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
Mr. Mann agreed with him. In a speech published in the _International
Socialist Review_[599] he expressed his belief that "if the fine
energy exhibited by the I. W. W. were put into the A. F. or L. or
into the existing trade-union movement ... the results would be
fifty-fold greater than they now are." He went on to "urge the
advisability, not of dropping the I. W. W., but certainly of dropping
all dual organizations and serving as a feeder and purifier of the big
movement." William D. Haywood replied that "it might as well be said
that if the fine energy exhibited by the I. W. W. were put into the
Catholic church, that the results would be the establishment of the
control of industry."[600] He went on to show that it is well-nigh
impossible for the unskilled man to get into the A. F. of L., even when
he does desire to do so, because of what Haywood characterizes as "a
vicious system of apprenticeship, exorbitant fees," _etc._[601] Mr.
Haywood's fellow-worker, Joseph J. Ettor, joined him in his attack on
Tom Mann's position:
The theory that what is needed to save the Federation is the
energetic and vigorous men who are now in the I. W. W. is on
a par with the "socialist" advice of [_sic_] how to save the
nation; but we don't want to save the Federation any more than
to save the nation. We aim at destroying it. The Socialists
advised us to roll up our sleeves and become active politically
within capitalism--"We must capture the government for the
workers," _etc._ We tried, but the more we fooled with the
beast the more it _captured us_. Our best men went to "bore
from within" capitalist parliaments, and city councils, only
to be disgusted, thrown out, or fall victims of the game and
environment in which they found themselves.... We learned at an
awful cost particularly this: That the most unscrupulous labor
fakers now betraying the workers were once our "industrialist,"
"anarchist" and "socialist" comrades, who grew weary of the
slow progress we were making on the outside, went over, and
were not only lost, but ... became the greatest supporters of
the old and [the] most serious enemies of the new.[602]
Mr Mann's attitude was not appreciably changed during his trip through
the United States. His reaction to the situation so far as the
principle of "dual unionism" is concerned is explained in an article
contributed to a French journal. He wrote:
As the situation appears to me after many deep conversations
and discussions with working men of all conditions, I say
very emphatically that the I. W. W. should work in harmony
with the American Federation of Labor. There is not the least
necessity for having two organizations. The field of action is
wide enough for all to be able to coöperate in the economic
struggle....
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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