The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1922-11-18

: By Basil N. Manly

(By Basil n. Manly
AS a result OF my personal expe-
riences and Investigations, I have
become convinced that. during re-
cent years, it has been q policy on
the part Of certain groups Of en-
ployers to plant their provocatory
agents in the form of detectives
among the I. w. W., at least. in some
|A1ealit1es, and to use this weapon
[g an instrument in their campaign
no smash labor. unions and establish
the open shop. T. z i
believe the l., w. w. was orig.
inally established by ardent revolu-
tionists who believed sincerely in
industrial unionism, and had a firm
conviction that thu. workers could
take. control of the industries by
"organizing on the job" During this
period the L. w. w. organizers, at
great personal sacrifice, endangered
their lives by working among the
unorganized men in the lumber
camps, the hop fields, and. in other
industries where working conditions
| were terrible and the employers
| were in autocratic control. AS a re-
| suit. of their militant tactics. they
undoubtedly improved wages and
working conditions in many locali-
| ties and aroused a spirit Of revolt in
workers who had hitherto been COM
pletley. submerged
| About the time Of the war, how
ever, a notable change began to take
place. The I. w. w. organizers prac-
tically ceased their attempts to
arouse the unorganized to sense
Of their injustices, and began work.
ing primarily to disrupt existing la
Dor organizations. For some time I
thought that the activities of the I.
w. w. in attempting to create dis
satisfaction within the existing labor
organizations was due simply to a
desire to spur the old-time trade
| unions to greater activity, and to
convert their members to the phil
osophy Of syndicalisnl. But I began
to notice that, in a few cases in
which the I. w. w. succeeded in
getting control Of an organization,
they never attempted to accomplish
anything for the workers. nor did
they attempt to use the militant
and sensational tactics which had
been so effective during the early
days Of the organization.
I could not help but suspect that
there was a "nigger in the wood
pile" But it was not until I was en-
gagged in the investigation of the
beef packers in Chicago, about jan
uary, 1918, that had any real evil
dence of the cause of this signifi-
cant change in the tactics and meth
DDS of the I. w. w. My work In
connection with the investigation Of
the packers made it necessary for
me to spend great deal of time in
the offices Of the Federal district
attorney. Soon after the big raid
on the I. w. w. headquarters, when
the: principal officers Of the I. W.
w. were seized, a request was made
on the Federal authorities for the
release of one OF the most spromi-'
nent of these officials, because he
was a Burns detective in the pay Of
| the. Merchants and Manufacturers
association of Minneapolis: I knew
| enough about the inside workings
| Of the I. w. w., to know that this
| particular l., w. w. official had been
! the leader in insisting on the de-
struction of existing labor organiza-'
| tons. AS soon as I found out who
he was, it, of course, became clear
at once that this propaganda which
he had been carrying on was really
being directed by the employers as:
ISOLATION, and was the work Of
traitor to the labor movement.
A little later in the same year I
War Labor Board. One OF the cases
which came before the board was.
that Of the employees of California
! cotton mill, who protested against
the unjust wages and: working con-
ditions.. imposed: by their employer,
and asked for a. substantial increase.
The cotton mill owner replied that
this was an I. w. w. plot to inter-
fere with war production, and re-
L AO0Nu W S0nO ny Vic LAACV0ANNo Va
his employees so long as they were
under the leadership Of man who,
he assured me. was an active I. w.
w. The War Labor board sent an
investigator to California to make a
thorough inquiry into the situation.
This Investigator wired back, asking
the board to secure permission for
him to examine the files of local
agents Of the department of justice,
so that he might discover, If posi-
BILE, the real status of this alleged I.
w. w. leader. This permission was
secured for him with some diff
Guilty, but he found, upon consult
ing the files, that this alleged I. W.
w. leader was in reality detective
from one of the big New York
agencies. and was actually in the
pay of the cotton mill. 1t appeared,
also. that while he had been acting
as an alleged leader of these cotton
mill workers. he had been even more
| active in stirring up dissension and