Communism; Industrial Workers of the World; Socialism
"Disease is rampant, and the typhus epidemic in Siberia, where
Kolchak left many tens of thousands of victims behind him in his
retreat, is spreading swiftly westward. Owing to the absence of
medical supplies, the epidemic can be combated only by quarantine."
In the tenth place, "labor" in Russia, the real "working class," is
conscripted, enslaved under military discipline, and "exploited" under
an incredible system of military court martial--a degradation of
workingmen by the Socialist tyrants of Russia which no form of modern
"capitalism" has dreamed of since human slavery was abolished. On this
subject Eyre says, in the "World" of February 27, 1920:
"Four of Trotzky's sixteen armies have been turned into 'labor
armies,' which means that soldiers fresh from victories on military
fronts are being obliged to work, still under military command and
discipline, on the 'economic front.' They are used chiefly for
building up the transport system and assuring shipment of food and
fuel from the country to the city....
"Labor generally is being militarized to an amazing extent.
Discipline is being imposed upon factory workers by the
establishment of special tribunals with powers of courts martial.
Communist commissaries, no longer required at the front, are being
detached from their regiments and sent to stimulate production
endeavor in industries and railroads."
Is this the kind of thing which Hillquit's Socialist gang of would-be
labor "exploiters" would lure America's liberty-loving workingmen into
by calling them "slaves" in their present dignified situation as
self-governed and self-reliant freemen? On December 13, 1919, the
presidents and secretaries of the 113 national and international unions
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor met at Washington, D.
C., with the heads of the four railway brotherhoods and several
farmers' organizations, and are to be congratulated for having passed
the following resolution, which the late information from Russia
overwhelmingly vindicates:
"Whereas, the American Federation of Labor is an American
institution, believing in American principles and ideas, and
"Whereas, an attempt is being made to inject the spirit of
Bolshevism and I. W. W.'ism into the affairs of the American
Federation of Labor, and
"Whereas, the American Federation of Labor is opposed to
Bolshevism, I. W. W.'ism and the irresponsible leadership which
encouraged such a policy, therefore be it
"Resolved, that the conference of representatives of trades unions
affiliated with the A. F. of L., and other organizations associated
in this conference, repudiate and condemn the policy of Bolshevism
and I. W. W.'ism as being destructive of American ideals and
impracticable in application; be it further
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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