Communism; Industrial Workers of the World; Socialism
The papers said the union men were all but anarchist,
So the job trust promised work for all who wouldn't enlist;
But the next day when the hungry horde surrounded city hall,
He hedged and said he didn't promise anything at all.
So the powers that be are acting very queer to say the least--
They should go and read their Bible and all about Belshazzar's feast,
And when mene tekel at length shall come to pass,
They'll stop clubbing men and women just for walking on the grass.
Although the I. W. W. does not yet officially constitute a part of the
Socialist organization, still very many of its members are most active
Socialists. Indeed, it may be said that the I. W. W. is related to the
Socialist Party quite as closely as a child is to its mother, for not
only does the I. W. W. owe its origin to the followers of Karl Marx,
but they are its directors and leaders, and have assisted and encouraged
it in not a few of its principal strikes, notably at Lawrence, Mass.,
and Paterson, N. J.
Though we readily concede that quite a number of Socialists are
individually antagonistic to the I. W. W., still they are opposed to it
not because the I. W. W. differs in essential principles from the
Socialist Party or even because this unfriendly minority of Socialists
would oppose violent methods, if such were considered expedient, but
because the "Yellow" Socialists prefer political action which is made
light of by the I. W. W. direct actionists who are looked upon as
enemies, for they seem to be doing harm to the Socialist political
propaganda. In verification of this, an excellent proof is furnished by
no less an authority than John Spargo, then a Socialist, and a most
prolific writer, whose opposition to the Syndicalists and to the direct
actionists of the Socialist Party was a well established fact even
before the publication of his book, "Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism
and Socialism." On page 172 of this work he writes:
"If the class to which I belong could be set free from exploitation
by violation of laws made by the master class, by open rebellion,
by seizing the property of the rich, by setting the torch to a few
buildings, or by the summary execution of a few members of the
possessing class, I hope that the courage to share in the work
would be mine."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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