Communism; Industrial Workers of the World; Socialism
"Thus, if to-morrow we shall be justified in wrenching from
capitalism all the industries, why, when it is a question of life
or death for us to win or to lose a strike, is it not just to
remove a screw, derange a wheel, break a thread, or commit, in any
way whatever, an act of sabotage on a machine which otherwise would
become the very beginning of our defeat in the hands of the scabs?
"We cannot understand how it is still possible while we have a
right to all the produce of our work, we have not an entire right
to a part of it."
Other illustrations of sabotage may be of interest to the reader. The
following one is taken from the Chicago "Syndicalist," February 15,
1913:
"A few drops of sulphuric acid placed on top of a pile of woolen or
cotton goods never stops going down.
"Two decks of cards in a grain separator cover the screen and cause
the grain to vanish out of the blower.
"A piece of iron dropped in a crucible full of glass will eat
through it. Crucibles are made of graphite and cost $40.
"A handful of salt in paint will allow a good-looking job for a day
or two, but when dry will fall off in sheets.
"Maclay Hoyne, Chicago's district attorney, is analyzing a
spontaneous fire powder that allows the user to be miles away when
it breaks forth.
"Castor oil capsules dissolved in varnish destroy the ability of
the latter to dry. The job must be washed down and started all over
again.
"The suffragettes of England have significantly notified their
opponents that a fire in every shire was the way the word was
flashed in days gone by."
Pages 40 to 48 of "The New Unionism," by Tridon, furnish us with some
more barbarous examples of sabotage:
"We may distinguish three forms of sabotage:
"1. Active sabotage which consists in the damaging of goods or
machinery.
"2. Open-mouthed sabotage, beneficial to the ultimate consumer, and
which consists in exposing or defeating fraudulent commercial
practices.
"3. Obstructionism or passive sabotage, which consists in carrying
out orders literally, regardless of consequences.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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