The sun., 1918-08-19

The I. W. W. Convictions.
War or no war, this country would
have been compelled to move seri-
ously against the Industrial Workers
of the World. Our military necessi-
ties fixed the time at which the task
was undertaken, and 100 Of the
leaders Of this revolutionary asso-
citation have been convicted OF viola
lion Of the espionage act. the section
OF the criminal code prohibiting in
reference with the civil rights Of citi-
xens, the selective service act and the
conspiracy statute. Their trial occu-
pied 1873 court days; their philosophy
of destruction was submitted to the
Jurors by their most capable protag-
onists, and WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD, the
leading exponent Of their doctrines
Is among those who face the posi-
binty Of twenty-seven years In prison
and fines Of $4,000 each.
The Industrial Workers Of the
World have been used by the Ger.
mans to hamper our war work, but
the organization was an Institution
for evil before the Kaiser attempted
to make his dream Of conquest a fact
Of history. For years before the
struggle in Europe began the Indus
trial Workers Of the World had been
fighting the Government here. They
defed all constituted authority and
sought by crime to tear down what
industry and frugality had built up.
Their attacks on the property and
persons Of law abiding folk included
every form Of violence from the Intro.
duction of abrasives into the gears
Of machinery UP to murder. They advo
Gated the wholesale poisoning Of men
women and children; they burned the
ripened grain in the field and girdled
fruit trees in the orchard: they drove
spikes in logs In the sawmills and
maltrcated honest men and women
who peacefully sought to earn their
livings.
An association committed to such
policies fitted naturally into the Ger
man scheme Of world conquest. In
pursuing its course 1t was doing the
Kaiser's work. But this was Incl
dental to the accomplishment Of Its
principal object. Had the laws OF
the various States been rigidly en-
forced against the criminals in the
ranks of the Industrial Workers OF
the World before the criminals In
Berlin were ready to strike there
would have been in the United States
no such weapon az WLHELM's I'M
derlings found here when the day
came for them to begin their task.
Those laws were not enforced be
cause tia citizens for whose protec
tion they were enacted were careless
good natured, busy, tolerant; and the
Industrial Workers of the World
were a picturesque lot whose out
givings were frequently amusing and
usually interesting. Moreover, these
malignant revolutionists received the
beneft of the doubt because they pro
claimed themselves reformers striving
to abolish abuses and remedy inequi
table conditions. The public endures
many grave outrages merely because
their authors insist that they arr
necessary to the accomplishment Of o
good cause. A startingly large mum
Der of citizens forgive John Doe for q
crime against Richard Roe II Richard
Roe Is a rascal; the common Interest
in the suppression Of all crime IL
overlooked by many persons as they
study the personal relations Of wrong
doers-
The Industrial Workers Of the World
also profted from the circumstance
that a large majority of their mem
bers II left to their own devices would
not have been vicious. The rank and
file Of the association were weak mer
and women, mere tools Of unscrupu
lous agitators. They did what they
were told to do, were puppets Of q
circle Of conspirators who understood
exactly how to arouse the passions Of
the ignorant. HAYWOOD, the head and
front of this dangerous alliance, Is a
man of force and igor several Of his
coworkers possess in marked degree
the power to influence the mob.
Inevitably this fellowship Of Grim
inals and their dupes attracted the
affectionate attention Of some senti
mental and sapheaded persons Of re
spectacle antecedents. who became
its defenders where 1t should have
been held in unmitigated detes
tation. This advocate of sabotage
had written poem: Immediately
sabotage took on the aspect of a viz
tuous act. The Jail was too cold FOL
another and he was able to tell o.
hisr troubles in crisp. good English