The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-08-13
On Working Within The Unions.
BY JOSEPH POORE.

Inen analyze Ln4 $cQn0mlc condltlonS |
of that period. Are you interested in |
the causes underlying the American |
Civil War? Then Ntudy the prevailing |
economic conditions in both the north
and south at that time. And similarly,
as regards the American labor move
ment. To attribute the backwardness
to the individual cAprices of Gompers
and his playing into the hands of
capital, or to haywood and the /. w.
w. for leaving the| reactionary trade
unions is in spite of its apparent
validity unsound. ILet US see why.
American Conditions.
No one who is familiar with Euro
pean economic conditions can deny the
following:
/. That the American workers
standard Of living up to the present
was superior to that Of the European
workers.
2. That the working hours as a
whole were shorter in America than
in Europe up to, the present.
3. That the open class prejudices
existing in EuropeIfor centuries We're
more or less slumbering in America.
These three facts may be accounted
for by the richness Of American soil,
the existence of overwhelming natural
resources and the vastness of the
country. In large nation like Amer.
lea where until recently land could b.
had for the asking or for a nominal
price, no sooner did a workman
whether foreign or natiNe) obtain
enough money for a, horse and
wagon and some tools then he set
out for the golden vest This con-
slant emigration produced shortage
Of labor in the manufacturing east
which resulted in a corresponding rise
Of wages. Imagine what would happen
in 1916 if million workers with their
families could leave the crowded
cities in the east and settle on farms
in the west! The capitalist would go
begging for worknnen and this state
Of affairs always raises wages.
Another element must be considered.
A laborer who only considers himself
s'temporary ksrisn viii not
have much interest N union affairs
because all his thought is given over
to the future when he will have his
own plot Of land and be his own boss.
The greater the possibility of realiz-
ing his farm the less will be his in
terest in union matters and vice-versa.
Furthermore when we consider the
fact that progress and revolution are
| y
not the result Of contentment but the
very reverse VIZ that misery and
starvation have always been the agen-
cies driving people to revolt, how
could we expect a revolutionary labor
movement in America when the aver
age worker found little more bread
here than obtainable elsewhere. The
very fact that hundreds Of thousands
of workers came here annually to get
this extra piece of bread was uncon-
scious proof to the American worker
that 'his country was the best
Realizing this we can also under
stand why the real Evolutionary ele-
ments, who instead Of being content
with an extra morsel Of bread given
by the capitalist to the workmen n
return for increased production by
machinery which made the capitalist
richer than he was, why these real
revolutionary elements unable to find
responsive ear in the American pro-
letariat Withdrew from the reactionary
trade-unions. 1t must be recalled that
a revolutionary in Europe always
found q ready ear among the work
~. 4 ~