The sun., 1919-10-08
I.W. W. URGE REVOLT
BY NEGRO MILL MEN
Pittsburg and Ohio Steel Dis
tricts Flooded With Lurid
Literature.
CLASS HATREDS STIRRED
Steel City's Mayor Gets Red
Pamphlets and Police Are
on the Alert.
CLASS HATREDs STIRRED
Special Despatch to rnn srx.


not concerned so much over the pros
pects of disorder arising from this spe-
cifc Industrial situation as they are over
an eruption of 1. w. w.'ism unconnected
with the strike.
Mayor Babcock received copies to-day
Of the I. w. w. literature that was dis
trIbuted among the negroes OF Akron.
Ohio. Pittsburg alone has a black pop
ulation OF $4,000, while the district here
about has many negroes. brought from
the South In the stress of war work
Agitation has been going on here
among the colored residents for months,
according to reports to the police. and
II Is frankly feared in many quarters
that trouble may come to a head in
the municipal elections in the city. In
the crowded Fifth ward there Is, a hot
three-cornered contest for Alderman
among a negro and two white men.
The raid on the I. w. w. quarters at
weirton to-day Is typical of the extreme
care with which the local authorities
throughout the district are watching this
situation. They say that IL legitimate
labor union activity has been forced to
suffer under these measures the meas
ures are warranted by the gravity OF the
situation.
Statements Continue to Clash.
Meanwhile the steel companies con-
tinue to assert that they are getting
their crews filled and that their produc-
ton figures are proving it. The strikers
deny this and continue to maintain that
their ranks are virtually intact save at
McKeesport, where William Murphy
strike organizer, admitted to-day that
there had been defections from the
union ranks.
On the other hand. there was reported
to-day the first closing of fabricating
plants in this region because of the lack
o, raw steel The General Fireproofiing
Company. the Preston Steel Company
and the United Engineering Company in
the Youngstown district were forced to
cease operations. as they had no mate
rals with which to work. In all they
employ nearly 5000 men.
The negroes for the most part have
remained at work where they are en-
ployed in the steel mills. Most of them
came here as common laborers. They
arrived to face crowded housing condi-
tions, which have added to their discon-
tent Three negro papers have sprung
Up and attained large circulation IN the
district, and they are anything but calm
tr tone.
Authorities here do not profess to
know how far the l. w. w. propaganda
has gone among the negroes, and for
publication, particularly in the local
press, they are putting on the soft pOral.
They have beeB busy In a quiet way.
however, and believe that they will be
in shape to act as definitely as did the
authorities at Weirton should occasion
demand.
I. w. w. Web Set for Negroes.
The I. w. w. literature which Mayor
Rabcock obtained was shrewdly call
culated to stir up the negroes here and
10 get them into the control of the l.
W. W. leaders who have been pretty
soundly trounced in certain minor ef-
forts they have made to get control of
or influence in the unions conducting the
Eteel strike.
One I. w. w. pamphlet bears pic
ture OF the burned body of a negro boy
presented In fashion as sensational as
that in which the steel strikers put out
their picture of the crushed head of
Mrs. Snellins, the steel striker martyr.
]. W. W. and Is entitled Justice for
the negro; how he can get it," II re-
cites that two lynchings q week have
been recorded for years and that even
curing the war when colored soldiers
were fighting for democracy" ninety
one or their race were lynched at home.
1t then sets forth the Industrial and
social injustices to which the negro is
subjected throughout the country and
calls to his attention the fact that he
Is not welcomed In any union but the
''one big union" the ]. w. w.
II quotes the New York Times to the
effect that the negro death rate in cities
Is 2s71 1000. while that for whites
;s 147.1. attributing the larger negro
rate TO the inferior quarters in which
they are obliged to live 1t says the
wages Of negro kitchen employees in
New York city average $50 a week less
than those OF white men in similar
tasks
Literature to. Stir Negroes.
Throughout this land of liberty, So
called" says the pamphlet, tho negro
worker is treated as an inferior: he is
underpaid in his work and overcharged
IN his rent; he Is poked about, cursed
and spat upon; In short, he is treated.
not as human being. but as an ami
NAL beast of burden for the ruling
class. When he tries to improve his
condition he is showed back into the mire
OF degradation and poverty and told to
keep his place
lie has, however, one weapon the
master class fears-the power to fold
MS arms and refuse to work for the
community until he is guaranteed fair
treatment. Remember how alarmed the
south became over the emigration of
colored workers two years ago and what
desperate means were used to try TO
Keep them from leaving the mills and
cotton fields?
The only power of the negro Is his
power as a worker; his one weapon is
me strike. Only by organizing and re-
fusing to work for those who abuse
MN can he put an end TO the injustice
ana oppression he now endures.
Most labor organizations, however.
smut their doors TO the colored people.
lhe American Federation OF Labor ex-
cludes him from any OF its unions as
an inferior. In those to which he is
ADMITTED he Is treated as an inferior.
Ihe negro has no chance in the old line
.rade unions, They do not want them.
Ihey admit him only under compulsion
una treat him with contempt. Their Off
-s!f '";'o discourage strikes for higher
wages or shorter hours are always
ready, as In the case of the switchmen's
union. to permit a strike to prevent the
employment OF colored men.
This narrow minded policy of ex-
Guiding the negro from the trade unions
"t the country forces him to become a
s'rike breaker against his will by closing
tsiumate occupations to him. The con-
Eqlence Is racial conflicts such as the
lIlehtful tragedy In East ST. Louis IN
1877
There Is one international labor
cfSaniZg tion In this country that admits