The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-02-12
SEES ONLY TWO
PATHS FOR The
|. W. W. to use
Choice Between Marx
and E. P. Anarchisn
BY HENRY GEORGE WEISS
CASUAL REVIEWS

A review this time, not of a look,
but of condition The l. w. w. is
in a bad shape. Not even its most
ardent supporters can deny this. And
yet how many fellow workers realize
why the assertion is true. The other
day fellow worker remarked to ne
that he thot the Industrial Unionist,
official organ of the Emergencies. a
better edited paper than either the
Industrial Worker or Industrial Soil
darlty. Somehow it seems to read
with more of a punch" he finished.
And he was right; it does; and thu
reason why it does is very simple.
The leaders of the E. P. are anarcho-
syndicalists pure and simple They
know what they want, and are united
on the policy to pursue in getting f.
Hence every article in their paper
harmonizes as to thot and tactic with
every other article published. The re-
suit is to give the reader a feeling of
unity, of oneness, so sorely lacking in
his own two publications.
Unity on Wrong Theory.
The significant fact that this sensed|
unity reflects merely the determine
ton Of the E. P. leaders to build up an
organization based more loosely on
anarchist philosophy and local auton-
omy, than along the lines of one big
industrial union highly centralized so
as to conform to the evolution of in
dustry itself, escapes the majority os
E. P. readers. An impression of sol
idarity, of unity, is given then, by
leaders acting as one man to achieve
a certain thing, regardless of how
weak in itself the thing they seek to
achieve may be.
For the same reason inverted, the
official papers of 1888 Belmont give m
impression of disunity. The Belmont
leaders do NOT know what they want
They visualize themselves as between
the devil and the deep sea. To veer
on the side of industrial unionism
pure and simple will inevitably bring
them into working harmony with the
| Communists; to veer the other way
brings them into the ranks of the e. p.
Middle Course lmpossible.
Some fellow workers will doubtless
retort that they will adopt middle
course, veering neither to right nor
left; but as I have pointed out the
middle path is the path Of hesitation,
of INDIGESTION. To follow it very far
can only lead to further losses in
membership. True, the Marine Trans
port Workers Union is looking up;
but only because it has adopted the
correct MARKHAM attitude toward other
transport unions not seeing politically
or industrially eye to eye with them,
It's salvation lies in pursuing this cor
rect tactic. tt4
The leaders of the I. w. w. as
whole must be brot to realize that
the middle path is the path of hqui-
dation for their organization. The pol
icy of isolation now can benefit no
one but the bosses. To veer to the
ranks of the E. P. can but throw
thousands of trusting workers into the
ranks of the anarcho-syndicalists
to the ranks of potential counter-revo-
lutionists.
The Hopeful Road to Power.
On the other hand, they can throw
overheard their anarcho-syndicalist
tendencies, become Marxians in real
ity, and help write revolutionary his
tory with no uncertain hand. do not
disguise it. Such a course will bring
them more and more into harmony
with the Workers (Communist) Party,
whom the Emergencies allude to as
MARKHAM devotees." But such action
will drive the present chaos and un-
certainty from their ranks, will
breathe new life and strength into
their papers, win build the unions that
are predominantly I. w. w. into mass
bodies numbering thousands-nay
millions.
AS it is, thousands Of workers who
sense thru the written word the
theological weaknesses Of their leaders
are falling away from the organiza-
ton. Unless the condition is under
stood Immediately and the proper
remedy applied, ! have no hesitation
in saying the |. w. w. will soon be
history.
a