The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1914-08-06
POWER OF INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF
THE WORLD IS GROWING RAPIDLY
Divides All Mankind Into the Capitalists the nonzed Skilled La
Dor and the Ignorant, Non Unonized, Often Alien, Non
Skilled Labor-Many Men of Great Powers Of
Thought Have Been Drawn to Movement

trines which appealed to the miners
was their vastly greater demands as
compared with those OF the bargaining
trades unions.
These people are not looking for
wages, they want to own the fac
tory" declared an astonished Phila-
delphia manufacturer in the early
years of the /. w. w.
So they do. The !. w. w. leaders
tell their followers they will strike
and demand 10 per cent Of the prod
ucts Of the factory; then strike again
and get further Is per cent and con-
tinue this process until labor has the
whole 100 per cent.
The owner of the factory will take
his place at loom or a wheel and re-
ceive the same proportion of the re-
turns as the other workmen.
Writing more than two years ago,
Charles Willis Thompson, who has
made study of labor questions, de-
clared the i. w. W., lis the most Sc
rious menace the present system of
society has ever been called upon to
face.
In these two years many things
have tended to bear: out his predic-
ton. The l. w. W. strikes come with
increasing frequency. Many leaders
of literary talent and deep powers of
thought, such as Bouck White, Lin
coin Steffens and Upton Sinclair. have
been drawn to the l. w. w. from 9TH
er systems of social reform. A few
leaders have made mistakes, and
caused the l. w. w. to appear ridicu-
lous, as In incidents of the last few
general movement has been broaden
ing, a constant steady increase of
strength.
At the present moment there Is not
center Of population in the United
States where large numbers of cheap
ly paid men and women are employed
which is not watching with real con-
Germ the l. w. W. rumblings of the
proletariat, or already has felt the eff
fects of the organizations methods.
1t is the very formlessness of the /.
w. w. which makes it so much to be
dreaded. 1t is an intangible thing.
There is no president the l. w. w.
fears, no Gompers, no treasury and no
organization that deserves the name.
1t is merely a theory which some have
identified with the syndicalists Of
Europe, but which is broader and
deeper
The I. w. w. celebrated its tenth
birthday not long ago. In the winter
of 10000 less than two score men
who had fought in the ranks of the
trade unionists and were dissatisfied
with the results. gathered in Chicago
and here the Rev. Thomas ]. Hagerty,
a Roman Catholic priest, wrote the ia
nous preamble, remarkable docu-
ment which may prove to have a
place in history equal to the Magma
Charta, the Bill of Rights and the
American Declaration of Independence.
A remarkable thing that Catholic
! priest, of a religious sect which has
now condemned the /. w. w., should
have opened this terrible preamble, de-
claring war on the social structure
reared by the centuries.
Here is the famous preamble written
by the Rev. Thomas Hagerty, Ro-
man Catholic priest, and adopted with
minor changes by the founders of the
Industrial Workers Of the World ten
years ago:
THE working class and employing
class have nothing in common. There
can be no peace so long as hunger and
want are found among millions of