Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-09-16
What Is the l. W. w.?

Recently the city OF MlnOt had 4 great deal or
trouble with a class of demagogic agitators, who
call themselves industrial Workers of the World
The name sounds innocent enough, but the activities
of these so-called workers make them a menace to
society. The l. W. w. is not essentially a labor
union, but a sort of political party. 1t is an offshoot
of the socialist party, but is not now affiliated with
It. The socialists at their last national convention
repudiated the l.. ". w. and read Bill Haywood, tho
notorious !. w. W. leader, out of the party. Unlike
the socialists, the 1. w. WIS do not contine them
selves to the peaceful propaganda of their doctrines.
They will use any means, arson, or even murder, to
coerce an employer to comply with their demands.
The McManuses practiced what the ]. w. WIS preach.
The syndicalists of France and the !. w.. VS.
belong to the same class. The syndicalists strike
only when 1T is certain that a strike will succeed.
When they find that a strike will not be successful
they resort to intimidation and violence, and prac-
tice what is known as sabotage. In Nantes, France,
they destroyed the looms in the silk mills by throw
ing their sa~bots-wooden shoes-into them, whence
the origin of the word, sabotage. Consider the sig
nifcance of this method of industrial warfare. In
a factory an employe who belongs to the I. W. ".
will loosen a nut of a bolt and the machinery will
seemingly accidentally fly to pieces. On q railroad
such an employe may fail to turn a switch or give the
proper signal and a wreck is the result. That is what
sabotage has come to mean. And it is done in such
a way that the criminal is rarely detected.
An employer is almost powerless to deal with q
situation like this. He pays these men for working
and while they receive wages from him they insidid-
ously ruin him. Pretending loyalty, they are his
deadly enemies and knife him in the back. In many
instances in France employers of labor have been lit
orally between the devil and the deep sea. To accede
to the demands of the syndicalists has meant bank
ruptcy, and not to comply has also meant ruin. And
many have been ruined.
The fact that the I. w. WIS do not confine them
selves to the industrial centers of the east, but have
even attempted to organize transient farm laborers
in this state, shows how extensive their campaign is.
They appeal to the class prejudice Of the ignorant
foreign laborer, infame his passions by a recital OF
the supposed wrongs that society has done him and
incite him to violence.
Like the socialists, the |. W. W.. employ the spe-
cious argument that labor produces all wealth. Like
the socialists, they also advocate the government
ownership of all productive wealth, but the socialists
are opposed to violence-the i. W. w. advocate any
thing that is e%xpedient. They assert that the end
j~ustifes the :neans-even though the means are muir
der and arson. In certain factory centers of the east
they have caused a veritable reign OF terror.
The deride the constitution and call our flag
a dirty rag. But when they are arrested. they imme'
diately clamor for the protection guaranteed by that
constitution and symbolized by that flag.
The fact that thousands of workers have been
induced to join the !. w. W.. is a cause for pubic
concern. The only way to combat a social disease
like the /. w. is by educating the masses. More
enlightenment is needed. The boys and girls VINO
are to become the future workers should be taught
more economics and political science. And If the
immigration of a horde of illiterate foreigners Is to
be permitted in the future something will nave to
be done to educate them. Ignorance is the cause OF
extreme radicalism and fanaticism. 1t Is the greatest
menace to a popular government like ours. .~