The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-11-11
|. ". vi Opens
18th GENERAL
CONVENTION
Regular Organization
SurUibes the Split


The 18th general convention Of the
Industrial Workers Of the World a..
w. W. opened Monday at 10 a. m.
at the headquarters 1888 Belmont Ave.
The Organization has survived the
attack Of the so-called emergency
split carried on during the past year
by anarchistic elements who were
expelled for appealing to the CAPT
talist courts in Chicago to get con
troll Of the organization headquarters
which they caused to be padlocked
by the sheriff.
Split Joins Anarchist International.
This emergency program split.
claims to BE the /. w. w. and affil
lated with the Anarchist International
of Berlin a its convention held IN
July at Od3en. Utah. But the split
while it took 5000 to 1000. out Of the
4 w. w. at first and caused great.
falling away of confused and dis
couraged members, has steadily gone
down, and It's membership is so small
a
Of it conceal its real standing by con-
cealing financial accounts of dues
and limitations. The split is estimat-
ed to have at present only from 1000
to 1900 members. The damage done
to union Organization and a solid
front against the bosses in the lumber
and construction industries is, how
ever incalculabIe.
Few Delegates Attend.
This internal war accounts in part
TOR the declining membership of the
legitimate organization. and the ruin
ous finapcEAf 81 stem based upon ex-
tremely low dues and cutting in two
of the per capita paid to the general
organization, have conspired to bring
only handful OF delegates, IL in all,
to represent the approximately 10000
members shown by dues payments
10 the industrial unions. This number
permits of nearly so delegates.
The 1924 convention represented
some 10000 members, and the 1928
convention a. little over $4,000. Thus
il appears that altho the organiza-
lion has survived the anarchist at
Jack, it is greatly weakened in num-
bers, and some of its tactics may be
held accountable for the losses
which proceeded the split.
Problems to be Discussed.
Considerable time of the conven-
ton will be devoted, it is expected,
to discussions of some of the tactics,
and to the revamping of the financial
system, hereto applied universally
without regard for the special requir-
ments of the various industrial unions
to allow for these unions to set
their own limitations and dues fees
to conform with the conditions they
face in their particular industry.
According to reports preceding the
gathering of the delegates the twelve
to be seated are as follows: Agri-
cultural Workers No. no. three dele
gates, O'Neilb Thorpe and Foster q.
B. Foster); Lumber Workers No. 1870,
one delegate, Frank Whiting; Metal
Miners, one delegate, Paul Lundgard;
General Construction No. $40, two
delegates, T. P. Kelley and James v.
O'Conner; Building Construction No.
$3.50, two delegates, Joe Wagner and
John Kivinismi; Marine Transport
No. $40, one delegate, Francezan; and
from the combined small industrial
unions. two delegates. Minkoff and
Lamson.
In the rules committees report was
a recommendation usually voted
down in other conventions, to exclude
all but holdersrof l. W. w. cards from
visiting the convention. this including
reporters for,both capitalist and labor
papers. This convention also voted
against the motion after some dis
cussion over the matter Of excluding
only such papers as would print re-
ports that displeased the delegates.