters' union, a mule spinners' union and other separate unions based upon old-time craft divisions in the textile industry the I. W. W. chartered one Local Industrial Union of Textile Producers. Office boys under age, chore- women, bookkeepers, colored workers, engineers, mill hands, be they all natives or foreign born, are welcome as members of the one big union which excludes none but idlers. Some ill-informed writers insist on making a sharp distinction between industrialism and syndicalism on the ground that " a big union," for instance the American I. W. W., is an independent organism, while the syndicalists of France or England are only a faction of a larger organization founded originally on craft lines. The principles however are the same, much as their present policy and immediate methods may apparently differ. Such distinctions are usually drawn by adversa- ries of the movement who are endeavoring to stamp it as foreign and ill-adapted to " our temperament." For instance we notice that, while Algernon Lee warns Americans against syndicalism which is too typically Latin ever to suit the Anglo-Saxon tempera- ment, Turati warns Italians against it because it was too typically French and Australian laborites warn their countrymen against it because it is too typically American, etc. Above all things no one should be prevented from joining the union by financial considerations. The more destitute a worker is, the more he needs the sup- port of his fellow workers. The entrance fees and monthly dues of the New Unions are purely nominal. Neither must a union member who fails to find em- ployment in his trade be penalized if he wishes to take up some other trade, temporarily or permanently. In the American Federation of Labor, for instance, if a unionized engineer out of work wishes to take a job as electrician and yet does not relish the idea of being a " scab," he must pay a new entrance fee and keep up his monthly dues in both unions. Some men carry the cards of four or five different unions and pay dues to as many. And let us remember that en- trance fees range from $25 to $500'. The New Unionism does away with such abuses. Once a member of the One Big Union, man, woman, or child may change jobs as frequently as circumstances may demand and step without further expense into the union of workers employed in whatever industry fate may compel him or her to work. This elimi- nates both jurisdictional disputes such as are rend- ing English Unions asunder and the embittering con- flicts between striking and non-striking unions such as Debs described. The motto of the New Unionism is : " An injury to one is an injury to all." Gaylord Wilshire writes : Syndicalism has no thought of arranging industry upon the basis of each group of workers in each industry holding up the community to the full extent of its economic power in order to extract the greatest amount of reward for its par- ticular form of labor. The remuneration of the workers will be determined either by deeds, or by needs, as may hereafter be decided, but most 20 THE NEW UNIONISM certainly not upon the basis of allowing him a reward ac- cording to the importance of his industrial product to the community, for that would be merely changing the present system, with its small number of capitalist exploiters, to a worse system, with a myriad of exploiting workers. Thus organized, the workers will present a united front to the employers and their strength will be well-nigh irresistible. Thus the hours of labor will be reduced, child labor abolished, competition between workers will disappear and the surplus army of un- employed labor reabsorbed into the active social body. Thus a gradual expropriation of capital will take place, and the workers will finally receive the full value of everything they produce. Moreover, to quote W. E. Trautman, " the workers will become conscious of their power, and they will develop the faculties to operate the factories and mills, etc. . . . through agencies and instruments of their own creation." How will the change come about ? This is rather hard to foretell. Some socialists of an optimistic turn of mind predict that the transition from capital- ism to socialism will be hardly noticeable. The same uncertainty prevails as to the change from capitalism to industrialism. Kobert Rives La Monte, who attempts to reconcile socialism and the New Unionism by calling the latter New Socialism wrote in the International Socialist Review for September, 1912: The New Socialism tends to assure a peaceful revolution. This the Old could never do. Curiously enough the idea has gained currency in America that Haywood, Maun and the A DEFINITION &% New Socialists generally are advocates of force and violence, while the Old Socialists of the parliamentary type, such as Berger, Hillquit and Spargo, love peace and eschew violence. This is almost the exact reverse of the truth. It was the par- liamentarian, Derger, who in a signed article advised every Socialist to buy a rifle. It was the parliamentarian, Hill- quit, who said that if the Socialists were not allowed to seat peacefully the officials they had elected they would, " if need be, fight like tigers on the barricades." The New Socialists look on riots, barricades and street fighting as hopelessly obselete with, the capitalist class in full possession of all the machinery of war. The weapon upon which they rely is the power of the workers peacefully to fold their arms in such numbers as to paralyze industry and force the unconditional surrender of the capitalist class. How will the industrial commonwealth manage itself? Here again the leaders of the New Union- ism have placed the wishes of the actual workers above the imaginings of philosophers and theorists. The question blanks sent out regularly by the French Confederation of Labor (see page 89) show that the New Unionism is not depending for inspira- tion upon the fanciful writings of a Proudhon or a Bellamy. To quote again from Robert Rives La Monte : While the New Socialism is not in essentials in conflict with the Old, it easily answers two objections that always gave pause to the apologists of the Old. The first of these is implied in the common query : " How are you going to see to it that the world's work is done after your victory ? " The Old Socialism, looking forward to a political victory, had no convincing answer. The New Socialism says the very organization that wins the victory will carry on so- ciety's work after the victory is won, and that without any interval of disorganization. Indeed it is impossible for the 22 THE NEW UNIONISM New Socialism to win until it is fully prepared morally and technically to shoulder the responsibilities to mankind the victory will impose upon it. The second of these objections to Socialism is commonly stated : " You must change human nature to make Socialism practicable." The New Socialist answers, the process of ob- taining Socialist victory will change human nature ; our vic- tory will only come after human nature has been sufficiently changed. Many writers on the subject of the New Unionism concede that but for the propaganda carried on through the various socialist organizations the ad- vent of the New Unionism would have been consider- ably delayed if not made impossible, and they con- sider the New Unionism as the logical successor to socialism. " Syndicalism grew out of Socialism," Frederick Van Eeden says, " as the Reformation grew out of the Old Christianity." It took fourteen centuries of blundering and aberration to convince a few honest people that existing Christianity was not what Christ had really meant, and that the Roman Catholic Church was not the sort of an establishment He had in mind as a result worth being crucified for. Things move now at a more rapid rate. Socialism has been a great movement for somewhat over a century. We have seen it split up into Communism, Collectivism, Anarch- ism, and Social Democracy, or Political Socialism. None of these have brought us what we hoped for. Syndicalism is for Socialism what the Reformation was ifor the Christian Religion. According to Gaylord Wilshire, it is quite useless to connect in any way syndicalism and socialism : Syndicalism is inverted Socialism. The difference be- . Iween Syndicalism and Socialism is the difference between a A DEFINITION! 23 man and a machine. The man himself controls his own activities; the machine is controlled from without. Both Syndicalism and Socialism look to a world-wide democratic organization of the workers for cooperative pro- duction and distribution. But whereas Socialism looks to social organization, proceeding from the present Capitalist State downward to the workers, the Syndicalist looks to the evolution proceeding upward from the workers to organ- ized society. Instead of the State giving industrial control to the work- ers, as the Socialists fondly hope, the Syndicalists look to the workers taking such control and giving it to the community. (Syndicalism. What it is.\ CHAPTER II DIRECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE POTJGET writes : Direct action means this: the workers struggling con- stantly with their present environment, no longer expect any- thing from, men, powers or forces outside of their own ranks. It means that, against our present society, which only knows the " citizen," a new society is rising, made up of "producers." The producers realizing that the social body is shaped by its system of production, intend to trans- form entirely the capitalist mode of production, to eliminate the employers and thereby to conquer industrial freedom. Direct action means that the working classes recognize the principle of freedom and autonomy instead of bowing to the principle of authority. And Vandervelde writes in the (Brussels) Peuple: In order to take from the capitalist a bone that contains yet a little marrow, it is not sufficient for the worker to give his representatives a formal warrant to fight in his be- half. . . . The great truth contained in the theory of direct action is that one cannot obtain vital reforms through inter- mediaries. . . . The workers have relied too much thus far, on political and cooperative action which follows the line of least resistance ; they have deluded themselves into believing that as soon as they would have representatives in parlia- ment, roast squabs would naturally fall into their plates. IXVetot writes in his A. B. C. Syndicalist^ 24 DIRECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE 25 Legislation affecting the workers is perfectly useless un- less it is a confirmation of advantages already conquered by them. Pierrot in Syndicalisme ei Revolution remarks also that: Representatives in parliament, be they socialist or not, move only under pressure from public opinion and when they fear the possibility of disorders. We reviewed in Chapter I the various arguments advanced by the New Unionists against parliamen- tary action and the use of the ballot. Initiative, ref- erendum and recall are of slim interest to New Un- ionists for the same reason; they presuppose years of parliamentary propaganda and are, in final analy- sis, a confession of the popular belief that representa- tives will some time misrepresent their constitu- ency. New Unionists contend furthermore that political action has a tendency to create disunion within the ranks of labor. Behold the efforts made by labor unions to have an anti-injunction bill passed. Three times since 1889 an anti-injunction bill has been voted upon favorably by the House of Representatives, but never has it be- come a law. The Senate committee on the judiciary to which it was referred never took any action upon it. The majority of the men who twenty-three years ago, decided to take steps to limit the power of in- junctions are now old men ; many have died, without even a gleam of hope that their wishes would be some day inscribed on the statute books. 26 THE NEW UNIONISM The publicity and lobby work without whicK neither the public nor the house would realize the importance of a bill, consume a good deal of the workingman's cash. Also when a case drags out for twenty-three years and is not nearer solution in 1912 that it was in 1889, the working man's mind harbors a suspicion that the representative, a man of a differ- ent class, the press agent, an " intellectual," the lob- byist, a journalist or lawyer, are not as energetic and aggressive as the case would require them to be. The expense account or, as slang has it, the " swin- dle sheet " of the various lobby " workers " is apt to be questioned by simple men who are innocent of taxicab rides and unfamiliar with the drink checks issued in fashionable bars. The judgment of those who once suggested the legislative campaign or had a part in appointing the " workers " comes in for a good deal of hard criticism. Behold on the other hand some of the longest strikes in the history of modern labor. It was in every case a question of only a few weeks or a few months. Whether a strike ends in victory or de- feat, the suspense is soon over; furthermore the strikers themselves are caring for their own interests ; the strike is an education for them, as it affords them more leisure to discuss conditions from every point of view. In the meeting hall they become better acquainted with one another; in certain cases, as in the Lawrence strike or in the cooks' and waiters' strike, the public is apprised of facts which could not have been exposed through any other procedure. At the end of the conflict the men 2 beaten or victorious, DIRECT ACTION": I. THE STRIKE 27 are better united for having fought together shoulder to shoulder. French syndicalists are fond of referring to Dreyfus's retrial and final rehabilitation as an ex- ample of successful direct action. For several years, useless attempts were made by some of Dreyfus's friends to obtain for the unfortunate officer through parliamentary means the benefit of a new trial. It was not until a nation-wide agitation, resulting sev- eral times in bloody riots, had shown to Parliament the real state of the public mind that Dreyfus was allowed to wage a fair fight for his life. The results of direct pressure exerted by the workers upon the authorities to save Durand and Rousset in France, Ettor, Giovannitti and Caruso in the United States from being railroaded to the scaf- fold are present to every reader's mind. There was no essential difference between the Haymarket case and the Lawrence case. The attitude of the workers alone prevented the Italian agitators from sharing the fate of the Chicago anarchists. Other cases of a similar nature uphold the New Unionists' contention that it is not only easier but more rational to call the workers out of the shop for a distinct, concrete purpose than to lead them to the polls where they will deposit a ballot in favor of several candidates unknown to them and whose acts will have only a problematic bearing upon their economic conditions. Direct action may assume two different forms; either the workers will stop working altogether or they will perform work under conditions detrimental 2S THE NEW UNIONISM to their employers. In the first case they will strike, in the second they will apply sabotage. The aims and purposes of a New Unionist strike are quite different from those of a trade union strike. Trade unions admit that employers have a right to live as employers and therefore a trade union strike is merely a readjustment of the workers' remunera- tion made necessary by the rising cost of living. New Unionists deny that employers have any right to exist as employers. The employer being in their eyes, not a part of the social body but a parasite on the social body, must be driven out of existence by all available means much as pathogenic microbes must be driven out of a patient's system, the choice of remedies being determined solely by the physician's care not to affect any of the patient's vital organs. New Unionists will not, therefore, go on strike for the exclusive purpose of securing material ad- vantages of a temporary nature. When they return to work they do not pledge themselves to remain at work for any definite period of time, they may strike again a week later without giving notice, without even giving any reason for quitting work. When the unionized workers demand an increase in wages of say, one dollar a week, they leave the shops until the increase is granted, after which they sign with their employers an agreement by which they bind themselves to work at the new rate for two or three years. A successful strike like the Lawrence strike on the other hand may assure the workers certain advan- tages, but it gives the employers no guarantee of DIRECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE 29 peace. The fact that the satisfied mill hands re- turned to work did not imply the settlement, even temporarily, of a labor dispute. It was a mere truce during which the attacking forces planned to re- cuperate and fit themselves for a renewed attack on an enemy with whom no treaty shall be signed and who must finally either destroy the workers or be de- stroyed by them. Workers on strike may either remain on the em- ployer's premises or withdraw from them. In the " folded arms " strike the workers remain idle at their posts for several hours or several days at a time, re- suming work as soon as the employers secure a sufficient contingent of strike breakers. This method was applied several times by the French tele- phone girls, once in particular when Minister Simian, who had refused to consider the employes' demands, visited the Central Telephone Exchange in Paris. When the workers walk out of the shops or offices they may do so to enforce their own demands or in order to show their sympathy with other groups of workers on strike. For instance, when forty-five members of the Millmen's Union in Colorado City were discharged for taking part in labor struggles, 5000 Cripple Creek miners struck in sympathy. " Irritation strikes " are short spasmodic strikes during which the workers leave their jobs without notice, returning to work for a while, then withdraw- ing again without notice until they attain their ob- ject. In industries employing only skilled labor, the " bumper strike " devised by Victor Griffuehles (see 30 THE NEW UNIONISM page 86) enables the workers to harass employers for a protracted period of time without exhausting their financial resources. In 1907 as the outlook was becoming very dark for the Paris jewelry workers on strike, Griffuehles ordered them back to work with the exception of those employed in one shop. Those few men were allowed to remain on strike for another week during which time their brother jewelers levied an assessment on their own salaries to insure them a living wage. At the end of the week the strikers were sent to work and a walk out was declared in another shop the employes of which were supported in the same manner. That particular bumper strike, however, was not inaugurated until the beginning of the slack season and the employers, realizing that the union had no reserve funds, responded to Griffuehles' tactics by a general lockout which starved the men into submis- sion. The question of timely strikes and of economical strikes has been considered with special care by all organizers. To be able to strike at the proper time, that is when factories and mills are rushed with or- ders, the workers must not be tied by any contracts with their employers. Contracts not only prevent the workers from enforcing their own demands but also from striking in sympathy with other crafts and thus making an impressive display of strength and Bolidarity. Finally as Vincent St. John put it in his descrip- tion of the I. W. W. methods (see page 104), " the day of successful long strikes is past." A long strike DIRECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE 31 exhausts the strikers' resources and if lost is a source of much discouragement; after being defeated the men must remain at work for a long while regardless of conditions, until their strike fund is replenished. We show elsewhere (page 125) how the English railroadmen's concern for their investments hampered them in their fight. Yvetot, one of the leaders of the French Confed- eration of Labor, writes in his A. B. C. Syndicaliste : Unions with big reserve funds are of use only in caring for the sick and the unemployed. Instead of being a wea- pon in the fight against long hours and thus decreasing the amount of sickness among the workers those big reserve funds are only used to perpetuate the evil by helping the sufferers. However large a strike fund may be, we know very well that it will never exceed the employers' fund. Witness the famous strike of English engineers: Twenty-seven millions were spent in strike pay and yet the strike failed. The tendencies among New Unionists all over the world is toward the abolition of strike funds. For New Unionists no longer consider what material advantages were achieved when they estimate the re- sults of one given strike. Statisticians- waste their time computing how many strikes were lost and how many were won. In many cases a strike from which the workers derive no concrete advantage may con- stitute a decisive victory from the point of view of future struggles. It cannot be said that the Hotel Workers' strikes of 1912 and 1913 in the United States were financial successes; and yet, the strong organization which was born from the various strike 32 THE NEW UNIONISM meetings and the solidarity which now unites, not only men of different nationalities employed in hotels and restaurants but all the workers in the different lines of employment, waiters, bellboys, porters, chefs, dishwashers, chambermaids, etc., will make the fight between employers and their united help very differ- ent in the future from what it was as long as the hotel and restaurant workers remained a mass of un- organized and hostile elements. New Unionist strikes are mere incidents in the class war ; they are tests of strength, periodical drills in the course of which the workers train themselves for con- certed action. This training is most necessary to prepare the masses for the final " catastrophe," the general strike, which will complete the expropriation of the employers. According to Haywood, Pouget and other New Unionist writers, the French Commune of 187071 was no less than a general strike with an industrialist purpose. Barring the Commune, however, it may be said that there never has been in any country a strike important enough fully to justify the epithet of general. Furthermore the purpose of the various strikes alluded to as " general " was very insignifi- cant when one bears in mind the present New Union- ist connotation of the general strike. None of them aimed at a complete reshaping of the social system. Most of those manifestations were organized for the mere purpose of bringing strong pressure to bear upon parliament. In 1893, 200,000 Belgian workers responded to a $all for a general strike after a universal suffrage DIKECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE 33 bill had been defeated in the Chamber and the Sen- ate. The government was frightened and a bill was passed establishing a compromise system of plural voting. In 1902, 300,000 Belgian workers tried once more to intimidate the Belgian government; this second attempt failed, for the government was fully prepared to check the strikers' activity by the use of the military. As this book is going to press the Belgian strike of April, 1913, in which some 500,000 men took part seems to have compelled the Belgian government to commit itself to the principle of universal suffrage. In 1902 the Swedish workers decided to demand the franchise through a general strike. In several cities and especially in Stockholm, all the public serv- ices were crippled and the authorities, taken by sur- prise, granted a few unimportant concessions which apparently sufficed to appease the strikers. In 1903 a political general strike in Holland failed as the second Belgian strike had failed. In 1904, Italy was partly paralyzed by a general strike of three days' duration which ended in defeat. In 1903 the mere threat of a general strike fright- ened the French parliament into passing legislation which had been for many years demanded by the workers. In October, 1903, the Confederal Com- mittee of the C. G. T. held an extraordinary meeting to consider the suppression of employment bureaus. For several years the workers in several trades, par- ticularly in the food-producing industries had ex- pressed deep grievances against those offices. In 1902 after twenty-five years of agitation and lobby- M THE NEW UNIONISM ing, the Chamber of Deputies had passed a bill sup- pressing them but the Senate rejected that bill and the question appeared definitely shelved. Protest meetings were held the same day all over France un- der the management of the Labor Exchanges and at every one of them threats of violence were made by the speakers. Soon afterwards the Chamber by 495 votes against fourteen decided the suppression of em- ployment bureaus. Four months later the Senate confirmed the Chamber's decision. The Russian general strike of October, 1904, was very successful as it compelled the Czar to grant the country a constitution. Very little was accomplished by the Italian strikes of 1906, 1907, 1908, the Swedish strike of 1909, and the French strikes of 1910. The Austrian strike of 1905 in which 300,000 workers took part forced the government to grant uni- versal suffrage. At the time of the Morocco and Tripoli war general strikes were ordered in Spain and Italy but had no appreciable effect on the attitude of the governments of the two countries. Besides the fact that those general strikes were not " general " by any means, their failure was due in almost every case to the fear of repression by the reg- ular army. No popular movement can prevail against armed troops. The French revolution of 1789 would have been doomed to failure had the Guardes Franchises not joined hands with the Paris rioters. Therefore preparation for the general strike entails a vigorous DIRECT ACTION: I. THE STRIKE 35 antimilitary propaganda such as is conducted in France by the C. G. T., and has been decided upon by the newly created Italian Syndical Union. The number of deserters or of conscripts refus- ing to answer the summons to join their regiment has become very alarming for the French authorities. It is said to have reached last year the 100,000 mark. It 18 very doubtful if the French government would dare again to use the army against strikers after the incidents which marked the Southern winegrowers' riots, when a regiment not only refused to fire upon the advancing mob but actually showed its sympathies with the rioters by joining their parade. It happens very frequently, however, that the gov- ernment breaks a strike by sending enlisted men not to frighten the strikers but to man plants after the work- ers have walked out. This occurred on the occasion of the electrical strikes in Paris. There is also another ever-present danger which the workers must not minimize. Even if the national army could be relied upon to betray the established government at the eleventh hour, the outcome of the general strike would be very doubtful unless the fighting forces of the neighboring nations were deeply permeated with the revolutionary spirit. This is the reason why some socialists of France and Germany while theoretically antipatriotic are afraid of antimilitarist propaganda. They remem- ber the years following the French Revolution when the powers of Europe sent their armies to invade France in an endeavor to stamp out the republican idea. They tremble lest a too successful antimilitary 3d THE NEW UNIONISM propaganda might defeat its purpose by leaving a more radical country at the mercy of its better armed and more conservative neighbors. The campaign waged against war and militarism by the New Unionists of Europe especially in France and Germany (see chapters V and IX), will, nev- ertheless, be a powerful factor in preserving peace. It is very probable that the antiwar strike called by the C. G. T. when the Balkan troubles threatened to cause a European conflagration, a strike in which half a million workers took part, contributed in cer- tain measure to discouraging the bellicose financiers and politicians of France. Before closing the chapter on strikes, we may men- tion the fact that the French syndicalists have been lately carrying on a propaganda for the Mal- thusian strike. They call this direct action means of decreasing the labor supply " la greve des venires." One periodical, Renovation, has been founded for the purpose of disseminating among the workers a knowledge of the practical means by which the birth rate may be restricted. CHAPTEE III ACTION: n. SABOTAGE BESIDES the strike which is direct action in mass, the workers have at their command an insidious means of individual warfare which, owing to its very nature, entails less important sacrifices on their part, and is at times fully as effective as the strike. We allude to sabotage. It was at the federal congress held in Toulouse, France, in 1897, that the word sabotage was added to the vocabulary of labor with its present connotation. Sabotage was originally a slang term derived from the word sabot, wooden shoe, and designated work carelessly done, literally kicked about with wooden shoes. Sabotage is now found even in official dic- tionaries with its old and its new meaning, together with the verb saboter and the noun saboteur. As a direct action weapon, sabotage is not a new thing by any means. In his House of Nucingen, Balzac, relating the bloody labor riots which took place in 1831 in Lyons, the city of silk mills, de- scribes certain reprisals practiced by the defeated strikers, for which he knew of no special name but in which everyone will recognize a form of sabotage : The Lyons manufacturers are soulless persons; never do they produce a yard of silk unless there comes a formal 37 38 THE NEW UNIONISM order for it and unless they feel safe about the settlement. When orders are not coming in, the weavers have to starve ; when they are at work they earn barely enough to subsist on. People in jail are better off than they. After the July revolution conditions became so desperate that the weavers paraded the streets, carrying flags with the inscrip- tion : Bread or Death ! Republican agitators organized the weavers who fought both for bread and for the republican principle. Lyons had three days of it after which the weavers returned to their hovels. The weavers who had until then been perfectly honest, re- turning as much silk in the shape of cloth as they had re- ceived in bales, realized that they were victimized by their employers; while feeding the looms they kept their fingers well oiled; they returned weight for weight but also made a little money by selling the extra silk replaced in the weave by its weight in oil. The silk market was overrun with greasy silks, which might have ruined the trade of Lyons. . . . The result of the disturbances was the appearance of " gros de Naples," worth forty sous a yard. In 1881 the French telegraphists employed in the central office, dissatisfied with the rates for night work, sent a petition to Minister Cochery. They demanded ten francs instead of five for the men serving on the all night shift. Their demands were completely ig- nored. One morning Paris, which did not have as yet a telephone system, found itself cut off from the rest of the world. This lasted five days during which gangs of engineers headed by electrical experts bared all the wires connected with the central office and followed them inch by inch through ducts and sew- ers. They were unable to discover any break and the apparatus responded perfectly to every test. The fifth day the minister granted the increase in wages DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 39 demanded by the night workers and telegraphic com- munications were immediately resumed. Detectives worked on the case for a long while afterwards but failed to trace the " mastic " to any particular indi- yidual or group of individuals. In 1889 the Glasgow dockers asked for an increase in wages of two cents an hour. The employers re- fused it and hired hundreds of agricultural workers to take the dockers' place. The strike was lost and the dockers agreed to go back at the old wage pro- vided all the agricultural workers without exception were discharged. This was granted. The secretary of the union called the members' attention to the fact that the employers had declared themselves perfectly satisfied with the work done by the strike breakers; yet those farm boys did not even know how to walk the deck of a ship, they would now and then drop the goods they carried and two of them could not do as much work as one trained docker. " The con- clusion," the secretary added, " is obvious ; do the same kind of work ; Ca Canny, take it easy ; only those fellows used to fall into the water now and then ; you needn't go as far as that." For two or three days the dockers practiced Ca Canny, after which the employers asked the union's secretary to come and confer with them. The men were granted the increase they asked for provided they abandoned their " canny " methods of work. In 1895 a mere threat of sabotage, although it was not designated by that name, won a victory for mem- bers of the National Syndicate of Railroaders of France. The Merlin-Trarieux bill which would 40 THE NEW UNIONISM have made it illegal for railroad employes to join a syndicate was introduced in parliament. The rail- roaders met to discuss the question of organizing a nation-wide strike in response to that proposed en- croachment upon their liberties. Guerard, then sec- retary of the National Syndicate, delivered on June 23 an address which caused much excitement in the press and parliament and in which he declared that the railroaders would not stop at anything to accom- plish their purpose. " With two cents worth of a certain stuff, used by one who knows, a locomotive can be made absolutely useless." At the confederal congress held in Toulouse in 1897, Emile Pouget gave currency to the word sabot- age and advocated it in a rather sensational fashion. The prefect of the Seine, M. de Selves, had refused to delegates from the Syndicate of Municipal Work- ers the leave of absence they asked for in order to attend the congress. A resolution was offered at the first session of the congress protesting against the prefect's attitude. Pouget rose to oppose the passing of that resolution. He said : We would gain more by doing something definite than by merely protesting; instead of submitting to our rulers' whims, we should return blow for blow; we should give one kick for every slap. Remember the fear which was struck into the capitalists' heart when our comrade Guerard told us how a worker at an expense of two cents could prevent a fast train, even with a double header, from pulling out of a station. I present the following substitute for the reso- lution before the house : "The congress realizing that it is futile to blame the gov-> eminent, which is only discharging its .duties when it tight-* DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 41 ens the screws on the workers, directs the municipal work- ers to commit depredations to the extent of 100,000 francs in the various services of the City of Paris in order to repay M. de Selves for his veto." The congress voted down Pouget's motion but ap- pointed a committee on sabotage and boycott whose report was adopted unanimously even by the rather conservative delegates of the Federation du Livre (Printing Trades). Our meeting, the report read, always adjourns with shouts of " Hurrah for the social revolution ! " but, that is just a noise which is never followed by concrete action. Likewise congresses have always affirmed their revolutionary spirit but have never pointed out any practical means for passing from words to action. The only revolutionary weapon which workers have been advised to use is the strike . . . but there are other weapons . . . the boycott is powerless in many cases as, for instance, against a manufacturer. . . . We must therefore resort to other methods, among others to sabotage. The report went on to explain Ca Canny methods as used by the English dockers, and finally defined sabotage and described its various applications : We are aware that our exploiters always take advantage, in order to make our slavery worse, of the times when it is most difficult for us to resist their encroachments through a partial strike. ... By the use of sabotage, conditions are entirely changed; the workers are in a position to fight back ; they are no longer at the mercy of the capitalist ; they are no longer the soft clay he can mold to suit himself; they have at their command a means to show their manhood and to prove to their oppressor that they still are men. Sabotage is not as new as it would appear to be; it has 42 THE NEW UNIONISM always been used by the workers but without any system. They have always decreased their output instinctively when their master has shown himself more exacting; they have unconsciously adopted the motto : bad work for bad pay. That form of sabotage is probably responsible for the substitution of piece work for day work . . . but sabotage can be and should be used even by piece workers ... by letting it affect the quality not the quantity of the goods turned out. Thus the worker will not only avoid giving to the employer more of his strength than he is paid for but he will also hit the employer through his dissatisfied cus- tomers. . . . When the workers are using machinery be- longing to their employer they can practice sabotage not only on the goods but on the machine as well. . . . The committee on boycott and sabotage presented the following- resolution : Resolved, That whenever there arises between employers and workers a conflict due, either to the employers' exac- tions or to the workers' initiative, and a strike does not pro- duce results satisfactory to the workers, the workers shall use boycott or sabotage or both according to the rules laid down in this report. The resolution was passed unanimously. At the Rennes congress in 1898 many delegates re- ported on the results which their syndicates or feder- ations had obtained through sabotage. The delegate of the Cooks' Federation was especially applauded when he related humorously how a famous Paris res- taurant had been crippled when every man in the kitchen spent an afternoon cooking bricks, while the kitchen clock and other pieces of furniture were bak- ing in the oven. At the Paris congress in 1900 a few dissenting DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 43 voices were heard in the discussion relative to sabotage. Millerand was then minister of commerce and many militants in the ranks of labor endeavored to pave their own way to official positions Vy preaching " mod- eration " and " good behavior." The chairman of the congress rose to say that he considered .sabotage as " detrimental to the interests of the workers and as below their dignity." The conservative individual, who was soon afterwards appointed receiver of taxes in Bordeaux, selected as reporter of the commission on boycott and sabotage a delegate opposed to sa- botage. In spite of all, sabotage was. once more en- dorsed by 117 votes against seventy-six. We may distinguish three forms of sabotage : 1. Active sabotage which consists in the damaging of goods or machinery. 2. Open-mouthed sabotage beneficial to the ulti- mate consumer and which consists in exposing or de- feating fraudulent commercial practices. 3. Obstructionism or passive sabotage which con- sists in carrying out orders literally, regardless of consequences. On the subject of violent sabotage we read in the Bulletin of the Montpellier Labor Exchange for 1900: If you are an engineer you can with two cents worth of powdered stone or a pinch of sand, stall your machine, cause a loss of time or make expensive repairs necessary. If you are a joiner or woodworker what is simpler than to ruin furniture without your boss noticing it, and thereby drive his customers away? A garment worker can easily spoil a suit or a bolt of cloth ; if you are working in a de- partment store a few spots on a fabric cause it to be sold for &4 THE NEW UNIONISM next to nothing; a grocery clerk, by packing up goods care- lessly, brings about a smash up ; in the woolen or the haber- dashery trade a few drops of acid on the goods you are wrapping will make a customer furious ... an agricul- tural laborer may sow bad seed in wheat fields, etc. When the Paris barber shop assistants were fighting for a weekly rest and shorter hours (from 1902 to 1906) they resorted to what was called " badigeon- nage " literally, smearing up. They filled with caus- tic an eggshell whose contents had been extracted, sealed it with gutted candle wax and in the middle of the night went to throw it against their employer's shop front. Out of 2300 barber shops some 2000 were treated by that process. L'Ouvrier Coiffeur, official organ of the Federation of Barbers estimates the losses incurred by boss barbers due to badigeon- nage at 200,000 francs. The barbers won the weekly rest long before parliament passed a law making it compulsory in every trade. Haywood describes as follows some of the sabotage methods favored by the French railroaders during their great strike (which, however, was broken when Briand called every railroad worker under the flag) : Before I left that country, there were 50,000 tons of freight piled up at Havre, and a proportionally large amount at every other seaport town. This freight the rail- roaders would not move. They did not move at first, and when they did it was in this way : they would load a train- load of freight for Paris and by some mistake it would be billed through to Lyons, and when the freight was found at Lyons, instead of being sent to the consignee at Paris it was carried straight through the town on to Bayonne or Marseilles or some other place to any place but where it DIRECT ACTIOK: II. SABOTAGE '4$ properly belonged. Perishable freight was taken out by the trainload and sidetracked. The condition became such that the merchants themselves were compelled to send their agents down into the depots to look up their consignments of freight and with very little assurance of finding it at all. That this was the systematic work of the railroaders there is no question, because a package addressed to Merle, one of the editors of La Guerre Sociale, was marked with an inscription on the corner, " Sabotagers please note address." This package went through post haste. It worked so well that some of the merchants began using the name of La Guerre Sociale to have their packages immediately delivered. It was necessary for the managers of the paper to threaten, to sue them unless they refrained from using the name of the paper for railroad purposes. Nearly all the workers have been reinstated at the present time on the railroads of France. During the strike of the Hotel Workers in this country a few striking cooks went back to work with the strike breakers for the purpose of spoiling certain dishes, mixing caustic potash or powdered soap with the soup, staining piles of linen with catsup, dipping the ends of forks in crude oil or breaking expensive crockery. Some of their sympathizers visited at night the best patronized restaurants, dropping on the floor little glass capsules known as " stink pots " which, when broken emit the most objectionable odors. In its issue for May 21, 1905, La, Voix du Peuple, official organ of the C. G. T., pointed out that a walk- out of all the workers was insufficient to cripple an establishment, as long as all the machinery was left in perfect condition. Strike breakers could fill the places left by the strikers and within a few hours the/ '46 THE NEW UNIONISM mill or factory would again be running full blast. Even a complete lack of strike breakers will not in- sure the strikers victory ; for in several cases the Gov- ernment has placed enlisted soldiers at the disposal of employers. The Voix du Peuple said : The first thing to do before going out on strike is to cripple all the machinery. Then the contest is even be- tween employer and worker, for the cessation of work really stops all life in the capitalists' camp. Are bakery workers planning to go on strike? Let them pour in the ovens a few pints of petroleum or of any other greasy or pungent matter. After that soldiers or scabs may come and bake bread. The smell will not come out of the tiles for three months. Is a strike in sight in steel mills? Pour sand or emery into the oil cups. In his pamphlet on Syndicalism and the Railroads, A. Renault gives the same advice to railroaders : We must select among the expert workers a few com- rades who, knowing every detail of the machinery, will find the weak spots where an effective blow can be struck while avoiding all stupid destruction of material. In 1908, the Lyons motormen and conductors poured concrete into every switch of the street rail- way before going on strike; the same year the em- ployes of a railroad line in the south of France cut off all the telegraph and signal wires and removed the spigots of all the water tanks. In Philadelphia, garment workers modified all the patterns in their shops before walking out, thus mak- ing it impossible for " scabs " to complete the jobs they had left unfinished. In 1909, a confidential circular was sent out to DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 47 all the Post Office, Telegraph and Telephone em- ployes of France ordering them to " sabotage " tele- graph and telephone wires during the night of June 1 as a protest against the discharge of 650 post office employes. The circular explained how to cut off live wires without running the risk of being electrocuted and emphasized the point that signal wires should never be tampered with so as not to cause catastrophes on the railroads. The report sent in by one of the se- cret sabotage committees will give the measure of the " saboteurs' " activity : Seventh report of the secret revolutionary groups of Joinville and affiliated branches; list of telegraph and tele- phone wires cut off as a protest against the arrest of Com- rade Ingweiler, the prosecution of the Bi-Metal Workers and the sentences imposed on July 25, 1910 : July 8 to 25, Montesson, Vesinet and Pont du Pecq district 78 lines July 25, Melun to Montgeron 32 " July 25, Corbeil to Draveil 24 " July 28, P. L. M. lines 87 " Total 221 lines Lines cut off according to 6 previous reports. . . . 574 " 795 lines Sebastien Faure and Pouget delivered recently on the subject of " technical instruction as revolution's handmaid " two addresses from which we quote the following extracts : The electrical industry is one of the most important in- dustries, as an interruption in the current means a lack of r 4S THE NEW UNIONISM light and power in factories; it also means a reduction in the means of transportation and a stoppage of the tele- graph and telephone systems. How can the power be cut off? By curtailing in the mine the output of the coal necessary for feeding the ma- chinery or stopping the coal cars on their way to the elec- trical plants. If the fuel reaches its destination what is simpler than to set the pockets on fire and have the coal burn in the yards instead of the furnaces? It is child's play to put out of work the elevators and other automatic devices which carry coal to the fireroom. To put boilers out of order use explosives or silicates or a plain glass bottle which thrown on the glowing coals hinders the combustion and clogs up the smoke exhausts. You can also use acids to corrode boiler tubes; acid fumes will ruin cylinders and piston rods. A small quantity of some cor- rosive substance, a handful of emery will be the end of oil cups. When it comes to dynamos or transformers, short circuits and inversion of poles can be easily managed. Underground cables can be destroyed by fire, water or ex- plosives, etc., etc. A form of sabotage which is beneficial to the con- sumer is called in French " la, bouche ouverte," the open mouth. In the practice of it, the workers, re- gardless of what their trade or occupation may be, refrain from any misrepresentation. Not only must they answer truthfully all questions asked by custo- mers but they must volunteer all information which the customer should possess concerning the actual quality or quantity of the goods he purchases. In 1908 the Paris Cooks' Syndicate called the pub- lic's attention to an incident which had taken place in one of the best known restaurants. On June 1, a chef had been dismissed for refusing to cook meat BO decayed that it constituted positive danger to the. DIEECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 49 patrons' health. Not only did the man lose his posi- tion but he was blacklisted as well. The cooks de- cided then and there to acquaint the public by all available means with the frauds they had to practice in obedience to their employers' orders. They revealed how cray fish soup (bisque) was made not of crayfish meat but of crayfish and lob- ster shells left on plates, which were finely powdered and sprayed with carmine; deer steak was made of plain beef steeped over night in various condiments ; in some houses glasses, forks, spoons and knives were wiped off with the soiled napkins, etc. Workers employed in the Paris subway practiced open-mouthed sabotage when they allowed themselves to be interviewed in regard to frauds in building ma- terials likely to result in serious accidents. Grocery clerks had posters affixed to billboards explaining to housewives how they were cheated and made to pur- chase inferior substitutes; apothecary clerks revealed the thievish way in which they were directed to fill prescriptions, substituting cheap equivalents for high- priced chemicals, or leaving the latter out altogether. Two years ago the Bank Clerks Congress decided to gather all possible evidence of crooked dealings taking place in various financial establishments and to keep that incriminating material on file for publi- cation whenever they would wage a fight for better conditions. Besides denouncing abuses, workers are instructed to correct them whenever this is within their power, workers must refuse to dilute the wines, 50 THE NEW UNIONISM cooks must use so much margarine that it becomes as expensive as genuine butter, grocery clerks must never shortweight the customers, apothecary clerks are not to recommend expensive proprietary drugs when an inexpensive substitute would do as well, nor must they omit when filling prescriptions any high- priced but necessary ingredient whose cost is borne by their employer. Obstructionism is a form of sabotage which has been practiced more frequently by railroaders than by any other class of workers. It was first applied by Aus- trian station masters to such good effect that the em- ployes soon saw the advantage of imitating their superiors. In 1887 a railroad coupler was caught be- tween two freight cars and terribly mutilated. The officials of the road disciplined the station master as some of the rules relative to coupling had not been enforced. Telegraph orders were dispatched to all sta- tion masters calling their attention to the various reg- ulations the observance of which they were supposed to insure. The station masters obeyed the order. The result was that after twenty-four hours, trains were stalled everywhere and freight was piling up in stations. Something had to be done. The governing board of every road hastened to free the station masters from all responsibility in the case of accident due to neglect of certain minor rules. In 1905 obstruction was one of the most effective weapons used in Italy by the striking railroaders. Here are some of the scenes described by newspaper reporters. This took place in a Rome station : DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 51 According to regulations ticket windows must be open thirty minutes and closed five minutes before the departure of a train. The wicket is opened. A gentleman offers a ten lire piece in payment for a ticket worth four lire fifty. The ticket agent reads to him an article of the regu- lations which requests passengers to present the exact amount of their fare. As no change is made hardly thirty tickets have been sold within the regulation time. The wicket is closed five minutes before train time with a mob of would-be passengers who cannot pass the gates for lack of tickets. Don't imagine, however, that those who secured transportation are much better off. They are within the cars but the train does not move. According to regulations a lot of switching has been done which has stalled several trains 500 meters away. Some passengers, furious, leave the cars and start to walk to the station. Employes in strict obedience of regulations proffer formal charges against them. We are now in Milan : A train has been assembled after an hour and a half's work. The inspector notices in the middle of the train an old ramshackle car. "Car out of order 1 " and the train is cut in two so as to permit the re- moval of the objectionable vehicle. In Rome : An engineer is ordered to take his locomotive to the round-house. He refuses, for the three tail lights prescribed by regulation are missing. Lamps are sent for. The stock clerk refuses to deliver them without a formal order signed by the station master. . . . A traveler presents a pass at the office window. "Are you Mr. So and So?" " I am." " Can you prove your identity through any official docu- ments'?" " No ! " " Then I cannot 0. K. your pass unless, according to the regulations, you bring two witnesses." In Civita Vecchia: An engineer decides a few minutes before train time to have the coal in his engine's tender 52 THE NEW UNIONISM weighed, according to regulations, then being in doubt as to the condition of his manometer, he asks, according to regu- lations, the technical chief of the railroad station to come and confer with him. Before entering the cab he makes sure that cars with bumpers alternate with bumperless cars and that no oiler, coupler or lamp tender is at work in, under or on the cars ; finally he notices that the steam pres- sure is only four and according to regulations no train must pull out of a station until the hand of the manometer reg- isters a pressure of five. ... At the next station the bag- gage master detains the train for twenty-five minutes while applying rule No. 739 which requests him to check person- ally every piece of baggage before it is loaded on his car. The various syndicalist writers justify the first variety of sabotage by assimilating labor, as capi- talist economists are fond of doing, to ordinary mer- chandise. When economic conditions compel or en- able dealers to raise the cost of merchandise they have their choice of two methods. In the case of luxuries they simply demand more for the same quality or quantity of goods; in the case of necessaries of life they either sell the same amount and grade at a higher price or, if consumers show themselves restive, they sell an inferior grade and a smaller quantity, some- times concealed through clever packing, for the same amount of money. If labor is a merchandise sold in the open market, workers compelled or enabled by economic conditions to raise their prices can demand more money in ex- change for their goods, or, if employers show unwill- ingness to give more money for the same amount of labor, they may give an inferior kind of labor for the same amount of money. DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 53 Employers who see their machinery deteriorate rap- idly and who cannot dispose of damaged goods on satisfactory terms may, after a while, spend on sal- aries the money wasted on repairs or on merchandise 'which has to be taken back. Sabotage of the open-mouthed type being always beneficial to the ultimate consumer requires no apolo- gies. As far as obstruction goes every lawyer handling la- bor accident cases in court knows that very few work- ers or workers' families suing employers for damages ever recover a cent as the victim is usually found to have violated some rule, the strict observance of which would have probably cost him his position. "No man who insisted on coupling cars as railroad regulations prescribe it, that is with a stick of wood of a certain length, would ever acquire the speed which is ex- pected of such a worker. Should he lose a hand while doing the coupling in a speedy and efficient way, that is without a stick, he cannot recover damages. Since the workers by violating rules not only save money for their employers but outlaw themselves in case of accident, it is only natural that in case of strike they should not violate regulations at their own physical and financial risk. We quote from an editorial in The Industrial "Worker (Spokane, Wash.) the following extracts which present very forcibly the New Unionist view of the ethics of sabotage : Actions which might be classed as sabotage are used by the different exploiting and professional classes. .The truck farmer packs his largest fruits and vegetables 54 THE NEW UNIONISM upon the top layer. The merchant sells inferior articles as " something just as good." The doctor gives " bread pills " or other harmless concoctions in cases where the symptoms are puzzling. The builder uses poorer material than de- manded in the specifications. The manufacturer adulterates foodstuffs and clothing. All these are for the purpose of gaining more profits. Carloads of potatoes were destroyed in Illinois recently; cotton was burned in the southern States; coffee was de- stroyed by the Brazilian planters; barge loads of onions were dumped overboard in California; apples are left to rot on the trees of whole orchards in Washington; and hun- dreds of tons of foodstuffs are held in cold storage until rendered^ unfit for consumption. All to raise prices. Yet it is exploiters of this kind who are loudest in con- demnation of sabotage when it is used to benefit the work- ers. Some forms of capitalist sabotage are legalized, others are not. But whether or not the various practices are sanc- tioned by law, it is evident that they are more harmful to society as a whole than is the sabotage of the workers. Capitalists cause imperfect dams to be constructed, and devastating floods sweep whole sections of the country. They have faulty bridges erected, and wrecks cause great loss of life. They sell steamer tickets, promising absolute security, and sabotage the life saving equipment to the point where hundreds are murdered, as witness the Titanic. The General Slocum disaster is an example of capitalist sabotage on the life preservers. The Iroquois theater fire is an example of sabotage by exploiters who assured the pub- lic that the fire-curtain was made of asbestos. The cases could be multiplied indefinitely. These capitalist murderers constitute themselves the men- tors of the morals of those slaves who " have nothing to lose but their chains." Only fools will take their ethics from such knaves. Capitalist opposition to sabotage is one of its highest recommendations. .Capitalist sabotage aims to benefit a small group of non- DIRECT ACTION: II. SABOTAGE 55 producers. "Working class sabotage seeks to help the wage working class at the expense of parasites. The frank position of the class conscious worker is that capitalist sabotage is wrong because it harms the workers; working class sabotage is right because it aids the workers. Sabotage is a direct application of the idea that property has no rights that its creators are bound to respect. Espe- cially is this true when the creators of the wealth of the world are in hunger and want amid the abundance they have produced, while the idle few have all the good things of life. The open advocacy of sabotage and its widespread use 13 a true reflection of economic conditions. The current ethical code, with all existing laws and institutions, is based upon private property in production. Why expect those who have no stake in society, as it is now constituted, to continue to contribute to its support f CHAPTER LEAVING aside China, where until recently the pos- session of a literary degree was the only requisite for the obtainment of any governmental position, we must concede that intellectuals the world over have assumed in the conduct of the people's affairs an importance in no way commensurate with their competence. Parliaments are filled with lawyers whose only quali- fication for representing a constituency is neither a perfect knowledge of the voters' needs nor special training in economics, but mere fluency of speech. In Europe, especially in the Latin countries, many physicians and teachers share with lawyers the profitable privilege of speaking in behalf of the masses. Radical parties have been as careless as conservative parties in the choice of their representa- tives, being obscurely aware that a man sent to par- liament by an artificial geographical division could do little good or little harm, whoever he was, for the manifold interests of the people inhabiting the re- gion. In Italy a physician managed to have him- self elected to parliament on the anti-parliamentary platform of syndicalism. Finally " radical " lawyers all over the world reap a bountiful harvest by mana- ging the legal end of labor disputes and taking advan- 56 THE INTELLECTUALS 57 tage of their clients' ignorance when rendering their bills. The profits made by those friends of the worker can be easily estimated when we bear in mind that certain labor groups with several thousand mem- bers pay their legal adviser a fee of fifty cents per member ; a successful radical lawyer often earns more than a successful corporation lawyer; and he can al- ways blame unfair capitalist magistrates for the cases he loses. A realization of the sordid and insincere role played by too many intellectuals in labor politics has finally aroused among the workers an instinctive distrust and scorn of whoever is not a manual worker. This re- action is naturally bound to carry the workers a little too far and to cause them to ostracize unjustly many men from the liberal professions who are also wage slaves and as ruthlessly exploited as any mill hand ever was. For we would oppose to the definition of a worker by the French " manualist " Tolain : " A man who works with his hands," Liebknecht's definition, " A man who does not live from the labor of another." Even in France, the paradise of " friends of labor," the reaction of the workers against the professional " thinker " is nothing new. When the Paris section of the International was organized in 1865 many in- tellectuals applied for membership, among them Henri Martin, the historian, Gustave Chaudey, who had collaborated with Proudhon, Corbon, former vice- president of the 1848 Constituante and Jules Simon. Two years later in 1867, one of the burning questions which the International had to consider at its Lau- 58 THE NEW UNIONISM sanne congress, was the part which " intellectuals and capitalists" should be allowed to play in the movement The French delegates, Fribourg and Tolain, offered a motion according to which, while intellectuals were welcome as members of the Inter- national, none but manual workers should be allowed to participate in the work of congresses. Fribourg aid: It might happen some day that the workers' congress would be made up almost entirely of economists, journal- ists, lawyers, employers, etc., which would be a ridiculous state of affairs, likely to ruin the International. Tolain added: We bear no ill will to anyone, but under the present condi- tions we must consider as our enemies every member of a class which enjoys special privileges on account of its wealth or its diplomas. We the workers have been criticised often enough for entrusting others with the care of our sal- vation, for relying over much upon the state. We are no longer willing to incur that criticism; the workers will take care of themselves and ask for no one's protection. The French motion was defeated and the English and Swiss motion was passed : " Intellectual work- ers," it said in part, " are quite as deserving and can prove as deep a devotion to the cause as manual work- ers." Reformists of all hues have always needed and desired greatly the help of intellectual allies. Good speakers and skilled writers can do much to convince the capitalists of the necessity of % " granting " re- forms to the workers. They can either merely ex- AND THE INTELLECTUALS 59 cite their sympathy or, by showing them how certain forms of the workers' exploitation can be injurious to the health or the prosperity of the community, strike fear into their heart. Thus intellectuals act as unofficial ambassadors be- tween workers and employers or between the worker and the state or government. Socialists, even of an advanced type are bound to feel a debt of gratitude to such persons as G. B. Shaw, H. G. Wells, John Galsworthy, Anatole France, Maxim Gorky, Haupt- mann, Ada Negri and Jack London, who, on one hand picture vividly the sufferings of the workers and on the other dissipate popular misconceptions of social- ism and make radical theories clearer and more ac- ceptable to the conservative reader. As long as the workers, uncultured and inarticu- late, were pleading for the capitalist's mercy, the in- tellectual in parliament, in journalism, in literature, in art, was, so to speak, labor's social secretary. Di- rect actionists, however, can well scorn such allies while recognizing the amount of valuable pioneer work they once accomplished. The many intellectu- als who, in spite of the diminivshed prestige which, will be their share, have been attracted to the syndi- calist movement, express themselves on this point in unmistakable terms. Sorel says : Professional intellectuals, that is, those who make it a business to think for other classes which may remain un- cultured, can only lead a civilization to its ruin, for their thought is never refreshed at the live fount of productive activity. The intellectual feudalism admired by Renan is destructive of every idea of justice, for it reduces the pro- '60 THE NEW UNIONISM ducer to the rank of a vassal and submits civil society to a foreign rule. The democracy of property holders clings with the energy of despair to the doctrine of special aptitude and does its best to exploit the superstitious respect which the masses have for knowledge. ... It multiplies degrees and tries to make a mandarin out of the most insignificant man of let- ters; the parasites as a class profess an unbounded admira- tion for science . . . they act as heralds for the high priests of science, ask for big pensions for them and hope by such means to conquer the respect of simple people, besides de- riving therefrom large personal profits. . . . Experience shows, however, that great managerial qualities are not exceptional and are frequently found among manual work- ers. ... In France the intellectuals claim that their place is in parliament and that in case of victory dictatorial pow- ers should be conferred upon them as their due. It is against this parliamentary dictatorship of the people that syndicalists protest. . . . The true calling of the intellectuals seems to be the ex- ploitation of politics; the calling of the politician is very similar to that of the prostitute and does not require any industrial ability. Do not talk to those people of removing the traditional forms of state. . . . They want to convince the worker that it is his interest to elect them into power and that he should accept the theory of special aptitudes which places the workers under the direction of the pol- iticians. Edouard Berth deplores the importance which in- tellectuals attach to " talk," at times when action of the most energetic type would be the only thing likely to bring about results. The intellectual considers fighting as absurd when parley- ing is so very easy; on the thought market where he acts as curb broker, the sentiment of honor is as little appreciated as it is 011 the stock exchange; an intellectual is a trader AND THE INTELLECTUALS 61 and you cannot expect from him warlike heroism. We know that traders and intellectuals take the same attitude towards strikes as they take towards war. In the course of every strike the papers are full of careful statistics of the workers' losses. . . . Arbitration, systematized, even com- pulsory, the intellectuals say, would be preferable. . . . In- tellectuals are great social pacifists. Enrico Leone demands the abolition of the privi- leged class called the intellectual class. Democracy professes to open careers to merit ; in reality it opens them to capacity, due to birth, to inherited property or culture, the monopolies of a class. He points out the significant fact that rulers receive even from democratic countries degrees and titles without un- dergoing any examinations. " The socialism of the intellectuals would favor the continuance of this privilege; it would establish a kind of mandarin hierarchy in which everyone would receive positions according to the diplomas he possessed." Leone believes with Sorel that a majority of the intellectuals are useless ; they are unproductive work- ers, political and administrative officials employed by the State, members of the liberal professions, more or less dependent on the capitalist class or, at best, students of art and science, which should not be the monopoly of a class but accessible to all classes. The intellectuals are steadily claiming more than their share. Every new idea which permeates the working masses is credited to them and " instead of remaining faithful soldiers in the rank like volun- teers in a war of independence, the intellectuals de- mand the epaulets of captains." 62 THE NEW UNIONISM What would become of art and science in the in- dustrial commonwealth brought into being by the victory of the New Unionism ? Many fighters in the ranks of the New Unionism refuse even to consider the question or dodge the issue by declaring that artists and scientists could only belong to the move- ment as members of some industrial union. This is too simple a way of disposing of art and sciences which are essential elements of any human civiliza- tion and would be the only means of individual ex- pression after the competitive struggle was elimi- nated. The " sportive " instinct, a desire to excel, linked in no way with the idea of remuneration could not nor should be repressed. Many New Unionists realize that the results of such activity as would be directed along art channels by the desire to excel would be as beneficial to mankind as the products of any of the so-called useful trades. Only science and art would first have to undergo a thorough trans- formation. For the art of to-day is, according to Sorel's words, " a mere residuum bequeathed to us by an aristocratic society." If the artist with his capricious disposition is almost completely the oppo- site of the worker "it is because the habits of life of the modern artist formed in imitation of the life of a carousing aristocracy are in no way essential and must be blamed upon a tradition which has been fatal to many men of genius." To Sorel the art of the future appears as " an adornment of life which will demonstrate the neces- sity of a careful, conscientious, skilled execution. AND THE INTELLECTUALS 63 . . . the means through which the merge of intel- lectual labor with manual labor will become patent to the workers." The progress of art is not dependent upon the ex- istence of a privileged artist class. We do not even know the names of the great artists of the Gothic period. Among the obscure stonecutters who carved statues for the great cathedrals there were men of considerable talent who apparently never emerged from the anonymous masses of the workers; they nevertheless produced masterpieces. A striving for perfection, for " the highest form of production," will manifest itself regardless of any personal, concrete, immediate and adequate return and will insure the progress of the world. Thus speak the philosophers and theorists of the New Unionism. It is interesting to note how little their conclusions and forecasts differ from those of practical workers like Pouget and Pataud. These two powerful leaders of the " extremists " in the General Confederation of Labor gave a good deal of thought to the " intellectual question " and the fol- lowing is a resume of their statements on the sub- ject: Many intellectuals, Pouget and Pataud think, will greet .with joy the dawn of the new era. Among them there will be some for whom the great change will mean a distinct loss, social or financial. Even those, however, will welcome the new order, for their talent is stifled in a capitalist so- ciety. The material profit they derive from it could not compensate them for the disgust with which their bourgeois environment fills them. Men of the very first rank in literature and science, re- M THE NEW UNIONISM tainers of the capitalist system, despise it so heartily that its downfall will seem to them like a deliverance. Their con- tribution to the constructive work of the post-revolutionary period will be the reorganization of the educational system and of the liberal professions. Mere knowledge will not constitute a claim to a larger remuneration. Whoever accumulates knowledge is indebted for its acquisition to his teachers, to the discoveries made by the preceding generations, in a word to his total environ- ment. Furthermore all classes of men are equally indis- pensable to one another and a physician is neither more nor less necessary to bakers, masons and sewer diggers than bakers, masons and sewer diggers are to a physician. "While some professional men may find themselves poorer in social prestige, they will from a strictly professional point of view find themselves overwealthy. Scientific organizations will have at their disposal a mag- nificent equipment, perfect laboratories and all that is nec- essary for valuable experimentation. Literary and dramatic works will be produced by unions of writers, journalists, etc. The daily newspaper will of course assume an entirely new shape and may be super- seded by contrivances for the distribution of illustrated news. Subscriptions to the daily news supply shall be paid for by means of " luxury tickets." Printers' associations will undertake the publication of novels, poems, books of history or travel of evident value. In doubtful cases, the author himself would have to guarantee the initial expense by paying a certain amount in " luxury tickets." Should his writings prove a success, he might be excused from tak- ing any part in the work of social production for certain periods of time, thus being able to devote himself entirely to the preparation of his next masterpiece, etc. There is no doubt in the writer's mind that the complete elimination of the arts from the fighting methods of the New Unionism will prove a boon for AND THE INTELLECTUALS 65 the arts. The majority of radicals debase art as ruthlessly as conservatives do by making it the hand- maid of their theories. They profess infinite scorn for the artist who does not take any form of the class struggle as an inspiration for his work, thus placing quite a severe limitation upon symphonic composers and architects, among others. It is pleasant to record that the Ghent workers have built a studio for young Van Biesbroeck, a sculptor whose work reflects the struggles of laboring Belgium, and that the Genoa dockers have pur- chased out of the funds of their union The Long- shoreman by Constantin Meunier. The only dis- turbing feature about it is that the Ghent and Genoa workers were admiring not so much the two sculp- tors' talent as the subjects of their statues modern workingmen that is, types which true revolution- ists wish, not to perpetuate but to do away with through a better social adjustment. Thus prejudiced radicals have encouraged the gaudiest type of illustrations, the crudest sculpture, the talkiest plays, the most incredible fiction, the least poetic doggerel for the sake of the radical tendencies those productions expressed or seemed to express. The unfortunate artist escapes the capi- talist tyranny to fall a victim to the radical's dis- torted sense of art. No one can tell what fate is re- served to pure art and pure science when the New Unionism triumphs. At least while it is struggling to gain a foothold it will not enslave the intellect. Much as New Unionists, however, are justified in ignoring the intellectuals, they^ should not adopt too 66 THE NEW UNIONISM scornful an attitude towards art and science. The ideally beautiful and ideally useful will become the best incentive in the new system of society and be- sides will be more potent than any other force in purging the worker's mentality of all the grossness and sordidness forced into it by his capitalist masters during long years of toiL CHAPTER ^ THE NEW UNIONISM IN FR1ANCE,: BEVOLUTIONABY SYNDICIAXJSM WBITEKS on syndicalism generally state that the French Confederation of Labor was the first expo- nent of the New Unionism. They overlook the fact that the English Chartists formulated almost every aim of the New Unionists in the early part of the 19th century. In this country we find the Western Labor Union upholding the same principles several years before the French Confederation was organized. The strike of the American Railway Union in 1894 is a fair illustration of the New Unionist tactics ap- plied to one industry. The Western Federation of Miners also conceived the idea of organizing all the workers of the mining towns into a single organiza- tion, in order to carry on more effectively their fight against the mine owners in the various mountain States. The Chartist movement, however, collapsed very early and it was not until 1909 that the Indus- trial Workers of the World whose advent had been prepared by the Western Labor Union and the West- ern Federation of Miners became an important factor in the labor world. The French Confederation of Labor or, as it is currently designated, the C. G. T. (Confederation Generate du Travail) was not organized until 1902 67 68 THE NEW UNIONISM but the spirit of New Unionism had begun to mani- fest itself in France many years before. In March, 1867, on the occasion of the tailors' strike, the French section of the International showed itself rather hostile to the strikers, explaining its at- titude thus : " As the strikers employed in fashion- able shops at a high wage refuse to concern themselves with the pitiable condition of the workers in the ready made clothing shops the International couldn't sympathize with them." When in 1869 the Elbceuf woolen workers and in 1870 the Creusot steel workers, went on strike, many unions in different trades showed their spirit of sol- idarity by contributing to the strike fund. After the Commune, France witnessed a severe re- action against labor associations. The National As- sembly passed a law penalizing all attempts at or- ganizing the workers. It is therefore useless for us to review the history of French syndicates before March 21, 1884, when a law was passed " authorizing all workers, laborers or employers to create temporary or permanent associations for the defense and study of their professional, economic, commercial and agri- cultural interests." This law merely sanctioned an order of things es- tablished in the teeth of ferocious reaction. While it recognized the legal existence of the syndicates or trade unions, it aimed in reality at damming up the revolutionary current in motion among the la- boring masses. For as early as the year 1879 the Marseilles congress had decided to study the General Strike. EEVOLUTIONAEY SYNDICALISM 69 Various kinds of syndicates or trade unions began to spring up all over France and in 1886, the Lyons congress approved the organization of the " Federa- tion of Syndicates and Corporative Groups of France." The new organism was little more, how- ever, than an electoral machine for the labor party. !New combinations of unions were formed in more or less open opposition to the Federation's policy. In 1887 the Paris municipality placed at the dis- posal of the local unions a building where all crafts could meet and discuss their common interests and which was the first Bourse du Travail or Labor Ex- change. A dozen cities or industrial centers fol- lowed the example set by the capital. Socialists set to work at uniting all the Bourses in a common effort. In February, 1892, the Federa- tion of Exchanges was officially created and became a powerful rival of the Federation of Syndicates. At the Marseilles congress in September, 1892, the Bourses immediately revealed themselves as militant organisms. The congress voted by acclamation a res- olution drafted by Aristide Briand and which read in part: Only a revolution can give us the economic freedom and the material welfare demanded by the most elementary prin- ciples of natural justice . . .; the workers, however, have never derived any advantage from bloody insurrections . . . which give the ruling classes an opportunity to drown so- cial demands in the workers' blood . . .; among the peace- ful and lawful means . . . there is a universal and simul- taneous suspension of the producing activity, that is to say the general strike. 70 THE KEW UNIONISM The Federation of Syndicates at its next congress entered a formal protest against the adoption of such a resolution. Encouraged by these differences within the ranks of labor, the authorities decided to close the Paris Labor Exchange. At the Nantes Labor congress held in 1894 the Briand motion coming up once more for discussion was endorsed by sixty-five votes against thirty-seven and the parliamentary section of the congress dom- inated by the Guesdists withdrew from the hall. The Federation of Syndicates was wiped out by that de- feat due to the antipolitical agitation of young Pel- loutier. To Fernand Pelloutier more than to any other leader is due the present revolutionary connotation of the word syndicalism. In the course of his short life (1867-1901), he showed himself an unremitting foe of parliamentary action. In 1897, he coined the term which now sums up the methods of New Union- ism, " Direct Action." Pelloutier held that modern socialism must be founded upon an absolute cleavage between classes and must give up all hopes of a social regeneration through political means. He considered the Labor Exchanges as the most perfect medium of expression of the workers' desiderata. He wrote : We must carry on more methodically and more stub- bornly than ever the work of intellectual, administrative and technical training necessary to fit a community of free indi- viduals for existence. . . . We must demonstrate to the workers by a series of experiments conducted in their midst, that self-government by themselves is possible and, also, give REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM ' '71' them weapons against the corrupting suggestions of capital- ism, by instructing them as to the necessity of a revolution. Fernand Pelloutier did his best to gather the an- archists into the syndicates. He showed them how they could carry out practically the social war of which they were constantly speaking; those new re- cruits taught their coworkers not to shrink from di- rect action; thus far the socialists had always shown themselves apologetic in regard to strikes; the men from " the party of the street " held that strikes were mere incidents in the class war ; trade union methods became discredited. All his life Pelloutier adhered to this militant pol- icy. When Millerand came forward with a pro- gramme of reforms, Pelloutier attacked savagely what he called " the half-baked projects of that self-styled socialist." Although suffering from tuberculosis in an advanced stage he did not hesitate in the last years of his life to court persecution. His book La, vie ouvriere en France called upon his head governmental thunder and he died a pauper in 1901. The congress of Limoges, in 1895, saw the establish- ment of the first G. G. T. The syndicates decided to form national federations and to unite themselves anew in a confederation ; the C. G. T. proceeded im- mediately to shut its doors to politicians by declaring that it would keep itself aloof from any political af- filiation. At every succeeding congress Tours, 1896, Tou- louse, 1897 (when a committee on sabotage was first appointed and sabotage endorsed by the Confedera- fra THE NEW UNIONISM tion), Rennes, 1898, Paris, 1900, Lyons, 1901 ef- forts were made to unite the Federation of Labor Exchanges and the C. G. T. At Montpellier in 1902 this fusion was accomplished. The Montpellier congress appointed twenty-five delegates to settle the differences between the two Federations. A compromise was reached : The Con- federation was to consist of two distinct sections : on one side the Federation of Trades and Industries, on the other the Federation of Exchanges, the aims of both sections being harmonized by a confederal com- mittee. Besides a few modifications of detail the policy of the Confederation did not change from 1902 to 1906. In 1906 a decision was taken which defined unequivo- cally the attitude of the Confederation. Without excluding any of the affiliated craft federations the Confederation decided at the Amiens congress to ad- mit in the future only industrial federations. Thus the Confederation pledged itself to a frankly indus- trialist policy. All shades of opinions, however, are represented in the Confederal Committee. Like the French parlia- ment it is divided up into a Eight, a Center, a Left and an Extreme Left. The party of the Right includes the anti-revolution- ists and independents, leaders of the Federation of the Printing Trade and also the Guesdists, anti-milita- ristic and opposed to the General Strike, who lead the Federation of Textile workers. The Center is made up mostly of railroadmen dominated by, Jaures' ideas. To the Left belong the Simon pure REVOLUTIONABY SYNDICALISM *t$ syndicalists (les purs} led by Pouget, Griffuehles, Jouhaux, and the editorial board of La Voix du Peu* pie, organ of the C. G. T. Further to the Left, led by Yvetot, sit the anti-militarists, whose opinion was mirrored by Herve's paper La Guerre Sociale before Herve declared himself for parliamentary action. Finally there are a few anarchists whose organ is Jean Grave's Les Temps Nouveaux. It is the Left which has steadily directed the destinies of the Con- federation since the fusion of 1902. The revolution- ary wing carried two signal victories at the Amiens congress in 1906 and at the Marseilles congress in 1908. One thousand syndicates represented at the Amiens congress refused to enter into relations with the So- cialist party which they considered as altogether too conservative ; by 834 votes against thirty-four a reso- lution was adopted pledging the Confederation to the orthodox syndicalist programme: to bring about through the general strike the expropriation of the capitalists and to reorganize society upon the basis of the syndicate which from a unit of resistance would transform itself into an organ of production and dis- tribution. At the Marseilles congress, 6YO syndicates against 406 pledged the C. G. T. to anti-militarism and to rebellion in case of war. Then it was that Messrs. Pugliesi-Conti and Paul Deschanel endeavored to have the Confederation dis- solved as illegal. The government realized that such action would have only temporary consequences as far as the Confederation was concerned and that, 74 THE NEW UNIONISM furthermore, it might precipitate a civil war. And the Confederation was left in peace ever afterward. The organization of the C. G. T. seems at first glance to be extremely complex. The unit of or- ganization is the syndicate or craft union. In every city and town the various craft unions combine and meet in a building placed at their disposal by the municipality and called Bourse du Travail or Labor Exchange. Certain municipalities, however, have attempted to exploit the syndicates for political pur- poses and therefore, in order to retain their inde- pendence, the syndicates maintain in such cases, be- sides a Labor Exchange another organization called Union of Syndicates. Both have the same member- ship and the same officers; the work of administra- tion is carried on at the Exchange ; the work of agita- tion at the Union of Syndicates. When the Exchange is allowed perfect political freedom by the municipal- ity, it is affiliated with the C. G. T. In the contrary case it is the Union which is affiliated with the C. G. T. Besides being free employment agencies for their members, the Exchanges help workers out of work, supply them with free transportation to parts of the country where labor is scarce, organize courses in technical instruction and give free legal advice. They also carry on, when unhampered by the municipality, the work of organization and propaganda. The Exchanges of the south of France have propa- gated the syndicalist idea among the agricultural workers of the region and organized many syndicates of wine growers. The Bourges Exchange organized the lumbermen of central Trance. The Brest Ex- REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM 75 change triumphed over Brittany's stubborn resistance to all progress in matters of labor organization. The work of the local Exchanges is centralized by the Federation of Exchanges. The Federation of Syndicates centralizes the work of the craft and in- dustrial unions. The industrialist form, however, will soon displace all others for, as we mentioned be- fore, the O. G. T. while leaving to the older organiza- tions their autonomy, no longer admits to its member- ship any organization which is not conducted along industrial lines. The federations of industries are as yet far from being of a uniform type. Some are administered by a federal committee made up of one delegate for each affiliated syndicate. To this type belongs the feder- ations of the alimentation of the leather industry, of the metal industry. Then there is the centralized type to which belongs the Federation of the Printing Trade; it is administered by a central committee elected for several years on the American ticket sys- tem. Finally there are the National Syndicates which seem to be at present the only lawful form of or- ganization for Government employes. While the syndicates belonging to the various federations retain the greater part of the funds collected, paying only between two and eight cents a month per member to the federation, a National Syndicate retains almost the totality of the monthly dues collected by the af- filiated syndicates which vests the " governing body " with extended powers. This organization which in no way harmonizes with the syndicalist spirit is only^ fr6 ,THE NEW, UNIONISM temporary and will disappear as soon as government employes succeed in wresting a larger measure of freedom. The growth of the C. G. T. while relatively slow, has been constant. In 1902 it comprised some 1000 syndicates; in 1903, 1220; in 1904, 1792; in 1906, 2399; in 1908, 2581; in 1910, 3012; in 1912, 2837. The figures for 1910 and 1912 should not be com- pared, as they have been by several opponents of syndicalism to point out a decrease in the membership of the C. G. T. On the contrary the number of ad- herents in good standing has grown from 355,000 in 1911 to 455,000 in 1912- with a total membership of about 600,000. This is the more remarkable when we consider that over 7000 members were lost by the Federation of the Building Workers and the National Railroad Syndicate as the consequence of unsuccess- ful strikes. The decrease in the number of affiliated syndicates simply means that the missing unite have become merged with other unions of related trades. We notice the same decrease in the number of af- filiated federations of which there were fifty-seven in 1910 and only fifty-three in 1912: the Northern Agricultural Federation has become amalgamated with the Horticultural Federation ; the Federation of Chauffeurs, Motormen and Electricians and the Federation of Engineers have joined the Federation of the Metal Workers. The Federation of Fur Workers joined the Federation of Skins and Hides Workers, etc. The resources of the C. G. T. are almost insignifi- REVOLUTIONAKY SYNDICALISM It. cant. The section of the Federation of Syndicates collects from every affiliated organization twelve cents a month for every hundred members and one cent a month per member in the case of isolated syndi- cates. The section of the Federation of Labor Ex- changes collects one cent per member and per year. Individual members pay to their syndicates purely nominal dues of a few cents a month. The Federa- tion of the Printing Trade, the most aristocratic and least popular of federations has maintained the high- est dues of all, forty cents a month. The C. G. T., however, does not consider money as nervus belli. It disregards the services of mutuality and insurance as weapons in the labor war and con- siders that reserve funds only lead to conservatism. The receipts of the C. G. T., less than $15,000 a year, are only applied to administration expense. In case of strike, the C. G. T. sends out delegates and systematizes the work of resistance but never fur- nishes any cash help to the striking bodies. The Confederation has published since 1900 a weekly paper La Voix du Peuple of which less than 10,000 copies are struck off. But it is rather a gen- eral circular than a paper and is kept on file at the rooms of the syndicates which are compelled to pay for at least one subscription a year. The Committee on the newspaper is made up of twelve members, six! from each section. The Voix du Peuple must be edited by workers from groups affiliated with the Con- federation. The attitude of the Confederation to the capitalist press is worthy of notice. No reporter or special 78 THE NEW UNIONISM writer ever receives any information or is admitted to meetings or secures interviews with men prominent in the labor movement unless he is a member in good standing of the Professional Writers' Syndicate af- filiated with the Confederation. While writers can- not be held responsible for the opinions of the peri- odicals employing them, they lose their card whenever they misrepresent any facts or misquote any speakers. An interesting development in the history of French syndicalism is the spreading of a class-con- scious feeling among groups of the population which a decade ago would have repudiated all ideas of sol- idarity with manual laborers. Since 1903 various classes of government em- ployes, such as road-menders, public school teachers, postal, telephone and telegraph workers, tax collect- ors, custom house employes, etc., have made efforts to transform their benevolent associations into fight- ing syndicates. Their desire to organize has been prompted by their gradual enslavement at the hands of local deputies and senators not to mention members of minor elective bodies who have reduced them, in elec- tion times, to the position of more or less willing propagandists. While the spoils system is not officially recognized in French politics, the abnormal development of bu- reaucratic institutions enables every representative of a ruling majority " having the ear " of the Govern- ment, to tyrannize over hundreds of state employes in his election district. The manual workers have on several occasions ex- REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM 79 tended to those victims of political exploitation a cordial invitation to join hands with them. The congress of Labor Exchanges held in Algiers in 1902 passed the following resolution: No class of workers can be kept out of the syndicalist sphere of activity whether those workers are employed by private parties or by the State. The congress directs La- bor Exchanges to admit to affiliation all organizations of state employes as well as associations of state teachers whose statutes indicate clearly that their purpose is to de- fend the interests of such corporative groups. In the recent years the Syndicate of Post Office, Telegraph and Telephone Workers and the National Syndicate of Railroad Workers have attracted a good deal of attention hy their strikes of 1909 and 1910 but what created the deepest impression all over the country was the belligerent attitude of the school teachers, whose state of mind is likely to be reflected by the coming generation entrusted to their care. As a consequence of the resolution passed by the Algiers congress a Committee on Syndicalist Educa- tion made up of six teachers and six working men was established by the Federation of Labor Ex- changes; it accomplished very little and was abol- ished in 1905. In that year Yvetot, then secretary of the C. G. T. for the section of Labor Exchanges, feent to every exchange a circular recommending that all possible advances be made to teachers and every help extended to them. Several teachers' benevolent societies transformed themselves into syndicates and joined the local labor exchanges. When the Syndicate of the Seine Teachers, however, filed its application, 80 .THE NEW, UNIONISM a charter was refused to them by the government and the state attorney general was instructed to proceed against them. In spite of all, the syndicalist teachers sent out in December, 1905, a daring manifesto in which they stated that they were teaching " not governmental truth but absolute truth" and therefore considered themselves independent. They also declared their formal intention to affiliate with the local Labor Ex- changes. Many teachers lost their positions but the move- ment grew all over France and on August 16 and 17, 1912, the teachers' congress held in Chambery adopted a militant attitude: it passed resolutions in favor of equal pay for men and women and approved of coeducation as the best means of bringing about sex equality. Most significant was the resolution em- bodying the attitude of the teachers toward the C. G. T.: The congress addresses to its fellow workers organized in the C. G. T. its sympathy with the propaganda of eman- cipation and education which they are carrying on. . . . The teachers declare once more their solidarity with all the wage earners united under the flag of the C. G. T. Another resolution read : For the purpose of maintaining the relations existing be- tween the union men serving as soldiers and the unions to which they belong, there shall be created in every one of our syndicates a Soldier's Penny fund designed to give moral and financial support to our comrades in the army. These resolutions called forth a storm of protest in both the conservative and radical press. On Au- gust 22 the minister of education ordered the disso- lution of the teachers' syndicate to take place on or before September 10. Few of the syndicates obeyed and, most interesting symptom, the Federation of Teachers' Benevolent Associations, a very conserva- tive body with over 100,000 adherents, declared itself favorable to the principles of syndicalism. At this writing no decision has been taken by the govern- ment. The Soldier's Penny fund to which the teachers pledged themselves to contribute, is a fund estab- lished by the C. G. T. and out of which all the syn- dicated workers called under the flag are paid a nom- inal allowance, of $3.65 a year or a cent a day; its purpose is to remind them of their syndicalistic affiliations and oblige them, to call regularly at the Labor Exchanges of the city or town where they are garrisoned. There they can attend lectures, perfect their technical education and read antimilitarist lit- erature. Following Herve's advice, the C. G. T. was quick to take advantage of the fact that owing to the compulsory military service thousands of young men from eighteen to twenty-five were herded together in barracks and could be easily reached by anti-mili- tarist propaganda. At its 12th congress, held in Havre in September, 1912, the C. G. T. reaffirmed the position it adopted at the Marseilles congress in regard to war and anti- militarism. The Soldier's Penny fund was enthu- siastically approved of as a means of propaganda. 82 THE NEW UNIONISM Another attempt was made by the Guesdists to estab- lish regular relations between the Confederation and the socialist party but the motion was defeated by a very large majority. In the discussion the " pure " syndicalists laid special stress on the point that, should such a connection be established, unions would be fatally drawn into politics to the detriment of their economic activity. While the C. G. T. never takes part in any political agitation, it does not fail to notice measures planned or taken by the government or reform laws passed by the French parliament and to express its opposi- tion to them mainly as a matter of education for the workers. When rumors of a possible European con- flagration became current in Europe, the C. G. T. called an extraordinary congress which met on No- vember 24 and 25, 1912. One thousand four hun- dred and fifty-three labor groups were represented and confirmed the anti-militarist resolutions of the September congress. They also accepted the princi- ple of a general twenty-four-hour strike as an anti- militarist demonstration. Some 500,000 men obeyed the strike order sent out on December 16, 1912. A curious incident took place immediately after the two anti-militarist congresses held in Paris and Basel. The French government issued an order of mobiliza- tion which reached several villages on the German border on the night of November 26 and 27. Every man called under the flag responded and the conserv- ative papers enjoyed keenly what they called the difference between theory and practice. That order REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM 83 was explained away later on as due to a " mistake " of a telegraph employe. Bearing in mind that the C. G. T. has 455,000 dues paying members and the French Socialist party only 70,000, one can readily understand the inde- pendent attitude of the syndicalists towards the so- cialists. This attitude is not new. From 1871 to 1879 both mutualism and socialism dominated the unions. At the Marseilles congress in 1879 the so- cialists won a decisive battle. Until 1896 the unions remained frankly socialistic. At the London con- gress, however, a break took place between the par- tisans of economic action and those of political ac- tion. When the four socialist deputies Millerand, Viviani, Gerault-Richard and Jaures demanded to be seated in the congress on the strength of their parliamentary mandate, a heated debate took place. They were finally seated by a vote of sixty against forty. The seating of anarchists caused another violent discussion and the vote showed how evenly divided up the con- gress was. The opponents of political action were eeated by a vote of fifty-seven against fifty-six. The " minority " headed by Millerand withdrew and asked to be allowed to attend the congress as a separate sec- tion, which privilege was granted. Since then, vain efforts have been made at every congress to commit the workers' organization (after 1902 the C. G. T.) to a socialist policy. The 12th Congress seems to have shattered forever the hopes of the politicians of gaining a foothold in the .C. G. T, 84 THE OTEW UNIONISM One of the resolutions relative to the rise in prices presented at this congress was a suggestion to the workers to give up alcohol, tobacco, gambling and the consumption of unhygienic food products, to boycott all articles whose prices have been raised by combines, and other advice generally associated with papers read in women's reform clubs. Leon Jouhaux, the organ- izer of the congress and secretary of the C. G. T. did not miss such a good opportunity to jeer at the re- formists to whom the resolution was thrown as a sop. Several other resolutions pointed to the constant striving of the huge machine towards the uniting of its various elements and the smooth running of its parts. A committee was appointed to bring about the amalgamation of the two more important and of the several minor organizations with which trans- portation workers are now affiliated. The working principle of the Confederation is not to discipline or exclude the elements which do not fit in with a preconceived theory, but to wait until their nonconformism creates actual difficulties and then to point out the way to peace through industrial- ist conformism. Much as the leaders of the C. G. T. would object to such a classification, we may divide them up into two groups : the thinkers and the fighters. The first are statesmen and diplomats, planning and organiz- ing; the others stir up mobs in meeting halls and indulge in the verbal pyrotechnics and spectacular type of action which keeps workers and employers keyed up to the proper pitch. Most prominent in the councils of the Confedera- REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM 85 tion is Emile Pouget, generally considered as the C. G. T.'s technical expert. He has been frequently compared to Richelieu's trusted adviser, " His Grey Eminence." Unctuous of speech, he can when the occasion requires, reveal an iron will. A lawyer's sou he has preserved the bourgeoisie's clothes and man- ner. His age (he was born in 1860) also imparts to him a little more dignity than would befit the other leaders, much younger men. His career has been a picturesque one; expelled from a high school for " publishing " a revolutionary sheet circulated mostly among his fellow scholars, he became a clerk in a department store. He joined an anarchist group and studied Bakunin's theories. Then he wrote an appeal to the army inciting sol- diers to insurrection and was fortunate enough to es- cape prosecution. Soon after, however, during the 1883- bread riots, he was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison. Pardoned after three years he became a book salesman and succeeded in 1889 in founding a revolutionary organ Le Pere Peinard. Jail sentences began to pour down upon him until, having commended the acts of terrorism committed by the anarchists Ravachol, Vaillant and Henry, he no longer felt safe in France and became a voluntary exile. Taking advantage of a general amnesty, he re- turned from London in 1894 and became converted to syndicalism. He is now editor of the Voix du Peuple, official organ of the C. G. T. in which he has always advocated anti-militarism and sabotage, isvhich word he did not coin but added to the vocabu- 86 THE NEW, UNIONISM lary of labor questions in 1894 while delivering ad- dresses in London. Victor Griffuehles, formerly secretary of the C. G. T. and now director of its printing plant, stands in striking contrast to the Grey Eminence. He is thirty- nine years old and belongs to a working class family. Apprenticed to a shoemaker when a child, he had but little schooling. No sooner was he able to hold a pen than he began to earn jail sentences for ultra- radical statements. He rose successively to the position of delegate to the Federation of Syndicates, sec- retary of the Federation of Skins and Hides Workers, and secretary of the C. G. T. He was the inaugurator of the bumper strike which is described in the chapter on Direct Action. His book on Syndicalist Action is one of the cleverest exposes of French syndicalism. Levy, until recently treasurer of the C. G. T., Merrheim, secretary of the Federation of Metal Workers, and Jouhaux, secretary of the C. G. T., form with Pouget and Griff uehles the " cabinet " of the C. G. T. Yvetot, Niel, Bousquet and especially Pataud, the " King of Electricity," are the great field workers and agitators. George Yvetot, a rabid anti-clerical and anti-mili- tarist, was born forty years ago in a barrack and brought up in a mission school. He learned type- setting in a religious printing establishment and se- cured a place with the most jingoistic of all French dailies, La Patrie. Then he met Fernand Pelloutier and Bakunin and under their guidance forgot entirely his first training. His A. B. C. Syndicaliste and his BEVOLUTIONAEY SYNDICALISM 'tit Manuel du Soldat earned him several jail terms. He has the reputation of being the most brutally out- spoken orator in the syndicalist movement. " Little " Luquet, thirty-four years old, an ex-bar- ber, conducted the barbers' strike which was won through desperate sabotage (see page 44) and or- ganized the southern agricultural workers, perhaps the hardest class of the population to win over to syn- dicalist ideas. Niel, an ex-waiter, has lost much of his popularity on account of his spasmodic attacks of reformism. Since 1909, when he opposed the plans for a general strike which he knew to be doomed to failure, his advice has frequently been disregarded by the hot- heads. Bourgeois France and bourgeois Europe may know but little about the 0. G. T. and its leaders. They cannot help knowing Pataud. Emile Pataud was born in 1870' in the free ward of a hospital. His parents were terribly poor and he remembers to this day that during the winter of 1879 and 1880 they never once lighted a fire. Having won a free scholarship for a trade school, Pataud studied until he was fifteen and then entered the Caille steel mills where he worked as a riveter. Later on he held positions as book- keeper and cooperage salesman, then went back to the Caille mills. Sent to Cherbourg to install ma- chinery on a torpedo boat he enlisted in the navy and became a violent anti-militarist. After his discharge he worked as an electrician, was engaged as private secretary by a labor representa- tive, founded a people's university, and started to 8S THE NEW UNIONISM preach the hatred of parliamentary institutions. Un- til 1902 he kept himself alive in varied and pictur- esque ways even selling vegetables on a push cart stand. Then he succeeded in organizing the workers in the electrical industry and conducted a strike against the Edison Company. Convinced that the in- dustrialist system of organization was the only means by which the workers could win substantial victories he planned the spectacular coup which made his name famous. On March 8, 1905, at eight o'clock, every electric light in Paris went out and all the machinery relying on electric power was brought to a standstill. After twenty-two hours the companies yielded. The current was turned on. In August, 1908 and 1909, Pataud resorted to the same tactics. The government, however, foiled him on both occasions by keeping a battalion of army engineers ready to man the plants. Syndicalists are usually reticent when it comes to a detailed description of the industrial commonwealth of the future. The French conception of it may be visualized to a certain extent by a quotation from a fanciful piece of writing due to the pen of Pouget and Pataud. The title of it is : How we will make the revolution! The preface reveals, however, that the authors meant all the time, " How we made the revolution," which explains why this prophecy is writ- ten in the past tense. This is not entirely a work of fiction, for it was based upon the results of a nation- wide referendum taken by the C. G. T. on the sub- ject of the reorganization of society along industrial lines. REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM 89 The Lyons congress (1901) had expressed the wish to have this question placed on the programme of the next congress. In order that the answers should reflect faithfully the ideas prevalent among the work- ingmen, the Confederal Committee submitted the* question to all the syndicates. The following ques- tions were sent out: (1) How would your syndicate act in order to transform itself from a fighting group into a productive group ? (2) How would you proceed to take possession of the machinery pertaining to your industry 1 ? (3) How do you conceive the organization and manage- ment of the shops and factories in the future ? (4) If your syndicate belongs to the highways and trans- portation system, how do you conceive its management? (5) What will be your relations to your federation of trade or of industry after the reorganization? (6) On what principle would the distribution of products take place and how would the productive groups procure raw material for themselves? (7) What part would the labor exchanges play in the transformed society and what would be their duties with reference to the collecting of statistics and to the distribu- tion of products? At the Montpellier congress, in 1902, a number of reports were presented answering the above questions. The reports were drawn in the name of the syndicates and came from different parts of France. Only a limited number of them were printed as appendices to the general report of the congress. Among them, it may be interesting to note, was the report of the syndicate of agricultural laborers. The rest were summed up in the official organ of the Confederation, La Voix du Peuple, 90 THE -NEW UNIONISM Pataud and Pouget's book appeared in 1905. Omitting a description of the riots which preceded the general strike and the expropriation of the em- ployers, we come to two interesting passages: one relative to the remuneration of the workers in the new commonwealth and the other relative to the treatment accorded to those unwilling to accept the new order of things : Every human being from fifteen to fifty, regardless of the class of work performed was entitled to an equal re- numeration paid to him in two different ways, so as to sat- isfy, on the one side, his natural wants, on the other, his desire for certain luxuries. Workers received necessaries of life on presentation of their union card; luxuries were de- livered to them against luxury coupons. By necessaries were understood all the goods such as foodstuffs or clothing, the production of which was so plentiful that no restrictions could be placed on their con- sumption; everyone could draw them from the common fund according to his needs, without any other formality than presenting his card to the clerks in the storehouses. The word luxuries covered the various materials which, being in too small quantities to be placed gratuitously at everyone's disposal, would retain a purchase value, likely to fluctuate according to the supply and demand. The price of these products was calculated on the basis of the old currency system and the quality of labor necessary to pro- duce them was one of the main factors hi the fluctuation of their value; they were delivered against coupons drawn more or less like ordinary bank checks. Whenever goods of the second or luxury class became plentiful enough to justify a free distribution, they were added to the first class and placed without restriction within everyone's reach. . . . The standard of value established by the capitalist system was .maintained; it was considered REVOLUTIONAEY SYNDICALISM 91 i that to take as a unit an hour's work instead of a gram of gold would be a mere word quibble. Gold could be used . . . also to purchase goods from the refractory ones who hadn't become reconciled to the new social order. . . . Against those who, out of narrowness of mind or fear of incurring losses, insisted on living according to the old sys- tem of life, no measure was resorted to, except constant boy- cott. . . . Whenever they saw fit to conform, they were welcomed without any bitter feeling. The former members of the parasitic classes were invited either to select an occupation or to emigrate; when they absolutely refused to conform they were treated as Apaches. It was out of the question to reopen prisons and to establish anew for their use a system of correction, . . . they were deported, supplied with a certain amount of gold, to what- ever other country they selected. . . . (See also chapter IV, page 63.) CHAPTER VI THE NEW UNIONISM IN THE UNITED STATES! INDUSTRIALISM MANY have been the attempts at organizing labor in the United States along the lines of industrial unionism not only for the purpose of winning ma- terial advantages for the workers but with a view to reshaping society and transforming it from a republic ruled by capitalists into an industrial commonwealth ruled by the producers themselves. The earliest attempt at industrial organization in the United States was the creation of the National Labor Union, which was formed in 1866 in Balti- more, Md. After two years it had a membership of 640,000 but went to pieces in 1868-9. The Knights of Labor was organized in 1869 and rose to a position of importance between 1880 and 1890. It was not an industrial organization in the modern sense of the word nor was it a class organiza- tion. It admitted to membership in the same local union, workers of all industries in the same locality and also admitted small business men and professional men. This organization ignored too completely the di- vergent interests of crafts which were apparently bet- ter served at the time by the system of craft unions adopted by the American Federation of Labor. The 02 THE UNITED STATES 93 craft system finally prevailed and in 1895 the Knights of Labor was routed out of existence. John Host's propaganda for anarchism in this coun- try to which he had come in 1882 after serving a sen- tence of imprisonment in England, was in the main responsible for the creation of another working class organization which embodied many features of the new unionism. Groups of anarchists and social revolutionists from twenty-six cities sent their delegates to a congress held in Pittsburgh in October, 1883. The congress de- cided to establish an International Working People's Association whose work would be centralized through an " Information Bureau " in Chicago. It drafted the famous Pittsburgh proclamation advocating " the destruction of the existing government by all means, i. e., by energetic, implacable, revolutionary and in- ternational action," and the establishment of an indus- trial system based upon " the free exchange of equiva- lent products between the producing organizations themselves and without the intervention of middlemen and profit making." In two years the International membership grew to some 7000, of whom 3000 were recruited in Chi- cago. Then the Haymarket tragedy took place with the ensuing trial and the hanging of Spies, Parsons, Fischer and Engel and the International passed out of existence. In 1881 an International Working Men's Associa- tion had been created in Pittsburgh. It was made up mostly of native American laborers and farmers who rejected all parliamentary action and advocated 94 education and propaganda as the best means to bring about a social revolution. In 1887, claiming a mem- bership of 6000, they attempted to amalgamate with the Socialist Labor party and when negotiations failed they disbanded. The year 1887 which witnessed the passing away of several pioneer organizations marked the definite rise of the American Federation of Labor. It was to be and it has remained in theory an independent labor body without any political entanglements. Ac- cording to the provisions of Article IV, section 5 of its constitution, the Federation shall not affiliate with any political party. At several conventions socialists within its ranks have endeavored to commit the Fed- eration to a frankly socialistic policy but thus far without success. The development of machinery in this country soon began to render craft organization in certain trades absolutely ineffective; the many disappoint- ments suffered by the skilled men owing to what Debs called the " dog-eat-dog " policy of the various unions and the growing importance of the unskilled in labor problems made it necessary for large groups of work- ers to reorganize along new lines. The American Eailway Union was organized at Chicago in June, 1893, by Eugene V. Debs. In 1894, at the time of the great Pullman strike, it had a membership of 150,000. This rapid growth was due to several strikes won by the union, especially the great Northern strike involving all the employes of the entire system. The Pullman strike, however, ended in disaster. In violation of the law and in defiance 95 of Governor Altgeld's protest, President Cleveland sent Federal troops into Illinois and broke the back of the strike. Debs and several other officers of the American Railway Union were indicted and received jail sentences. Blacklisted by all the railroad com- panies, members of the A. R. U. had to repudiate their affiliations and the Union, held its last convention in Chicago in 1897. The loss of the Pullman strike by the American Railway Union was not the only reason for its dis- integration. Many of its former members contend that in spite of the setback occasioned by the failure of the Pullman strike, the organization was begin- ning to recover when, at the convention of 1897, Debs turned the organization over to the Socialist-Demo- cratic colonization scheme. In 1895 another industrial workers' group was or- ganized, the Western Federation of Miners. Its pur- pose was to bring together all the workers in the in- dustry of metal mining in the United States, whether pick and shovel workers, millmen, smeltermen or en- gineers. The W. F. of M. was affiliated with the A. F. of L. until the Leadville strike in 1896. Failing to re- ceive any support, moral or financial from the Federa- tion, the miners withdrew from the A. F. of L. In 1899 the Western Labor Union was organized by the W. F. M. at Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1902, the Western Labor Union changed its name and be- came the American Labor Union and moved its gen- eral office from Butte, Mont., to Chicago, 111. The spirit of industrial solidarity manifested by; 96 THE NEW ^UNIONISM the miners spread among other organizations. In the fall of 1904 Isaac Cowen, American representative of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers of Great Brit- ain; Clarence Smith, secretary and treasurer of the American Labor Union; Thomas J. Hagerty, editor of the Voice of Labor, organ of the A. L. U. ; George Estes, president of the United Brotherhood of Kail- way employes; W. L. Hall, general secretary of the Brotherhood, and Wm. E. Trautman, editor of the Brauer Zeitung, organ of the United Brewery Work- ers of America, held a conference in Chicago. They invited thirty-six other men active in the labor move- ment to meet them in secret conference on January 2, 1905. Out of the thirty-six, only two, Max S. Hayes, editor of a trade union paper and Victor Ber- ger, editor of a socialist publication declined to at- tend. The conference met at the appointed time, selected William Dudley Haywood as chairman of its execu- tive committee the other members of the board be- ing William E. Trautman, A. M. Simons, W. L. Hall and Clarence Smith and drew up a manifesto ad- dressed to the Workers of the World. It set forth the disadvantages of pure and simple craft organization and advocated the forming of one single union ad- mitting all workers regardless of craft or nationality. The manifesto ended with a call for a convention to be held in Chicago on June 27. This document translated into several languages was widely circulated by the executive committee assisted by the American Labor Union and the Western Federation of Miners. One hundred and eighty-six delegates met in Chi- IN THE UNITED STATES 97 cago, representing thirty-four State, district, local or national organizations. The convention lasted twelve days and when it ad- journed the Industrial Workers of the World had been organized. The lahor groups admitted to affilia- tion were: the Western Federation of Miners with; 27,000' members ; the Socialist Trade and Labor Alli- ance, 1450' members ; the Punch Press Operators, 168 members ; the United Metal Workers, 3000 members ; the Longshoremen's Union, 400 members ; the Amer- ican Labor Union, 16,500 members; the United Brotherhood of Railway Employes, 2087 members. The following preamble was adopted : 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 tollers come together on the political, as well as on 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. 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 be- lief that the working class have interests in common with their employers. These sad conditions can be changed and the interests of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in 98 THE NEW UNIONISM 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. The uncertainties and the contradictions found in this preamble are easily understood when one bears in mind the heterogeneous elements which were repre- sented at the first convention and whose divergent views had, to a certain extent, to be harmonized : par- liamentary socialists, opportunists, Marxists, anarch- ists, industrialists, craft unionists. During the first year of the I. W. W.'s existence, those irreconcilable elements struggled bitterly for supremacy. The two socialist factions looked upon the I. W. W. as a con- venient battle ground. The I.. W. W. survived this internal strife and be- gan to issue a monthly organ, the Industrial Worker. It also sent out the first call for the defense of Hay- wood, Moyer and Pettibone, the officers of the W. F. M. who had been arrested in connection with the assas- sination of Governor Steunenberg of Idaho. The second convention met in September, 1906, with ninety-three delegates representing 60,000 work- ers. The struggle for control divided the convention into two factions; the reactionaries with the help of the chairman tried to obstruct the deliberation until such time as their opponents would be obliged to leave for their homes. The radicals succeeded in defeating these tactics but when the convention adjourned, the former officials seized the general headquarters and held them with the assistance of the police. The newly elected officers, abandoned to their fate by the- IN THE UNITED STATES 99 Western Federation of Miners and the socialist party, had to open headquarters of their own. The W. F. M. finally withdrew its support from the usurpers who gave up the struggle. At the third convention, which was quite uneventful, it became evident that the socialist politicians who had remained within the or- ganization were striving to use it in furtherance of their own ends. In 1908, however, at the fourth convention, the purely industrialist element secured control of the organization. The wording of the pre- amble was greatly modified and in its amended ver- sion that document reflected the revolutionary trend of the new leaders. The second paragraph was changed to read thus : 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. Finally two new paragraphs were added to the pre- amble : Instead of the conservative motto, "A fair day's wages 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 organ- ized, not only for the every-day struggle with capitalists, but also to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are form- ing the structure of the new society within the shell of the old. The defeated politicians immediately organized an- other I. W. W. committed to a parliamentary policy. 100 THE NEW UNIONISM It stands at present in the same relation to the first I. W. -W. as the Socialist Labor Party stands to the Socialist Party. It is little more than a name and has not played any part in the labor disputes which have since arisen. At the first convention of the I. W. W. it was gen- erally agreed -that industrial unionism was to be primarily a departmental structure. The original constitution provided for thirteen departments. This system soon appeared impracticable and as the purely industrialist view was beginning to dominate the mem- bership it was more and more definitely recognized that the New Unionism should organize from below upward. In other words, the local industrial union, not the department, was to be the basis of organiza- tion. The discussion relative to departments taking place at the various conventions have only had a tenta- tive, almost academic character. We quote the following from a pamphlet The I. W. W., Its history, structure and methods, by Vincent St. John, who is, at present, general secretary of the organization : GENERAL OUTLINE 1. The unit of organization is the Local Industrial Union. The local industrial union embraces all of the workers of a given industry in a given city, town or district. 2. All local industrial unions of the same industry are combined into a National Industrial Union with jurisdiction over the entire industry. 3. National industrial unions of closely allied industries are combined into Departmental Organizations. For exam- ple, all national industrial unions engaged in the production IK THE UNITED STATES 101J of Food Products and in handling them would be combined! into the Department of Food Products. Steam, Air, Water and Land national divisions of the Transportation Industry,, form the Transportation Department. 4. The Industrial Departments are combined into the General Organization, which in turn is to be an integral part of a like International Organization ; and through the inter- national organization establish solidarity and cooperation between the workers of all countries. SUBDIVISIONS Taking into consideration the technical differences that exist within the different departments of the industries, and the needs where large numbers of workers are employed, the local industrial union is branched to meet these require- ments. 1. Language branches, so that the workers can conduct the affairs of the organization in the language they are most familiar with. 2. Shop branches, so that the workers of each shop con- trol the conditions that directly affect them. 3. Department branches in large industries, to simplify and systematize the business of the organization. 4. District branches, to enable members to attend meet- ings of the union without having to travel too great a dis- tance. These branches are only necessary in the large cities and big industries where the industry covers large areas. 5. District Councils, in order that every given industrial district shall have complete industrial solidarity among the workers in all industries of such district, as well as among the workers of each industry. The Industrial District Coun- cil combines all the local industrial unions of the district. Through it concerted action is maintained for its district. FUNCTIONS OF BRANCHES Branches of an industrial local deal with the employer only through the Industrial Union. Thus, while the work- UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIBRA 102 THE NEW UNIONISM ers in each branch determine the conditions that directly af- fect them, they act in concert with all the workers through the industrial union. As the knowledge of the English language becomes more general, the language branches will disappear. The development of machine production will also grad- ually eliminate the branches based on technical knowledge, or skill. The constant development and concentration of the owner- ship and control of industry will be met by a like concen- tration of the number of industrial unions and industrial departments. It is meant that the organization at all tunes shall conform to the needs of the hour and eventually furnish the union through which and by which the organ- ized workers will be able to determine the amount of food, clothing, shelter, education and amusement necessary to sat- isfy the wants of the workers. ADMINISTRATION OF THE ORGANIZATION Local unions have full charge of all their local affairs; elect their own officers; determine their pay; and also the amount of dues collected by the local from the membership. The general organization, however, does not allow any local to charge over $1.00 per month dues or $5.00 initiation fee. Each branch of a local industrial union elects a delegate or delegates to the central committee of the local industrial union. This central committee is the administrative body of the local industrial union. Officers of the branches consist of secretary, treasurer, chairman and trustees. Officers of the local industrial union consist of secretary and treasurer, chairman and trustees. Each local industrial union within a given district elects a delegate or delegates to the district council. The district council has as officers a secretary-treasurer and trustees. The officers of the district council are elected by the dele- gates thereof. All officers in local bodies are elected by referendum vote IN THE UNITED STATES 103 of all the membership involved, except those of the district council. Proportional representation does not prevail in the dele- gations of the branches and to district councils. Each branch and local has the same number of delegates. Each delegate casts one vote. National industrial unions hold annual conventions. Delegates from each local of the national union cast a vote based upon the membership of the local that they represent. The national industrial union nominates the candidates for officers at the convention, and the three nominees re- ceiving the highest votes at the convention are sent to all the membership to be voted upon in selecting the officers. The officers of the national unions consist of secretary and treasurer, and executive board. Each national union elects delegates to the department to which it belongs. The same procedure is followed in electing delegates as in electing of- ficers. Industrial departments hold conventions and nominate the delegates that are elected to the general convention. Dele- gates to the general convention nominate candidates for the offices of the general organization which are a General Sec- retary-Treasurer, and a General Organizer. These general officers are elected by the vote of the entire organization. The General Executive Board is composed of one member from each Industrial Department and is selected by the membership of the department. General conventions are held annually at present. The rule in determining the wages of the officers of all parts of the organization is, to pay the officers who are needed approximately the same wages they would receive when employed in the industry in which they work. The wages of the general secretary and the general organizer are each $90.00 per month. Concerning the methods of the Industrial Workers of the World Vincent St. John expresses himself as follows : 104 THE NEW; UNIONISM As a revolutionary organization the Industrial Workers of the World aims to use any and all tactics that will get the results sought with the least expenditure of time and energy. The tactics used are determined solely by the power of the organization to make good in their use. The question of " right " and " wrong " does not concern us. No terms made with an employer are final. All peace so long as the wage system lasts, is but an armed truce. At any favorable opportunity the struggle for more control of industry is renewed. The Industrial Workers realize that the day of successful long strikes is past. Under all ordinary circumstances a strike that is not won in four to six weeks cannot be won by remaining out longer. In trustified industry the em- ployer can better afford to fight one strike that lasts six months than he can six strikes that take place in that period. The organization does not allow any part to enter into time contracts with the employers. It aims where strikes are used, to paralyze all branches of the industry involved, when the employers can least afford a cessation of work during the busy season and when there are rush orders to be filled. The Industrial Workers of the World maintains that nothing will be conceded by the employers except that which we have the power to take and hold by the strength of our organization. Therefore we seek no agreements with the employers. Failing to force concessions from the employers by the strike, work is resumed and " sabotage n is used to force the employers to concede the demands of the workers. The great progress made in machine production results in. an ever increasing army of unemployed. To counteract this the Industrial Workers of the World aims to establish the shorter work day, and to slow up the working pace, thus compelling the employment of more and more workers. To facilitate the work of the organization large initiation fees and dues are prohibited by the I. W. W. During strikes the works are closely picketed and everjr IN THE UNITED STATES 105 effort made to keep the employers from getting workers into the shops. All supplies are cut off from strike-bound shops. All shipments are refused or missent, delayed and lost if possible. Strike breakers are also isolated to the full extent of the power of the organization. Interference by the government is resented by open violation of the govern- ment's orders, going to jail en masse, causing expense to the tax-payers, which is but another name for the employing class. In short, the I. W. W. advocates the use of militant " di- rect action " tactics to the full extent of our power to make good. The I. W. W. has taken a very active part in almost every labor war waged since the organization was founded. In 1906 it helped the hotel and restaurant work- ers of Goldfield, Nevada, to obtain the eight hour day. In 1907 when textile mill owners in Skowhegan, Maine, discharged several I. W. W. organizers, 3000 workers went on strike and after four weeks won a complete victory notwithstanding the fact that the A. F. of L. had lent its assistance to the employers and furnished strike breakers. In Portland, Ore- gon, 3000 saw mill workers struck for a nine hour day and an increase in wages from $1.75 to $2.50 per day. After six weeks, the companies yielded and the prestige of the I. W. W. was greatly increased in the Western States. From March 10, 1907, until April 22, the W. F. M. and the I. W. W. had to wage a bitter fight for ex^ istence in Goldfield, Nevada, antagonized as they were by the A. F. of L. In April a compromise was reached owing to the weakness of the W. F. M. offi- 106 THE NEW UNIONISM cials. The fight started again at intervals between April and September and ended only when the eight hour day and the minimum wage of $4.50 per day for every kind of labor had been accepted by employ- ers. In July, August and September, 1909, the I. W. W. managed the bloody JVIcKees Rocks strike, which involved 8000 men, belonging to some sixteen nation- alities, employed in the plants of the Pressed Steel Car Company. The employers called to their help the State constabulary or, as the strikers called them, the American Cossacks. The strike committee served notice upon their commanding officers that for every striker killed or injured the life of a Cos- sack would be taken in return. The strikers kept their word. After eleven weeks of hostilities a ter- rible encounter between the mob and the Cossacks, in which many were killed and wounded on both sides the Cossacks being finally driven to take refuge in the plants of the Company put an end to the strike. In November, 1909, the authorities of Spokane, Wash., ordered the arrest of all I. W. W. speakers who attempted to hold street meetings. The locals resisted and over 500 I. W. W. members, men and women went to jail. Two hundred went on a hun- ger strike of from eleven to thirteen days and then were kept from thirty to forty-five days on two ounces of bread a day and water. In March, 1910, the Spokane authorities yielded and a law was passed allowing street speaking. In the same year the Fresno authorities attempted IN THE UNITED STATES 10? to prevent the I. W. W. from organizing the orchard workers in the San Joaquin Valley. The fight lasted four months during which time over one hundred I. W. W. men were locked up. When detachments of free speech fighters started for Fresno from Port- land, Spokane and Denver, the Fresno authorities feared a civil war and freedom of speech, was once more granted in all the region. In the winter of 1911, the I. W. W. conducted the strike of the Brooklyn shoe workers. In Jan- uary, 1912, the workers in the Lawrence textile mills, 25,000 strong, struck against a reduction in wages. No more than 1500 of them were memhers of any labor organization ; of this number, 1200 belonged to Textile Workers Union ISTo. 20, I. W. W. The other 300 were connected with the United Textile Workers of America holding a charter from the A. F. of L. The pressure of the militia, of the State detective force and of a host of private detectives and even the arrest of two strike leaders, Ettor and Giovannitti, failed to intimidate the strikers. The employers had to accept the workers' terms and grant increases of from five per cent, to the skilled to twen- ty-five per cent, to the unskilled mill workers. The leaders of the I. W. W. are, without exception, men from the ranks of labor who have won their spurs in labor wars, who have suffered imprisonment and often braved death for their cause. Vincent St. John, William D. Haywood, Elizabeth Ghirley Flynn, William Trautman, Joseph Ettor and Arturo Gio- vannitti have all served jail 'sentences; Vincent St. John was shot and terribly injured ; it was probably IOS THE NEW UNIONISM a desire on the part of the authorities to avoid re- prisals which saved the lives of Haywood, Mover and Pettibone, and more recently Ettor and Giovan- nitti held on problematic charges of murder. Vincent St. John, secretary and treasurer of the I. W. W. was born in 1876. He went to work when barely fourteen as a delivery boy. Later on he be- came a farm hand, then a tinner, then a printer, then an upholsterer. At eighteen he drifted into Cripple Creek and joined the W. F. M. In 1900 he was elected president of the local miners' union of Telluride, Colo., and managed the strike of 1901. Arrested with ten other agitators on a charge of con- spiracy, then released, he was driven out of that section of the country by the State authorities. In 1903, he went to Cceur d'Alene, Idaho, and set to work organizing the miners. After the assassination of Governor Steunenberg, he was again arrested, held thirty days without a hearing, taken back to Colorado on old charges, held again for sixty days and finally was released on bonds. The Western Federation of Miners elected him a member of its executive board in 1906 and the same year sent him as delegate to the second convention of the I. W. W. A convinced industrialist, he disap- proved of the position taken by the officials of the W. F. M. at that convention, resigned and was elected a member of the executive board of the I. W. W. In 1907 he went to Goldfield, Nev. and worked in the mines. At the third convention of the I. W. W. he was elected general organizer. In November of that year he was assaulted and severely injured in IN THE UNITED STATES 109 Goldfield and had to go to Chicago for treatment. After leaving the hospital he served as general or- ganizer for the I. W. W. until September, 1908, when he was elected general secretary and treasurer, an office which he has filled ever since. William Dudley Haywood, to whose popularity; the tremendous rise of the I. W. W. is greatly due, was born in Salt Lake City forty-three years ago. His father was a miner, and his mother, having be- come a widow, married another miner. Ophir Camp where the family lived was rather far from; school and libraries. At nine, barely able to read and write, Bill was sent to work underground. At eleven it was decided that he should become a farmer. At fourteen, however, he took his own destiny in hand, and ran away to Nevada where he found em- ployment with the Ohio Mining Company. He bought himself books and soon acquired an expert knowledge of all the mining crafts, including sur- veying and assaying. He located a homestead in Nevada and might have become prosperous had not his land soon afterwards been allotted to an Indian tribe. He became a miner once more and spent six years prospecting, contracting and working leases in Ne- vada, Utah, Colorado and Idaho. In the meantime he displayed untiring activity in organizing the min- ers everywhere, addressing camps, crowds, hall audi- ences and winning much popularity through his blunt, rough and ready fluency. He was in Silver City, Idaho, when the Western Federation of Miners was organized and he soon assumed a leading part in 110 THE NEW UNIONISM it Starting as assistant secretary, he soon rose to the chairmanship of the executive board and was oc- cupying that office when the Cceur d'Alene strike took place in 1899. The troubles which marked the Idaho strike and the subsequent uprisings in California mining towns will not soon be forgotten. They were bloodshed, rioting, martial rule. A whole town was imprisoned in the "bull pen," the Governor of Colorado sus- pended the writ of habeas corpus, a judge advocate general made himself famous by his saying " To hell with the Constitution," and a commander of the mi- litia announced that in place of writs of habeas cor- pus, the strikers would get post-mortems. The Federation in the meantime was blowing up mills, bridges and factories. In 1906 someone mur- dered Governor Steunenberg of Idaho, by means of a bomb. Haywood was then secretary and treasurer of the Federation. Arrested in Denver, the Federa- tion's headquarters, he was kidnaped to Idaho and charged, with Moyer and Pettibone, the other officers of the Federation, with the assassination of Steunen- berg. He was kept a year and a half in the Boise jail awaiting trial. This long delay enabled the Western Federation of Miners, the American Federation of Labor and the Socialist groups to gather together an enormous defense fund. The three men were ac- quitted. From the day of the Boise verdict dates Haywood's growing fame. He has won the enmity of many socialist leaders by his constant attacks on the A. F. of L. and his propaganda for industrialism. IN THE UNITED STATES ill In February, 1913, he was recalled from the National Executive Committee of the Socialist party. Joseph J. Ettor was born in Brooklyn about twen- ty-six years ago. When he was only one year old, his father, who was a militant revolutionist, took him to Chicago. Ettor senior was on Haymarket Square on the sinister night of the bomb throwing and was severely wounded. In 1906, Ettor was heard of on the Pacific Coast organizing the debris workers after the earthquake and engaging with the Pinkertons in various squab- bles that landed him in the lock-up. At the time of the disaster, Ettor was employed in the shipyards as an ironworker. He left the Golden Gate in 1907 to travel up and down the Pacific coast as an organizer for the I. W. -W. In this capacity he visited many lumber and railroad camps and was more than once warned to leave on threat of being killed. He came East and in the McKees Rocks strike rose to prominence owing to his fluency in several languages, for the strike of the Pressed Steel Car Company's men was waged almost entirely by foreigners and unskilled work- men. He was also active in the big strike which af- fected Schwab's steel works in South Bethlehem. He inaugurated new strike tactics, employing freely the camera to gather evidence of the men's lineup. He also directed the shoe workers' strike in Brook- lyn ; when this was over, he betook himself to Law- rence, where he was arrested with Giovannitti and tried as accessory to the murder of an Italian girl who 112 THE NEW UNIONISM had been shot during a street riot. He was kept in jail without trial much longer than the statutes of Massachusetts permitted the authorities to hold him. It was feared at a time that he should share the fate of the Chicago anarchists. Fortunately, the apparently well founded charges that certain mill owners had " planted " evidence damaging to the workers, dis- credited the prosecution; Ettor and Giovannitti were acquitted. Arturo Giovannitti, the poet of the industrialist movement was born twenty-nine years ago in Cam- pobasso in the province of Abruzzi, Italy. He came into prominence at the time of the Lawrence strike. During his confinement in the Lawrence jail, he wrote several poems among others " The Walker " and " The Cage " which attracted much attention when they appeared in conservative publications. Giovan- nitti received his education at the University of his native city, which he left when he was barely sixteen. His life in the United States has been picturesque and variegated. He was in turn a minter, a bookkeeper, a theological student, a mission preacher, a tramp. For four years, he has edited II Proldwdo, an indus- trialist weekly of New York City. William E. Trautman, who has been especially active in organizing the Brewery Workers was born in New Zealand, forty-four years ago. After his father's death in a mine disaster, he was sent to school in Germany. He worked as a brewer in sev- eral parts of Germany and Eussia. In 1892 he came to the United States where his wide experience and his linguistic ability have made him one of the most useful workers in cosmopolitan communities. Traut- man is not only a clever organizer, but a clear thinker and his pamphlets on Why Strikes are Lost, One Big Union, Direct Action and Sabotage, are forceful ex- positions of the American industrialist methods. Another picturesque and attractive character among the I. W. W. organizers is Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who has been called the Joan of Arc of labor wars, and who seems destined some day to succeed Mother Jones as the foremost woman agitator. Hav- ing lost count of the various occasions on which she has been jailed, she points with pride to her Irish ancestors, who for six generations incurred at regular intervals the displeasure of the British authorities and paid frequent visits to political lockups of the Emerald Isle. Born in Concord, N. H., in 1890, she has been for eight years an active labor agitator. At fifteen she tried her hand at organizing by starting a socialist group made up of her classmates at the Morris High School, New York City. Then she began to address crowds at street corners and in 1907, being then sev- enteen years of age, was arrested for the first time for obstructing the traffic at Thirty-eighth Street and Broadway, New York. Two years later, in 1909, she was in Spokane and with 500 other members of the I. W. W. remained in jail until the tax payers, weary of being assessed for their maintenance, had all the speakers released and granted them full freedom of speech. She has been 114 THE NEW UNIONISM active in the Eastern strikes and played quite an im- portant part in the Lawrence strike. The industrialist idea is gaining headway among many unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The A. F. of L. which had thus far ig- nored entirely the unskilled workers has begun to organize them, especially in the sections of the coun- try where the I. W. W. has been active. The American Federation of Labor has never claimed that its membership included more than seven per cent, of the working class of America ; con- sidering the importance which unskilled labor is as- suming in the United States, owing to the constantly growing use of machinery in every industry, the unions of skilled craftsmen can no longer hold their own. Much discontent has been caused within the ranks of the A. F. of L. by the fact that during strikes, one craft is allowed to " scab " on another craft and that, furthermore, crafts have from time to time been disciplined for striking in sympathy with other crafts. A glaring instance of this lack of solidarity was observed during the recent newspaper strike in Chicago. When the pressmen were locked out by the Chicago Newspaper Association, news- boys, newspaper wagon drivers and stereotypers struck in sympathy. Thereupon, tfye stereotypera were expelled from the International Union of which they were members while a charter was granted to the strike breakers who had taken their places. At the convention of the American Federation of Labor in November, 1912, the delegates of the United IN THE UNITED STATES 1151 Mine Workers, acting under instructions, offered a resolution committing the American Federation of Labor to approval of industrial organization in- stead of the present organization by crafts. The resolution was referred to the committee on educa- tion which drew up a majority and a minority report. The majority report reaffirmed the present attitude of the Federation and reaffirmed the system of craft organization. The minority report recommended, . . . that where practicable one organization should have jurisdiction over an industry, and where, in the judgment of the majority of the men actually involved, it is not prac- ticable, then the committee recommends that they organize and federate in a department and work together in such manner as to protect, as far as possible, the interests of all connecting branches.' For an entire day a conflict raged over this resolu- tion for, under the rules of the convention, the mi- nority report had to be considered first and voted on. When the vote was taken, the old order was sustained by a vote of about two to one. When we consider, however, that the New Union- ism was openly favored at the convention by many men prominent in the councils of the Federation, among them being John Mitchell, John P. White, Frank Hayes and Duncan McDonald, we gather the impression that the Federation will either have to yield to economic necessity and reorganize or be crip- pled by a landslide which would throw the balance of power on the side of the I. W. W. The attitude of the United Mine Workers, of the Brewery Work- ers and especially of the Building Trades and of the 116 THE NEW UNIONISM Metal Trades which have been organized in Depart- ments within the A. F. of L. are symptoms whose importance the observer cannot minimize. Only a few months after that momentous conven- tion, on February 1, 1913, the American Federation of Labor surprised the labor world by announcing its plans for " a nation wide campaign the purpose of which is to organize all the unorganized workers and to enroll immigrants as soon as they land in this country." The campaign will be waged among foreigners as well as Americans and 500,000 pamphlets telling of the object of the American Federation of Labor, printed in thirteen languages Russian, French, Italian, German, Danish, Swedish, Portuguese, Polish, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Spanish, Slovak and English will be distributed. As a large part of the organized labor contingent in this country consists of the so-called " hobo " workers who travel from one section of the country to the other, following the fluctuations of the labor market, the system of craft organization will un- doubtedly have to be modified by the introduction of free transfer cards, for the hobo worker changes his occupation almost every six months. Neither could the unskilled and the newly landed immigrant be prevailed upon to join craft unions unless entrance fee and monthly dues were strictly nominal. Be- tween a group of craft unions with nominal cash re- quirements and universal transfer cards and on the other hand a purely industrial union, the difference will be very_ insignificant. IN THE UNITED STATES 11T The development of the New Unionism has been watched with interest by the colored workers of the United States who, welcomed at first by the early labor organizations, have suffered many disappoint- ments at the hands of the American Federation of Labor and of the Socialist Party. Soon after the Civil War, labor organizations un- derstood that unless they admitted the colored man to membership they would face a new danger; the negro would specialize as a strike breaker. On August 19, 1866, the National Labor Union called upon " all laborers of whatever nationality, creed or color, skilled or unskilled, to join hands with us." In 1869, the Knights of Labor was organized and dis- carded all distinction of " race, creed or color." The A. F. of L. began by following the same policy, but very soon adopted the system of separate unions and, in 1902* passed a resolution excluding colored men from local unions, city or central labor bodies, etc. Many socialist locals of the South have kept the negro out as a matter of policy to avoid clashes with their white neighbors. In decided contrast with the exclusiveness of un- ions and locals, the I. W. W. groups of the South have a mixed membership and the solidarity of both races during the Southern Timber Workers' strike has done a good deal towards destroying in both races the feel- ing that the negro is naturally destined to break the strikes of white workers. The American Socialist party has observed witht .displeasure the growth of the New Unionism, not be- 118 THE NEW UNIONISM cause the alms of socialism and syndicalism differ in any essentials but rather because the Socialist party finds a stronger ally, financially and otherwise in the A. F. of L. than in the I. W. W. While it has not ostracized industrialism as such, as the English and the German parties have done, its last Congress held in June, 1912, at Indianapolis, adopted a resolution introduced by Morris Hillquit of New York, accord- ing to which any member of the party who opposes political action or advocates sabotage as a weapon of the working class to aid in its emancipation, shall be expelled from membership in the party. This can be diplomatically interpreted as allowing the party to retain the silent rank and file of the I. W. W. as dues paying members while the few indi- vidual leaders whose public utterances might be favorable to direct action and unfavorable to parlia- mentary action can be singled out for exemplary punishment. While members of the party who countenance sabotage have not been molested (for instance, mem- bers of the Pittsburgh branch who advocated it re- cently in their fight with a certain department store) , charges have been brought against Haywood. And yet Haywood has never declared himself as openly and brutally as the French syndicalists (see Chapter on Sabotage) or even Tom Mann on the subject of eabotage and parliamentary action. In an address on the general strike delivered in New York City in August, 1911, he sang the praise of the general strike but did not exactly discountenance the use of the bal- lot. He said : IN THE TTMTED STATES 110 There are vote-getters and politicians who waste their time coming into a community where ninety per cent, of the men have no vote, where the women are disfranchised 100 per cent., and where the boys and girls under age, of course, are not enfranchised. Still they will speak to these people about the power of the ballot, and they never men- tion a thing about the power of the general strike. They seem to lack the foresight, the penetration to interpret polit- ical power. They seem to lack the understanding that the broadest interpretation of political power comes through the industrial organization ; that the industrial organization is capable not only of the general strike, but prevents the capitalists from disfranchising the worker; it gives the vote to women, it re-enfranchises the black man and places the ballot in the hands of every boy and girl employed in a shop, makes them eligible to take part in the general strike, makes them eligible to legislate for themselves where they are most interested in changing conditions, namely, in the place where they work. He added in another part of the same speech : There isn't any one, Socialist, S. L. P., Industrial Worker, or any other workingman or woman, no matter what society you belong to, but what believes in the ballot. There are those and I am one of them who refuse to have the ballot interpreted for them. I know, or think I know, the power of it, and I know that the industrial organization, as I stated in the beginning, is its broadest interpretation. I know, too, that when the workers are brought together in a great organization they are not going to cease to vote. That is when the workers will begin to vote, to vote for directors to operate the industries in which they are all employed. In a booklet, Industrial Socialism, written by Hay- wood in collaboration with the more conservative Frank Bohn, we read the following which, like the first preamble of the I. W. W. ; seems to be an awk- 120 THE NEW UNIONISM ward attempt at reconciling Socialism and Industrial- ism: The great purpose of the Socialist Party is to seize the powers of government and thus prevent them from being used by the capitalists against the workers. With Socialists in political offices the workers can strike and not be shot. They can picket shops and not be arrested and imprisoned. Freedom of speech and of the press, now often abolished by the tyrannical capitalists, will be secured to the working class. Then they can continue the shop organization and the education of the workers. To win the demands made on the industrial field, it is absolutely necessary to control the government, as experience shows strikes to have been lost through the interference of courts and militia. The same functions of government, controlled by a class-conscious working class, will be used to inspire confidence and com- pel the wheels of industry to move in spite of the devices and stumbling blocks of the capitalists. The Socialist Party is not a political party in the same sense as other parties. The success of Socialism would abol- ish practically every office existing under the present form of government. Councils, legislatures and congresses would not be composed principally of lawyers, as they are now, whose highest ambition seems to be to enact laws with loop- holes in them for the rich. But the legislatures of the work- ers would be composed of men and women representing the different branches of industry and their work would be to improve the conditions of labor, to minimize the expenditure of labor-power, and to increase production. Contrast the foregoing with what Haywood and Bohn have to say of reforms, which after all are the only immediate result of political action : Socialism has no concern with the numberless social re- forms which the capitalists are now preaching in order to gave their miserable profit system. IN THE TOTTED STATES 12U Old age pensions are not Socialism. The workers had much better fight for higher wages and shorter hours. Old age pensions under the present government are either char- ity doled out to paupers, or bribes given to voters by poli- ticians. Self-respecting workers despise such means of sup- port. Free meals or cent meals for poverty stricken school children are not Socialism. Industrial freedom will enable parents to give their children solid food at home. Free food to the workers cuts wages and kills the fighting spirit. William E. Trautman in Direct Action and Sabotage admits of parliamentary action as a means of minimizing the dangers of direct action : With the law-making and law-executing agencies of capi- talism as guardians of capitalist interests, out of the way, the foundation may be easier undermined. It must even be conceded that political parties, exercising the mandates of the working class, may be able to remove the most pernicious opponents to the rights of the producers to the jobs and all the proceeds of that job, and place in their stead advocates of working class interests. But then, this should never di- vert the activities of the workers from aiming constantly and directly at the foundation of all these agencies, the eco- nomic power of the oppressors and exploiters. A political party claiming to represent the toilers may have its func- tionaries in the law-making and law-executing agencies. But it should be for the purpose alone to facilitate the for- mation of class organization of workers for the attack against the seat of capitalist power, to wit: the monopoly over the places of employment. The I. W. W. press, that is the Industrial Worker, a weekly published in Spokane, and Solidarity, a weekly published in New Castle, are more outspoken. We quote from an editorial in Solidarity for Decem- ber 21, 1912: 122 THE NEW UNIONISM Our members can " vote " if they want to, but I haven't voted at an election since 1900 and probably never will again. The I. W. W. is not a political party. It is a labor union, that aims to unite all the workers of the world at the places where they work in the shops, mills, mines, factories, railroads, farms, and everywhere that wealth is produced in order (1st) to fight the owners for better conditions, such as more wages, a shorter workday, etc., and (2nd) through these industrial unions, to develop the class spirit of the workers and drill them to the point where they (the work- ers) will be able to seize the workshops and operate them for themselves, thus compelling the Rockefellers and other capitalists to go to work. This is different from the Socialist Party, which teaches that the workers are going to vote themselves into control of the government and then use the government to run the in- dustries. The I. W. W. fights that idea, because we know that government ownership would be essentially the same kind, or a worse, slavery than now exists under private ownership. The politicians in the Socialist Party, who want offices in the government, fight the I. W. W. because we have no place in our ranks for them, and if our idea prevails, it will crowd them out and destroy their influence as " saviours of the working class." These politicians cater for votes to the middle class to business men, farm owners and other small labor skinners while the I. W. W. appeals only to wage workers, and allows none but actual wage workers to join our ranks. The Socialists can never get a majority of votes for a working class programme (if they had such a pro- gramme) because the majority of voters are middle class, since about ten million male wage workers are disfranchised (being foreigners or floaters without long enough residence in one place to have votes). But the wage workers are a big majority of the whole people, and produce nearly all wealth, so when they organize as the I. W. W. proposes, the working class will control the country, and with similar IN THE UNITED STATES 123 organizations in other countries will control the world. Foreigners, women, children and other non-voters at elec- tions, have equal rights in the union, and can take part in its activities, regardless of nationality, age, sex, or any other consideration except that they are wage workers with common interests in opposition to those of the employers. As far as sabotage is concerned, all the I. W. W. speakers and the I. W. W. press countenance it al- though they steadily warn the workers against the indiscriminate and unsocial use of that weapon of warfare. CHAPTER VII THE NEW UNIONISM IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM THE ideas which were to foster the birth of the New Unionism in England can be traced back to the Chartist movement and Robert Owen's theories. Theoretically what the Chartists demanded was merely political reform; in reality every speech de- livered by their leaders pointed to the impotence of parliament to deal with the labor problems of the day. " Where are the fine promises they made you ? " a Chartist orator asked his audience. " Cheap bread they cry, but they mean low wages. Do not listen to their cant and humbug." Owen's cure for the terrible conditions obtaining in England in the thirties and forties was a General Federation of the Workers' Unions which would take over and operate all the national industries. The idea of direct action and of a general strike however must have moved obscurely the minds of many work- ers. The riots of the year 1842 when a million and a half people or one-eleventh of the population had to be given poor relief and when three attempts were made upon the Queen's life within three months, re- vealed the anarchic despair which was to be system- atized into direct action. In 1848 leaders of the laboring classes endeavoring to obtain political re- forms from parliament did not rely upon persuasion 124 IN EKGLAND: SYNDICALISM 125 so mucH as upon the fear which a display of popular violence might strike into the hearts of the repre- sentatives. To a display of popular violence, how- ever, the Duke of Wellington answered by a display of regular troops guarding Westminster palace. The unorganized mob shrunk back and sent a meek peti- tion to the M. P.'s whom it had first intended to cow; into submission. Friedrich Engels wrote confidently in 1847 that " the Chartist movement must inevitably lead to so- cialism." It apparently led to nothing more radical than trade unionism. It was not until the year 1910 that syndicalist ideas began once more to permeate the masses of English workers. The rise in prices which according to Kautsky (Neue Zeii, June 11, 1911) was six per cent, from 1900 to 1908, coinciding with a sharp decline in wages had much to do with the labor unrest of 1910. A series of sudden strikes affected the railroads, the shipyards, the mills and the mines. Those dis- turbances did not abate in 1911 and were character- ized by the fact that the initiative, in almost every case, came from the men who struck against the wishes of their leaders. The reasons for the lead- ers' conservative attitude in certain cases are disclosed by an article published in the Daily Herald of London for December 11, 1912. It came out that a large part of the reserve fund of the Amalgamated Society of Railroad Unions had been invested in stock of eleven British railroad compan- ies, several of which had been the bitterest opponents of unionism. 126 ,THE NEW UNIONISM If many other unions have been guilty of such lack of financial wisdom it can readily be understood that the leaders bent on " showing good results " at the end of the year are loath to countenance any move which could cause the union's holdings to shrink. In 1910 and 1911 it became apparent that the vari- ous unions were drawing more closely towards one another. The unskilled workers were no longer ig- nored but they were organized for the first time as a fighting machine. William D. Haywood's visit to England in 1910 and Tom Mann's return from Aus- tralia in the same year were instrumental in attract- ing the attention of both organized and unorganized workers to the need of new tactics. The trade union congress of 1910 was moved by Ben Tillett to pass the following resolution which was afterwards endorsed on referendum by 1,175,000 votes against 256,000: The present system of sectional trade unionism is unable to successfully combat the encroachments of modern capital- ism, and while recognizing the usefulness of sectional union- ism in the past and present, the congress realizes that much greater achievements are possible and the redemption of the working class would be hastened if all the existing unions were amalgamated by industries, with one central executive, elected by the combined unions, and with power to act unitedly, whenever there is a strike or lock out in any in- dustry, thus making the grievance of one the concern of all. The congress therefore instructs its parliamentary commit- tee to put themselves in communication with all the trade unions in Great Britain and ascertain their views on the above question, also to promote a general scheme of amalga- mation and make a recommendation on the matter to the next congress. IN ENGLAOT): SYNDICALISM 127 The leader who is chiefly responsible for this deep change in the policies of the trade unions is Tom Mann. He was born in Warwickshire in 1856. At ten he went to work in the mines and barely es- caped with his life from a mine fire. At twelve he became an apprentice engineer at the very time when engineers had obtained their Sunday rest and a con- siderable reduction in the number of working hours. This enabled him to acquire some education. He came into prominence in 1889 when he organized the successful strike of the gas workers. In the fall of that year the great dockers' strike took place. Mann assumed control of it assisted by Ben Tillett, secre- tary of the union, and John Burns who was after- wards to emulate Briand's conduct. Soon after Mann left the position of secretary of the Independent Labor Party and became president of the Transport Workers Federation. In order to acquaint himself with the transport situation in Eu- rope he visited every port of importance, being ex- pelled from several continental countries. In 1901, following Henry D. Lloyd's advice, he went to Australia which was then commonly repre- sented as the workers' paradise. What Mann thinks of that paradise is related in the chapter relative to Australia. The Australian Labor Government had him placed under arrest and kept him locked up for six months. Mann had left England a believer in parliamentary action and in trade unionism. He returned to Eng- land a direct actionist and industrialist. In his propaganda, however, he followed the methods ap- if: 128 THE NEW UNIONISM plied by the French Confederation of Labor. He was careful not to antagonize the existing trade union movement. His aim was to induce the unions to open their doors to the unorganized and unskilled and to federate or amalgamate themselves into larger bodies as inclusive as the industries in which they were employed. He never organized new unions, not even when one category of workers was unorganized as were, for example, the waterside workers in Dub- lin. He organized them not into a new union but as a new organism within the already existing Na- tional Transport Workers Federation. 1 i This is what H. M. Hyndman writes of Tom Mann in his "Further Reminiscences," published recently: ;" Tom Mann is the boldest, most vehement, and most stir- ring agitator I have ever known. His dark black hair, his fiery eyes, his energetic face and figure, give Mann a dis- tinctly foreign appearance. For life, go, humor, vigor, in- exhaustible and unflagging energy, I have never met Tom Mann's equal. After spending the whole of the daytime in speaking, organizing, persuading, denouncing, pervading the whole area of disturbance to an extent that make him appear ubiquitous, after a display of zeal and a manifestation of en- thusiasm enough to have exhausted half-a-dozen good men, Tom turned up at tea or supper as gay and cheery and full of life as if he had done no work at all. For a good deal more than a quarter of a century Tom Mann has been carry- ing on this way, not only in England, but in Australia and elsewhere. And his knowledge and charm of manner are equal to his marvelous vitality. Moreover, of all the Labor leaders I have ever met, Tom Mann is the one man who, how- ever successful he may be, puts on the least ' side.' After a speech which has aroused his audience to almost hysterical enthusiasm, down Tom will step from the platform and take names for the organization or sell literature to all and sun- dry, as if he were the least considered person at the gather- ing. Even those who differ from him most widely cannot but respect him." him."X^ IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 129' In one of the pamphlets issued by Tom Mann un- der the general title of The Industrial Syndicalist, he describes the present situation as follows: The present situation is unique in the history of the world. Never before has there been so extensive a movement, which, surmounting the barrier of nationality, is consciously striv- ing forward to the next stage in the evolution of mankind, where competition will have to give way to cooperation as surely as primitive society has had to give way to civiliza- tion. . . . Most of us have been all along ready and willing to take our share of work in any direction making for the advance of our ideal, viz., the abolition of poverty by the abolition of capitalism (not as some of our intelligent critics say, by the abolition of capital). . . . Trade unionism as un- derstood at present is powerless to emancipate the workers; its fatal weakness is to be found simply if not solely, in the sectional character of the eleven hundred unions of the United Kingdom in the complete absence of the true spirit of working class solidarity and, therefore in the in- ability of the unionists to utilize the machinery at their dis- posal for scientifically conducting the class war. ... In the case of the engineering and shipbuilding industry, the action of the masters is aimed to cover, and succeeds in cov- ering, the whole of those workers in the establishments owned by them, no matter how many trades there may be. It is the entire shipbuilding industry they are after, and so they take care to act concertedly over the whole industry, and this covers some twenty different trades, organized into some twenty-four different unions. These twenty-four unions have never been able to take combined action against the capitalists. Hence this weakness . . . the trade union movement must be revolutionary . . . and as regards meth- ods, must refuse to enter into any long time agreements with the masters whether with legal or state backing, or merely voluntary. His pamphlet No. & repeats the warning against 130 THE NEW UNIONISM long agreements and the promises to give employers notice when an increase in wages is to be demanded: The capitalists, being so politely and considerately warned beforehand, are able to stock goods in such quantities that by the time the notice of the operators expires they can defy them to do their worst. .Victory cannot be gained, however, until there is complete solidarity between the so-called skilled and the unskilled workers. We quote from his pam- phlet No. 4: The first work of the skilled workers, even in their inter- est, ought to be to force the bringing about of a substantial raise of the wage standard of the unskilled, and by this means they will have destroyed the strongest weapon of the employers. The vast majority of those who are not organized [we read in his pamphlet No. 7] are the unskilled. . . . They are receiving in some cases one-half, in some cases not more than one-third and in some cases not one-fourth of the amount received by their fellow workers classed as skilled, in the same work shops, shipyards and other institutions. . . . It does not mean that there will be any action tolerating or approving the pulling down of the skilled man's pay. But it does mean that with the unifying of the unions in each in- dustry, and the taking of common action embracing all la- borers, the laborer shall receive the first and most important attention because he is lowest in the social scale. The following passage from pamphlet No. 5 is es- pecially interesting on account of its bearing on the miners' strike: The time has gone by when reactionary officials are to be allowed to impede working-class advance; it is really a case of "get on and lead," or "get out and follow"; and the eooner this is fully realized the better for all concerned. IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM I desire to here emphasize the fact that there is not one coal-mine in the legal possession of the working 1 miners, or indeed of any body of workers in the whole of Britain; if there is, I know not of it; yet a very large percentage of the miners are members of the cooperative movement, and the cooperative movement in some districts is burdened with more capital than can be advantageously used. Many of the trade unions invest their accumulated funds in distinctly capitalist business concerns, or in municipal corporation stock; surely it would be wise on the part of the workers in the cooperative and trade unionist movements to get complete control in various parts of the country of a number of coal-mines, from which their own household sup- plies could be drawn and thus ensure supplies during a dis- pute. In his letter of resignation from the British Social Democratic party, Tom Mann expressed unequivo- cally his contempt for parliamentary action: After the most careful reflection I am driven to the be- lief that the real reason why the trade unionist movement in this country is in such a deplorable state of inefficiency is to be found in the fictitious importance which the workers have been encouraged to attach to parliamentary action. I find nearly all the serious-minded young men in the La- bor and Socialist movement have their minds centered upon obtaining some position in public life, such as local, munici- pal, or county councilorship, or filling some governmental office, or aspiring to become a member of parliament. I am driven to the belief that this is entirely wrong, and that economic liberty will never be realized by such means. So I declare in favor of Direct Industrial Organization, not as a means but as the means whereby the workers can ulti- mately overthrow the capitalist system and become the actual controllers of their own industrial and social destiny. Later he wrote in The Syndicalist for November, 1912; 132 THE NEW UNIONISM Those who know the real attitude of syndicalists towards parliament, know full well that our ignoring of parlia- mentary methods is not as the manifesto states, because the present Labor Party in- the House of Commons has failed to voice the real needs of the people. Our objection is a much more serious one, it is that parliament is part of the decaying capitalist re'gime, an institution wholly unsuited to afford the workers opportunities of getting control of the industries and the wealth produced by the workers in these industries. We look upon parliament as utterly unsuited to the enabling of the workers to apply their own power in the controlling and ultimate owning of all wealth-producing agencies. Many members of the B. S. P. claim for parlia- ment that it is an excellent platform for propaganda pur- poses, but they frankly admit its uselessness for the purposes of revolution and reconstruction of society. We declare it to be not of the smallest value that there should be a few socialist speeches made in such a place. Such speeches would give the workers no power nor would they send fear to the hearts of the capitalists. Naturally the capitalists will fear nothing until they find they are losing the power to control the working-class. Our syndicalist method is the encouragement of the working-class to control itself. There is absolutely no agency in existence or projected at all suit- able to this great work except the industrial organizations of the workers. These unions at present have many faults, many officials are utterly and stupidly reactionary ; even so, the unions have all the essentials for enabling the workers to actually function as controllers of wealth production, and, what is equally important, of wealth distribution. Indus- trial solidarity is the one and only all-powerful agency through which and by which work will be controlled, all un- employment solved, and capitalist exploitation stopped for- ever. Tom Mann is opposed to parliamentary action for another reason: parliamentary life corrupts the mor- IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 133 als of the revolutionists and transforms them speedily; into mere steady bourgeois. Says Mann: The most moderate and fair-minded are compelled to de- clare that, not in one country but in all, a large proportion of those comrades who, prior to being returned, were un- questionably revolutionary, are no longer so after spending a few years in parliament. They become revolutionary, neither in their attitude towards existing society nor in re- spect of present-day institutions. Indeed, it is no exaggera- tion to say that many seem to have constituted themselves apologists for existing society, showing such a degree of studied respect for bourgeois conditions, and a toleration of bourgeois methods, that destroys the probability of their do- ing any real work of a revolutionary character. Mann's ideas on sabotage can be judged from a semi-humorous speech of his reported in the Syndi- calist for November, 1912 : Direct action must be used. In the time of the Israelites a man named Moses came along and said to them, " Come, friends, are you willing to revolt against your terrible con- ditions ? " " Revolt," said they, " what do you mean "? " " Why," said Moses, " the strike. Use direct action," and he went from one to another of the twelve tribes and ob- tained their consent, and then they all said to Pharaoh, " Let us go." But the capitalists hardened their hearts and would not let them go ; then Jehovah applied " Sabotage," the plagues of lice, darkness, etc., and finally killed their eldest sons to punish them for their wickedness. Mann's attitude to militarism coincides with that of the Herveist faction in the French C. G. T. An Open Letter to Soldiers published in the Syndicalist for January, 1912, caused the printers, Benjamin and 134' THE NEW UNIONISM Charles Buck, and the editor, Guy Bowman, to be prosecuted for " endeavoring to seduce persons serving in Forces of His Majesty the King by land or sea from their duty and allegiance to his Majesty, and inciting them to traitorous and mutinous practices." The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to nine months' hard labor. Tom Mann then declared himself responsible for the publication of the letter and he too was found guilty and sentenced to nine months' hard labor. The Open Letter to Soldiers, reads as follows : OPEN LETTER TO BRITISH SOLDIERS. Men! Comrades! Brothers! You are in the army. So are WE. You, in the army of Destruction. WE, in the Industrial, or army of Construction. WE work at mine, mill, forge, factory, or dock, etc., pro- ducing and transporting all the goods, clothing, stuffs, etc., which make it possible for people to live. You ABE WORKINGMEN'S SONS. WHEN WE go on Strike to better OUR lot, which is the lot also of YOUR FATHERS, MOTHERS, BROTHERS and SIS- TERS, YOU are called upon by your officers to MURDER US. Don't do it I You know how it happens. Always has happened. We stand out as long as we can. Then one of our (and your) irresponsible Brothers, goaded by the sight and thought of his and his loved ones' misery and hunger, com- mits a crime on property. Immediately You are ordered to MURDER Us, as You did at Mitehellstown, at Featherstone, at Belfast. Don't You know, that when You are out of the colors and become a " Civy " again that You, like Us, may be on IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM Strike, and You, like Us, be liable to be MUEDEEED by other soldiers'? BOYS, DON'T Do IT! "Tnou SHALT Nor KILL," says the Book. DON'T FORGET THAT! It does not say, "unless you have a uniform on." No! MURDER IS MURDER, whether committed in the heat of anger on one who has wronged a loved one or by pipe-clayed Tommies with rifles. BOYS, DON'T Do IT! ACT THE MAN ! ACT THE BROTHER ! ACT THE HUMAN; BEING ! Property can be replaced ! Human life, never ! The Idle Rich Class, who own and order you about, own and order us about also. They and their friends own the land and means of life of Britain. You DON'T. WE DON'T. When WE kick they order You to MURDER Us. When You kick You get court-martialed and cells. YOUR fight is OUR fight. Instead of fighting AGAINST each other WE should be fighting WITH each other. Out of OUR loins, OUR lives, OUR homes, You came. Don't disgrace YOUR PARENTS, YOUR CLASS, by being the willing tools any longer of the MASTER CLASS. You, like Us, are of the SLAVE CLASS. When WE rise, You rise, when WE fall, even by your bullets, YE fall also. England, with its fertile valleys and dells, its mineral re- sources, its sea harvests, is the heritage of ages to us. You, no doubt, joined the Army out of poverty. WE work long hours for small wages at hard work be- cause of OUR poverty. And both YOUR poverty and OURS arises from the fact that, Britain, with its resources, belongs to only a few people. These few, owning Britain, own OUR jobs. Owning OUR jobs, they own OUR very LIVES. Com- rades, have WE called in vain? Think things out and re- fuse any longer to MURDER YOUR KINDRED. Help US to win back BRITAIN for the BRITISH and the WORLD for the WORKERS ! Mann's propaganda soon began to bear fruit. Feb- urary, 1911, witnessed the establishment of a " Pro- visional Committee for Consolidating the Trade Unions and building Industry into one organization." This committee soon assumed important proportions and to-day includes representatives from the Paint- ers' Society, Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners, Operative Stone Masons, General Union of Carpen- ters, Amalgamated Order of General Laborers, Na- tional Association of Operative Plumbers, Electri- cians' Union, Operative Bricklayers' Society, etc., etc. The Operative Bricklayers gave it valuable support at the outset, offering the committee a meet- ing hall, rent free, for the purpose of carrying on its work and contributing liberally to the propaganda fund. Ted Morris of the Operative Bricklayers' Society and a member of this Committee moved the Trade Union congress of 1911 to pass this resolution: The congress recognizing the increased power of the cap- italists in closing up their ranks and their adoption of im- proved methods deplores the lack of a similar consolidation among the workers. It urges therefore that the parliamen- tary committee take steps to call conferences of the different industries, with a view to amalgamating the several trade unions connected with each industry. In September, 1911, when the supreme council of the Operative Bricklayers' Society held their annual meeting, they decided to create within their society a consolidation committee for the purpose of bring- ing about a combine of all building workers. The committee drafted the following circular; Or ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 187 OBJECT ONE UNION FOR THE BUILDING INDUSTRY Fellow Workers: Recent events affecting the position and influence of or- ganized labor have led to a general revival of interest among the industrially organized workers on the question of the best means to be adopted to increase the power of the fight- ing arm of our class the trade unions. Almost univer- sally the cry has gone up for the greater unity of action among the unions catering for the workers in a given in- dustry. Therefore we, the members of the above commit- tee, wish to submit the following suggestions and proposals to you, hoping they will receive your careful consideration and support: SECTIONAL UNIONISM Sectional unionism is no longer able to cope with the con- ditions and problems of modern industry in the building trades. During late years a complete change has taken place in the construction of buildings, as regards the ma- terials used, and also the part played by labor. Machinery specialization, and speeding up of manual labor have broken down, in a large measure, the craftmanship which was a great factor in the former power of existing forms of in- dustrial organization, and has greatly reduced the time formerly required for the erection of buildings. Needless to say, this has increased the competition among the work- ers, increased the periods of unemployment, and made great inroads on the old trade lines. All this has meant endless demarcation disputes among the various sections of skilled workers, leading to bitter struggles between trade unions catering for allied crafts, and the wasting of our fighting strength in internal disputes, whose only effect has been to consolidate the power of the employing class. Against the solidarity of the masters we have appeared weak in comparison, each section fighting for its own hand, and making separate agreements with the emi 138 THE NEW UNIONISM ployers, winch they (the masters) have skillfully used to suit their own ends, i. e., to prevent united action by the work- ers. The result of this policy has had disastrous effects, due to the misguided belief among the workers that indus- trial organization is played out. We are no longer re- spected, because we are no longer feared. Now, if this state of affairs is to be improved we have no hesitation in saying that new methods of organization, coupled with a new policy, will have to be adopted. THE NEW METHOD The new method of organization we suggest is the amal- gamation of existing trade unions catering for the workers engaged in the building trades. Such an organization should be constructed so as to admit to membership all workers employed in the building industry. This recogni- tion by our organization of the common interests of all who work for wages will have the desirable effect of breaking down the prejudices which have divided our forces in the past, and through having one union for the building trades, make our industrial organization a power again. A fighting policy will draw again to our ranks the workers who are at present unorganized. Even with our present membership much could be done to improve our working conditions. A great amount of the present senseless cut- throat competition in output could be avoided, and a gen- eral movement could be undertaken to raise wages and shorten the hours of labor. A properly organized propa- ganda, from convenient centers, would also be effective in unifying the rates of wages of the various grades in a given area. INTERNAL Internal organization should be of such a character as to allow of the fullest freedom for the various grades to dis- cuss and promote the advance of their sectional interests in line with the general policy of the whole organization. Sectional strikes should be reduced to the lowest possible margin consistent with the maintenance of a fighting organ- IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 139 ization. When a district or a national stoppage is decided on, all sections should be prepared with claims for improved conditions. One of the immediately pressing needs is the abolition of long time agreements, and the unifying of the time set for their expiration, so that concerted action is pos- sible for the industry all over the country. We have thus briefly enumerated some of the advantages to be gained from an, amalgamation of existing trade unions; we therefore suggest the following as the Name, the Object, and the Immediate Functions the organization should take: NAME. The Building Workers' Industrial Union. OBJECT. To unite the present building trades' unions into one union, embracing the whole of the wage workers engaged therein ; with a view to building a union which, in conjunction with other industrial unions, will ultimately form the framework of the machinery to control and regu- late production in the interests of the entire community. IMMEDIATE FUNCTIONS 1st. To maintain a fight- ing organization, working to improve the material condi- tions of the workers engaged in the building industry; to take joint action with other similar unions in the furtherance of the interests of the workers nationally and internation- ally, believing that the interests of all wage workers are identical. 2nd. The systematic organization of propaganda among the workers, upon the necessity of becoming organized on the industrial field, upon the basis of class instead of craft. Organize by industry as workers, instead of by sections as craftsmen. FINANCIAL. 1st. For trade purposes, a uniform scale of contributions and benefits. 2nd. The amalgamation of the friendly side benefits into a separate account. HOW TO HELP For carrying on an immediate propaganda in favor of the above suggestions, members everywhere should form groups L"40 THE NEW UNIONISM of branches to discuss the subject. Later, grouped meetings of the various trade unions concerned should be held, and resolutions should be drafted and forwarded to the various executive bodies, asking that a vote of the members be taken on the subject by a given date. If the result is favorable, a grouped national delegate meeting of all the building trades' unions should then be demanded, to formulate pro- posals for the suggested amalgamation. . . . Arrangements were made for special meetings to consider the leaflet, with the result that it was adopted by 186 branches to twelve, and by the part this leaflet has subsequently played it bids fair to be- come one of the most important documents in the history of the British trade union movement. A conference was held at Essex Hall, Strand, Lon- don, on April 18, 1912, and the following socie- ties with a membership of 200,000 were represen- ted: Operative Bricklayers' Society, General Laborers' Amalgamated Union, Amalgamated Slaters and Tilers' Society, Gasworkers and General Laborers, Amalgamated Union of Labor, French Polishers, En- gine Drivers, Crane Drivers, Hydraulic and Boiler Attendants, National Association of Builders' La- borers, Scottish Painters' Society, General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, Operative Stonemasons' So- ciety, Manchester Unity of Operative Bricklayers, Plumbers' Association, United Builders' Laborers, National Amalgamated Painters, Street Masons, Pa- vers and Stone Dressers. After discussion the following resolutions, sub- IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM l4i mitted by the Operative Bricklayers' society dele- gates were carried : 1st. That this conference expresses its adherence to the resolutions passed by the last two Trade Union Congresses embodying the principle of amalgamating the present Trades Unions in the various industries, and therefore we, the rep- resentatives of the Building Trades Unions, consider the time is now opportune to put the principle into operation in our industry. 2nd. That a committee be appointed from this conference, to consist of one member from each society represented, to draw up a scheme to give effect to the previous resolution^ such scheme to be submitted to the next conference. The miners of South Wales have taken the initia- tive of a reorganization of the mining workers along industrial lines. The pamphlet The Miners' Next. Step, prepared by a number of militant spirits has created a deep stir in England. It proposes to con- solidate into one organization the whole of the coal, ore, slate, stone, clay, salt, mining or quarrying in- dustry of Great Britain, with one central executive. No agreements are to be signed with the employ- ers. Alliances are to be formed and trades organizations fos- tered with a view to steps being taken to amalgamate all workers into one National and International Union to work for the taking over of all industries by the workmen them- selves. The antiquated method of striking on account of griev- ances is to be discarded and the method of " irritation strike " is to be adopted, that is to say, the workers are to remain at work while reducing the output. At the Trade Union congress held in September, 1912, in Newport, violent hostility to the New Union- 142 THE NEW UNIONISM ism was displayed by the old time leaders who had become aware of the danger threatening them. In- dustrialism was energetically defended by Noah Ab- lett, a miner from South Wales, and by John Tur- ner, a shop assistant. "The Federation of Miners," Ablett said, " has waited twenty years for the eight- hour day law; but less than twelve months fight suf- ficed to obtain the minimum wage. We syndicalists will make our congress the industrial parliament of the future." No resolution was offered for or against the New Unionism but Ben Tillett's resolution demanding an inquiry into the question of conciliation and arbitra- tion was defeated by 1,481,000 votes against 350,- 000. There is little chance of the " Australian idea " taking a foothold in England. In November, 1912, the Revolutionary Syndica- lists of London and suburbs held a congress with Tom Mann in the chair. The delegates numbered ninety- seven, representing forty-seven unions, some trade councils and provisional committees formed in view of amalgamation, in all fifty-six labor bodies. Among the delegates were a dozen women. The first resolution dealt with the amalgamation of unions along industrial lines and invited the work- ers to form committees to prepare plans for consolida- tion. In the building trades amalgamation is prac- tically complete ; in the metal, transport and printing trades special Committees have been appointed. This resolution was carried almost unanimously by there being only one nay. The second resolution read as follows : IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 143 Whereas, the Trades Councils ought to be the real centers of Trade Union propaganda, and be used for building up the trade union movement of wage workers, outside, and independent of the control of any political school or reli- gious sect, this conference urges all organized bodies of work- ers to affiliate to the trades council of their district or to take immediate steps to form trades councils where none are existent. Then followed anti-war resolutions. After that the last resolution was read: Whereas, cases of international importance are getting more numerous every day, all countries should be coordi- nated, and an international policy decided upon, whereas war is the greatest calamity that could befall the interna- tional working-class movement, it is most urgent that com- mon action should be decided upon by the workers of all countries. This conference calls upon the Industrial Syn- dicalist Educational League to convoke an international Syndicalist Congress to be held in London as soon as pos- sible. It is not the time to merely vote resolutions but to take measures against the war. He insisted on the desirabil- ity of convening an International Syndicalist Congress, be- cause it was clear that the revolutionaries of all countries who are outside political parties, should make themselves heard, and the decisions of such an international syndicalist congress would be far more interesting than of any con- gress of socialist parties. In the discussion Tom Mann showed the necessity of common action against bellicose governments. In the middle of December the Amalgamation Com- mittees' Federation decided to send the following manifesto to the various trade unions throughout the country: THE NEW UNIONISM FELLOW-WORKERS The lessons the recent industrial disputes have furnished, prove that if we are to be more successful in our fight against the united forces of capitalism, we must in future enter the industrial conflict in a more up-to-date and better equipped form of industrial organization than we have done in the past with our craft Unions. The development of modern industry, with the introduc- tion of labour-saving machinery, specialization, speeding up, and its new methods of production, is displacing the skilled artisan, thereby forcing thousands of workers into the ranks of the unemployed. These changes have diminished the power of our Trade Unions, and we find ourselves unable to either resist the en- croachments of the employers upon our position, or to im- prove our conditions. The competition between the workers has not only in- creased, but our time, money, and energy are wasted by demarcation disputes which often break out into open rup- ture by the Unions fighting each other. As wage-workers (manual or intellectual) who are com- pelled to sell our labor power to live, we have a common interest; and instead of quarreling amongst ourselves as to who shall do a particular piece of work, we must unite as a class to secure the wealth we produce. WHAT IS NEEDED The great need of to-day is for a better form of indus- trial organization, coupled with a fighting policy. We must organize on the basis of class instead of craft. Our 1700 Trade Unions must be amalgamated into indus- trial Unions, so as to have but one union for one industry. Our Industrial Unions should be constructed so as to ad- mit to membership all workers, male or female, skilled or un- skilled, engaged in any one industry; and the work of or- ganization should be extended by uniting all industrial Unions into one federated body. TN EtfGLAKD: SYNDICALISM 145 Our object in organizing in this way is twofold. 1st. To take common action, nationally and internation- ally, to shorten the hours of labor, raise wages, and improve our conditions. 2nd. To construct an organization that will be capable of administering and regulating production in the interests of the whole community, and thus secure to the workers the full proceeds of their labor. HOW IT MUST BE DONE To achieve the above object it has been found necessary to establish " Amalgamation Committees " for each industry. These committees are composed of enthusiastic Trade Union- ists drawn from all Unions in the same industry and desir- ous of securing the above object. Such committees have al- ready been formed for the printing industry, the metal industry, the building industry, the transport industry, and the mining industry. But in order that the work of these committees might be coordinated, a uniform, plan of campaign entered upon, and the growth of such committees assisted and stimulated in every industry and in every industrial center, it has also been found necessary to federate these committees; hence this federation. HOW IT WILL BE DONE Thus, the Amalgamation Committees' Federation has been formed to improve our industrial organizations and make them a force for the uplifting of our class. We are to amalgamate the Trade Unions, not to destroy them. Through the medium of speakers and leaflets we shall conduct a vigorous campaign in favor of these proposals. By establishing committees on the lines above suggested we shall provide the necessary driving force to bring about the great change we desire, and the question of amalgama- tion will become a real live one. 146 THE NEW UNIONISM What we want is to give practical expression to the pre- vailing spirit of Industrial Solidarity. Fellow Unionists, with your moral and financial assistance, we can carry this movement to success. If you agree with us, see that this manifesto is read and acted upon at your next branch meeting. Remember the Unions belong to us, and are what we make them. The workers must work out their salvation themselves. Organization on the lines above described will supply us with a weapon that will constantly challenge the consolidated forces of capitalism until the worker is elevated to his right- ful position in society the owner and controller of the forces of production. As this chapter was near completion the following telegram appeared in the New York Times: London, Feb. 14. The amalgamation of the three prin- cipal unions of railroad workers in Great Britain was ac- complished this afternoon at a conference of the delegates of the different organizations, which has been in session in London for a week past. The object of the fusion is to insure cooperation, which has been lacking in the strikes called by the men in the past. The new organization will be called the National Union of Railway Men, and it will absorb the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, the United Pointsmen and Signal Men's Union and the General Railway Workers' Union. These three societies have a membership of about 200,000. The members of the Executive Committee will be invested with authority for ordering or ending a strike on terms which they deem satisfactory, without, as heretofore, acting after the taking of a ballot among the men. The British Socialist party has watched the growth of the New Unionism with the same concern which the American Socialist party has expressed over the development of the I. W. W. While the British go- IN ENGLAND: SYNDICALISM 147 cialists have not as yet pronounced against the syn- dicalists as definite a sentence of excommunication as the Hillquit amendment, the executive committee of the B. S. P. has felt called upon to define its atti- tude by means of a manifesto. The manifesto does not pronounce itself in prin- ciple against direct action by labor organizations, but it declares that political action is the main weapon of the party. " Those," says the B. S. P., "who denounce or neglect political action, by re- placing it by direct action, sabotage and chasing of blacklegs, are anarchists, excluded from the Interna- tional Socialist party. If a small part of the sacri- fices and expenses necessary in a strike, which often is but a policy of despair, was given to socialism in public affairs, the results would be quite important. Socialists, especially the members of the party, do not advise the wage earners to strike, but they will al- ways do what they can when the workers are in fight with their masters. Syndicalism is clearly opposed to socialism. It is not likely that syndicalist methods will find a good ground in England." The manifesto ends by appealing to all the mem- bers not to let themselves be forced into committing errors by the appeals of direct actionists in the pres- ent critical period. CHAPTER VIII THE NEW UNIONISM IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM THE first attempt at class-conscious action of a revolutionary nature chronicled in the history of labor in Italy was the revolt in 1894 of some 300,000 Sicil- ian peasants which was speedily ended by the soldiers' bullets. This was followed by several troubled years ; in 1898 the government dissolved every labor organi- zation in the land but the only effect of that high- handed measure was to fan the flame of discontent. The revolutionary spirit grew steadily fiercer until in July, 1900, an obscure laborer named Breschi killed King Humbert I. Renewed repression brought about terrible uprisings. When the Genoa Labor Exchange was closed by the authorities a general strike tied up completely the most important commer- cial center of Italy. The government had to relent. Federations of workers were organized in every city, the Federation of the Printing Trades, of Glass Workers, of Railroaders, of Textile Workers, of Maritime Work- ers, etc. In 1901 the agricultural workers held their first congress and organized themselves into a feder- ation. In 1902 a Labor Convention held in Milan decided to create a Central Secretariat of Resistance with the purpose of coordinating and systematizing the efforts of all the federations. 148 IK ITALY: SYNDICALISM 149> At that time the Socialist party exerted a power- ful influence upon the workers. After the general strike of 1904, however, that influence began to wane very rapidly. The workers suspected the " intellec- tuals," parliamentarians, lawyers, physicians, teach- ers, whose only aim was financial success through what Lanzillo calls " a socialist career." In 1906, the workers' representatives met again in Milan and decided to replace the useless and conservative Secre- tariat of Resistance by a broader and more aggres- sive organism, the Confederazione Generale del La- voro or 0. G. L. which is practically a duplicate of the French C. G. T. The eloquence of the intellectuals, however, soon defeated the congress' purpose and the 0. G. L. was from the very first pledged to a reformist policy. Enrico Ferri, editor of the Avanti and once revolu- tionary, became a stubborn opponent of syndicalism. Leone, Sabattini, de Ambris left the Avanti and kept up the syndicalist propaganda in the columns of II Sindicato Operaio. At an early stage of the struggle all the syndicalists resigned from the So- cialist party. While the rank and file of the C. G. L. which claims some -400,000 members is rather revolution- ary, the leaders, who are mostly reformist politicians, have kept the Confederation in absolute bondage and have transformed it into a mere electoral machine. Its main purpose seems to be not only to prevent strikes but to help the government in penalizing the strikers. In 1907 the railroaders struck against the decision 150 THE NEW UNIONISM of the C. G. L. Enrico Ferri published an editorial in the Avanti declaring that the strikers were not en- titled to any sympathy. The C. G. L. sent out a bulletin formally discountenancing the railroaders. Two hours after the bulletin had been posted meas- ures of repression were taken against 500 of them. The same year the C. G. L., the socialist deputies and the various radical papers, Avanti, II Tempo and II Secolo took sides with the employers in the strike of the Parma farm workers, hundreds of whom were arrested or driven out of the country. Another factor has retarded the development of the syndicalist movement in Italy; that is the organiza- tion of working class cooperatives of production or consumption. The government soon recognized that those associations could become useful agencies for the dissemination of conservative ideas and has granted them many favors in the form of profitable contracts. Some of those Societa Cooperative del Lavoro have undertaken very important pieces of work, such as building the slaughter house of Parma and the Reg- gio-Ciano railroad line which was leased to them for seventy years. But they find themselves in a pecul- iar position: they cannot offer bids for public works in competition with private contractors. Work of a public nature is only turned over to them through the good offices of some " friend of labor " in parlia- ment. Were they to manifest too openly a certain political independence they would lose their best con- tracts. The history of one of those organizations, the Glassblowers Cooperative Association, for which IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM 151 we are indebted to Odon For, will illustrate the dif- ficulties which beset the path of " cooperators." Until 1900 the Italian Glassblowers were organized in "a rather crude way, their Mutual Aid Society admitting to its membership foremen and first-class workers only. In 1900, however, the need was felt of a more democratic organiza- tion and the Federation of Italian Bottle Blowers took the place of the Mutual Aid Society. It was at first to be a sort of employment agency for the workers but it soon conceived more ambitious plans. The Federation bought an old factory in Leghorn, rebuilt it and, in October, 1903, fire was lit in the first furnace. A second furnace soon became necessary; the bottle blowers, after their regular day's work transformed themselves into masons and mechanics, and completed the construction of the furnace in forty-seven days. The first fiscal year of cooperative manufacturing and trading closed with a net profit of 15,000 lire. The Socialist municipality of Imola offered them a pre- mium to the Federation for establishing a new cooperative factory in that town. Another factory was also established in Sesto-Calendo near Milan, the bottleblowers subscribing 30,000 lire for that purpose. A fourth one was opened in the neighborhood of Naples. The various furnaces of the Cooperative turn out some 100,000 bottles and ten carloads of demijohns a day. Its working capital is about one million lire and its plants rep- resent an investment of over two million lire. In contrast with many of the Italian Cooperatives whose members become greatly opposed to revolutionary disturb- ances, the Federation of Italian Bottle Blowers has been evolving very rapidly towards pure industrialism. It de- cided to admit to full membership not only the glassblow- ers, but all the workers engaged directly or indirectly in bottle making as well, such as the stokers, the gasometer tenders, carpenters, etc. This increased the membership of the Federation to about 152 THE NEW UNIONISM 4000. Furthermore some 1500 members of yellow unions or reformist craft unions in the employ of the Glass Trust realizing that they could not afford to keep out of this pow- erful organization entered into negotiations with the Fed- eration. It is interesting to note the marvelous discipline which is maintained in the five factories run by the Cooperative ; there is not a single overseer in any of them and the business and technical directors are drawn from the rank and file. These workers have no intention whatever of becoming capitalists. No dividend shall ever be declared. A part of the profits of the enterprise is applied to the needs of the Socialist Party and of the socialist press. Another part of the profits goes to the old age, invalid and widow fund and to the orphan fund. (Odon Por in Syndicalism in Action.) Since the pamphlet from which we quote the above information was written the war with Tripoli caused outbursts of jingoism among the conservatives, of anti-militarism among the radicals. The glassblow- ers soon felt the consequences of their non-conformist attitude. We quote from a letter written by Odon Por in January, 1913, to the Fabian Society: At the outbreak of the Italian war in the fall of 1911, a great financial crisis set in and still endures for all Italian industries and banks. Of course the big banks refused to give loans and especially closed their coffers to all the proletarian concerns which took a decided stand against the war. The Glass Blowers Cooperative Society was the first to suffer, especially because its director was the general man- ager of the Avanti, the only paper fighting against the war and denouncing high finance as the cause of the war. Not having credit, the Society could not keep on working reg- ularly, as no other big industrial concern is able to keep on without the aid of banks. It did not go bankrupt, but went through a period of reorganization. The Court allowed it to. settle its debts in instalments and within a certain period j IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM 153 this period is not up yet and, as a consequence of this court decision the Cooperative still manages its factories and it has already sold its whole product for 1913. . . . Another interesting fact (which from our point of view, is the only important one), when the creditors tried to place the cooperatives in the hands of receivers and put capitalist business men at the head of the management every- thing began to go to pieces, production and management were utterly disorganized, until the chief creditor, a banker, called back the old managers and asked them to reorganize everything on efficient lines. Syndicalist writers are generally opposed to the creation of cooperative societies. The C. Q. L., on the contrary, looks upon them very favorably and is constantly warning the workers against following the tactics of the French C. G. T. which " being pecul- iarly French are not suited to Italian conditions." The C. G. L. at its 1908 congress assumed a con- trolling voice in all labor disputes. No affiliated federation is authorized to declare a strike or to adopt any strike tactics without referring the ques- tion to the central body. The Modena congress de- cided to defer for ten years all discussion of the gen- eral strike. In April, 1909, the Congress of Syndicalist Ee- sistance met in Bologna. Many revolutionary labor exchanges and the Railroaders' Syndicate were rep- resented by delegates. They decided to join the C. G. L. for the express purpose of leavening it through their revolutionary spirit, "boring from within." For several years the results of their prop- aganda were discouraging. The various compro- mises rendered necessary by the fusion of those two 154' THE NEW UNIONISM antagonistic bodies produced curious distortions of the syndicalist idea. For instance Deputy Maran- goni was elected on an anti-parliamentary platform. In November, 1912, finally a divorce freed the two incompatible mates. At Modena on November 23, 24 and 25, represen- tatives of 100,000 Italian workers held a congress on behalf of revolutionary syndicalism. The indus- trial bodies represented were 300 agricultural syn- dicates, with 30,000 members; 100 transport syndi- cates including public service syndicates with 30,000 members; 150 syndicates of the building and fur- nishing trades, with 20,000 members; twenty-five metal workers syndicates, with YOOO members; thirty clothing workers' syndicates with 2000 mem- bers ; twenty syndicates of the catering trade, with 3000 members; ten mining syndicates, with 5000 members, and ten miscellaneous syndicates with 3000 members. After a lively discussion, the activity of the com- mittee on direct action was approved. A resolution demanding the release of all political and military prisoners, some 2000 in number, was voted unani- mously. The congress, by a large majority, passed the fol- lowing resolutions : "We recognize as temporary weapons for the syndicates the partial strike, boycott and sabotage by the help of which the Bourgeoisie from day to day is obliged to give up a larger part of its profits. A general strike of all the work- ers in all branches of production is the only way to bring about the definite expropriation of the bourgeois classes. IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM 155 On November 24, 1912, the revolutionary syndi- calists definitely separated from the Confederazione del Lavoro, forming a new national organization, the Italian Syndical Union. The discussion on this action lasted nearly ten hours, the motion being car- ried by a vote of 42,114 against 28,152, with 3000 abstaining from voting. Twenty-five thousand of the votes in favor of retaining the old affiliation were cast by railway men, thus proving that with the exception of this syndicate nearly all the revolution- ary syndicalists see the necessity of separating them- selves from the conservatives and reactionaries. Resolutions were then passed endorsing anti-mili- tarism and pointing out the necessity of establishing a fund similar to the French " Soldier's Penny." Parma was chosen as the headquarters of the syndi- cate. L'Internazwndle, the organ of the new movement, published fortnightly at Parma, says that " now the Italian proletariat has not only chosen the right road, but has also shown its invincible determination to go along it to the end." L'lnternazionale has a circula- tion of 20,000. Alarmed by this syndicalist revolt the Central Trades Councils affiliated with the C. G. L. have started a paper whose special purpose is to combat the tactics of revolutionary syndicalism. The lead- ers of the central union think that this new paper } Battaglia Sindacale will be better able to fight the Internazionale than the existing monthly papers, es- pecially as the official organ of the Italian Confedera- tion of Labor, which is issued monthly under the 159 THE NEW UNIONISM direction of a reformist majority, cannot engage in la- bor controversies. Quotations from the works of Arturo Labriola and Enrico Leone, the two leaders of the Syndicalist movement (neither of whom is from the ranks of labor) will show that their views are in no essential way different from those expressed by the more radi- cal members of the French C. GL T. Arturo Labriola writes in Riforme e TUvoluzione Sociale: The socialization of production has already come about, thanks to the mechanism of the capitalist system. We do not need to substitute a new method of production (state or municipal) for the capitalistic method, but a new method of distribution. The method of production remains what it was in a capitalist society. We are concerned only with the redistribution of claims to ownership. Capitalism has not in reality produced one form of in- dustrial organization, but unites the different productive ele- ments (land, capital and labor) in very different ways. Nothing could be more repugnant than too much uniformity. We can imagine that a syndicate for a certain trade could comprise all the workers in a single branch of industry, could contract on a uniform basis with all the capitalists on behalf of all the workers, and could accumulate in a com- mon fund all the profits to be distributed equitably to all its members, distributed, for example, according to the num- ber of a man's children, the condition of his health, or his strength, and so on; and this syndicate a State within a State by carrying out the insurance of its members in various ways, frees them from the control of the State that is, of a power outside their own will. This process could go farther. We can imagine that, at a certain point of its development, the workers' union might hire the capital of the capitalists, for a fixed return, and then use it coopera- IN ITALY: STODICALISM 157 lively, either working in mass or through several coopera- tive bodies, keeping separate and distinct accounts. And finally the federation of various syndicates could become strong enough to refuse all return for the use of capital, and so possess itself of it without compensation. The revolution would then he complete. The capitalist class would have to Work in order to live. Syndicates opposed to monopoly, and therefore open to all, would enthusiastically receive the capitalists of yesterday, and make use of their indisputable directive and administrative capacity. Labriola does not describe the process by which; the workers will take possession of the means of pro- duction; he only mentions that the capitalists will be expropriated by " an association of the workers who already possess the technical capacity necessary for managing production." This will not be accom- plished without violence. Labriola points out that . . . "violence will not suffice to bring about any change unless those who employ it are prepared to make full use of the means of which they take possession; misery and revolt will not in themselves lead to a permanent change unless those who are suffering have a clear idea of the cause of their misery and are collectively ready to alter their con- dition. Violence must not be used capriciously; bourgeois society grew out of feudalism only with the help of vio- lence." At the end of his chapter on violence, he states that in the Russo-Japanese War the use of hand bombs was found to be an effective determinant in battle, while in the recent Russian revolution the general strike combined with armed demonstrations and " the personal use of explosives " was used to good effect; he argues from these recent experiences 158 THE NEW UNIONISM that the chances of a crowd against modern battalions are now better than has been long supposed. In II Sindacalismo , a series of addresses published in book form, Enrico Leone attempts to show that syndicalism is inevitable owing to the slow but in- cessant development of self-interest within the masses. The syndicate is not a kind of democratic association, but an institution born of the economic laws of capitalism and destined to generate in itself the skeleton of the coming so- ciety. In syndicalism more than in any other theory you can point to the socialism that is to be. Considering this common class movement and also con- sidering the hedonist impulse assumed by modern economics, we are able to declare that even if the process of con- centration of capital does not go on thanks to the syndi- calist vision, socialism has a material basis of necessity. This necessity is shown by the concentration and will- power which men are necessarily impelled to use in display- ing their competitive energy, under the thrust of the law of egoism. Thus the syndicate reveals itself as the necessary manifestation of the profound law of competition, and socialism appears as the result of the inevitable laws of eco- nomic value. Under this aspect, syndicalism, as Bernstein well put it, is an organized liberalism. But since socialism is, and remains, a matter of the me- chanics of interests, can it possibly retain the creative power of the forces of enthusiasm? In the upper spheres of so- cial and political antagonisms although at the bottom of them this prosaic economic world lies like the ferment of manure under the green shoots of the flowers the drama of the history of life is colored and beautified by the con- flicts of great passions, by passionate ideals, by heroic vio- lence, by the obscure tragedy of the worker, by the vast and culminating changes of history. But no one should reject this bald economic conception of IN ITALY: SYNDICALISM 150 socialism as a blasphemy against all the light of ideal truth. These ideal aspirations are chimerical dreams, graceful but- terflies fluttering in this dark forest which is the modern world. Socialism, which breaks out of the bowels of the life of society, out of the class of workers, is not, therefore, an ideal, but a class war. The ideal of absolute human hap- piness can in no way be put into a formula. To-day, the working class with the automatic action of economic law 'Constructs the first nucleus of the future society of equals in associations of workers, which are to or- ganize and discipline production, make it free from all con- trol of the strong over the weak, and make themselves self- contained and free from any superior human power. The workers' movement will be able from time to time to express itself in brilliant theoretical form, and possibly in mistaken theories; but it has in itself an incomprehensible force, that like a mysterious torch illumines its way. This is the superiority of syndicalism. It does not build a new social system according to its fancy, but emerges from the working-class movement as an autonomous and distinct realm, and sees in itself the fertile soil from which, as a fruit springs from its own tree and a tree from its own soil, it will produce a new world. CHAPTER IX THE NEW UNIONISM IN GERMANY! LOCALISM: REVOLUTIONARY organization was an impossibility in Germany as long as the Sozialistengesetz was in force and therefore we shall not go further back than the year 1890 in the history of German syndicalism. At the trade union conference which met in Berlin that year there was a small minority which believed not only in the autonomy of local unions but also in a sort of amalgamation of all the branches of each sep- arate industry. In 1897 that minority, slightly increased, held its own independent congress. In 1903 the new unions becoming less and less orthodox in their attitude to both trade unionism and socialism formed a Federa- tion and assumed the name of Freie Vereinigung Deutscher Gewerkschaften. In 1904 and 1905 Dr. Friedeberg addressed their local groups advocating an anti-parliamentary policy, direct action, strikes and boycott. On August 23, 1905, at the close of an address he delivered before several thousand adherents, a resolution defining the future policy of the Freie Vereinigung' was voted by acclamation. It spoke among other things of the " apparent successes of parliamentarism " and de- clared that only class war could overthrow class rule, the general strike being the best weapon of the work- ing classes. 160 IN GERMANY: LOCALISM 163] Members of the Freie Vereinigung generally desig- nate themselves as Lokalisten or Anarcho Sozialisten. Their programme includes the retention by every local branch of the right to strike; solidarity strikes, and a continual propaganda for the general strike; high dues and entrance fees are absolutely tabooed ; no lo- calist group shall collect any money except for strike pay- 1 It is not the conquest of political power which, ac- cording to the localist view, is really important but the destruction of political power to be replaced by direct organization of the producing groups. The war waged by the oppressed against their oppressor must be merciless and includes a propaganda against militarism, patriotism and clericalism. The localists publish three papers, Die Einigkeit, a propaganda publication, Der Pionier, which is the official organ of the Freie Vereinigung, and Der Kampf issued quite recently in Hamburg. The fol- lowing excerpts from an article published in Der Pionier for January 3, 1912, illustrate the policy of the German localists : The worker is told to choose representatives. He chooses by bits of paper, political, and if all goes well, trade union representatives talkers. Now, is it possible for these " representatives " of those who have nothing, to convince the " representatives " of the propertied that they must give up their property in order to bring about the equal rights of mankind'? No!! Well, then, if that is not possible, the whole parliamentary system is not only useless, but harm- ful. . . . Parliaments are as dangerous for mature men as barracks are for young men. In the one, as in the other, men are < 162 THE NEW UNIONISM taken out of their own class. In the one, as in the other, most men are infected by militarism and are made by it di- rect enemies of anti-militarist socialism. Only think of Bebel in Berlin, Greulich in Switzerland, Jaures in Paris. They all declare loudly and solemnly that they have nothing in common with those who undermine the best supports of throne and capitalism, that is the military. These men, at first so firm, would never have degenerated so completely as socialists if they had remained among the workers and had used their undoubted abilities in order to enlighten the masses. And the expenses of parliamentary action are not as small as many assume. The elections of 1907 ate up twenty million marks of which the social-demo- cratic workers' pence amounted to three millions. How much educational work could have been done with all that money by distributing good propaganda literature! But the most compelling reason why the workers should not take part in elections is the crippling effect which par- liaments have on the decisions of the worker. As the more or less faithful Christian, listening to his priest, hopes for heaven's manna, so the dispossessed turn their expectant gaze towards the houses of parliament or read the speeches of their deputies with delight ; and so their power of personal action is crippled, their own development is hampered, and their belief in themselves and in their fel- low-sufferers is shaken. . . . Down with the electoral lie! Long live revolutionary so- cialism ! Hurrah for the General Strike. The Freie Vereinigung Deutscher Gewerkschaften or Syndicalist Federation of Germany Las always re- fused to furnish statements as to its membership to the Imperial Statistical office. Robert Michels in Syndicalisme et Socialisme places their membership between 15,000 and 20,000. The tenth congress of the Freie Vereinigung was held at Madgeburg-Wilhelmstadt from Ma 16 to 18, IN GERMANY: LOCALISM 163 1912. Fifty-seven delegates representing 126 or- ganizations (twenty-four unions had not sent dele- gates), the administrative committee, the commission and editor of Der Pionier attended the congress. The discussion reflected the purely proletarian char- acter of the congress in opposition to the ordinary congresses of the large centralist trade unions where the paid officials and candidates to offices dominate the discussions. A discussion took place on the " question of or- ganization." The majority adopted a resolution re- jecting the centralist form of organization which leads to the domination of a few and the servile obedience of the others. The F. V. declared itself in favor of the federative form, leaving the local trade unions free to decide the beginning and the end of strikes. The German Socialist party condemned long ago all syndicalist tendencies cropping up within its ranks and as early as 1907 expelled Dr. Friedeberg for " preaching lawlessness, anti-patriotism, atheism and anti-militarism." The German socialist congress which met in Chem- nitz last fall indicated a rather conservative tendency. The suggestion to restrict the power of the parlia- mentary groups in the party was defeated. In the future as in the past all socialist members of the Reichstag will be seated in the congress with full floor privileges and the vote. Besides the congress supported the executive committee which at the last election had directed the socialists of some twenty election districts to stop their compaign against the liberals. At the same time an ambiguous declaration 164) THE NEW UNIONISM that the extraordinary conditions obtaining then were not likely to recur again may be construed as mild reproof. A syndicalist tendency to concentration and amal- gamation is noticeable, however, in the German trade unions. Not that it has given rise to any discussions but statistics reveal clearly what is taking place: while the membership of the German unions has con- stantly increased, being in round numbers 2,500,000 for the free or socialist unions, 125,000 in the Hirsch- Duncker unions, 700,000 in the independent, 35,000 in the patriotic, 80,000 in the yellow and 350,000 in the Christian unions, the number of unions has de- creased from sixty-six in 1906 to fifty-three in 1912. CHAPTER X 1KB NEW UNIONISM IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND SOUTH AFRICA TOM MANN on his return from Australia, relating his observations in that country, said that his own. personal experiences taught him no longer to have confidence in parliamentary action. The workings of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Acts which he saw in Australia, where labor men and so- cialists have power, taught him how little parliaments can do. Only where workers themselves undertake to decide what their conditions shall be are conditions tolerable. He went on to speak of the wages of min- ers at Ballarat, a gold-mining town seventy miles from Melbourne, where the standard rate is 7s. 6d. a day for eight hours for a qualified miner, but where many cannot get employment at day rates. At the less profitable mines men contract to develop the mine without wages, but take a percentage of the output. Usually a group of four work together. Often they; strike no metal for three months ; they have to pur- chase their own picks and utensils, and in the end they] get an average of 12s. or 18s. a week. They belong to unions, but the unions have easy-going of- ficials who do not understand the necessity for fighting and for complete unity. These men are living on their own chil- dren to a large extent they are compelled to do so. You may say, " But are tb members of parliament there able 165 166! THE NEW UNIONISM men ? " The parliamentarians are singularly smart. They find that they have not the power to make a change. He then spoke of agricultural conditions, and of the impossibility of finding land in some states on reason- able conditions, at the very time when the British government was announcing that there was much available land. Then he spoke of the Queensland eugar industry, where until this (1910) year twelve hours' work was done in one shift, with no stoppage for meals, and the wages consisted of 22s. 6d. a week and rough housing. Work was done like this for five months in the year, and then ninety- five per cent, of the men were discharged, and they tramped away and got one week in four of work afterwards. This district had only returned one labor man since 1893, and his activities have made no difference. This last year (1910) a change has taken place. The hours have been reduced to eight, and a minimum wage of 25s. has been gained. Parliament is alien to working-class interests. Too often the leaders of working-class movements have encouraged them to trust in that all-powerful, dignified institution, the mother of parliaments, the House of Commons. I do not deny that honest and self-sacrificing men have worked hard to get working-class representation in parliament, but these honest men have been barking up the wrong tree. We have worked twenty-five years to get our man returned to parlia- ment; then he sat there five years waiting to catch the Speaker's eye. At last he has caught it and made a speech, and then people came round and slapped him on the back, and said : " That was an excellent speech," and there the matter ended. Dora B. Montefiore's observations while in Aus- tralia, New Zealand and South Africa corroborate Tom Mann's statements. We quote from her article IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND 167J in the New 'Review (of New York) for February 1^ There exists in the British Colonies of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, so-called political Labor parties, sent to parliament by the trade unions and the small capi- talists of those colonies, whose representatives in parliament are a mixture of trade unionist leaders, lawyers, small shop- keepers, and amateur politicians, who have failed to get a show in other and more wide awake parties. The pro- grammes of these various Labor parties vary in different colonies. In Australia, with its four and a half million inhabitants on an area of 2,948,366 square miles, the Labor party has a prominent clause in its programme declaring for a " White Australia " ; that is to say, that no colored person is to be allowed to land or to seek work on the shores of Australia. . . . Out of this preposterous nightmare (the German and Japanese peril) it was not difficult for the Labor leaders to evolve a spirit of vulgar jingoism, which, aided by the Labor press, spread like wildfire over the Australian colonies, and enabled the Commonwealth Labor party, once it obtained a majority at the polls in 1910, to force on the country the passing of the Defense Scheme, on lines laid down by Lord Kitchener during his visit to Australia in 1909. This De- fense Scheme provides for the compulsory military training of all boys in the Commonwealth over twelve years of age, who from twelve to fourteen are to be known as junior cadets; from fourteen to eighteen as senior cadets; from eighteen to nineteen as recruits in training ; from nineteen to twenty as trained soldiers; whilst at the age of twenty -six the trained soldiers would pass into the reserve. During my stay in Sydney I edited for five months the International Socialist, while the editor, Harry Holland, was ill in the hospital ; and during that period the Defense Acts were for the first time put into force. I immediately issued in the paper a manifesto to the conscript boys of Australia, warning those of them who were proletarians not to be THE NEW UNIONISM trapped into training to defend a country that did not be- long to them, but belonged to the capitalists. I further warned them on no account to take the military oath, the taking of which would remove them from civil to military; jurisdiction. Since the issuing of our socialist manifesto, and the sub- sequent agitation carried on by the party, thousands of boys, both in Australia and New Zealand, have been fined and jailed for refusing to train for compulsory military service. It is evident, therefore, that the Labor party now in power, if it cannot make conscript soldiers, will make criminals of the young sons of the workers. As regards the Labor party and conscription in South Africa, the following facts are interesting: Soon after my arrival in Johannesburg in March, 1912, I wrote an article which appeared in the International Socialist of Sydney, on, April 13th. The following is an extract from it: Comrades in Australia will be interested to hear that I had not been a week in Johannesburg before I was ap- proached by a member of the Labor party with a request ta help him and others with an agitation they were getting up against compulsory military service. The man was deeply in earnest, and, having fought through more than one South African war, he knew what he was talking about from the humanitarian side ; but when it came to putting before him our anti-militarist propaganda from the industrial stand- point, it was very difficult to make headway with him, for he knew absolutely nothing of the socialist interpretation of existing social conditions, and he asked for an explanation of " class-consciousness." It appeared from what he told me that the Labor party in South Africa was divided on the subject of compulsory military training, and that the woman editor of the Worker (the Labor organ) was in favor of it. He had counted on her speaking for him at his preliminary meeting, but, to his chagrin, found she was in the opposite camp. He then, having heard of my work in Australia, came to me. The interesting outcome of this, my first introduction tqj IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND 169! the capitalistically befogged state of the South African La- bor party, was that when I met the woman editor of the Worker, I found she was a relative of Lord Milner and had acted as his hostess in social functions when he was procon- sul in South Africa, and was now (with the help of Mr. Cresswell, a mine manager and Labor M. P.) running her husband for the South African Parliament, as another La- bor representative. The first South African Labor Congress was held in Capetown in January, 1913. A resolution was passed permitting all Asiatics and colored workers to become members of the various unions. The New Unionist idea is permeating very rapidly the Australasian English colonies. Follow- ing the Chicago convention (see page 96), at which the I. W. W. was launched, the Socialist Labor Party of Australia conducted through its weekly paper The People an energetic propaganda for industrialism. I. W. W. clubs were organized in several industrial centers. The Sydney club adopted the 1905 Preamble (see pages 97-98). When the Preamble, however, was amended, the S. L. P. re- fused to ratify the amendmenta. Many of its mem- bers headed by George Gresham Reeve, a miner who is at present the leader of the Australia I. W. W., seceded. Thus we find in Australia I. W. W. cluba affiliated with the parliamentary I. W. W. of Detroit and I. W. W. locals pledged to direct action and affili- ated with the Chicago I. W. W. In Australia the Amalgamated Workers Association, second only in numbers to the conservative Australian Workers Un- ion, admits to its ranks every individual and everjj 170 THE NEW UNIONISM union in each industry. Thus far it has been con- fined to Queensland but its principles are being dis- seminated through the rest of the continent. It has voted to spend 100 a year for the purchase of so- cialist literature to be distributed among its members. The (Melbourne) Age announced last July that the country would witness in the near future "a big amalgamation of Australian laborers' unions, which may turn its back on the labor party, and refuse to have anything to do with legal arbitration. If consolida- tion is fully effected it will possess a membership of about 25,000. It proposes to exercise unlimited power of ab- sorption, and may swallow smaller bodies, irrespective of craft considerations. In October last a conference of representatives of labor- ers' unions from various States of the Commonwealth, ar- rived at a basis of amalgamation, which was considered in many quarters to be of a startling character. The secretary of the United Laborers' Union of Victoria (D. Culliney) stated to a reporter of the (Melbourne) Age that his union was utterly sick of wages boards and arbitration courts. " There is nothing," he remarked, " to be gained by waiting for boards or courts, or for action through political chan- nels. We are satisfied with our own working basis of organization, as we find we are only able to get as much as we are well enough organized to drag from the employers by force. We are disgusted with craft unions, and dissatisfied with craft federations, as they are maintained for the purpose of going to the arbi- tration court. They only serve to provide a number of officials with the pleasures of office. Our idea is " one union for Australia." It is intended to be aq IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND 171 organic amalgamation, to contain an unlimited num- ber of bona fide workers. " Are you in favor of the general strike ? " he was asked. " When we are strong enough for that," he replied, 1 'we shall be able to get all we want without it." Dr. Edwin E. Slosson, who recently returned from a trip to Australia, mentioned the fact that Australian workers prevented by law from going on strike use sabotage methods whenever the awards of the arbitra- tion boards are unsatisfactory to them, thus enforcing their demands after the case has apparently been set- tled. In New Zealand the radical element among the workers is conducting an energetic propaganda in favor of the New Unionism. The arbitration system has not given satisfaction to the workers, hundreds of whom were jailed between May and December, 1912, for going on strike. The New Zealand Federation of Labor at its latest conference adopted the preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World and made a provision for or- ganizing the workers in industrial departments. A resolution was carried, however, according to which the Federation will display its activity not only in the economic but in the political field. It was also resolved that the candidates to offices put forth by the Federation need not necessarily belong to the socialist party. The socialist party whose conference took place sometime before that of the Federation en- dorsed unanimously the principles of industrial un- ionism and the elimination of " immediate demands." 172 THE NEW UNIONISM As a sign of the growth of the I. W. W. idea in New Zealand we note that Tom H. Marshall, who was elected organizer for the New Zealand Federa- tion of Labor, issued a statement which reads in part : I have progressed through various schools of thought from the gutter to the platform, and to-day I place Indus- trial Unionism as the acme of thought and perfection of organization for the emancipation of our class from wage slavery. There are five I. W. W. locals in Australia, in Syd- ney, Broken Hill, Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide, and two in New Zealand, in Auckland and Christ Church. The Auckland local is publishing a monthly paper called The Industrial Unionist. CHAPTER XI THE NEW UNIONISM IN OTHER COUNTRIES Argentina. THE socialist party is divided into three factions ; the parliamentary socialists, the Argentine Regional Federation of Labor and the Argentine Regional Con- federation of Labor. The two last-named groups which are opposed to political action are very similar in their aims, their rivalry being merely due to per- sonal friction between their leaders. The Federation, and the Confederation met in congress last year and endeavored to effect a combination ; after three days of rather violent discussions they decided to retain, their independence. We quote the following from an article contribu- ted to La Vie Ouvriere for December 5, 1912, by tha editor of the only syndicalist paper in Argentina, Leu Accion O'brera: In October, 1909, La Union General de Trabajadores which for years was under the influence of the Socialist party but had been won over to revolutionary syndicalism, organized a labor congress; they sent invitations to the anarchist unions belonging to the Federacion Obrera Regional Argen- tina, and to the independent unions. The result of the con- gress was the formation of the Confederacion Obrera Regional Argentina which had revolutionary tendencies. It jwas attacked at once by La Vanguardia, organ of the con- 173 174 THE NEW UNIONISM servative socialists, and by La Protesta, the anarchist paper. Soon after the anarchists withdrew from the Confederacion. Austria. The New Unionist movement is very weak and its growth is effectively checked by the efforts of the so- cialist politicians. Twice in the year 1912 the cen- tral direction of the social democratic trade unions called off strikes, the strike of the Bohemian and Moravian miners and the strike of the railroad em- ployes, promising to the men that their demands would be granted by parliament. Nothing whatever was done for the miners ; four days before parliament adjourned the social democratic deputies introduced a bill providing for an increase in the salaries of rail- road men. The bill was voted down. Austrian syndicalists are absolutely independent in their action from the anarchist and socialist groups. The three groups refused to combine in organizing the anti-war manifestation which took place on No- vember 10, 1912, in Vienna. Chile. The Argentine Regional Confederation of Labor has been sending lately some of its organizers into Chile. In Santiago a weekly syndicalist paper, called El Productor, was established recently. In the extreme south, in the district of the Straits of Magellan, the syndicalists have organized the Magellan Labor Fed- eration which publishes El Trdbajo (Labor) at Punta Arenas. In the same city there is also another active IN OTHER COUNTRIES syndicalist paper called Adelante (Forward). The vermicelli and spaghetti makers of Santiago also pub- lish a syndicalist paper which is not only devoted to the interests of their trade but is also engaged in a militant educational propaganda. British Columbia. At the meeting of the Vancouver Trades and Labor Council held in Vancouver last August the delegate of the Painters' Union brought in the following reso- lution : " That this council endorse the principle of industrial unionism, and that our delegate to the American Federation of Labor be instructed to vote accordingly. Also that a committee be appointed to issue a circular letter to all central labor bodies in Canada and the United States, asking them to take similar action." Another delegate introduced a motion to the effect that the matter of adopting a universal working card be taken up by the delegates with their respective unions. The motion was unanimously carried. Petti- piece and Campbell asked that the motion be made to include that a paid up card in any labor union be ac- cepted in lieu of an initiation fee. This was also carried. Denmark. On his return from Denmark a few months ago Tom Mann published in the (London) Syndicalist an arti- cle from which we extract the following : The population of Copenhagen with suburbs is 500,000 and of the adult male population fifty per cent, are in the THE NEW UNIONISM unions, but great dissatisfaction exists with the quiet, stodgy, fat officials of the older type. Still, the syndicalists hold to the view that the existing organizations ought to be revolutionized, and that the right way to do it is for them to remain members of the existing Unions, and to form also a syndicalist organization to enroll any existing trade union- ist in, but no one else. So that an engineer carries two cards, the old union card and the engineers' section of the syndicalist union, and pays cheerfully into both. This gives them a splendid chance; they are only two years old, but have made much headway, and in the machine-workers sec- tion already they have twenty-five per cent, of the old union, members as members of the syndicalist body. It is a most interesting development, and one that deserves serious con- sideration by us in England, where, like the Danes, we have refused to sever our connections with the old unions. I, personally am strongly opposed to any such policy of sever- ance for Britain. There are many reasons why we should ' not, and as far as my knowledge goes, not one satisfactory reason why we should ; but the Danes have struck on a most effective method of forming a syndicalist section for each trade, but a man must show his union card of the existing union as a qualification for joining the syndicalist union. Subsequent events would tend to show that unionists and syndicalists will sooner or later part company. The editor of Solidwitet the syndicalist paper was sentenced to eighty days in jail for attacking too violently certain conservative trade union leaders. In September, 1912, the syndicalists held a conference in Christiania in the course of which they agreed upon the following programmes of propaganda and action : " To transform trade unions into industrial unions ; to conduct a propaganda for spontaneous strikes, boy- cott and sabotage ; to fight the practice of strike break- IN OTHER COUNTRIES 177 ing by other unions and to demonstrate labor solidar- ity by sympathetic strikes, etc." Finally the revolutionists in the Danish unions have organized a number of propaganda clubs with a total membership of 600 in Copenhagen. At Kjoge, Aar- hus and Kastrup similar groups have been formed. All the groups combined have about 1000 members. They have issued a manifesto to the Danish workers pointing out the weakness of the old trade organiza- tions which have become incapable of directing a successful strike against capitalism. They are ap- pealing to the Danish workers to help in the attempt to transform the old organizations into real fighting bodies. Holland. A congress of the Revolutionary Syndicalist Secre- tariate was held during the Easter week of 1912. Of the eighty-two affiliated organizations forty-seven were represented by 125 delegates. The organiza- tions represented have a total of 5400 members or ninety per cent, of the workers affiliated with the Sec- retariate. The Dutch syndicalists are being attacked by both' the anarchists and the socialists; their propaganda, carried on mostly through their bi-weekly paper, De Arbeid, has been very effective nevertheless, for the president of the congress was able to announce that the membership of the organization had doubled since the 1910 congress. In 1910 and 1911 the Secretari- ate has spent about 100,000 florins or $40,000 in strike pay. 178 THE NEW UNIONISM At a conference held in Amsterdam on June 25, 1912, the Netherland Cigar and Tobacco Workers' Bund, a socialistic body, with a membership of 3500 decided to combine with the syndicalist Netherland Federation of Cigar and Tobacco Workers, which has a membership of 1100. Japan. Sabotage was applied by the Japanese workers in the course of several strikes which took place in 1912, the Yokohama dockers' strike, the Nazuf ara electrical railwaymen's strike, the Osaka metal workers' strike, all three of which were won, and the Kure naval workers' strike which ended in defeat. The govern- ment has called upon all priests to attack socialism and syndicalism in the temples and the Diet passed an amendment to the Factory Act designed to prevent " outbreaks of dangerous thought." Norway. While there is no New Unionist organization in Norway a revolutionary spirit is manifesting itself within the trade unions. The following resolution was passed recently by Trondjem radicals and later endorsed by the revolutionary unionists of Chris- tiania: " The present labor conditions demand that labor organ- izations rest on a more revolutionary basis than formerly. Therefore this meeting favors the abolition of time con- tracts, and recommends the use of strikes, solidarity strikes, boycott, obstruction, sabotage and cooperation." IN OTHER COUNTRIES 179i The tendencies of the revolutionary group are voiced through a paper DireTcte ATction published since December 1, 1910, in Christiania. The three union papers which are endorsing industrialism have a circu- lation of 15,000. Sweden. The New Unionists have had, since 1910, a strong organization called Sverige Arbetare Central or S. A. C. In October, 1910, the S. A. C. had 516 members ; on January 1, 1912, it had on its roll, some 1500 workers belonging to sixty-three locals. The S. A. C. publishes a fortnightly paper 8yndikalisien with a circulation of 7000 advocating direct action and in- dustrial organization. The Swedish syndicalists held a congress in Obrero last September. Twenty-two delegates, representing twenty-seven local trades councils, were present at the opening of the congress. Among the important questions discussed was that of the strikes which have taken place under the direction of the old central or- ganizations noted for their reformist tendencies. The congress decided to participate in all future strikes, and to take advantage of them for the propaganda of industrialist ideas. While the congress decided that strike funds were not the most important element in a strike, all the trades councils have been invited to establish strike funds. The congress decided to is- sue a manifesto to the Swedish workers in favor of a shorter workday. Theoretically the S. A. C. is non-political ; in prao 180 THE NEW UNIONISM tice, however, it is decidedly anti-political and for that reason has met with a bitter opposition from the social democratic party of Sweden, which favors political ac- tion and the organization of workers in craft unions. Switzerland. While there is no New Unionist organization in Switzerland it is a significant fact that " sabotage," designated as " offensive tactics against employers " was discussed and approved at least in a milder form by the second congress of the Federation of Labor Unions of Latin Switzerland held at Yverdon in July, 1912. The following resolutions were passed : " The workers can prepare themselves for the future order only by not producing what is harmful to producers and consumers. The workers in the catering trade must re- fuse to adulterate food, printers must refuse to print lies and news harmful to the workers, and men in the building trade must refuse to construct prisons and tribunals." In connection with this it is interesting to hear that a movement is on foot among the Lausanne workers to refuse to build the new federal tribunal. CHAPTER XII THE "New Unionist groups have never held an in- ternational congress and have only had opportunities to exchange views as the various socialist congresses. The revolutionary views of French delegates, how- ever, have always conflicted with the conservative spirit of the International Secretariate dominated by the German social democrats. As early as 1903 the 0. G. T. asked with insistence that anti-militarism, the general strike and the eight hour day be discussed at the Amsterdam conference of 1905. To defeat their efforts, the invitation to the French delegates was, according to Victor Griffuehles in L' Action Syndicalisie, purposely sent to the wrong address and France was not represented at the Am- sterdam congress. In January, 1900, when a clash was expected to take place over the Moroccan question, the C. G. T. sent delegates to Berlin to invite the German workers to organize simultaneously with the French workers anti-war manifestations. The unionists of Germany refused to do anything without consulting the socialist party. Singer asked the French delegates whether their mission had been undertaken with the approval of the French socialist party. Upon their negative 181 182 THE NEW UNIONISM answer Singer refused to consider the French propo- sition. The Christiania conference of 1907 didn't exclude the French delegates but instructed them to work in accord with the socialist party. The recent progress towards a truly international view of the workers' situation is well illustrated by the attitude of the German, French, English and Spanish workers at the time of the Moroccan crisis. On July 27 and 28, 1911, the visit of French syndi- calists in Berlin led to gratifying expressions of in- ternational solidarity. On August 4 a congress was held in Paris at which anti-war addresses were de- livered by Schmidt, Bauer and Silberschmidt for Germany, Barris and Negre for Spain, Koltheck for Holland, Tom Mann for England, Jouhaux, Yvetot, Savoie, Merrheim and Pericat for France. On Au- gust 13 a manifestation of the same kind took place in London and at the end of the month in Barcelona, the French delegates of the Confederation Generale du Travail attending both the London and the Barce- lona conferences. The various New Unionist groups keep in touch with one another through the publication of Le Bulle- tin International du mouvement Syndicaliste, edited by Christian Cornelissen, a well-known sociologist. This weekly news sheet, published in Bourg la Reine, iFrance, was founded in August, 1907, by the revo- lutionary unionists who attended the anarchist con- gress held tEe same year in Amsterdam. Its con- tents are reproduced every week by the following gapers : La Voix du Peuple, La Bataille Syndical- KEIATIONS iste, Prance ; Die Einigkeit, Germany ; 'Arbeid, Hol- land ; La Voix du Peuple, Switzerland ; The Syndir calist, London, England; Solidaritet, Denmark; Syndikalisten, Sweden; Direkte Aktion, Norway; L'Internazionale, Italy ; Solidarity and the Industrial Worker, United States; La Action Obrera, Buenos Ayres. In March of this year (1913) the following ap- peal was sent to the revolutionary press of all coun- tries: The federations of revolutionary trade unions of the workers in the building trades, of the metal workers, tobacco workers, municipal workers, cabinet workers, tailors, and seamen of Holland, numbering a total of 11,500 members, have decided together to make all possible efforts towards the convocation of an international congress of unions of revolutionary tendencies and thereby to create an interna- tional link between the organizations in favor of the tactics of direct action. The International Secretariate of national trade union cen- ters which has its headquarters in Berlin, representing chiefly unions with the so-called "modern" or reformist tendencies, cannot satisfy our desire for an international bond, as all really revolutionary propaganda is systematic- ally excluded. This Secretariate will not hear of a real revolutionary propaganda and is opposed to a truly international labor congress where the delegates of the trade unions could meet personally and is satisfied with holding every two years a conference of the secretaries of the affiliated national cen- ters which conferences are held at the occasion of a national congress of one or other center. These conferences are occupied with the discussion of sta- tistics, social legislation, mutual financial aid among the dif- 184 THE NEW UNIONISM r ferent countries, etc. Questions of the general strike, anti- militarism, etc., are severely barred. Similar questions were at various occasions brought up by the French Confederation of Labor, which is affiliated to the International Secretariate, but always in vain. The National Labor Secretariate of Holland, formerly affiliated to the International Secretariate, laid before the international conference of secretaries at Stuttgart, 1902, a proposal to convoke an international con- gress of trade unions but this proposal was only sup- ported by France and rejected by all the delegates of other countries, who considered separate international trade union congresses superfluous in view of existing international socialist and labor congresses. The French C. G. T. once again put a similar proposal before the international conference of Budapest, 1911, but it was rejected also this time and there is little chance of get- ting the idea accepted in the near future. At those international socialist and labor congresses the trade unions are playing only a secondary part. Besides, the labor unions are only admitted if they recognize the necessity of political action. These socialist congresses are dominated by political parties and their interests form the chief part of the discussions. We revolutionary workers organized in independent unions, do not wish to be placed under the tutelage of polit- ical parties. We wish to determine ourselves what actions and propaganda to adopt. That is why we insist on purely trade union congresses where we can meet directly with the organized workers of all countries. We do not want to be ordered or led by political leaders, we wish to decide our- selves what we consider useful for the welfare of the labor- ing classes. Therefore we ask you, comrades belonging to revolution- ary and independent trade unions to help us to arrive at our own international congress. We must come together and consider how revolutionary syndicalist propaganda, alone capable of emancipating us from capitalist exploitation, can. be carried on seriously and on a permanent international INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 185J i basis. Fellow workers, if you agree with us that it is neces- sary to arrive at an understanding and at the creation of an international union of all revolutionary labor organizations, bring this question up for discussion in your respective unions and let us know your opinions on the following points before April 15, 1913. We only wish to express the hope that your answer will show the satisfaction with which our proposal has been received, and that we may be able to create a Labor International with which International Cap- ital will be obliged to count. Question 1. " Is your organization in favor of an inter- national congress of syndicalist unions to be held in the autumn of 1913!" Question 2. "If so, which country do you think most suit- able for such a congress?" Question 3. " How many members has your union! n Long live the international revolutionary organizations of Labor ! This appeal has elicited a ready response from all the New Unionist groups the world over and it is an- nounced that the first congress will be held at Holborn Hall in London from September 27 to October 2, 1913. THE INFLUENCE OF THE NEW UNIONISM ON MODEBN THOUGHT A TIMELY warning appeared recently in the Inter- national Bulletin above the signature of its editor, Christian Cornelissen, a recognized authority on every phase of the syndicalist movement. He says : These last few months the great revolutionary strikes in England, France and the United States have led a large number of persons to write on revolutionary syndicalism. We have received many newspaper and magazine articles combating or defending syndicalism, its direct action tac- tics, the general strike, sabotage, etc. But we are astonished to see how few of the men who study the movement have gone to its sources, observed strikes, workers' struggles, or even read working-class publications. Several authors belonging to different nationalities trace the origin of the revolutionary labor movement and of the theory of direct action to the influence of French syndicalism, which prompts its adversaries to declare that it is a " foreign product " of no use in their own country. Instead of study- ing the French movement through its official organ La Voix du Peuple, or through pamphlets written by militant syndi- calists, the authors of articles on syndicalism prefer to quote French and Italian writers who are outside the movement and with whom the French unions have nothing to do. A few weeks ago there appeared in the English press a series of articles by the socialist deputy, Ramsay MacDonald, who traced the origin of the syndicalist movement to the theories of Georges Sorel and of his master, Professor Bergson of the Sorbonne. In the International Socialist Review of Chi- 186 INFLUENCE ON MODERN THOUGHT 187 cago we find an article on " Sabotage and Revolutionary Syndicalism" where the readers are referred to the "new school" which considers itself neo-Marxist, and to Sorel. We do not wish to insist on all the nonsense contained in those articles. Let us point out one fact : The revolution- ary syndicalist movement in France, in England, in the United States and everywhere else, is a mass movement. It is the revolutionary militants of France who have created this movement from the experience they gained in many years' struggle. It has nothing to do with any school, old or new, with Marxism, neo-Marxism, or Bergsonism. In England and the United States it is the recent strikes which have attracted the world's attention to this movement and to what preceded the strikes ; it is not a new school of philos- ophy, but the hard work of organization and the practical experience of the masses in the service of capitalists and in their daily struggle against exploitation. Not only have the unions " nothing to do " with the various philosophers whom the press is wont to characterize as " the prophets of syndicalism," but, in the majority of cases the workers are totally un- familiar with the names of those intellectual wor- thies. For the direction followed by an economic movement does not depend upon the mental attitude of passive observers but on the activities of the mili- tants within the movement. If the former sympa- thize with the movement, they may, being more skilled in the use of a pen, describe it more accu- rately than even the workers engaged in the struggle could hope to do. Their statements are therefore worth registering as historical documents. But to search the works of a contemporary philosopher, how- ever recondite, to find a few sentences in accord with the principles of a current movement and establish THE NEW UNIONISM a relation of cause and effect between them (a the- ory being the cause and syndicalism the effect), is utterly futile. Less than any other thinker's name should Berg- son's be mentioned in connection with syndicalism. Syndicalism is all " practice," Bergsonism all " the- ory." Bergsonism, that beautiful dilettantism with its profound scorn for facts and science, its lyrical strain and vivid images which, in spite of its insist- ence upon the pragmatic role of the intellect, never makes provision for its own application to human or social conduct should under no circumstances be dragged into a discussion of the New Unionism. Leaving aside the author of Creative Evolution, we may easily find a large number of thinkers, es- pecially in France, who have been deeply influenced by the syndicalist agitation. It may scarcely be said that they have influenced the movement, for, in the main, they do not sympathize with it. Their works, however, present some interest in so far as they are symptomatic of the " transvaluation of values," to use a Nietzschean expression, brought about, espe- cially in social and individual ethics, by the conflict between the ethics of the arms and the ethics of the brain. Ethical dogmatism is being assailed strenu- ously by men like Paulhan, Chide, Le Roy or Le Dantec, none of whom ever expresses any sympathy with the aims of the new unionism. Thus Paulhan in his Ethics of Irony, insists that " the world " 13 a chaos, a dust-cloud of systems in which there appear now and then more or less regular swirls , society is another chaos even less regular than INFLUENCE ON MODERN THOUGHT 189! the former ; man is nowadays a stunted being, pulled hither and thither by opposite tendencies which he cannot harmonize. In view of those clashes of blind! forces which are the universe and society, our only; salvation consists in adopting the ethics of irony, that is in refusing to be the victims of any belief in a meaningless finality. In Modern Mobilism, Alphonse Chide proclaims the death of traditional logic and swears- allegiance to " Proteus the true God." In Law Maxime Le Roy heralds the passing away of the parliamentary] system and regrets the stubborn survival of legality, " the modern fetish." Laws will be superseded in the future, he thinks, by covenants between individuals; instead of being enforced by the tyrannical state they will be ob- served as " directions," as " symptomatic decisions "' rendered by human groups. It cannot be said Sorel's writings mirror faithfully] the present tendencies of the French movement. We find Sorel expressing in 1903 reformist views, com- mending JaureV attitude in the Dreyfus affair, ex- pounding orthodox socialist ethics and exhorting the workers to defend the principles of conventional truth, justice and morality. From Jaurosism he transferred his allegiance to Guesdism which he later deserted for syndicalism of a rather mild hue. Not only, did Sorel never influence the destinies of the C. G. T., but, at the very time when Pelloutier's efforts were bearing fruit and the anarchist elements intro- duced by Pelloutier were on the point of imposing their views and tactics upon the more conservative 190 THE NEW UNIONISM Federations of Unions, Sorel made in his preface to Pelloutier's History of Labor Exchanges, a state- ment which showed his total lack of understanding of the movement : " The Confederation of Labor," he wrote, " will prove an officious council of labor, a sort of academy of the proletariat which will confer with the Govern- ment as, for instance, agricultural societies do." Since 1910' Sorel has not even professed to be in sympathy with the syndicalist movement which, as he wrote to some Italian syndicalists, had not come up to his expectations. In the same year Sorel, as well as one of his disciples, Edward Berth, promised their support to a monarchist publication which, by the way, has not yet appeared. A brief examination of his theories concerning the general strike, violence and sexual morality will suffice to show what a deep chasm separates the least metaphysical of philoso- phers, Sorel, from even the least materialistic eco- nomist within the ranks of the C. G. T. Sorel's interpretation of the general strike is origi- nal. He has no patience with the Utopias a la Bel- lamy which are mere endeavors to visualize a society of the future acceptable, at least ethically, to people of our generation. The authors of such works (would he include Pataud and Pouget?) make no allowances for the modifications of human mentality under the influence of what Nietzsche considered as one of the most powerful forces modeling our minds, " better food, more space and more hygienic dwellings," which even mere reformism is bound to give us grad- ually. That is wh Sorel says that the conception of the general strike should not be discussed, but ac- cepted, by the workers themselves as a reality, by; their leaders as a myth. General strike, social revolution are not concrete aims but mere mythical images; such images, how- ever, hold an unlimited reserve of motor power, for they enable agitators to keep the workers in revolt against present society by giving to their efforts an aim which, to the masses, at least, is concrete. The labor myths of to-day are very similar to the Christian myths such as the Coming of the King- dom, Judgment Day, etc., a belief in which distin- guished Christians from Pagans. The Kingdom of God and Judgment Day never became realities but the Christian Church was founded. The word utopia should be reserved, therefore, to designate the " practical " projects of " constructive " socialists. Cool-headed persons who cannot believe that a " catastrophe " such as Marx predicted could suddenly transform a society created by capitalists into an industrial commonwealth, will not dream of Utopias but will hold labor myths before the popu- lace to hasten its onward march, as a red rag is held before a bull. Sorel's Apologie de la Violence is equally far fetched. " The workers must harass the capitalists or else the capitalists are likely to become sluggish and lose sight of their interests. This would in time cause the workers to become less militant and to al- low themselves to be satisfied by sops thrown to them by democracy." Such is, to Sorel, the real aim of the class struggle. 192 THE NEW UNIONISM: Quite as artificial and illogical is the difference he establishes between capitalistic and proletarian vio- lence. " Capitalistic violence," he says, " legalized by jurists is implacable to the defeated and results in acts of savagery the more frightful in that they can be represented as being prompted by virtuous mo- tives. Proletarian violence consists in acts of war and has the value of a military demonstration." More than any other syndicalist writer Sorel has given thought to sexual ethics. On that question he shows himself a purely traditional and almost ortho- dox Christian. While the majority of radicals hold the view (even if many shrink from expressing it publicly) that chastity is a mythical virtue insisted upon by capitalistic society because it keeps down the number of unsupported women, pregnant or nurs- ing, and of " fatherless " children, Sorel writes that " the juridical conscience cannot rise to any height in countries where a respect for chastity is not deeply rooted in the people's minds. . . . and that, the world will only grow more just in the measure in which it will grow more chaste." Somewhere else he tells us that if Rousseau's con- sort had such a bad influence upon him it was be- cause " she failed to subdue his erotic imagination." And yet Sorel realizes that the ethics of the pro- ducers cannot be made to harmonize with the ethics of the parasites. To the non-producing middle men who stand between consumer and producer receiv- ing toll from both, the rules of ethical warfare no longer apply and many are the syndicalist speakers who liken the non-producers to a disease which eata INFLUENCE ON MODERN THOUGHT up the body without giving anything in return for the waste it entails. A physician is not supposed to be swayed by any consideration of kindness to bacteria in his fight against disease. His use of drastic remedies will be limited only by the condition of the patient's heart or other organs. As Vincent St. John puts it, in his chapter on I. W. W. methods : " The tactics used are determined solely by the power of the organization to make good in their use. The question of right or wrong does not concern us." This statement is a little too broad, for the ques- tion of right and wrong concerns the producers at least in their mutual intercourse. Among producers the Golden Rule will still obtain. Who are the producers ? The query appears futile and it would be useless to answer were it not for the extremes to which a movement may go in its in- cipient, neophyte stage. Certain syndicalists give to the word producer a connotation as narrow as that which classical philosophers gave to the word creator. To those, the only creative work was the practice of letters and arts. Now it is the once oppressed and! despised laborers who are to be considered as doing the only kind of work which deserves the epithet of creative or as they prefer to call it, productive. Certain syndicalists recognize as producers only ag- ricultural and industrial workers. Charles Guyiesse and M. Laurin go so far as to declare that teachers are not producers as they can- not " take possession of the machinery of their in- dustry." This manifestly absurd view is not shared 194 THE NEW UNIONISM by any of the men who have attained positions of authority in the movement, Pataud, Pouget, Tom Mann, Haywood. We showed in Chapter V that the leaders of the C. G. T. consider literary and artistic achievement as one legitimate form of production. In the chapter on intellectuals we saw that instead of threatening to " set intellectuals to work with a pick and shovel," the greatest leaders of the C. G. T. proposed to waive the clause of the social covenant relative to manual labor in the case of intellectuals producing works of literature or art conferring a dis- tinct boon upon society or enjoying an indisputable popularity. Felix Le Dantec, a lecturer at the Sorbonne, whose name has never been mentioned in connection with syndicalist ethics, has expressed in more scientific terms than any other writer, not excluding Sorel, the ethics of the New Unionism. Sorel took sim- plified metaphysics for his basis. Le Dantec fear- lessly establishes his ethics on biology. Traditional ethics, Le Dantec writes, insists on duties which are assumed to be eternal and essential while rights are only relative and incidental. A man's salvation de- pends less on his demanding whatever he is entitled to than upon his fulfilling all his duties. Biological ethics, which the dominant class has taught the enthralled classes to disregard and" to despise, cannot coun- tenance that subordination of rights to duties. The multiplication of human beings on this earth has brought about a conflict between two instincts, the pri- mordial instinct of individual selfishness and the acquired instinct of social selfishness. The first instinct prompts us to fight for our rights; the second compels us, more or less hypocritically, to recognize duties. Rights are natural j duties are metaphysical. Whenever an antagonism arises between immediate indi- vidual advantages and the advantages an individual can de- rive indirectly from the prosperous condition of society, metaphysical notions born from mental habits struggle in our minds with considerations resulting from another kind of selfishness. It is selfishness which develops in us the sentiment of honor but it is also selfishness which perpet- uates in us habits of prevarication contrary to honor. The result of this strife and dualism is the development of hypocrisy, one of the mightiest factors of human evolution. In the transmission of characters which are not congenital to the species, tradition plays an important part; tradition has for its mam basis imitation and therefore it is most im- portant that metaphysical notions be taught even by those who are not absolutely convinced of their reality. We do not hesitate to lie when such a course is profitable to us but we lie surreptitiously and when we think we are safe against detection; publicly we reprove lying very se- verely and scorn those of our fellow creatures who allow themselves to be called liars. The role of the revolutionist in modern society consists in banishing hypocrisy and replacing it by cynicism ; cynicism is not more than the frank application of biological truths to human conduct; if cynicism prevailed for any length of time, however, hypocrisy might never return and it may be that no social system whatever could endure. Fortunately, whoever becomes the master to-morrow will invoke the same metaphysical notions which were invoked by the masters of yesterday: justice and equality. If the victors proclaimed their rule simply by saying that they were the stronger, we would be in a terrible pass. Tradi- tion is bound to retain its power for some time; we can notice, however, a distinct lessening in the marks of respect accorded to the principles on which society rests (at least 196 THE NEW UNIONISM in the mind of its individual members) and this is a very disturbing symptom for those who are bent on warding off great upheavals. . . . Parliaments, for instance, have only one aim, to avoid revolutions. To attain that purpose they must grant to individuals or groups of individuals rights which are commensurate with their power to inflict harm. Our present hypocrisy usually conceals this legislative necessity under lofty metaphysical terms. Parliament grants to men what we say it is " equitable " to grant them ; the truth is that men are granted what they would take by force if it was not granted to them. The interests of the various classes being antagonistic, legislators must always ascertain how far they can go in ac- cording satisfaction to one class without bringing about an insurrection of the other classes which are being despoiled whenever privileges are granted to the former. Majorities are redoubtable elements and there is a temptation to con- cede everything to them ; when, however, a minority becomes threatening, a slice of the cake must be given it before it will draw in its claws. This is the legislator's only rule of con- duct; personally he has no aim whatever; he does not pro- gress towards any definite future; he but prevents people, temporarily, from devouring one another. The first time employers found themselves facing a strike they felt injured from the point of view of the subjective rights which they had created for themselves as a conse- quence of mental habits. The law whose principal function is to protect property, likened strikers to common criminals. Subjective rights, however, amount to very little outside of the mentality which conceives them, when objective rights, antagonistic to them, grow manifestly in strength. The law has then to be modified. Under the hackneyed excuse of Justice, the law had to grant to workers the right to strike at the precise moment when those entrusted with the appli- cation of the law found themselves powerless to prevent strikes. When we use the words " legality " or " established gov- INFLUENCE ON MODERN THOUGHT eminent " we allow ourselves to be impressed by the gran- deur of those terms which represent only metaphysical con- ceptions. We forget that every established government was established by violence and will remain established only until another act of violence upsets it. And those who are plan- ning to upset it will be criminals until they carry out their plans and thereby in their turn acquire a metaphysical halo. The tendency nowadays is to discuss the law and to evade it if it appears bad. The old saying " obedience to law is the duty of all," has lost the sacred character it had in olden times. We obey law because we fear the punishment visited upon lawbreakers and therefore the only question is: Are we strong enough to defy the law? This last paragraph and the statement made else- where that " a man's rights are commensurate with his power to do harm " accord strangely with Vin- cent St. John's words on the I. W. W.'s tactics and his contention that " nothing will he conceded by the employers except that which we have the power to take and hold by the strength of our organization." A last quotation from Le Dantec shows that even outside of syndicalist circles the idea of merit or reward, one of the mainstays of the idea of private property, is being submitted to a radical revaluation. " The idea of merit is opposed to the idea of equality ; for the reward of merit, which is relative and temporary, creates lasting inequality. To-day a soldier may receive for a deed of bravery a cross of honor which will shine on his breast even in his hours of pusillanimity and cowardice. The Romans, more matter of fact, awarded to their military heroes a wreath of foliage which, wilting within two days, lasted longer, nevertheless, than the deed it recompensed." 198 THE NEW UNIONISM The application of this theory to the problem of private property and inequality is obvious. From the view that " property is theft " we have evolved to the more scientific view that property is the unrea- sonable and lasting compensation, of temporary serv- ice. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIBRA.,] THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW. N9 551 AGO UC SOJM" L". E SESSS!UilSS i i ofiQ 9