The I. W. W.: A Study of American SyndicalismBrissenden, Paul F. (Paul Frederick)
History
The I. W. W.: A Study of American Syndicalism
Brissenden, Paul F. (Paul Frederick)
Industrial Workers of the World; Syndicalism
One of the two factions is thus seen to consist, for the most part, of
members of the Socialist Labor party--supporters of the revolutionary
Marxian tradition and believers in political action--the doctrinaire
group. Their prophet was Daniel DeLeon. The other group was composed
more largely of Westerners--intellectually more nearly philosophical
Anarchists than orthodox Socialists--inclined to scoff at political
action and emphatically opposed to allowing the I. W. W. to have
any connection with any political body--or to hold any political
policy--disbelievers in the state and in both the Socialist parties
because they accept the state--"industrialists with their working
clothes on"--the essence of the "proletarian rabble." The first group
was ultimately to constitute a socialistic I. W. W. with headquarters
at Detroit--the doctrinaire wing; the second group an anarchistic I. W.
W. with headquarters at Chicago--the direct-action wing, referred to by
the Detroiters as "the Bummery."[417]
Rudolph Katz, a member of the Socialist Labor party, writes that after
the third convention
all the efforts of DeLeon to preserve harmony in the I. W.
W. were unavailing. St. John, Trautmann, Edwards, and the
majority of the five members of the General Executive Board
turned over night ... against the fundamental principles of
industrialism as laid down in the I. W. W. preamble. They no
longer recognized political action as necessary.[418]
When the convention was called to order by Mr. St. John on September
21, 1908, there were twenty-six delegates in attendance, controlling
an aggregate of seventy votes. Two delegates were debarred from seats
in the convention--Max Ledermann of Chicago and Daniel DeLeon of New
York--and St. John was made permanent chairman.[419]
The West--especially the Pacific Coast--was well represented for the
first time. There were delegates in attendance from Seattle, Portland,
Los Angeles, and Spokane. The West was spoken of as furnishing the
"genuine rebels--the red-blooded working stiffs," and this was said to
be the first revolutionary convention ever held in Chicago composed of
"purely wage-workers."[420] The largest and most important delegation
from the West was popularly known as the "Overalls Brigade," brought
together in Portland and Spokane by one J. H. Walsh, a national
organizer of the I. W. W. The "Brigade" numbered about twenty men who
"beat their way" from Portland to Chicago, holding propaganda meetings
en route. A member of the delegation reported this propaganda trip:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account