The Red Conspiracy

nto trouble in one way or another, especially in strikes, are often p

to strike in behalf of amnesty for "poor, persecuted, noble protagonists of the cause of labor jailed because freedom of speech and liberty of action are no longer tolerat

National Executive Committee the Socialist Party calls for a fair and unprejudiced tr

been proven pure fabrications when put to legal test. The Socialist Party has always extended its aid, material and moral, to organized labor wherever and whenever it has been attacked by the capitalist class, and this without reference to form of organization or special policies; therefore we pledge our support to the Industrial Workers of the World now facing trial in Chicago and elsewhere, and demand for them a fair and unprejudiced trial and urg

d, pledges its support to a revolutionary organization like itself. "The One Big U

globe, sweeping away the last remnants of feudal rubbish from the body social, and some of t

fter printing the word, "Revolution" in the heaviest type all the way across the paper, p

n fire! Industry is at a standstill and thousands of workers are starving! The government is using the most brutal and repressive measures to put

on or not, there are powerful forces in the United States that are making for just such a catastrophe. The Industrial Workers of the World has in the past and is now using all of its energies to avert such a cataclysmic debacle. It is not yet too late to avoid this terri

dition of April 19, 1919, publishes on the editorial page an arti

ow a sufficient number were class conscious enough for the revolutionary change. This question is asked with the idea that there must b

be counted for or against capitalism, just as soon as the organized workers can

for the purpose of taking and administering industry for the workers by action on the job and in the Union halls, is to strength

ion contained in seized mail matter. Accompanying the memorandum were several hundred excerpts from the mail matter. The solicitor named the following organs, published in the interest of the I. W. W. or Bolshevist movements: "The New Solidarity," English, weekly, Chicago; "One Big Union," English, monthly, Chicago; "Industrial Unionist," English, weekly, Seattle; "California Defense Bulletin," English, weekly, San Francisco; "The Rebel Worker," English, bi-monthly, New York; "La Neuva Solidaridad," Spanish, weekly, Chicago; "Golos Truzenta," Russian, weekly, Chicago; "Il Nuovo Prol

istory of the so-called radical movement in the United States that the radical elements have found a common cause (Bolshevism) in which they can all unite. The I. W. W., anarchistic, socialists, radical and otherwise, in fact all dissatisfied elements,

and has at its command a large field force known as recruiting agents, subsc

languages. This list comprises only official papers of the organization and does not take into a

ong other diseases common to all nations and particularly prevalent in the United States is respect for law

was managed by the I. W. W., Quinlan, o

the strike lasts, the stronger and more bitter and the madder the workers are growing. Out of it all we want to build

ling wilderness and a graveyard industrially, because the workers will not stay there. We have had too long and bitter a fi

r, is reported as sa

fellow-workers. We are going to cut off the lights in Paterson, and tie up the street car system. We shall reduce the city to a condition of

ir sympathizers to use every means to free their leaders, even if Paterson had to "starve or go naked." He said that the

ce at the silk mills strike in P

striking--red, white, and blue, with two or three twin

zation. In the March 1, 1919, issue of "The One Big Union Monthly,

superior to the ethical teachings of Jesus, Buddha or Mohammed, also to demonstrate

n editorial on "The Bomb Plot," which h

or movement in this country, and the editors know it. Those who print such unfounded a

y after the following special dispa

ying to secure the recall of Mayor Short. The card was received today. It was signed 'I. W. W. Alliance for Short.' The police are rounding up all suspicious characters, and

iracy" obtained at the I. W. W. headquarters in Chicago a leaflet ent

of the northern states, broke their chains of bondage and ended chattel slav

f our health and welfare. Today, as wage-workers, the boss may work us to death at the hardest and most hazardous labor, at the longest hours, at the lowest pay; we may quietly starve when out of work and the boss loses nothing by it and has no interest in us. To him the

of cane, cotton and tobacco, in the mills and mines of Dixie, are such that the workers suffer a m

workingmen in the labor organization that best expresses the interest of the whole working class against the slavery a

1919, page 6, publishes an article ent

n this country have di

emned to slavery if divided, and that freedom is ours if we unite. The accessions of Chinese workers to our ranks fills us with great joy. May they also succeed in soon car

eady met with such popularity among the "Wobblies" that fourteen editions have

lave By Joe Hill (Tune

ou what's wrong and what's right; But when asked how 'bou

or

land above the sky; Work and pray, live on

hey clap and they pray. Till they get all your coin on

, they jump and they shout. "Give your money to Je

something good in this life-- You're a sinner and bad

or freedom will fight; When the world and its wealth

t C

w to cook and to fry, Chop some wood, 'twill do y

'E

music by

a form of property, The skill that you are losing, don't you see. Improvements on machinery take your tool and skill away, And you'll be among the comm

or

s till hostilities begin. Don't furnish chance for gunmen, scabs and

afts are battling with the foe, You all must stick together, don't you know. The day when you begin to see the classes waging war You can join the bigges

g on t

Wearing of

ow to come to time, The law upholding Pinkertons are gathered from the slime. There are wisely framed injunctions that you must not leave your job, And a peaceabl

d as a tramp, And all the well-to-do will shout: "It serves him right, the scamp!" So we let the ruling class maintain the dignity of law, When the court decides ag

nded 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 th

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 K

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 au

by open rebellion, by seizing the property of the rich, by setting the torch to a few buildings, or by the summar

ialist Party did not endorse the I. W. W. at its 1912 National Convention, or else to the fact that William D. Haywood was subsequently removed by a referendum from the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party. But the 1912 Indianapolis Convention of the Socialist Party did not repudiate the Industrial Workers of the World. The representatives of the party only

the most friendly terms with it after the 1912 Convention, is evident from several facts. "Th

he labor organization committee brought forth a unanimous report, which after a few speeches, all expressing the spirit of solidarity, was adopted without

with the adoption of this declaration concerning the neutrality of the party towards the two rival labor unions he felt that he could go to the 8,000,000 w

ever expelled from the party--which yet boasted so much of the constitutional clause adopted at the 1912 National Convention demanding that any member who opposes political a

mparison made with the Socialist Party, against which it was somewhat offended by th

ut the power of the general strike. They seem to lack the foresight, the penetration to interpret political power. They seem to lack the understanding that the broadest interpretation of political power comes through the industrial organization; that the industrial organization is capable not only of the general strike, but prevents the capitalists from di

n page 122 of "T

al wage-workers to join our ranks. The Socialists can never get a majority of votes for a working class programme (if they had such a programme) because the majority of voters are middle class, since about ten million male wage-workers are disfranchised (being foreigners or floaters without long enough residence in one place to have votes). But the wage-workers are a big majority of the whole people, and produce nearly all wealth, so when th

list Party the anti-sabotage and anti-direct action plank of the Constitution was dropped. The "In

itution committee recommended that it be striken out by unanimous consent without going on the minutes or records. Ruthenberg

same issue of "The Inter

been offered as a resolution it would have gone through by a big majority." Though most of the Conv

other. The American Federation of Labor is held in greatest contempt by the Socialist press, while the I. W. W. is lauded to the skie

of the I. W. W. In the February, 1918, issue of the

the poor, every hog under a silk tile, every vampire in human form will tell you that the A. F. of L. under Gompers is a

. Wage-Slave, is your friend a

workers of all countries against the exploiters of all countries--is our war, the war of huma

ished at the top of its editorial page, "D

ailed, He

evolutionary shibboleth to all the workers of the earth: 'Our interests are identical--let us combine industrially and politically, assert

ass is triumphant in this struggle and the

of April 28 he sat talking with Debs in his little room in the prison hospital at Moundsville, West Virginia, and that the many-times presidential candidate of the Sociali

and all the other boys you see out there.

espondent then

nd the little scene enacted between 'Gene' and 'Big Bill' in the corridor o

lasped Debs' in his own great palm and said affectionately, 'You are the champion of the underdog, Gene, and you always will be.' There was something thrilling and inspiring

work that confronted himself and the Socialist Party. Debs has always been for industrial unionism. His speeches and writings are filled with the spirit of organization and solidarity on the industrial field as well as on the political. But above

ives us some very interesting information about the I. W. W. attit

to believe us. We asked them to prepare for it by building up the framework of the new society within the shell of t

ntrol and they will not let go of it. As the days go by, they will gradually organize production and d

ociety, by building industrial unions right now, before the structure of the old society topples over.

ass state, found itself paralyzed by the existence of a parliamentary form of Democracy. The Revolution was at stake. In order to destroy capitalism it was necessary

udiate it because it was not 'Democratic.' Plekhanov betrayed it. Kautsky reviled it. Albert Thomas called upon the capitalists of France to send their soldier

be better to put it--between industrial Democracy and parliamentary Democracy. And our piti

cracy but we have refused to allow the capitalist thinkers to define it for us. We have practiced Democracy in our organization and we have sublimated it into the most perfect of Democratic organi

the candle-stick maker, but also the lawyer, the doctor, the merchant, the sky pilot, yes, and even the capitalists--known as millionaire Socialists. Out of such a medley, a medley philosophy was spr

s. It realized, before Spargo took that fatal dodge, that, from parliamentary Socialism to parliamentary Democracy it was but a st

ts, they dreamed that they could transform these parliaments into Socialist republics. Only too soon they discovered that the parliaments had transformed them into 'Democratic' apologists. Like a poisoni

Bolshevists gave a great "boost" to the I. W. W. principle of industrial unionism by endorsing it and declaring that Russia was being reorganized economically along similar lines. Bolshevism in Russia,

egulations. Any attempt to make the people the real owners of the means of production and distribution must start with the industrial organization of the workers themselves as outlined in the I. W. W. pro

ld, there is apt to be little if any dissension." However, noting that "the I. W. W. of this and other countries" had been invited to the conference, it declared that "we have no reason to get excited over the invitation," since, "with the exception of the I. W. W., there is hardly any of the thirty-nine invited bodies who seriously endorse industrial

ropose to make the unit of industry, the place of work, the shop, the mill, the field, the ship, the basis of our new social organization. These units will combine in two different manners. From a purely industrial standpoint, they will unite with other units into large industrial unions, calculated to embrace the whole world, each and every one of them. For the purpose of local administration, we propose that the local industr

issue on "Soviet Govern

gather up all the radical elements with a view to establishing a Soviet government in this country.... We do not deny that this agitation i

rict Industrial Council, ... a local representative body of the various industrial unions in each locality. So far, it lacks all practical significance because we are not numerous enough, but whenev

issue treats of the overture

old not to show up political Socialism; we are told not to attack Anarchism. We are asked to be more le

has fallen out of their programs and they want us to keep quiet about it, and as a reward we w

h an itch for revolution--paper soldiers anxious to get a-straddle of the great strike-conducting wa

ge if not a revolution. This element would like to see the change

rly defined. It seems they built great hopes on the participation of the I. W. W. They know we are a compact mass of industrial workers, able to manipulate such great affai

g aside and help us build up industrial unionism, but that is exactly what they are not doing to any considerable extent. Their activities are directed on aims that are strange and foreign to us. Some of their adherents in overalls are getting into

E. Ferguson, a "Little Corporal" ready to step to the

ight now, else these excesses will accomplish injury to the American Socialist movement. This does not mean to repudiate the claims of the I. W. W. to any extent,

burdened, to throw overboard the more remote job in favor of the more immediate one. Revolution is a political proposition, or, if you please, anti-political. Its direct task is the overthrow of the capitalist state, the bulwark of capitalist industrialism. There is no question in the world but that the I. W. W

rough things, will invite theorists, non-working drones, to come in and take charge of it. Nor is it willing to be borrowed, and diverted into an

ruggle; like the Eastmans, the Nearings and the Frainas of our American movement, my critic is obsessed with Russia. To h

en the October Revolution came (and there were thousands of them) were all found in the Bolshevist army. Bill Shatoff, Volodarsky, Martoff, Kornuk and others who have been leaders in the Bolshevist army wer

n Bolsheviki. And in that proposal he demonstrates the impractical artlessness of the Left Winger. The I. W. W. is a Socialist who is a materialist. The Left Winger is a So

ccept the proletarian conception of Socialism. We will have no unity with any who do not belong t

ee to be members of the Socialist Party and thousands o

they do this by the slow process of organization. In their union halls, the workers learn class consciousness. In their union halls, the workers learn self-government. In their union halls, the workers are disciplined and solidified for the 'f

d the boldest revolutionary utterance which has ever been penned.... Even were we silent in revolutionary words, our very form of or

ich ring from the prisons of the land. It can be read in the tragic sacrifices of the Littles, the Joe Hills, the Barans, the Looneys, the Jonsons, the Rabinowitzes, the Gerlots, the Jack Whytes whom

n the world today, and if our present order of society hopes to survive its steady

"The syndicalist and the Socialist have this in common: That they both strive for the reduction of the state to zero and the 'building of a new society within the shell of the old.' The fundamental difference between

unionism creed. This now is the backbone of all the recent Socialist platforms, including that of the Socialist Party of America. Even with the Left Winger's buoyant faith in a speedy overturn of the United States, he now sees that the One Big Union is the necessary steam-roller to accomplish it, and for months he has been

to the opportunism of the Right Wing. Therefore we must, in order to make the Socialist

pposition to the opportunism of Gompers et al. Therefore we must, in order t

s demand that we must make ready to enforce our demands. No pious resolutions will bring us freedom. Only POWER through organization on the job will bring us freedom. True it is that we have to resort to mass action. But the basis of our mass action must be organization on the job. The I. W.

ths later we open the December, 191

ur principles in the course of this year. Close upon these significant events came the news that the three fragments into

arine transport workers and many other unions report many thousands of new members. We are getting a footing in fields that we have never been able to touch before, such as the printing industry and building construction. Carpenters and painters are joining us by the thousand. On November 9th delegates of eig

uncing that they are with the I. W. W. Thus in Mexico our movement has taken form and been laid out on a national basis. In South America, where the labor movement always has been in sympathy wi

all the old trade unions on this continent prove

our principles. At last report there were about 3,500,000 industrial workers organized in industrial unions for the carrying

een made in the organ of the Communist Party, 'L'Internationale Communiste,' to start reorganizing the French working class on our program, in opposition to the C. G. T. [Confédération Générale du Travail, or French Confedera

exactly as the I. W. W. The recently formed 'Freie Arbeiter Union' is also a federation of industrial unions that endorse our principles. And

s object the overthrow of the United States Government; secondly, that, like the Socialist Party, it is constantly seeking to stir up trouble whenever it can do so; thirdly, that it respects neither