The sun., 1919-09-23


establishment Of a society worthy OF
the human race--is the real goal Of
Syndicalism and the end TO which
all its efforts are finally spent"
The State itself must go:
The Syndicalist sees in the State
only an instrument of oppression and
a bungling administrator OF industry
and proposes to exclude It from the
future society. He sees no need for
any general supervising government
tai body. and intends that the work.
ers in each industry shall manage
the affairs of their own industry;
the miners shall manage the mines:
the railroaders manage the railroads.
and so on through all lines Of human
activity"
We shall now follow Mr.. WILLIAM
2. FOSTER into the discussion of the
practical means to be adopted by la
Dor organized and militant for the
purposes avowed In his red pamphlet.
We have already given our readers
some idea of his notions on the sub
ject of sabotage; let us turn to the
capital agent of revolution, the gen
eral strike. These are Mr.. FOSTERS
teachings about the scope and spirit
Of the general strike:
"He 1.-THE Syndlcalist1 knows that
in modern society, as in all ages,
might Is right, and that the capital
lists hold the industries they have
stolen and daily perpetrate the rob-
berry Of the wages, system simply be-
cause they have the economic power
to do so. He has tathomed the cur
rent system Of ethics and morals, and
knotos them to be Just so many
auriiidries Of the capitalist class.
Consequently he hos cast them aside
and hos placed his relations tcith the
capitalists upon a basis Of naked
potoer."
The italics are THE Suns, not Mr.
WILLIAM q. FosTER's. They illuminate
what follows:
I'm his choice of weapons to fight
his capitalist enemies the Syndical-
list is no more careful to select those
that are fair just or civilized
than is a householder attacked in the
night by a burglar He knows he is
engaged in a life and death struggle
with an absolutely lawless and I'M
scrupulous enemy, and considers his
tactics only from the standpoint Of
their effectiveness. With him the end
justifies the means. Whether his tao
tics be legal and moral or not does
not concern him. so long as they are
effective. He knows that the laws,
as well as the current code of morals,
are made by his mortal enemies and
considers himself about as much
bound by them as a householder
would himself by regulations regard
ing burglary adopted by an association
OF housebreakers. Consequently he ig-
nores them 1.-THE laws and the current
able and it suits his purpose. He pro-
poses to develop. regardless of capi-
talist conceptions of legality fair
ness right &c. a greater power
than his capitalist enemies have and
then to wrest from them by force the
industries they have stolen from him
by force and duplicity and so to put
an end forever to the wages system.
He proposes to bring about the revo-
luton by the general strike"
After dwelling upon the power of the
workers to paralyze 'the delicately
adjusted capitalist society" and the
inability of the forces Of law and
order-in the old sense-to cope
with the revolutlonists, Mr.. FosTEE
proceeds to show what an easy job OF
organization it will be-:
preliminary organization unques-
tionably aids very materially to the
success of strikes, but all great
strlkes-which differ only in degree
from the general strlke-prove to us
that this preliminary organization
by no means has to be so thorough
as the DIRECTORS insist. They show
us that vast masses OF unorganized
workers can be readily provoked into
revolt by the contagious example Of
a few, and also that these workers,
once on strike. are in a few days
easily and effectively organized
though for years previous untold
efforts have been expended to or
ganize them. In all proba-
bility the general strike, at least in
its incipient stages. will follow the
course that any number OF modern
great strikes have taken. Only a
small part of the workers will be or
ganized; this organized fraction, I'M
der some strong stimulus, will pro-
mote a great strike vast masses of
unorganized workers. seeing an OPP
portunity to better their conditions,
and caught in the general contagion
of revolt. will Join the strike. organ
izing themselves meanwhile; the
strike will spread; society will be
paralyzed. and the revolutionary work
ers. perceiving their power. will pro-
coed TO put an end to capitalism"