The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-02-02

| They shared that with warehouse men, with railroad workers, with sailors and these did not make com mon cause with the longshoremen because only one craft struck at a time
 It is very propable that had the sailors quit when the longshoremen , quit, the strike would have ended in speedy victory. But there is little use making such conjectures. The fact is they did not, and they did not because they were organized in distinct unions.
 It is not right to hold that the workers are so entirely blind to their environment as not to see the futility ill some measure of this system of craft unionism. On the contrary they do in many cases req lize that industrial unionism is the only system of organization worth while. But they have to contend with conventional spirit Of loyal ! ty to their own union. to their af- 1 filiation and are imbued with feel | ing of craft patriotism which pre- vents them attacking the real ob. stacle to industrial unionism. That obstacle is the machinery of the craft system of organization. Every [ To has and every little lodge or local has its own little staff of salaried off cials Their meal ticket is identified uiHth that craft and these officials naturally are averse to any system which would submerge their indeni- ty in the greater industrial union which would especially obliterate the pay days that come to the heads of the little craft unions. These craft unions in. turn have their headquarters which boasts of much larger salaried staffs and these are in precisely the same position of de- string to maintain intact their craft organzation so that their machine can be built up and made if any thing more solid. Affiliate these locals with other craft organizations 1 having also the same system of many salaried divisional and sec tional and local officers, and the in- 1 dustrial union idea meets a solid wall of hostile reaction whenever it endeavors to wipe the craft system off the slate.
 The existence of this condition is very serious. It explains how ever quite well why the craft union long ago obsolete.
 Surely the idea is out of place in these days of machine industry when the machinist himself is little better than an unskilled machine i tender.
 In mighty few trades or callings does the absolute craft mastery re- main as the sine qua non of the craftsman. Today the machine does the work that human skill per formed in other days, and the man who attends this highly technical machine may know nothing at all about it.
 Industrial conditions are not eli minating craft unions half quickly enough. Yet that they have played their part and long since performed all the usefulness that was yossible is quite clear.
 i The warning that Scott Nearing uttered to the railroad brotherhoods is to be taken up as not amiss by all craft unionists. They are proceed. ing right along to the point where their complete destruction is assur- ed and if they fail to reach out be- 1 fore that time and unite in an in. dustrial organization, the destruc- ton of all such unionism will come about with their fall
 | Fortunately the machine has made such advanced headway that indus trial unionism has forced for itself recognition before the elimination of the craft organization, and it can i hardly be doubted that in the course of time with the fall of the crafts man, the salaries which maintained the machinery of craft unionism are also likely to go by the board Then the craft union leaders will be ready to bow to the inevitable and