The labor movement in America has been characterized
on both sides by very great violence. Indeed,
the Secretary of the C. G. T., Monsieur Jouhaux,
recognizes that the C. G. T. is mild in comparison
with the I. W. W. ``The I. W. W.,'' he says,
``preach a policy of militant action, very necessary
in parts of America, which would not do in France.''[29]
A very interesting account of it, from the point of
view of an author who is neither wholly on the side
of labor nor wholly on the side of the capitalist, but
disinterestedly anxious to find some solution of the
social question short of violence and revolution, is
the work of Mr. John Graham Brooks, called ``American
Syndicalism: the I. W. W.'' (Macmillan, 1913).
American labor conditions are very different from
those of Europe. In the first place, the power of the
trusts is enormous; the concentration of capital has
in this respect proceeded more nearly on Marxian
lines in America than anywhere else. In the second
place, the great influx of foreign labor makes the
whole problem quite different from any that arises
in Europe. The older skilled workers, largely American
born, have long been organized in the American
Federation of Labor under Mr. Gompers. These
represent an aristocracy of labor. They tend to
work with the employers against the great mass of
unskilled immigrants, and they cannot be regarded as
forming part of anything that could be truly called
a labor movement. ``There are,'' says Mr. Cole,
``now in America two working classes, with different
standards of life, and both are at present almost
impotent in the face of the employers. Nor is it possible
for these two classes to unite or to put forward
any demands. . . . The American Federation
of Labor and the Industrial Workers of the
World represent two different principles of
combination; but they also represent two different
classes of labor.''[30] The I. W. W. stands for industrial
unionism, whereas the American Federation of
Labor stands for craft unionism. The I. W. W. were
formed in 1905 by a union of organizations, chief
among which was the Western Federation of Miners,
which dated from 1892. They suffered a split by the
loss of the followers of Deleon, who was the leader of
the ``Socialist Labor Party'' and advocated a
``Don't vote'' policy, while reprobating violent
methods. The headquarters of the party which he
formed are at Detroit, and those of the main body
are at Chicago. The I. W. W., though it has a less
definite philosophy than French Syndicalism, is quite
equally determined to destroy the capitalist system.
As its secretary has said: ``There is but one bargain
the I. W. W. will make with the employing class--
complete surrender of all control of industry to the
organized workers.''[31] Mr. Haywood, of the Western
Federation of Miners, is an out-and-out follower
of Marx so far as concerns the class war and the
doctrine of surplus value. But, like all who are in
this movement, he attaches more importance to industrial
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