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Labor Herald
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BOOKS BY UPTON SINCLAIR
THE BRASS CHECK
A S t u d y of American Journalism-Who
b
'
Owns the Press a nd W h y ?
you read your daily paper, are you reading facts or p rqmganda? And whose
;an< "
~ u m ~ ~ uhesraw material for your thoughts about life? k i ummt material?
te
d,
No man can ask more important questions than these; and here f ar , + " P > ~ S ~ifpe the
t
I
auestions are answered in a book.
SLk
T HE JUNGLE
This novel, first published i;p 1906, caused an international sensation. I t was the best
selling book in the United States for a year; also in Great Britain and its colonies. I t
was translated into seventeen languages, and caused an investigation by President
Roosevelt, and action by Congress. The book has been out of print for ten years, and
is now reprinted by the author at a lower price than when f i s t published, although the
cost of manufacture has since more than doubled.
T h e B tory of a Patriot
Would you like to go behind the scenes and see the "invisible government" of your
country saving you from the Bolsheviks and Reds? Would you like to meet the secret
agents and provocateurs of "Big Business," to know what they look like, how they
talk and what they are doing to make the world safe for democracy? Several of these
gentlemen have been haunting the home of Upton Sinclair during the past three years
and he has had t ke <dea of turning the tables and investigating the investigators. He
has put one of khem, Peter Gudge by name, into a book, together with Peter's ladyloves,
and his wife, and his boss, and a whole group of his fellow-agents and employers.
KING COAL
A N ovel of t he Colorado Coal Country
<6
Clear, convincing, complete," Lincoln Steffens. "I wish that every word of it 'could
be burned deep into the heart of every American," Adolph Germer.
THE PROFITS OF RELIGION
A study of supernaturalism as a source of ipcome and a shield to privilege. The first
investigation of this subject ever made in any language.
( A l l t he above books: 6 0c p aper, $1.20 cloth, postpaid. A n y three copies: paper, $1.50; cloth, $3.00.)
T HE BOOK OF LIFE
Volume One-Mind and Body. A book of practical counsel. Discusses truth an$ i ts
standards, and the basis of health, both mental and physical Tells people how t~ live,
in order to avoid waste and pain, and to find happiness and achieve progress. Cloth,
$1.75 ; paper, 80c.
THE CRY FOR JUSTICE
An anthology-of the literature of social prokest, with an introduction by Jack London,
who calls it "this humanist Holy-book." Thirty-two illustrations, 891 pages. Cloth,
$1 50 ; paper, $1.00. Order from
UPTON SINCLAIR, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
D istributors t o the book trade:
The Paine Book Company, 75 West Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois
i
h' r
THE LABOR HERALD
M arch. 1922
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TAKE YOUR PICK AT ONLY 1 0 ~ BOOK
A
142 Bismarck and the
German Empire.
Oscar Wilde. 51 Bruno: H is Life
80 pillars'of Society,
and Martyrdom.
Ibsen.
131 Redemption, Tolstoi. 147
and His
183 Realism i n Art and
Literature, Darrow.
177 Subjection of Wom-
1 9 Nietzsche: Who He
$FWeu
Was anA W hat He
Stood For.
I
Revolutionary Crisis
I GERMANY, ENGLAND,
I
4 3 M arriage and Di-
Maxims
i~,"2ufe~rrHT $ pgg;
i gzt:
:
$
:
:z
thema
:
I
E. H. Julius, Pres., Appeal Publishing Company,
(
B y WM. Z. FOSTER
1 307
"This 64-page book, with material drawn from Foster's trip
to Europe in 1921 and from his
wide reading of the labor news of
the world, describes the betrayal
of the revolution by the Majority
Socialists in Germany, the failure of the British Triple Alliance
in the great mine strike, the failure of the revolt led by the metal
workers in Italy, the scourge put
by the Fascisti on Labor following it, and the w r between the
a
radical and yellow unionists in
the C. G. T. i France."
n
'LLikeall of Foster's books, it
i s calm, detailed and authoritative. No person active in the
labor movement and no student
desirous of understanding the
labor movement, can afford to be
without it."
?
$
-:
pg~~,hng~~.
ITALY AND FRANCE"
I
O%EBIy
vorce, Horace
Greeles a nd Robert
Owen.
en, John S tuart Mill.
Poetrv
208 Debate on Birth
a nd
Control, Mrs. S enger
a nd Winter Russell.
Khaeam.
~
~
~
~
n 236 f airs of ~ e n ;r VIII. n
~ State and H eart Af~
~
yi
g E~igrallls
129 Bome or Reason, In73 Whitman's Poems.
E arnest, Oscar Wade. 50
gersoll and Manning.
common
56 Wisdom of Ingersoll
2 Wilde's Reading Jail.
31 Pelleas and Meli106 Aphorisms, G. Sand. 32 Poe's Poems.
122 Spiritualism, Conan
168 Epigrams 0. wild.. 164 Michael a e - o ' s
Doyle and M cCaba
l
88 ?ngersoll. n of Pain., 59 ~ pigrams'ofWit.
I si'~atio
171 H as Life Me-?
Sonnets.
F an, Oscar Wilde.
35 Maxims, Rochefou33 Smasher of Shams.
71 Poems of Evolution. 206 Capitalism vs. Socialism Seligman
Fiction
163 Sex Life i n Greece
cau~.
146 Snow-Bound, Pied
a nd ~ e a r i n g .
Piper.
6 De M aupassant's
154 Witticisms, I e
214 and Rome. Lincoln. 197 Epigrams of Dbsen.
Speeces of
9 G reat English Poems. 1 3 I s Free Will a Fact
s tories.
or a Fallacy?
79 Enoch Arden,
15 Balzac's Stories.
Humor
180 Sevigne. G. B.
Epigrams,
234 McNeal-Sinelair
Tennyson.
One Of C1eopatra's
18 I dle Thoughts of an
s haw.
Debate on Socialism.
6 8 Shakespeare's
Nights, Gautier.
I dle Fellow Jerome. 155 Maxims Napoleon.
Sonnets.
5 8 Boeeaccio's
Miscellaneous
20 L et's ~ a u g Nasby. 113 p roveris of England 173 Vision of Sir
i
45 Tolstoi's Stories.
192 Book of Synonyms.
106 English a s s h e Is
114 Proverbs of France.
Lannfal.
12 Poe's Tales.
25 Rh-g
D ictionar~r.
222 The Vampire and
145 Great Ghost Stories. z05
78 How to Be a n Orator.
Other Poems,
21 Carmen. Merimee.
Book.
117 Proverbs of Italy.
82 Common F aults in
Piing.
38 Dr. JekYu and Mr.
187 Whistler's Humor.
W riting English
118 P roverbs of Russia. 237 =rose Poems,
P
Hyde.
127 W hat Expectant
W it of einrich
119 Proverbs of Ireland.
Baudelaire.
27
Days of Con. 216 Heine, Heo. Eliot.
Mothers Should
G
120 Proverbs of Spain.
demned Man, Hugo.
mow.
121 Proverbs ofTArabia.
Science
lS1en Who
M
Be
"Bgzy&rk
181 Epigrams, horeau.
81 Care of the Baby.
ging, Plin!z
=
Twain.
228 Aphorisms, Huxley.
1 36 C hid Training.
47 H e Renounced the
137 Home Nursing.
~ a i t h~ a c London.
,
k
Literature
Philosophy,
14 W hat Every Girl
36 Soul of Man Under
Should Know, Mrs.
~P*<~&C~~:
Evolution, Baeckel.
socialism, O. Wilde.
Religion
Sanger.
100 Red Laugh,
F rom Monkey to
28 Toleration, Voitaire. 62 Schopenhaner's
34 Case for Birth
Andreyev.
Man.
Essays.
8 9 Love Letters of Men
Control.
148 Strength of the
1 B i5&ions
on MO&- 9 1 Manhood: Facts of
and Womenof Genius. 9 4 Trial a nd D eath of
Strong, London.
e rn Sdence, Huxley.
Socrates.
Life Presented to
S urvival of the
65 Meditations of MarMen.
105
6 0 ~~n~~~~ E ssayr
Emerson's
cus Aurelius.
Fittest. Tichenor.
8 3 Marriage: Past,
102 sherlock Holmas
44 Aesop's Fables.
84 Love Letters of a
Present and Future,
Tales.
165 Discovery of the FuBesant.
161 Country of t he Blind, 26 Nun.
h u e H G. We&.
.
74 On Threshold of Sex.
On Going to Church,
H. G. w ens.
p laied.
9 8 HOW t o Love.
Shaw.
96 ~ ial'oguesf Plato.
o
85 Attack
On
61 Tolstoi's Essays.
103 Pocket Theology,
H v~notism ade
M
172 Evolution of Love,
Z oh.
176 F our Essay* Ellis.
Voltaire.
p-1
h5 .
Key.
I nsects and Men:
209 Aspects of Birth
History,
160 shakespear:,
132 Foundations of
Instinct and Reason,
Ingersoll.
Rewon.
Control, Medical,
Darrow.
Biography
75 Choice of B O O ~ S ,
138 Studzes i n FessimMoral, SociologicaL
Eugenics, Ellis.
143 Pope Leo o n So126 History of Rome.
Carlyle.
ism, Schopenhauer.
211 I dea of God in Na76 p rince of Peace,
c
128 Caesar: Who He
Series of Debates 152 Fialimu
oundations of
Was.
Bryan.
e r e , J ohn S. Mill.
86 On Reading, Brandes 212 L lfe and Character,
11 Debase o n Religion,
Labor Movement,
185 History of Printing
John H. Holmes and
Phillius.
176 Science of History,
95 Confessions of An
Goethe.
Geor e Bowne.
SO - fiattLife Means
200 I gnorant PhilosOpium Eater.
Froude.
39 ~ i d sus E ver Live7I
ef
188 How Voltaire Fooled
opher, Voltaire.
t o Me. Jack London.
52 Voltaire, Victor
1 01 T houghts of Pascal. 130 Controversy on
Priest and King.
9 3 How t o Live 100
Hugo.
Christianity, I nger3 1 8 Essays Voltaire. 224 God: Known and
125 W ar Speeches of
soll and Gladstone. 1167 % ? t k c h on Health.
Woodrow Wilson.
213 Lincoln, d ~gersoll.
Unknown, Butler.
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Vol. I.
MARCH, 1922
99
NO. 1
The Principles and Program of
The Trade Union Educational League
N every country buit one an advanced state
I
of capitalism, has produced a highly developed trade union movement. The single
exception is the United States. Here we have
a very elaborate industrial system and the
world's most militant and powerful capitalist
class, butt, paradoxically enough, a trade union
movement which, for general weakness and
backwardness, has few if any equals in the predominantly industrial countries.
No matter what vital phase of our trade
union movement we consider we must admit, if
we are honest, that the workers in other lands
are ahead of us. In ithe important matter of
numerical strength, for instance, we make a
wretched showing. At present, considering the
ravages made in our ranks by the employers,
it is doubtful if we have as many as 4,000,000
trade unionists in this country, or about 1
unionist to each 27 of the general population.
England, by contrast, has approximately 7,500,000 trade unionists, or about 1in each 6 of her
44,000,000 people. Germany shows even better,
with over 12,000,000 trade unionists, or about
1in each
of her 55,000,000 population. In
other words, the English trade union movement
is proportionately about 4 times as strong numerically as ours, and that of Germany 6 times
as strong. For the American unions to be as
large as those of Germany, considering the
difference in the size of the two nakions, they
would have to have no less than 24,000,000
ih
members. Compare this giant figure w t the
paltry 4,000,000 members that our unions now
possess and one gets an idea of how far behind
we are in this respect. In England and Germany (not to mention many other countries)
the mass of the working class has been organized. In the United States hardly a start has
yet been made.
Structurally our trade unions are equally
backward in development. The American labor
movement is the only important one in the
world which still remains based upon the
principle of craft unionism. In a ll other countries the main labor movements, accepting the
logic of capitalistic consolidation, have endorsed the principle of having one union in
each industry and have made great progress
towards is realization. Throughout the rest
of the world we f h d many single unions covering whole industries -such as building,
metal, railroad, general transport, clothing,
printing, etc.-that have been built up recently
by amalgamatingethe original craft organizations. Others are constantly being created. In
England the giant new Transport and General
Workers' Union amalgamation is taking place;
the Amalgamated Engineering Union is likewise making substantial headway towards its
goal of one union in the metal industry; and
in many orther trades the process of consolidation is going on apace. I n Germany the metal
workers, during the past few years, have completed their record-breaking industrial union,
which now counts 1,800,000 members; the railroad, postal, telegraph, and telephone workers,
already closely organized, are combining their
forces into a great organization of 1,500,000
members to control all forms of transportation
and communication; and the workers in the
other German industries are likewise closing
up their ranks rapidly. In Belgium the original
welter of craft unions has been hammered together into about a dozen industrial unions,
and plans are now being worked out to combine the whole movememt into one real union.
The Australian workers have also just gone
on record for a similar project.
The same rapid drift towards industrial
4
.
L
THE L A B O R H E R A L D
March, 1922
March, 1922
idealism and social vision. I t has no SOUL It
has not yet raised the inspiring banner of working d ais emancipation. So far as its vague
conscious expressions go, it is still timidly and
blindly trying !to patch up wage slavery and
make it endurable. I t has still to learn that
the only solution of the labor struggle is by the
abolition of capitalism. I n this sad position
it &nds alone, for the workers of all other
important countries have long since defhitely
broken with capitalism. They look upon it as
an obsolete social system which must be eliminated. They are looking forward to the establishment of a new proletarian society in which
parasitic capitalists will be no more. They
d Ber widely as to how this great goal can be
asked, whether capitalism shall be abolished
pime by piece, as the Socialists propose, or all
at one blow, as the Communists and Syndicalists urge. B ut ,they are unanimous that
oapitalism must go. The American trade
unions are the only general body of organized
workers in t he world that; have not yet masin an tered this fundamental labor conclusion. And
Politieauy our trade
are
the result is a tremendous weakening in their
infantile condition. They have not yet adand fighting strength.
vanced to the point of even rodimentarly political class consciousness. Q hsfnlIy unaware
tha& t he class struggle rages i t he political
n
A striking illustration of this unparalleled
as well as in the industrial fidd, they a re still
capitalist intellectual timidity and conservatism comes to
trailing along in the t rain of
parties and shamefnlly begging favors from light in our ,trade unions' relaticins with the
them. Their Cause is a football f ar every po- labor organizations of other countries. There
litical crook in the country-to t he sad demor- are two world trade union federations, one
alization of the whole labor movement. The with headquarters in Amsterdam, and the
workers in other countries were once i n a simi- other in Moscow. T b Amsterdam Internalar boat, but they have all long since got away tional is reformist, and the Moscow Internafrom it. Some, the anti-political tendency, tional revolutionary. A ll t he important labor
o
have adopted the Syndicalist program of direct m o~ements f the world are afKliated with one
action on the political field through the trade or the other of these two Internationals-that
unions, and others, retaining their belief in is, all except ours. We stand aloof altogether
-political action, have built up extensive Labor, on the ground t hat both are too revolutionary.
Socialist, and Communist parties. But all of Even &e Anwterdam International, whose leadh
them, Syndioalbb, Laborites, Socialists, and ers nndoubteiQy saved capitalism in its greatCommun&ts, agree ugon class action in the est c rbis by dieeeatbg the recent revolutionary
political field. Thssy would laugh out of court uprisings i Germany, Italy, France, etc., is
n
any leader among thi& who dared advocate much too radical for us. Because its "revoluthe antediluvian no-el& political policy of the tionary" doct-rines mightt contaminate our pure
American trade union m vement. F or them bourgeois ideas, a nd for fear that our associathe adoption of such a pzogram would mean tion with seah a "terrible" organization would
discredit ns in the eyes of American exploiters,
turning the clock backward 4 generation
Another striking feature of our labor move- the American Federation of Labor, not long
ment's primitiveness is i ts unequaled lack of since, severed relations with t he Amsterdam In-
ternational. This made us t he laughing stock
of the international labor world, revolutionary
and reformist alike. When it comes to militancy of program we stand in a place by ourselves-at the very foot of the proces~ion. And
so it is with many other phases of our movement, which need not be cited here.
The general effect of the extreme political
and industrial wldevelopment of o m tradd
union movement has been to greatly weaken
the fighting power of the working class More
than ever this is evidenced by the present
world crisis in i n d u h y . Where= the trade
unions of other countries a re pretty much
holding their own, or in some cases even forgk g ahead, ours are in disordered retreat before
t he victorious employers. The latter, strongly
organized and controlling t he pr,ew, t he courts,
and practically every section of the local, state,
and national governments, are smashing the
unions right and left and making ducks and
drakes of the workers' political and industrial
rights. The crisis is serious and so generally
recognized that there is no need for us to
waste words over it here. S d c e to say that if
Organized Labor does not soon reorganize its
primitive craft unions into modern industrial
unions and infuse them with real fighting spirit
it will inevitably d e r crushing defeat, if not
actual annihilation.
unionism is i n evidence everywhere e x ~ e p i n
t
the United States. Here we are still sticking
in the mud of craft unionism and progressing
at only a snail's pace. Standpatism has become
an ingrained gospel with our trade union oi3cials. There is hardly a breath of progress
f
among them. They disregard the o b v i o ~act
t he
that as the capitalists close up their ra*
workers must do likewiie: W ith rare exceptions they are content to plod d ong with anywhere up to 20 or 30 autonomous Unions in the
various industries and to consider such a prirnitive condition, with all i ts r esdtant c raft scabbery and weakness, as the highest praclioal
stage of ltrade union organization. The man
- ' , who proposes common sense amalgamation
along industrial lines they consider a dreamer,
if not a disruptive fanatic. From the s tmdpoint of structure the American labor movement is at about the p o w of .development that
- the European unions were 15 years ago.
'I
THE LABOR HERALD
eons
'H
5
nationalities. And the second goea counter
to all our labor history. Time and again the
workers in this co11ntry have given convincing
evidence of their aggressive spirit and adaptabiliw to advanced types of unionism. A generation or so ago, during the stormy 'BOs, our
trade union movement unquestionably led the
world for militancy. And since that tiat? our
industrial history has been marked with a
whole series of strikes, as bitterly fought as
any ever known anywhere. In view of these
facts it is idle to maintain that our workers
are naturally unmilitant.
The true explanation for the undevelopment
of American trade unionism v a s t be sought
elsewhere. And it is to be found in the wrong
methods used by our progressive and revolutionary unionists. Until quite recently they
have failed utterly to realize and perform their
proper functions. For a generation past they
have been working contrary to the natural
evolution of the labor movement The result
is stagnation and ruin all around.
One of the latest and greatest achievements of
working class thinking, due chiefly to the experiences in Russia, is a clear understanding of
the fundamental proposition that the fate of all
labor organization in every country depen* primarily upon the activities of a minute minority
of clear-sighted, enthusiastic militants scattered
throughout the great organized masses of slugTHE SOURCE F O m TROUBLES
O
Whence comes the ultra-conservatism and gish workers. These live spirits are the natural
extraordinary backwardness of the American head of the working class, the driving force of
trade union movement B What causes the seem- the labor movement. They are the only ones
ing paradox in this country of a very high' who really understand what the labor struggle
degree of capitalism producing a very low de- means and who have practical plans for its
prosecution. Touched by the divine fire of progree of labor organization ?
Many are the answers made to this great letarian revolt, they are the ones who furnish
riddle of the American labor movement. The inspiration and guidance to the groping masses.
chief of these are, first, that the conglomera- They do the bulk of the thinking, working and
Q hting of the labor struggle. They run the
of races here,
greatly
the dangers of death and t he
jails. Not
'Waetion
has
checked only are they the burden bearers of the labor
the spread of trade unionism ; and, second, that
movement,
also its brains and heart and
the warkers i n this country, because of its
sod. In everg
where these vital milibonanaa development, have enjoyed more pros- tants fanction
among t he organieed
perity t han European workers and have Come- masses the labor movement flourishes and prosq u e n t l ~ een rendered almost immune to mili- pers. But wherever, 'for any reason, the milib
tant organization.
tants fail to so function, just as inevitably the
But these answers a re altogether unsatisfac- whole labor organizatisn withers and stagnates.
tory. The f ist is discounted by , the f act t hat The activities of the militants are the "key7, to
some of the very best unions we have, notably the labor movement, the source of all its real life
in the needle trades, are made up of many and progress,
T H E L A B 0R H E R A L D
6
V- E m I
;STAGNATION
Hw
I n other countries the militants, even while
not consciously aware of the above prinoiples,
have quite generally acted in harmony wilih
them. They have stayed in t he old trade &
and, through their organization, activity, and
determination, have been able to take t he l a d
i n directifig t he workers' struggle. Theg: have
communicated something of theix own &.a and
understanding t o t he msms, with the resnlt t hat
their labor movements have b&n comtantly
pushed onward-intell-ye
structurally, and
numericany-to higher and higher stages.
B ut in the United States t he militants, pro, gr@~es and r adials alike, have taken a reverse conrse. F vr fully
years they have
s ystematidly deserted and neglected %e trade
h
.unions. ABtioted with a dwonic m i o n i r a m ,
they have attracted the o v e p w h e ~ am d
m
the livest spirits among the workera to t he f utile
projects of building up a ll s o r b of d u d m0 1
i18
based upon ideal prinuples. Thus the trade
union movement has been sueked 'dry of thousands and thousands of the best militants, the
very elements who should have been its life
hus its development has been
springs, a nd t
blocked, its progress poisoned at the source. By
the desertion of the militants the unknowing
a~
masses have been i n t & & ~ nd spiritually
decapitated. Leaderless, helpless, they have been
left to the uncontested.contro1 of a conservative
trade union bureaucracy, which has hardly a
traee of real proletarian nnderstanding and
Bropess anywhere in its makeup. I n view of
tbk situation it would be a miracle if t he
ieah labor movement, with its most vital fa&m
praotically cancelled, were in any other condi& k one of extreme backwardness.
D u d ~ n i mthe set policy of secessionism,
,
which h R@@mated the Life-giving militants
@
s
from the cuni%emmeorganized m a s s e t h a t i
the prime cause of t he stagnation of the American labor movemeplt. That is t he underlying
reason for onr ap-mt
paradox of the m s
ot
aggressive capitalist i 3 - side by side with the
most weakly orgheaed working class. Dual
unionism has hamsh e r i m Labor.
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March, 1922
March, 1922
sionist tendency that has negated their efforts
for so long; and, second, they must thoroughly
organize themselves within the trade unions for
the effective application of their boundless energies and dynamic programs. When this is accomplished, then, and then, only, can we look
forward confidently t o the American labor movement taking i ts proper place in the forefront of
the world 's t rade union organization-a position
which it occupied thirty or forty years ago, before its militants became poisoned and ruined
by d u d utopianism.
Substantial progress is now being made towards the accomplishment of these two vital essentials. I n the &t place, the militant rebels
are f i e i n g themselves from dual unionism with
wonderful rapidity; and in the second place,
they a re everywhere forming the necessary
propaganda groups within the organized masses
of trade unionists. The organization through
which this new and most important movement of
militant&is taking shape is The Trade Union
Educational League.
The Trade Union E ducatiod League is an
informal grouping of the progressive and re&
lutionary elements throughout the entire trade
union movement; a potent means to assist these
militants in the performance of their natural
functions as the brain and backbone of the organized m s e s . It is not a dual union, nor is it
m t e d directly or indirectly with any such.
It does not h e charters, nor does it collect dues
or per capita tax. F or the revenue to c a v on
its work it 'depends upon voluntary donations
from supporters and sympathizers, profits from
the sale of Literatare, eto. It is simply a virile
edncationd league, operating within and in support of the trade unions, and by no means in
opposition to or in competition with them. It
is an auxiliary of the labor movement, not a substitute for it. It is identical with the movements
through whit& t he militants in other countries
t
have t r a ~ b m e dheir trade unions into real
@hting o rganhtions.
theories, tactics, structure, and leadership.
Instead of advocating the prevailing shameful
and demoralizing nonsense about harmonizing
the interests of Capital and Labor, it is f iing
t he workers' imagination and releasing their
wonderful idealism and energy by propagating
the inspiring goal of the abolition of capitalism
and the establishment of a workers' republic.
The League aggressively favors organization
by industry instead of by craft. Although the
craft form of union served a useful purpose in
t he early days of capitalism, it i s now entirely
out of date. In t he face of the great consolidation of the employers the workers must also
close up their ranks or be crushed. The multitude of craft unions must be amalgamated
into a series of industrial union&-one each for
the metal trades, railroad trades, clothing
trades, building trades, etc.-even a s they have
been in other countries. The League also aims
to put the workers of America in co-operation
with the fighting trade unionists of the rest of
the world. I t is flatly opposed to our present
pitiful policy of isolation, and it advocates
a%lktion to the militant international trade
union movement, known as the Red Trade
Union International. The League is campaigning against the reactionaries, incompetents,
and crooks who occupy strategic positions in
many of our organizations. It is striving to
replace them with militants, with men and
women unionists who look upon the labor movement not as a means for making an-easy living,
but as an instrument for the achievement of
working class emancipation. I n other words,
the League is working in every direction necessary to put life and ppirit and power into the
trade union movement.
E
,
--
W
~ M Tm %a
DN
OE
Two things are absolutely hdhpensable to the
further life and progress of our labor movemrt definitely and
ment: first, the militants m
finally r id themselves of the dual union seces-
How THE L E ~ ~ U E a m m s
O~
TEB x ? l ms P F ~ G I & B M
A u3 '
The Tnds U *rm Edwatioraal L e o g l ~pro@
poses to d e d o p trade unions from their
present antiqaakd a nd stagnant condition
into modern, powerfnl labor organizations
capable of waging successfnl warfare against
Capital. To this end it i s working to
revamp and remodel from top to bottom their
THE L A B 0R HERALD
E":
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The Trade Union Educational League groups
the militants two ways: by local'ities and
by industries.
In a ll cities and towns
general groups of militants of all trades
are formed to carry on the work of education
and reorganization in their respective localities.
These local general groups, to facilitate their
work, divide themselves into industrial sections--such as printing, building, textile, raill
road, metal, clothing, transport, etc. A l the
local general groups are kept in touch and
co-operation with each other through a national
corresponding secretary. Likewise, all t he
local industrial educational groups are linked
together nationally, industry by industry,
7
through their respective corresponding secretaries. Every phase and stage of the trade
union movement will have its branch of the
life-giving educational organization.
Let the railroad industry illustrate the general plan: In every important railroad center
there will be educational groups of railroad
men, not of single crafts, but of the whole sixteen in the industry. These local groups will
co-operate nationally through a secretary (a
volunteer unless the local groups find ways,
through donations, to pay him). A national
program will be established and a great drive
instituted to combine the sixteen squabbling
unions into one solid body. Amalgamation will
be made a burning issue all over the country
wherever railroad men meet and talk. From
the live wire section man in San Diego, California, to the rebel engineer in Portland,
Maine, the whole body of railroad militants
will move unitedly and irresistably to the
accomplishment of their task, the erection of
a great and powerful industrial union of railroad workers by the amalgamation and invigoration of the sixteen craft unions. The union
leaders refuse to carry out this absolutely indispensable project, so it i s up to the rank and
file militants to do it f or themselves.
The Trade Union Educational League will
make great use of pamphlets, bulletins,
journals, etc., in its educational work. I ts
official national organ is THE LABOR
HERALD, a monthly published at $2.50 per
year. THE LABOR HERALD is carrying a
burning message of constructive unionism and
solidarity to the discontented rank and fie. It
is filled from cover to cover with the living,
dynamic organization principles which can find
no place in our static, muzzled, dry-as-dust official trade union journals.
The launching of The Trade Union Educational Leagzce marks a turning point in American labor history. It is the beginning of an
era in which the trade unions, flourishing under
intensive cultivation by their organized militants, will gradually pass from their present
hopeless defensive fight into an aggressive attack
upon Capital, an attack which can end only
with the abolition of the wage system. The
program of The Trade Union Educa$ionalLeague
is the only possible effective answer to the
"Open Shop" drive of the employers; it is the
sole means by which the American working
class can take its proper place in the world
battle of Labor. unionists wilIing to co-operate
Active trade
in the work of the League are requested to
write to the undersigaed f or further information.
WM. Z. FOSTER, Sec'y-Treas.,
118 N. La Salle St., Chicago, I l
l.
Editor's Note: For outline of the League's immediate program, see article "A Call t o Action," elsewhere in this issue.
'
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8
T H E LABOR HERALD
B y Tom M a m
I
struggles between numerous sections of controllers of industrial establishments, financiers
and others, to conduct trading operations in
the interests of the respective sections of financiers, speculators, industrialists, etc., and
these sectional interests never by any chance
coincide with the interests of the community.
At the present time, middle of December, in
Britain there are two millions of totally unemployed workers, and as large a number of
only partially employed. The unemployed
with their dependents number about six millions of persons, out of a population of fifty
millions.
The Unemployment Insurance Act provides
benefits as follows : weekly benefit payable ;
men,, fifteen shillings ; women, twelve shillings; boys under 18, seven shillings and sixpence; girls under 18, six shillings. A married
man receives in addition, five shillings on account of his wife, and one shilling each for
each of four children. To entitle the workers
to this, workers and employers pay the following weekly amounts:
...........
Men
Women .........
Boys under 18.
Girls under 18..
..
7
pence.
6 pence.
3% pence.
3 pence.
Employers.
Employers.
Employers.
Employers.
8
pence
pence
pence
3% pence
7
4
I n addition those unions that provide unemployment benefits also pay usually from
five to fifteen shillings a week, this of course
in addition to the State benefit.
It is a matter for wonderment that the
principal trade unions, which have endeavored
to guard their members against the worst
evils of unemployment, sickness and accident,
should not have long ago endeavored to entirely eliminate the causes of unemployment.
Innumerable discussions have taken place
as to the best means of alleviating the effects
of unemployment, whilst the cure of the causes
therof have been comparatively neglected. The
modern conception of trade unionism does,
however, undertake this task. It holds that
it is not sufficient to organize the workers,
except as the preliminary essential to the organization of the work.
The objective of the up-to-date trade unionist is-The
organization of work in all its
forms so as t o provide adequately for the requirements of t he whole community. T o do
T H E LABOR HERALD
this it is necessary that the machinery of organization itself, i. e., the unions, must cease
to be sectional, and learn t o manifest solidarity, and aim at producing with the highest
efficiency, and distributing the product with
the truest equity.
Exactly b w t his w i i work out there is no
need to wpsry over, but it may safely be assumed that the most scientific methods of
production will always be resorted to, as this
will fit with highest standard of living, inciuciinn the fewest working hours consistent
with &at standard.
I l ave s e e r known such a large per cen' t age of unemployed in England and especially
in the Engineering Industry as we have at
present.' The Union of which I am a member,
' m e Amalgamated Engineering 'Union.," has
a membership bf 429,500. T he returns for
No%ember,just 40 hand, show t hat the number
sf unesnployed is 92, 272* o r 25.85%. There
is almost as many working s hort time, and in
addition there are 6,842 on sick benefit, and
6,5571 on superannuation benefit.
One contributary cause of this slump in industry was the outcome of the War settlement, which provided that Britain should have
a large percentage of the German ships. These
were taken over and sold to British shipowners a t a much lower rate than they could
be built f o r ; the direct result was t o throw
many thousands of men out of work in the
ship-building yards and the marine engine
shops. Similarly, with regard t o the coal
miners. W ar settlement terms provided that
Germany should supply France with many
millifins of Cons of coal annually. The providing of this coal had hitherto been done by
British colliers. Result:
unemployment
amongst miners in Britain on an unprecedent ed scale.
I a m pleased to say there are some signs of
improvement, though as yet not very pronounced. The t iq plate trade of South Wales
.is reviving. This of course means the steel
plates, tinned, for canned goods, etc., and past
experiences show that this trade is usually
I
The Situation in Great Britain
N order to live we must eat. To live well
we must have enough to eat and to wear. The
food we eat and the clothes we wear can only
be obtained by labor. Industry is carried on
in order to bring into existence the requisites
of life, but if for any reason a sufficiency is
not produced or, being produced it is not
reasonably distributed, it may hapen, and it
commonly does happen, that many are insufficiently fed and clothed, and inadequately
hdused.
Time was when man was unable to work
effectively to bring into existence a sufficiency
for all to have enough. Owing t o the growth
of knowledge in modern civilized life we possess the power to produce enough for all, not
for some portions of the year, but for the
whole year round and for every year.
I t is not a matter of conjecture, it is a thoroughly established fact, that there is on and
in the earth a super-abundance of raw material, out of which all our requirements can
be obtained, and it is equally an established
fact, that man's power over this material is
such, that if this power is wisely directed, an
abundance for all can be produced with the
utmost ease.
Although these basic facts are admitted,
we are confronted with abject poverty in
every country, not less so amongst the most
industrially advanced, as well as in those
relatively backward.
Europe of course is experiencing exceptional
economic difficulties at present, as a result of
the Great War, but prior to the war there never
was a time when the whole of the people in
any country had a sufficiency ; in England, concurrently with an ever increasing wealth producing capacity, there has continued as an
ever accompanying corrollary, a per centage
of unemployed workers, who in consequence
of unemployment are wageless and therefore
subjected to serious privation.
It would seem that notwithstanding t he ever
increasing power to bring into existence the
necessaries and comforts of life, that those
who accept responsibility for managing industry never aim at concerted action either to
ascertain total amounts required, or at providing a sufficiency for all.
It is left to the chance forces of competitive
Mar&, 1922
March, 1922
-
first affected. The prospect of a settlement
of the Irish problem is also having a good effect, and there is m doubt if it proves to be
a settlement of the k oubles between the British Government and t he Irish, that a substantial quickening of industrial interests will follow-and probably solidarity will characterize
the workers of both countries.
It is too early to g auge t he probable effects
of the Washington Conference, but there are
many in this counfry who believe that the
T OM MANN
result will be the allaying of international
friction for a time, and that there will probably
be a few years' spell of industrial activity. It
seems to me likely that this will be so, and
this will be the time for the workers to perfect
their organizations and t o become clear as
regards ideals. There is no need for despondency. Humanity is slow in traveling upward, but there is no doubt a t all about it
really traveling. The organized workers must
have a g reater share in social e t r o 1 t han
hiiherto.
CLOSE U P YOUR RANKS!
The employing class is solidly organized. The workers mu& likewise close up
their ranks. The time has come whm w e must fuse our craft d o n s so that there
is only one union f or each industry. We must do this or be c r ~ ~ h e d .
!.
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.Ubu(l-
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9
10
T H E LABOR HERALD
The Industrial Court - Dead
B y John Dorsey
-
I
T I S two years now since the State Legislature passed Governor Allen's law to stop
strikes-the Industrial Court Law-but ~ v e
a re still having strikes in Kansas. The miners of District 14 have kicked this anti-strike
law around so much that nobody in this part
of the country pays any more attention to it.
I noticed that the packinghouse workers went
out on strike when they g ot ready, and the
Industrial Court didn't even try to stop them.
No, the law didn't stop strikes in Kansas, and
the whole idea of chaining men to their jobs
by law has been pretty thoroughly discredited.
We paid a big price for this result. District
14 has been living on short rations for a long
time; Howat and Dorchey had to lay in jail
for awhile, and so did many of our best rank
and file fighters. Our union is fighting for
life right now. But we have one consolation:
The Industrial Court Law is as dead as a doornail. The workers of America owe that to
us.
I said the Industrial Court is dead, but maybe I am speaking too quickly. There is a
chance that it will come back to life again,
after all. It was dead, sure enough, and
everybody knew it. But John L. Lewis, the
International President of our organization,
sent his men down here with the pulmotor,
and they are trying their best to pump the
breath of life back into it. The bosses tried
by all means to establish the anti-strike law
in Kansas. The Governor, the legislature, the
press, the militia, injunctions, jails, special
LC
vagrancy" ordinances against strikes-all
these instruments and some others were
brought into play to put over the anti-strike
law, and the net result was total failure as far
as we miners were concerned. They couldn't
make it stick. We went on strike just the
same as ever, and the workers in other organized trades did the same. But now the
International President of dur Union is on
the job using all the power of his office to
break up our district organization and make
us submit. If t he Industrial Court Law is
finally put over, John L. Lewis will be the
man who did the job.
When Howat and Dorchey went to jail last
March, 1922
March, 1922
September the Kansas miners again came out
on a general strike in protest. We stayed
out for over three months to prove to the
world that the Industrial Court Law could
cause strikes, but couldn't stop them. I t was
a bitter struggle. The coal operators, the
Governor, the courts, the state troops, the
county officials and the "Provisional Government" of our union, set up by President
Lewis, all worked hand in hand to drive us
back to work; but their combined forces only
succeeded in getting a few hundred to break
ranks. The District as a whole stood solid
until the strike was called off on January 12
by Howat on the ground that we had thoroughly discredited the Industrial Court Law,
and that further demonstration was not
needed.
The general strike made the Court look like
a joke. Our enemies didn't think we would
have the nerve to do it again, after all we had
gone through, but we did it. The members
of the Industrial Court got cold feet, and went
back to Topeka. The business men and the
coal operators began to holler for a compromise. They had Howat and Dorchy in jail
but they couldn't get the miners back to work.
Howat said: "We never denied that they
could pass a law to put men in jail; but we
do deny that they can stop strikes by law.
They have got us in jail, but they have also
got the strike. You can't stop strikes by law
in Kansas because the Kansas miners will not
obey such a law."
It was at this point that John L. Lewis
took a hand in the game. While Howat and
Dorchey were in jail, they were removed from
office and expelled from the United Mine
Workers of America for life. Our District
Executive Board was deposed. The charter of our District organization was revoked,
and a "Provisional GovernmentJJappointed to
take charge. They ordered the miners to go
back to work. For three months they tried
every' means to break the strike. They
worked hand in glove with all the other tools
of the coal operators. Thomas Harvey, the
s herips brother, was appointed secretary of
the district organization. Van Bitfner, the
special representative of the International,
I
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'
THE LABOR HERALD
chummed around with the state and county
officials. A little conversation that I chanced
to hear shows this well:
I was in the District Courtroom one day
during the strike, to attend a damage suit.
Right after adjournment, the Judge inquired
for the Sheriff. The stenographer spoke up:
"Did you try Van Bittner's? I usually get
him there i f he isn't in his office."
Thcf g ot a few hundred men t o desert us.
S evmd mines started up, and Van Bittner began to give out optimistic interviews in t he
capitalist papers. He made arrogant claims
about "breaking the strike." using about the
same manner and language that the big packing companies were using a t the same time
about the strike of the packinghouse workers.
The members of the Industrial Court plucked
up courage tp come back to Pittsburg to look
the situation' over. Governor Allen, who had
been singing mighty low about his law t o stop
strikes, again began to issue statements denouncing Howat and the "foreignersJ' who supported him. So far it had been a man% fight:
a t this point the women took a hand.
I t was done by the women themselves, on
their own motion. No men were allowed to
take part, so I can only tell about it as it was
told to me by some of those who took part in
t he action. They organized into an "armyJJ
about four o'clock on the morning of December 13. Led by a woman with a baby in her
arms, they marched to the working mines.
From one shaft to another they went, routing
out the scabs and chasing them away like so
many outcast dogs. The papers made it out
to be a sort of peaceful demonstration, but
from what they told me there was nothing
"lady-like" about the way they handled those
they went after.
They took the lunch buckets from the scabs,
and threw the contents a t them. An Austrian
woman with a Chaplin-like sense of humor
took a fiendish delight in searching the buckets
f or custard pie. Woe to the man in whose
bucket she found it. They tore one fellow's
trousers off and sent him flying home across
the cold prairie in his shirt, "like a rabbit,"
they told me. They made the scabs swear allegiance to the strike while they poured, cold
cpffee from their own lunch buckets over their
&ads. "It was no "tea-party," I suggested to
the group of Italian women who were telling
me about it with twinkling eyes and enthusiastic gestures. "No ! No !," t hey laughed, "coffeeparty."
Btit t he strike has been called off now, and
Alex Howat is down at the Indianapolis Con-
11 '
vention to appeal to the delegates from all over
the country to uphold the Kansas Miners and
keep them in the qrganization. F or a time
there was a little imesponsible talk about an
'independent union,' but that was quickly sat
on. The Kansas Miners are a part of the
MINERS' WOMENFlOLK MARCHING
United Mine Workers of America, and they
a re going t o remain there. They are the last
ones in the country to split the ranks. They
are now preparing for the expected national
strike, and you can bet that if it comes off, and
all other districts hold as solid as District 14
will, the strike will be won. Kansas has had
more than her share of the fighting, but we
can go anoth& one if we have to.
Union Subscriptions
If y our union is a real live one, every
member will want to read THE LABOR
HERALD. W e expect to find many such,
so we have figured out a suecial subscrivtion price for-unions which want to s&scribe for their members and distribute the
magazines a t the union meeting. The ratea
f or bundles sent to secretaries for distributJon o r sale among the members are as
follows :
25 copies, $3 per month or $36 per year.
5? copies,a$6 per month or $72 &r year.
75 copies, $9 per month or $Mi3 p er year.
100 copies, $12 per month or $I44 per year.
Take this up in your llnisn i f you think
they are a real bunch of unionists there
and know a good l abar axagazine when
they see it. Let us l n w hat the results
em
of your attempts are, even if t hey don't
order the first time- The best kind of propaganda for a &S
I
subscription is to get
a small bundle on4 .sell t hem in t he meeting before you
the matter up. Get
busy, and pa-ur
union on the map1
%
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12
T H E LABOR HERALD
March, 1922
March, 1922
B y Paul Dupres
R
3
the prevailing restriction of popular rights in
Russia in an abominable tyranny and disgrace
to the sacred cause of revolution generally.
Now wheilce comes this undeniable limitation of free speech, free press, and free assembly? Is it because, as all the above types
declare, Lenin, Trotzsky and the rest are
heartless oppressors of the same stripe as the
old Czars? Or is there another and deeper
reason? In view of t'he clamor that has been,,
raised and the unfavorable propaganda ma&,
againsf Russia, it will be well for us to look
into the matter a little.
For all those who have had to do with thk
working masses in great struggles, and the
Russian revolution is above all a tremendous
mass struggle, the situation, is or should be,
quite clear and understandable. These practical leaders know that in such severe tests of
the workers' courage and endurance the supreme thing that must be striven for is solidarity, a united front against the enemy. This
can be achieved only through a rigid discipline,
which. in turn, inevitably involves a h eaw
restriction of the rights o free speech, free
f
press, etc. Every strike makes clear this fundamental proposition 'of mass action. When
we understand why the workers, during struggles against employers under capitalism, deny
themselves freedom of expression in their
trade unions, then we will understand why
they have taken similar action in the Russian
revolution.
The Mas- On Strike
All strikes are marked with a strong suppression of the workers' rights of free expression in their organizations. In the early stages
of such struggles this suppression is the work
of the mass itself, later on it is done by a small
minority. At the outbreak of nearly all strikes
the discipline is practically spontaneous. Deeply infected with strike fever, the masses
enter enthusiastically into the struggle. EverythingJooks rosy to them; they can see victory
just 'around the corner. They are altogether:.
intolerant of dissenters and critics. No matter how fernperate or justiiied t he latter may
be they are promptly dubbed company agents
or fools a d then sat upon instantly. Under
such circumstances "free sneech" is- altoeether
x
-a t a discount. What rev ails is a snontaneous
mass discipline.
0
secretary, Red T
ernational
13
But as the strike wears on a
profound change takes place.
Discipline vs. Freedom In Russia
EVOLUTIONS are eammonly urged f or
the purpose of estah&hiagl in addition
to many other deslral$lities, t he most
complete freedom of s p e d 9p ass, and assembly. Yet, strange t o say8 & fidllhssian evoluR
tion, the most profortnd in history, has fallen
far short of this BQL~.B %spIa, a s everyone
knows, there are dr;%s& 1imita;tions upon the
right of the people to freely speak and write
their thoughts. Indeed, this r ight is very
q rgely restricted t o t he membership of the
Communist party, and 'it finds but limited expression even i h e .
This state of a.fEa$rs has brought the Russian
*
revolution a lot o - ahcedaaeous condemnation. Capitalists mati their hangers-on, yellow
Socialists of the Sgptrgb type, petty bourgeois
labor leaders like .Mr. Gompers, theoretical
Anarchists of the Emma Goldman persuasion,
etc., etc., have raised their voices in energetic
protest. Each gives his complaint ehe necessary twist to conform to his particular philosophy or hypocricy, but all are agreed that
T H E LABOR HERALD
-ateriilize.
On t h i contraj ,
re come hardshins ~ i l e d
I
indeed.
Their enthusiasm,
base& upon simple emotion
r8Um?r t han upon real unders%nd'kgrlradually evaporates.
g
Thew l a heart and take on a
d e f & ~ s $ attitude. They degenera& &to carping critics,
and becpm~la prey to all sorts
a
d
of p ~q~agaadaestructive t o
the strike solidarity. In s hort
they are & s c ~ t o l o ~ c allicked.
l~
In thi; critical situation. 1
which corines i n every protrac
ted strike, the burden of maintaining the indispensible discid ine falls uoon a small minority. These are the true
fighters. They are the only
ones who really understand
what the struggle is all aboat.
Their unkillable enthusiasm
and inexhaustible energies are
drawn from intellectual sources
and are very different from the
, ,semi-blind impulse which rules
.HOME OF ALL-RUSSIANUNI.ONS
.
t he niasses. If the strike is to
Formerly Moscow Nobles' Club
',
be won these fighters must
, I make their psycho~ogyprevail.
The Wmeq b Rewohtiop
, They must take the discouraged masses firmly
The foregoing i h f r i t i a n of the course Q%- a
in hand and literally make them fight. They
.-, .
must break up all sorts of defeatist movements strike applies equally well to the c ourw of
among the rank and file, which, in turn, means the Russiart revoldion. And naturally w, bel
t he sappression of free speech to a very large cause1the l ib~er, ike the former, is 9 &we of
tg m isses in bitter struggle. What we have
h
extent. Indeed, only those tendencies a re als e a b ppen a thousand times in hard fought
lowed to flourish which make d ireely f or sol:dariky and the continuance of the strike. GI1
t he rest are ruthlessly smashed, m m etter b w
? " maay abstract rights are violated i the d ebg
n
of it. That is the history of all g reat s t n i
It i s a fact known to all labor men that m t
severe industrial struggles that w& wan hawe
been won a fter the mass of tke ~ $ r wale
b
@$ icked; a fter they had reached the stags af
'
defeatism and discouragement that they w a d
have given up the fight had it not Bees fag the
&,
discipline imposed upon them more oe l& tarf valor were berbitrarily by s mall minority of andefeatable formed and
~f e&rgy expended b i t h e
!pfighters.
transported
I '% ,The whole people were
C
.
I I I?.
-
'
I
n
J
-
g
.
a
@6,
14
THE LABOR HERALD
swept away in a mighty, swirling, irresistable
torrent of revolution.
This was the dream era, the idealistic period
of the revolution. But it had to come t o an
end, just as does the similar period of unthinking enthusiasm in big strikes. Soon the period
of cold, hard, unemotional fealism s et in, t he
period of long and bitter struggle. As the
months rolled by the heaven on earth expected
by the 'masses did not materialize. Instead,
there came a whole series of soul-trying ordeals. Famines, blockades, civil wars, poverty, were the people's portion. The revolution proved a hard taskmaster. The masses,
with nothing but shallow enthusiasm t o sustain them, did not understand. Somehow the
revolution seemed a failure. They could not
meet its severe requirements. Their revolutionary fervor waned, their original enthusiasm
began t o abate. More and more the responsibility for eontinuing the revolution fell upon
the shoulders of the minority who are revolu.
tionists, not through mere impulse and idealistic imaginings, but because of deep-seated
intellectual convictions. They are the ones
whose revolutionary spirit is inextinguishable,
the Communists.
This process has gone on in Russia for many
many months, until now we find a situation
comparable in principle t o that in the latter
stages of a hard-fought strike. Great sections
March, 1922
of the masses are pretty much defeated. For
them the glamor of the thing has worn off.
T hey want the easiest way out. I t he revoluf
t ion w ere left t o them, it would be over in a
hurry. They would not fight for i t ; t!~ey
would not work for i t ; they would allow themselves t o be made tools of by the 57 varieties
of sophistry-mongering agents of the reaction.
There would be a swift collapse.
But these tired, disillusioned, and disheartened masses are being held t o the struggle hy
t he minority of indomitable fighters in their
midst, the C ommtl~~;~ts. latter are mainT he
taining the discipline essential to t he life of
the revolution, just as tlie fighters always d o
in severe strikes. This could not be done if
they allowed absolute freedom of discussion
t o prevail. If given free rein the reaction,
through the i nstrumentality of its intentional
and unintentional assistants, would have easy
picking among the rank and file, who, always
gullible and easily led astray, are now even
more susceptible than ever because of the
hardships of the revolution. Soon solidarity
on the political, industrial, and military fields
would be ended, and serious, if not fatal, damage done t o the revolution. Because of this
unlovely but inescapable fact, the workers
literally have t o be protected against themselves by means of discipline. Defeatist and
disruptive tendencies must be broken up, even
if this does involve the limitation of
the rights of the individual. And it
makes little difference whether such
tendencies originate in the brains of
scheming reactionaries or in those of
impractical Socialist, Syndicalist, Anarchist, or Communist workers. They
must be checked just the same.
Successful struggle by the masses
unavoidably implies limitation of their
rights of free speech in the name of
discipline. That is the experience of
every a reat s trike: it is likewise the
1) experience of the ~ u s s i a nrevolution,
t he b itterest and most trying struggle
ever undergone by t he world's working class. Reactionary labor men like
Mr. Gompers (whose trade union
practice would teach him the logic of
the Russian situation if he w ere n ot
too blinded by prejudice) may rail
against this conclusion, and idealists
)I l&e Emma Goldman (who lived in a
realm of cloudy theory and disdains
the crass inconsistencies of hard realCONGRESS O F T H E R ED 'LJXADEU NION
ity) may do likewise. But suppression
INTERNATIONAL
(Continued on page 31)
--
1
-
T H E LABOR HERALD
March, 1922
15
,
I
1
1
I
I
** : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : **. . ++*+++++++ *
: *+++++++++++++++*++++ : :+' : : : : : : : : : <
*
3
+
cf+*:.+:*+:.:
'111
A PLEDGE!
.
To Tom ~ o o n e im, Larkin, Warren Billings, Alex Howat, Ben Oittlow,
J~
Ralph Chaplin, Harry Winitsky, Harrison George, Fred Mooney,
Frank Keener, Niccolo Sacco, Bartolomeo Vanxetti, Vincent St.
John, Jim Thompson, and the hundreds of Labor's champions, now
prisoners of war in capitalist jails:
DEARBROTHERSND COMRADES
A
:
a nd the workers whose aspirations
W e send you greetings from THE $ ~ O R
we voice. In creating this new weapon for our common struggle, the struggle for Labor's
complete emancipation, we turn to you to pledge our faith.
The high mission for which you s d e r , a nd to which we are dedicated, calls for the
deepest loyalty, devotion and courage. These h t virtues of the working-class movement which you embody, are the very basis of a ll of Labor's cause.
But you have been almost deserted by Labor's ranks. Only here and there have a
few strong voices been raised, and a few arms wielded, in your behalf. Only in brief,
spasmodic moments has Labor moved to bring you justice; and then has been confused,
disunited and drugged, by the lies, the tricky arguments, the traitorous actions, of pretended "leaders. ' '
F or years you have lain in the rotten capitalist jails! With deepest shame must
we write the record of how you have been deserted! We know, and the workers of
America know, that it is only because you were fighters in o ur own s t r u g g l e t h e s t ~ l e
against capitalistic exploitation, against the degrading wages system, against the V I C ~ O ~
a nd corrupt society which destroys all beauty and joy in t he lives of the working people.
A nd t he measure of our shame shall be the measure of our passionate cry to the workers
of the whole land-"To
a ction! Our brothers are being tortured for fighting our battles
for us! Masters! open t h e prisons, before Labor i s f orced t o a ct indepedentntby t o .
that en.d! "
Brothers in prison! The heart of the working class is sound! I n spite of all t he
forces of darkness a nd corruption which have prevented your class from coming to your
rescue, your brothers in the trade unions of America k now why you suffer. They move
restlessly in the knowledge of their base desertion of you. They are going to move to
your defense 1
THE LABOR ERALD
H
pledges to you that we will s hoit t his message to all our class,
in every labor hall and labor home, until our class rises to do justice. So long as we
have voice it shall never be raised without carrying this call as a vital, pressing, urgent
demand of a militant labor movement!
Labor ! Act at Once to Rescue Your Prisoners of War!
THE LABOR HERALD
16
THE LABOR HERALD
March, 1922
A CALL T O ACTION!
Editor's Note: For general outline of the League's purposes, read article "The Principles and Program of the Trade
Union Educational League," elsewhere in this issue.
ILITANTS! The time has come for action! We must now gird up our loins for a great
effort to make a real fighting organization out of the trade union movement. We must
now plunge directly into our vital task of ama?gamating t he many craft unions into a
few industrial unions and of inspiring them with genuine proletarian spirit. The Trade Union
Educational League has launched its nation-wide campaign to organize the militants everywhere
to carry on this indispensible work of education and reorganization, a work for which the hardpressed labor movement now stands in shrieking need. A ll.true trade union rebels are urged
to join hands with the League immediately.
M
T H E League's task of organizing the militants is a gigantic one, one that will require intelli- .
gence, determination, and discipline to accomplish. As things now stand the militants are
scattered broadcast through many thousands of local unions, central labor councils, etc., and
there is scarcely the faintest trace of communication Qr co-operation between them. It is an utter
chaos. And the only way this chaos can be conquered and the army of militants developed into
a unified body capable of exerting great influence in the labor movement is by the rigid application of modern organization methods. Such methods are the very heart of the League's program. I t proposes not to attack the problem simultaneously in all its phases-which would be
a futile project-but to go at it intensively, section by section. It is going to carry out a series
of great national drives, month by month, to organize the militants in one industry after another.
When the circuit of the industries is completed-which should be in six or eight months-there
will exist a well-defined organization of the militants in every trade union and industrial center
in the entire country. Then a general national conference will be held, to map out a complete
educational program, to elect League officials,etc. All told, the campaign is one of the most
elaborate in labor history, and it must eventually result in making the progressive and radical
unionists the determining factor in the labor movement.
T H E f ist of these national drives will be directed to establishing local general educational
groups of militants of every trade simultaneously in all the important cities and towns everywhere. Once established these local groups, in addition to their other activities, will perform the
vital organization work of carrying out the rapidly following later drives to organize the militants in the respective industries. Their first job (the second national drive) will be to organize
the railroad educational organization. It will be done as follows: At a given signal (which
WUcome late in March) the hundreds of local general groups all over the country will direct
Wr e t e d attention and energy to organizing local educational groups of railroad militants in
the% Wpective territories. By this intensive method scores, if not hundreds, of such bodies will
c z & b existence simultaneously in all the principal railroad centers. All these local railroad
o@
t
o
g r o w will be put in touch with each other through the general office of the League, and thus
the &road militant organization will take on national scope. I t will immediately embark
upon a nation-wide campaign to amalgamate the sixteen railroad craft unions into one industrial
organization. This educational propaganda will be carried into every local union in the entire
industry by the local railroad groups, or rank and file amalgamation committees. For the f i s t
time in t h e history the railroad militants will f hd themselves in an organized movement to
combine theif many obsolete craft unions into one modern industrial union. Month by month
similar drives d$lbe put on in the other industries-metal, building, clo@ing, mining, etc,
until finally t he educational organization covers every ramification of the trade union strncture
and the r ejmaating influence of the organized militants makes itself felt throughout the entire
labor movement.
:'
,
W I T H this CalI To Action the first phase of the League's organization campaign-the setting
up of t he loeal m e r a l groups-is initiated. Besides being issued publicly, the Call is also
being laid directly before ,more than 1000 live wire trade unionists in that many cities and
towns, with an urgent appeal that they immediately call together groups of militant unionists
and get our campaign d dynamic education started among them. Considering the present dm-
-
,
a
The Traileiqnim E ducatiod
'"
ITS W
-
I
Lme
.
street,
o hiqgi-hi.-
I
.
March, 1922
Making and Breaking the Packinghouse
-Unions
'.q
:
A
By "A Packinghouse Worker"
T
HE collapse of the national strike of the
packinghouse workers a t the end of January marks the close of an epoch in the
long and bitter struggle t o establish trade
union organization in the packing industry.
Menaced by the establishment of company
unions and. radical wage cuts, the workers
struck desperately in the face of great odds
and covered themselves with glory. They
succeded in tying up large sections of the industry for eight weeks. But they did not
have a chance; they were whipped from the
start. Their organization went into the fight
weak and demoralized. Besides being destitute alike of funds and spirit, it was afflicted
with officials in whom the rank and file had no
faith. Under the circumstances the loss of
the strike, the breaking up of the hard-won
organization, and the surrendering of the industry t o the "open-shopper" was a foregone
conclusion. It i s one of the greatest tragedies
in American labor history.
The cause of the packinghouse workers' defeat was a double one; incompetency and
treachery by the officials of the basic union
in the industry, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen, and utter failure
of the rebel elements among the workers t o
organize themselves and thus to exercise control over the administration of their union.
These fatal factors had been constantly a t
work ever since the packinghouse workers began their last great effort a t organization in
1917. T he story of the ill-fated packinghouse
movement is one that Organized Labor should
take well t o heart:
No body of workers in American industry
have been more bitterly exploited or have
made more desperate efforts to escape from
their slavery than the packinghouse workers.
As early as 1886 t hey built up trade unions and
d
established the e i~ht-hour ay. But the wily
and powerful packers soon smashed their organizations and made themselves uncontested
masters of the situation. The next important
movement of t he workers took place fifteen
years later, and resulted in quite thorough organization. But again their unions were
wiped out, this time in the big national strike
of 1904. T hen followed a thirteen-year period
of unrelieved slavery and exploitation, a period
in which the industry turned out a little group
of enormously wealthy parasitic idlers on the
one hand, and a vast multitude of impoverished and downtrodden workers on the other.
All efforts to re-organize the unions were defeated. It w as not until 1917 that the packinghouse workers, responding to the hope
that springs eternal, again take courage and
raise their heads. Taking advantage of the
war conditions, they struck in Denver, Kansas City, and Omaha, achieving some little
success in each place. But the real movement
among them did not begin until the Chicago
Federation of Labor began its big campaign
to organize the workers employed in the
packinghouses of Chicago.
I
Organization of the Industry
T he initiative t o the Chicago campaign was
given by Wm. Z. F oster, who presented a resolution t o the Chicago Federation of Labor
calling for a joint organization movement on
the part of all the trades with jurisdiction
over packinghouse workers. This project was
adopted on July 15th, 1917, and the Federation
a t once took serious hold of the situation. It
organized the Stockyards Labor Council t o
carry on the work. John Fitzpatrick was
selected to head this body d uring the organization work, and Foster was made its secretary.
Ever since the great strike of 1904 sporadic
efforts had been made to re-organize the packinghouse workers, but without a particle of
success. When the big Chicago campaign
started the Amalgamated Butcher Workmen
had only a handful of members, and the whole
industry was demoralized. The prime cause
of this failure was low grade leadership. The
men at the head of the unions, the other crafts
as well as the Butcher Workmmen, persiste a l y a ttempted to apply outworn principles
of craft unionism t o this great basic industry,
when the only hope of the workers was the
most complete industrial solidarity. During
the thirteen black years of unorganization,
craft after craft made individual efforts t o
I.
MOUNTED POLICE DRIVING STRIKERS FROM S TREET
organize, but to no purpose whatever. First
it would be the cattle butchers; they would
carry on a bit of a campaign and get a few
hundred members assembled, when, lo, the
packers would turn their tremendous organization against them and crush their budding
union as a giant would an egg shell. Then stagnation would reign a while more, until eventually, probably a straggling movement would
develop among the sheep butchers, the hog
hutchera, t he steamfitters, the engineers, or
some other trade, which in turn would go the
same way. In this manner practically every
trade got its licking, yet the union heads never
learned the lesson from this experience. They
could not see that the only possibility for the
packinghouse workers t o make headway
against the powerful packers was through
absolutely united action along the lines of the
whole industry.
But if the Butcher Workmen and other
craft union officials knew nothing of industrial
solidarity, the men who organized the Stockyards Labor Council did. T ee b reath of life
of that organization was unified action by
all packinghouse workers. Before it w as organized a n agreement was secured from all
t he trades that they would cast in their lot
- --t ogether, and that espeCially t hey would ,not
m ake the mistake they made in 1904, w hen
they had two local councils in the Chicago
stockyards, one for the mechanical trades and
t he other for the packing trades. The jealousies and quarrels between these two councils,
resulting finally in one scabbing upon the
other, was a prime factor in the loss of the
great strike of 1904.
The Stockyards Labor Council organizers
were determined that no such blunder should
be made in the future. They raised the slogan
of solidarity of all trades in the packing industry. With this rallying cry they went
forth among the packers and put on one of
the most aggressive campaigns of organization known t o American labor history. Encouraged by the new program ,the oppressed
stockyards slaves responded en masse. They
poured into the unions by thousands and soon
the Chicago industry, then employing 55,000
workers, was strongly organized. The news
of this achievement spread like wildfire in
every packing center in the country, and soon
the whole body of packinghouse workers
everywhere were swarming into the organizations. The packing industry, long the: despair
of Organized Labor, was finally unionized.
The whole job took but a few months.
An Incompetent Oi5cialdom
D uring these stirring events the officials of
the Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher
Workmen, the union which controls about
80% o f the workers in the industry, were like
T H E LABIOR H E R A L D
20
March, 1922
feathers in a gale. They did not know what nickel in money to the campaign until a fter
i t was all about. Such a slashing camp*
, h adreds o
f dollars had been turned over to
o unionism was altogether beyond their kmb it h membership fees-the Chicago Federation
f
P etty labor politicians, their practical con*,
.o9 k b w ' mderwrote entirely, t o the last
tion of their union was-as ae orgsnization h pe-myd $& cost of .the early work. But when
f
%
a few thousand meat cutters in retail butdimwas finished, the Butcher
shops. They had no hope or d ers.staacbg
a rapidly growing organizaof organizing the packinghouse workers propor more, and possessed of a
er. They practically abandoned -thel eadeahip
ch were the results in the
of the movement to John F i t ~ p h e k W m. 2
,
.
r y by t he application of indusFoster, J. W. Johnstone, a d 8ke 0 t h gwm
t-y. The mass of workers were
a t the head of th.e S ~ & &-k~&~&I.. feet and given a weapon
.
on their
The flouridend d
m& wd&~t:$ 8 l&mwQ
~
S
~
they could protect themselves
ized t he i9dtpsta-y fisr.tlie$a;,, . .
k'ss
$ h~$.pw& & F Cauicff
~
3 i s.- detraction.fi-on t he work done by
3
organize^^^ w e e &
&
c
amra urnen were fairly w gankers in o ther txmters t o say that the
well lined up, W t h t s d at movebrunt of t he struggle was b orne
ment for @hee ~tabljshrnent f an
o
by the Stockyards Labor Council.
agreemeat with t he packers t o
It planned the campaign, concover the whole industry. Received the method of organizaluctantly this was rybber-stamped
tion, and t o a very large extent
by the Butcher Workmen o ficicarried it through to success.
d s . Accordingly, the local agseeConsidering what is had done
ment between the twelve trades
for their organization, one might
in the Chicago packing industry
think that the officials of the
was expanded into a national one
I Amalgamated Meat Cutters and
and a general committee set up
Butcver Workmen would have
greatly valued the Stockyards
to ccmdtzct the fight for the whole
Labor Council. But the fact was
country. John @itzpatrick was
made c h i q n bf this national
exactly the contrary. From the
packinghouse committee, and
very beginning they looked ask:
Foster its Secretary. As usual,
JOHN R ~ZPATRICK ance a t it. They had no sympathy
the Butcher Workmen officials
with i ts militancy or its doctrine
sat on the side lines, expressing agree- of all-inclusive solidarity. They were craft
with what was being done, but unionists pure and simple. They stood aside
and let i t orgaaize t he industry for them, but
little p art in it. Demands were st&
and, after a spectacular arbitration immediately this was done they set about desing conducted by Frank P. Walsh, .a t roying it. Indeed, so eager was the Presisettlement secured covering the whole indus- dent of the Butcher Workmen, one John Hart,
t o break it up t hat just as t he national movetV. %
W h a h a d happened from July 15th, 1919, ment u os developing he double-crossed all
w hea t he Chicago campaign began, until t he o thw trades by secretly sneaking off t o
March
1918, when Judge Alschuler Waehingt~aaand placing the entire matter in
handed down l$s findings in the arbitration the tender care of the Food Administration.
p r o c e e m v m t h t t he packing industrp. This nearly wrecked t he whole movement. It
had been organized all over the country; the was saved M y by the Stockyards Labor
H art to back out of his areight hour d a . ~established, heavy wage in- C omdl for*
creases secured; the forty-hour per week rangemen% w&b t he Washington politicians
guarantee introdwed, and other important im- and to l mv~rtke'rregotiations ltogether in the
a
provements in t he workers' coaditions insti- hands o$ &@ e ~mbined nion again.
u
tuted. Besides this, the Butcher Workmen's
Imme&fi@ Judge Alschuler's decision was
Union had been lifted from poverty and in- made ia @@a rbitration matter the national
significance to afflusnce a* power. When o ficiak d e c h x l open war upon the Stockt he Chicago c ampaip t a r t e d @is organiza- ya&d&Z a h r Chuncil. Their chosen way to
tion had only a few khousand'members and desfroy it was by the organization of a disa single trict council of Butcher Workmen locals.
was so poor that it did -%ute
I
3t
09
March, 2!E2
THE LABOR HERALD
21
T h y b w very well that the stabllishmes& Butcher Workmen nevertheless went blithely
a body w 4 d pull dl their unioas but
ahead with the nefarious task. To further
their project they sent a flock of "organizers'"
into t he stockyards district t o prepare the
way for t he new council. These sowed the
seeds of disruption. thickly, undertnining t he
whole structure of t he movement. Several
with their project regardless
ineffectual attempts were made to start the
T k &rasing of the new
new council, but they all failed as the senticouncil was. h direct violat
ment of the workers was overwhelDZing1y in
lnf?nt t w w t he Butcher Workmen d
k
fayor of the Stockyards Labor Council. Izio*LM, +midm i t he movement. From the ia- w&, however, in July 1919, enough dupes
n
c&@i&~d:%$te campaign it had been definitely
scared up to form the f atal District No.
s ettW.
&here shotrlci be only one loclrrl .9, and it was duly established.
Chicago Packing industry and
Warbare and w o n
h l u d e al trades. In fact, this
l
was the very beart of the propaganda used to
1
d y turmoil 'raged among the pack~;giiaspired re-organize the workers. They i ngheew a wiatbs, who looked upon these efh J &faitely promised that the great f ott b '&?@t
kb,
een
fP
*eiE
mistake of 11304 would not be repeated, and ranka a s $&e BKO& e
f
that, dnlr or swim, t he whole b d y of pack- t he psrckers.
inghouse workers would fight h one unit. refused point b a
kk
They were v iolentl~in favor of the Stock- t o affiliake w&h Disyards Labor Council and violently against the t ri& N& 9, in ~ i t a
newly-proposed packing t r a d e s council, s the fdmina&ims
f
known as District No. 9.
of &eir national om€Ma Oi 40,000 OF'Ws Stockyards Labor Comd Destmyd
gaBimrd a rtlrkl-s m
t
The behanical e x m e 'agered by t he B l~tc&r z.mwe t h a n 2,0(TO
joked t he new body.
tuth &
*
d
it. Bwt The9 t he national
w
e
.
Their d e b &ee of t he Butcher
three-fourths majority W e r b e n carried its
J. w. JONNSTONE
L abr C ormd and could work of destruction
&me a s tbey liked with that Bady. stiil f urther by susWorkmen o Rcid8 been in- pending all the locals that refused to accept
king an organieatisn i n the their dnal council. T i meant wahaian
hs
which in my jadgment they worse confounded. Thousands quit the u nitas
wemz n ot) they could easily have postponed disgusted, f edis~ghat they had been betr@.
t
ntia their national convention and Others entered militantly into t he many b &e~
a arrangement that c odd take f actimd qmwrels that had been stastedastatmg
a &ituation. The plain fact of t he t he w mhers by t he irresponsible natima1 offiw is t hat so long a s the Stockyards La- a*
& C b ~ ~ ~ e i l their i mm&&tc e d s hy
served
S w n t he disruptive work of t he &ma,
ta
bore
s qamaiag thousands of men into their i i
mm its, f d l Br&, soon t he former s p
and vwt sums s money .into their wBw4 a d t y d t he workers was destr
f
t h y h cl m trouble to go along with i%. I%& ob %he one unified council that tarried t he big
just a s soon as they thought they
battle through, they now
three: the
eootagh, a s soon as they felt t &
emmct.dated Stockyards L&M?c ouncil, DisC
trict N 9, and a M ecbi-1 Trades Council.
situation well in hand, they c m ~ d m h . f p
o.
covered insurmountable, constitutionah ahqjec- In addition there were a =umber af indepentions t o its p i n g on as bcft h y dent unions disgusted d h all these bodies
and affiliated with
stabbed it to death.
them. The work ,
'.
Even though the veriest t y m ~ 1 ~&eve- of dissllption was
~ci
e+e. The officers of
meat could see from the sen
the Butcher W o h * had done the Chicago
w mkers t hat to break up the S
m o v e q n t t o dm& m d with it the movement
box Council meant to smash the whole! pa&all over the e
ry, f or it is a truism that
ing house movement, t he o Ecials d the t he status of t . =qkinghouse unions every-
c & Stockyards Labor Council a d ieave
d
t b b t t e r only a shell. Tb would G rate a reof t he dualism that had &ed
t he
use workers' srlganizathn & 1904.
I
Bxat.&%%e worried them. T ~ T mt ahead
that
w
I
*-
I
I
22
I
22
THE L A B O R H E R A L D
where depends direetly upon the degree of
organization prevailing in Chicago, the h a r t
of the industry. After the installation of D s
itrict No, 9 t he f ate af t he union was waled.
I ts course thereafter was rapidly d o m w a r d
I t was only a m atter of time until the packers
s hodd deliver a coup de grace which finally
came in the recent strike.
As Usual, the Rebels
March, 1 2
92
them t o come in to t he struggle. But i each
n
m e all he got was a cold shoulder. The radid 8 , save for a few notable exceptions, w
ould
have nothing to do with the trade l am
ai .
They p d e r r e d t o ~ p e n dheir time in contemt
plation a f their beautiful industrial utopias.
The aoM bawd f act@ f the mass struggle were
o
far 6
them.
bb
H ere w e w me t o t he crux of the trouble.
h l f or the failure of the paekingat
house movement lies with the rebel elements
in t he industry, and they are many, a s the
body. o workers are foreigners. Hart, Lane,
f
a d t he others who held control of the Butcher Workmen"$ csrgmizsrtion during the critical days were typieal craft unionists and
t'herefore altogether unfit t o make headway.
against modern combinations of capital. It
w odd be stupid ts a pectl them to follow any
other course than the ruinoui one they did,
save under pressure. A leopard cannot change
his spots. If t he msvement was t o live and
proBper t he impetus t hereto had t o come up
from below, from an aroused and organized
r ank and file.
But this impetus did not come. The rsclid s , t he only ones who could develop it, were
asleep a t t he switch. Here w as a grerat movem w t p i n g begging f or them to control it.
The enbrmclus organizations in Chicago were
in t he han& of t he minute group 015 r a d i d s who did show enough understinding t o take
p art in f ie movement. And it would have
be= an easy thing t o have secured d m h r
csn*rol i other places, had the r adial elea
men* d y been willing to assume such control. S ficient resistance, a t least, could have
been d m l ~ p e do prevent t he national officials;
t
from wrecking t he union. But no, the radicals
s t a d aside, oallously indifferent, and allowed
t he m ganimtbn t o be cut t o pieces by the
reacthmaries. The loss crf t he packinghome
rnovernwt i s just one more item, and a terrible w e, rhak m ast be added to the heavy price
the t rade m ian movement is paying for the
duollistic n o ~ which have destroyed the
~s
power anet 'krherrce of those w orken who
work failed com- s hodd be its b ut and livest elements.
pletely. The rebids. were simply not to be
roused. They were d heavily afflicted <with
After the v w e E n g of t he Stoclryards La.the "infantile sichew':&. dual unionism a nd
~ O P c m d the downfall of the organization
C
could not be induced
was rA&d* Thousands quit the trade unions
in the fight against
in-dftgpst. Soon t he national officials broke
cags and other cities
t he h a t of the 35,000 members of t he outf are numerous radical
s tmding locals by winning over one John Kithe p c k i g h o u s e wQr
Considering the type of men a t he head
t
of the Butcher Worktam's Unlon,. the onlp
possible hope for t he p a t movement t o succeed was for the live spirits amomg t he rank
and file to take the s i m a t b well in h w d and
force t heir f m t e m t i o d o flcMs iaM line or
o ut of office. This was evident from t he s tart,
and it became more evident as t he movement
wore on. Eor a time t he live wires handling
the Stockyards Labor Council were able t o
hold the reactionary national officials t o
something like a real program. But as t he
latter became more m d more intrenched by
the stabilizing of the union everywhere and
the extendon of their machine, t he spreading
of the rank and file movement to a national
s a l e b e e m e imperative to prevent the general o&cials from wrecking the m v e w a t
through their stupid methods-to put it charitably.
The burden of organizing t bis r ank ihad N e
movement fell.upon 5 W. Johnstone-before
.
the bitter struggle really g ot s tarted =tzpatrick and Foster, t he first president ,and s ecse
t ary of the Stockyards La$& Cewci1, ha4
withdrawn from the mmem~ent t o take up
&her duties. J ohnstme was t he new secret - ~of the Stockyards Labor Council and an
man in the labor movement. H e
had to be done and he tried to do
the national officials s et out t o
Id cdugcif Johnstone undertook to
organize the rebels everytohare against them.
He and tks associates published an i ndqendent p a w a T he Packinghouse Worker, and
s caaered I& b a d c a s t over the industry &
I
T e real
h
'
March, 1922
THE LABOR HERALD -
kulski, a n influential Palish organizer who
was l ater killed by some of his many enemies.
K&ulskiYsdesertion disrupted the rebel ranks,
Many went back with him t o the Butcher
Workmen, and thousands gave up their affiliation altogether. And what was httppening in
Chicago was pretty mnch h appenbg in all the
other packing center& Mismaaagement, if
not worse, by the B u t a e r Workm& officiab,
throttled the organizatiae everywhere.
By t he Spring of 1921 t he organization was
virtually a wreck all oTer t he country. So
much so that the packers, fresh13 freed from
the war-time control a g r e e m a t administered
by Judge Alschuler, d eter&d,b
~ u i t out
f; flash of
of business altogether. B&
the old spirit the workers mlliad again in
wonderful form. Enofmoae mms meetings
took place and the unions grew like weeds.
Quite evidqntly t he workers were decided to
put up a bitter fight. But again their officials
failed them. They meekly accepted the proposed wage cuts and allowed the establishment of the compapy unions. Once more the
organization began t o disintegrate rapidly.
Things went from bad to worse until the
packers announced their next heavy wage cut,
a few months ago. The organization had almost bled to death. Yet the workers responded again, this time more weakly. A
s trike ballot was taken. This carried affirmatively in a small vote, and finally a strike
date was set for December 5th. Then a marvel happened: When the strike was called few
expected that any considerable numbers of
the discouraged and disappoipted workers
would walk out. But when the fateful day
arrived they turned out en masse emrywhere,
h amstrhging t he whole packing industry. I n
Chicago it was estimated that fully 757% of
the actual workers struck, and in other centers the percentage was even higher. A few
of the craft unions, notably the engineers,
stockhatzdlers, etc. wbo had been thoroughly
alienated by the Butcher Workmen officials,
refused to strike. But nevertheless the strike
was quite general. Considering the circumstances, the organized treachery and mismanagement that: the' workers had s d e r e d from
in their unions for years, it was a noble display of solidarity. But it was futile, it was
only the dying agony of the organization.
There was not a possibility for success. There
23
was neither competent leadership among the
rank and file nor among the Butcher Work-.
men officials. ;All t he packers had to do was
to sit tight. for a while a nd'wait for the inevitable collapse. This they did, refusing all
e darts a t settlement. On January 31st t he
g reat break came. The Butcher Workmen
eaf1d o f t he hopeless strike, The packingf
b a s e movement was crushed, b rokm by the
eornb'mled mismanagement of its official leaders and tbq indifference of the rebel elements
in the industry.
As to the Future
What the future has to offer for the packinghouse workers in the way of organization
is problematical. After such a crushing defeat, following in the train of so much betrayal and mismanagement by their o%cials,
i t is safe to say that they will be seized by
profound demoralization and depression, Already the dual unions are gathering to feed
upon the corpse of the fallen giant and to add
to the general confusion. They have nothing
to offer, in spite of t heir glowing programs.
The only hopeful h ctor in the situation is the
changed views of many radicals in t he industry. Within the last few months (although
too late to appreciably affect the dying movement) they have come to see that it is their
part to stay in the old unions and to so organize themselves there as to'compel t h i proper
handling of t he organization, no matter who
may stand at its. head. Had they understood
this fact three or four years ago and taken
charge of the packinghouse movement when
it lay wide open before them, the whole history of it would have been d iaerent. Instead
of being crushed and defeated as they now
are, the packinghouse workers would still possess a powerful and well-intrenched trade
union organization.
It i s never too late to mend. The rebels
in the packing industry must set out a t once
to break the power of the reactionaries a t the
head of their organization. They must see to
it t hat when t he n ext big drive comes, and it
i s only a m atter of time, the mea who conduct
it are real wrsrkiag class fighters and not,
m ere place-hmtiers and incompetent bureaucrats. I n t hat direction alone lies the pessibility f or ~ uccess.
Ta
-.
THE LABOR HERALD
24
March, 19.22
March, 1922
The Struggle in the Building Trades
-
dstently g
The Coal &err
,
r
the old craft union tactics of each separate uniofor itself. The employers have organized a solid
front, backed by Judge Landis, and by the "Citizen's Comtnittee" with its many mi%lions of dolhrs
have a1pledged to break the unbns. T he
lowed their soEdarity t o be b r h up, clch lldnn
acting for itself, l i t b u t any k Wdnllpba ~h~
the *wul mu& be
rwults a re phh,
befare Labor cran 5 gb a & a
ig
battle.
*rted
May- &st last y a r ,
&-S
&I'
A w c b t i ~ f ie*ed
r
ta res d e @ ~s8im@ly &kek a nd locked a t
&a
T hb I k o & eontiizued uatil
the empkoyero agd t he uaipns
agree&@smpt. t he #ago.qnas&a to arbitration, and
am s
agreed upon J1~da;eL a a ' the arbitrator. In the
m eantbe L t x e ~ 3 c e ~ d arrage of newspaper atb~ s
tack k id been levelled at the -ions, and preparations were made to "get them" in the arbitration
@recess. Landis immediately took the uBensive by
assuming jurisdicOion over working rureq in addition to wages. In September he announced his
award which slashed wage8 savagely and completely
revised t he working rules. The utuen members
spontaneously walked off their jobs, although the
unions did not immec2iatdy call a strike. The contractware willing to reopen the ease. The
B uWng Trades Council was capable o i 'handling a
dispate with some degree of success so bag a s the
opp6nent was only the cantractors. But this time
the Unions were up a minst something biggm. T he
*Citizensy- ommittee" h@dk e n formed, containing
C
& e financbl and c opxmte powers of Chicago, with
a w r .chest of n zillie~saf d ~ b r s and they took
,
of the capitalist Side-of the fight.
hrings with i t he most serious
t
work* d-ting
w ith moh other, and increasing
the ciatfwa and lack a f wlidarity.
The B m . g Trades Gmd, t he body which has
b r n e b t sbpt =hat united action there has hereto@ been v tte~lp nable to cape with this
u
fore
situatim. Z& has been for a strike, then it has been
a shist, && . h r a strike again; but it has not been
ab'le. s ac&.tlre unified attack of all the capitalist
~g&jzatid@, te w e all its forces one way or
the @&es at the s a m time. Under pressure of the
attack, of t he bitter newspaper barrage of lies, of
t he weight of Judge Landis, and the ,force of the
massed millions of the Citizens' C omdttee, t he slender threads of solidarity woven by t he federation
~ f +e craft unions in the Building Trades Council
i
have given way. As this is baing m itten, t he
Council has voted to accept the award, while many
unions are in bitter rebellion and are refusing to
accept it under any condition.
Federation of the 2 and more unions into the
5
.
Building Tradfes CounQil 3s not enough; it has
=~Sxomhe beginning of these anfortunate arbit
ceedings,. the result of w hkh might
been foreseen, the buil&ng trades
'
ces were split, Five of the qaions were
to the' arbitration from the first. Those
unwise as to participate ie the yonivided into those who accepted it with
and the "good unions" who were d l EUILJX&fQ'&%ARES ORKERS! N EW METHW
orders. The regult was a dsage of the unions being o ut 6 6 ~ ODS ARE NECESSARY TO MEET YOUR ENning to work about the same EMIES 'REDAY. GET CLOSER TO-GETHER,
as went out. Some of the JOIN BANDS, AND AMALGAMATE YOUR
tried to get the good will
KZ
oe got it by going back to UNIONS D B 3 OME COVERING T E E .ENTIRE
of the tmp
STRY.
A few of them have con- BUILDING
Qrderabundleof
-
THF: L ABOR HERALD
to sell at your uniod%i~tings.-hbundles U 10 o more, 12 cents per mpy
r
'
adem, intema1 and e xtend.
Rcga&g t%e external side of it: the emp l o ~ wre determined as never before t o deal
a
us a h u s h i a blow. The "open shop" deooteeslare s o axmaraged by their success in drivk gk k
railroad men, smashing t he buildi.ng t&s# &kcS t hat they are all set t o give
US s ,first
trimming7 Indeed, they have
1 start, as the wr&nd Colorado districts
s aur whole union is
to
meckd we will have t o g et r ight down
t o h s h t i : ~ad put up such a struggle as we
a~
h&re never made before,
But our internal crisis is worse even t han
the external one. We stand i n the most imminetlt danger of a disruption that will lay
us helpless be-fore o ur enemies who are all
ready to devour us. T he quarrel over the
Kansas situation is thxeatening t o split o ur
organization. This would be absolutely fatal.
It must be: avoided at all costs. Whatever
comes or goes,t he rqiners must present a solid
f ront this year. Anything else would be sucidal.
Lewis's treatment of H awat and the Kansas
miners is ;t crime, a disgrace that can never
b e lhigated from t he records of trade unianism. But it must not be allowed to l u d t o
- a split. k h m u l d be t he last word in folly.
Tim .e~-mgg not make a right. That would
de
be meref9 c utting off our nose t o spite our
face. 'The very most t hat could be accomp lisbd by 3 secession movement would be
t he t m t i ~ ? n f; t wo miners' unions, both of
o
a h a t t he same strength. Those who tell us
t hat t he masses o f t he men would rally to the
new d o n a re either fools or tools of the employers. At this particular time we will do.
well to t urn a deaf ear t s t he preachers of hot
a ir dual unionism, those who appear at critical moments in union struggles iwd t ear the
unions all t a pieces on the basis of their beautiful schemes of dual unionism. These a re the
j akals o t he labor movement.
f
mly ones
who pmfit f rom their activities are %h&osses.
b
A split now would be worth $ 1 8 ) 0 , 1 0 0 0 , ~ o
t
the mine operators.
I n t his crisie our course is plain. On 16he
*
Much bitterness has been aroused in the worfrerss
ranks in the course of this fight. Harsh names have
been called, and charges hurled back and forth.
Probably some of tho harsh names are just; surely
some of the. charges have truth behind t h e a But
this is t he lesson which building trade's workers must
learn from this experience, or it will have been in
vain: TEESE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE
UNTIL THE BUILDING TRADES UNIONS ARE
SOLIDLY UNITED INTO ONE ORGANIZATION.
broken d
-1;
i t doe6 not meet the conditions of todarp. Eaa#hing short of COMPLETE AMALGAMATION af all'building trades uniQns into one indusMal m ion for the buildig trades, will meet t he
situation. Such a unified, solidly organized body of
workers, l by men of spirit and intelligence,
d
d d quickly change the present terrible chgos,
&t
&y
c ad helplessness In t he face of a united
B d & n g Trades Union, the "Citizens' Committee*
and Judge Landis would R pitifully impotent.
e
25
Crisis
-
~ out a p i n s t t he whole b u s h a s f rom
d
The
fight ia Chicago
anoth
egin*.
c end.
" glaringb dding trddes'the foolishness of isontinuwg ~ b,&se 4wo: pg&tions, Others ohave wavered between
example of
c
t
p h g n strike, going back to
(7
THE LABOR H E R A L D
,
one hand we must Dreoare for a d es~erate
and & t he
internal quarre1 does not ~ r ~ d u c esecession movement:
a
We must c o n h e our fight within the bounds
of the Unite'd Mine Workers. Our muse is
t he cause of progress. It i s a just one and
when t he great rank and file come to understand it they will rally t o a ur suport. Lewis
was able to muster a majority of wstes against
u s a t the re-convevned convention. B i t he
barely squeaked by. And if we keep going
ahead it will be only a m atter of a short while
until he will come t o his Waterloo. The only
thing t hat can save him would be the same
thing that has saved dogens of other fakers in
similar crises, a ~ ecessim ovement t hat pulls
m
out the oposition and leaves the reactionaries
. i n control. w e must avoid any such mistakes
this time.
Lewis' s trength is due more to our mistakes
nagement. Our side
than to his own ~ o md
has made blunder after blunder in tactics.
Many of them would be ridiculous were t h y
not so tragic. We must sharpen up our wits
and sit right i nto this fight as thoulgh we
meant business. The fate of the eoal m k r s '
orgrtnizatian depends upon our g etting rid of
Lewis and all t he bunch grouped aroundi*him.
We must organize ourselves better. We must
see to it t hat our cause is carried into every
local organization in the whole union, p t hat
when delegates a re e leded t o t he varibm dist ricts and national conventions they
have
some idea as to what the .&ht i s
. jout.
I b i s they dn not have at t he prestime.
Abeve all we mczst have T journal that will
voiee o ur cause. 8 w International j aad is
absolutely stacked against us. W m s
e ut
counteract its l ies, which have been primarily
t-espaasible for owl defeat so far. Before
many months have gone by we s h d d have a
re&r
independent coal tnine1-s' paper t hat
will c arry the trtlth t o t he m i e.nd file. And
f.k
.
in t he n ~ ~ a n t i m ve should ten11 our hearty
-e
support to The Labor,Herald. I t may be depended upan t u fight emr battle tc the best af
its ability.
Besides this we mwst organize our forces
better. At all t he district and national conventioas, t he rebel elements should get to(Continued on page 31)
- +-I'
.'
d
THE LABOR HERALD
26
March, 1
922
March, 1922
T H E L A B 0R HERALD
27
-
THE L ABOR HERALD
A Militant, Constructive Monthly
Trade Union Magazine
Official Organ of the
Trade Union Educational League
WM. Z. FOSTER, EDITOR
Subscription price, $250 per y
-
e
Published a t
118 N La Salle Sweet
o.
CHICAGO, ILL.
M ember of The Federated Press
LABOR USING THE INJUNCTION
T
,
.
e,
HE s ettlement of the New York Cloakmakers'
strike, which was brought about by Judge
Wagner issuing a n injunction compelling the
Manufacturers' Protective Association to live up to
their agreement with the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union, raises still more clearly the
ever-sharpening question of whether or not Labor
shall make use of the injunction as a fighting
weapon. Schlessinger and Hilquit loudly respond
in the affirmative. o n e would think, from reading
"Justice," official organ of the union, that a new
and wonderful means had just been discovered to
free the working class. But as for us we answer
categorically, NO! ;We a re absolutely opposed to
t he labor movement employing the injunction, ..ad
we unhesitatingly prophecy that any widespread
attempt in that direction will cnIy r esuit in m ore
firmly fastening the shackles of slavery upon tlie
workers.
Our basic reason for opposing the injunction ,no
matter by whom it is invoked, is that it gives the
courts an enormous share of control over the settlement of industrial disputes, and we have absolutely no faith in the courts. We are not childish
enough to think they will give Labor a square deal.
On the contrary, we know very well that they
are as reactionary as the employers, if not even
more s b A t least nine times out of ten they rule
against the organized workers. Does Labor wish
to leave 3s cause to the tender mercy of such a
brace game as that? If so, all that it has to do
is to reco&e
a nd use the injunction and the job
will be done. As s ure as fate, it can Iook forward
t o a thorough clubbing from the courts.
It would be stapid t o judge Organized Labor's
possibilities with the injunction by drawing hasty
conclusions from the Cloakmaker s trike settlement.
Judge Wagner is a n exceptional case, the unusual
instance of a man on the bench with some slight
L abor has had other
sense of honor and hummi*.
experiences with the i n j u n ~ t b n , nd they run much
a
truer to type, they are much more i n line with
what we must expect from t he oourts than is the
Cloakmakers' experience.
A case in point occurred in Chicago eighteen
months ago. The Stark Piano Company had an
agreement with the Piano and Organ Makers'
Union. Although this still had a long term to run,
the company suddenly violated it, slashed wages,
and locked the workers out. The case was almost
identical with that of the Cloakmakers. The International Union, against the advice of many labor
men ,then sued for an injunction to make the company conform to its agreement. Not only was its
suit denied, but the very same judge, d wing t he
same sitting, granted the empIoyers a typical air
tight injunction against the workers. And \ rho was
surprised? Certainly not any intelligent l abor men.
How could they look upon the affair ~ x c e p t s the
a
logical working of our class courts?
Another illustrative case occurred in Pittsburgh
during the steel strike. The city authcrities had
forbidden the holding of meetings of a ll kinds by
the strikers. Even business m.eet;ngs ci t he local
unions were prohibited. Wherenpon, the steel ccmmittee's lawyer, who had much of t he same faith
in the courts that a ppafently Schlessinger and Hilquit have, prayed the Alleghenv County Court of
Common Pleas to enjoin Mayor Babcock from int erfering with a local union of the Amalgamated
Association of Iron, Steel, and Tin Workers from
holding its regular business meetings. Could labor
posibly have had a stronger case? Yet, what was
the result? Not only was the injunction denied,
but the Mayor's supression of free assembly was
. endorsed. Grace to our attorney's naive faith in
the courts, the petty politician's tyranny received
the solemn sanction of law. And one would be
astounded were it otherwise.
Still another case has occurred in Chicago within
the past month. The Carpenters' Union sought an
injunction against the "Open Shop" Citizens' Committee which is fighting the building trades unions.
Of course it was refused. . T h e practical result of
i ts effort was to strengthen the Citizens' Committee and give its nefarious activities the color of
legality. And so it will nearly always be when
Labor attempts to employ the weapon par exceIlence of the "open shoppers," the injunction.
Few indeed are the points upon which we are in
agreement with Mr. Gompers. By and large, we
consider his philosophy and policy to be the very
antipodes of what the labor movement requires.
But we must admit that he is theoretically straight
on the injunction question, even as he is on the
anti-strike laws. H e declares that such measures
are tyrannical invasions of the most fundamental
rights of the workers and must be openly disregarded. That is the very best of rebel doctrine,
and in i t lies the solution of the injunction and
many other difficult problems. That Mr. Gompers has never gone beyond theory in the matter
in no way changes the correctness of his position.
By ignoring the mandates of the Kansas Industrial
Court, Alex Hoarat a nd his co-fighters have done
more to destroy the menace of such institutions
than all the lawyers in the country could have
done by fighting them through the courts.
We must not recognize or use the injunction. W e
must fight it openly. Because the courts are
stacked against us, i t is purely an employers' weapon-the decision of Judge Wagner to the contrary
notwithstanding. The trade union movement of
America is right on the injunction. It will have
nothing t o do with it. To destroy this clear understanding, to delude the workers into believing that
t hey can successfully use the injunction as a
weapon in their own behalf, is to take a long step
backward, not forward, Mr. Hilquit. I t will result not only in giving Labor a false and unwarranted faith in the courts but also in definitely institutionalizing the injunction. When Labor begins
to use the injunction itself it can no longer cornplain a t the employers doing so, nor can it use
militant tactics agaiflst i ts application. W e say,
beware of using the injunction; it is poison to
Labor.
A m A L ACHIEVEMENT
T
.
H E annual meeting of the Fe'derated P ress
b riags forcefully to our attention the revolution that h as been achieved in labor journalism in
the Uhited States. Four years ago this field was
the most cheerless and disheartening prospect imaginable. It was a veritable chaos. There were hundreds 'of isolated little sheets, each with its underpaid and overworked editor trying to spin the
material for his paper out of his own tired brain.
There was the dry-as-dust and absurd A. % of L.
.
News Letter with its stupid and trivial items from
two weeks to six months stale, not to mention the
petrified trade journals, full of cheerless and uninteresting technical matter and "women's pages"
giving the latest dress patterns. All in all i t was
a picture of isolation, stagnation, desolation and
hopelessness.
Into this chaos came the organizing spirit of an
idea, the idea of a real labor news service, the idea
of the Federated Press. There are thousands of
things going on in the world, in which Labor is
vitally interested. The news is all available, given
the organization to get it and distribute it. The
Federated Press brought the organization into this
neglected field. Under the influences of this new
force our press has made strides forward which
are really remarkable. Our journals have a new
life and vitality. Compare the journals of today
with those of four years ago, and get a measure o i
t he progress made. No other country in the world
today has so good a labor news service and labor
press; it is the one field of labor organization in
which we are not lagging. This is another example
of what a few live progressivcs can do, if they set
to work in a sane, energetic, constructive manner.
so-called "better classes" as a m atter of principle.
Over their doors, in spirit if not in letter, runs the
fateful legend: "Abandon hope all ye capitalist. who
enter herein." They discriminate openly in favor
of the workers, and are careful to tell the whole
world of the fact.
Why the hypocricy of American courts, and why
the frankness of Russian courts, in recognizing their
patently class character? The answer is easy. 'The
class that the Landises serve is an exploiting class,
a parasitic class, whose prosperity involves the enslavement and degradation of the rest of society.
'They do not dare to acknowledge their defense of
the interests of such an anti-social class. But in
Russia the courts protect the interests of the great
working class, the useful class, the class whose supreme mission is the regeneration and civilization
of society. The Russian courts may well be proud
of militantly defending the interests of this alli mportant social element. That is the difference be
courts.
between American class courts and Russian class
GOMPERS AND RUSSIA
M
formal protest
the participaI NtionAKINGhas but addedinoneagainstitemConference,
of Soviet Russia
the Genoa
Mr. Gompers
more
to his piti-
ful "policy" towards Russia. All the world knows
that Russia is broken down industrially, and that
its only hope for rehabilitatisn rests in commerce
with the balance of the nations. And all the world
knows likewise, that the whole European economic
system is so shattered that it can never be set right
while the Russian blockade is on. But all this means
nothing to Mr. Gormpers. H e has his own pet little
theory (apparently gleaned from the New York
Times) as to how the Russian people should conduct their Government, and until they canform t o
it Mr. Gompers is willing to let world economics
go hang.
Mr. Gompers' attitude toward the Genoa conference is altogether in line with his attitude towards
the Russian famine relief work. Here are twenty
millions of peasants starving to death under the
most awful circumstances, yet Mr. Gompers, although standing a t the head of a great movement
whose sole aim is the lifting up of the oppressed
and the suffering, has made absolutely no effort
through -the American Federation of Labor to raise
funds for their relief. They are not even Bolsheviki, but Mr. Gompers is so blinded and unbending
TWO KINDS OF CLASS COURTS
in his hatred towards everything Russian that he
H E American courts are like the Russian courts, would l et t hem die without extending them a helpin that they are class courts. I n both countries ing hand of fellowship. This is carrying political
the courts are instruments to keep a class in sub- partisanship beyond the uttermost pale. Even the
jection. But they differ in the fact that the Ameri- capitalist politicians themselves, the H ardings a nd
can courts hypocritically deny their class charac- others, whom Mr. Gompers himself has denounced
ter, whereas the Russian courts proudly boast of it. as the blackest reactionaries, have shown more heart
In the United States the Landises, t he Andetsons, and human sympathy in the situation.
How long shall this shameful thing be allowed to
and the thousands of their ilk who wear the Urobes
of justice," shamelessly do t h e w otk of the employ- continue? Is it not time that Organized Labor
ing class and crush the workers down t o submission. awoke from its slumber and insisted upon a rational
They fill t he jails with Mooneys a nd Howats, and policy towards Russia? Mr. Gompers' senile prenegate every liberal law on the statute books. Then judices must be swept aside or overridden. Labor
with solemn pomposity they fare forth t o convince in this country must demand the unconditional lifta gullible world that their purely class institutions ing of the blockade against Russia, and the extenare based upon principles of impartiality. How dif- sion of every possible assistance to her hard pressed
n
ferent it is i Russia! There the c ourts soak the people.
T
28
THE LABOR HERALD
THE INTERNATIONAL
GREAT BRITAIN
E British trade union movement is now passing through a severe crisis. I t has recently lost
quite heavily in membership, and conditions of
labor have been somewhat worsened all around.
This is largely due to the terrible industrial depression, which is the worst in Britain's history. On
December 31st, t here were 1,885,300 workers totally
unemployed and over 2,000,000 on short time. Government figures put the total number of days work
lost last year from this cause a t 50,000,000. I n addition to this naturally disadvantageous condition,
the trade unions are also afflicted with a considerable amount of demoralization. This set in among
them after the betrayal by t heir leaders in the Tripple Alliance strike movement last Spring. The
workers have largely lost heart. An illustration of
the general state of the movement is seen in the
circulation of the London Daily Herald, which has
dropped from 400,000 in 1920 to about 200,000 at the
pesent time.
Taking advantage of the situation, so favorable
to them, the employers are making a big drive
against the organizations. In nearly every trade,
transport, railroads, textiles, metal, etc., they are
forcing the unions slowly backward. In a few instances they have actually gone so far as to declare the "open shop," which has created quite a
sensation in airtight union England.
Unlike our leaders here however, the British
unionists are not standing idle and helpless under
this attack. They are meeting it by a general
tightening up of the lines everywhere. Get-together movements are the order of the day now
in England. The Miners and the Metal Workers
(A. E. U.) have signed an agreement whereby the
A. E. U. members working around the mines agree
to strike whenever the miners go out, and they
also agree to pay a portion of their dues into the
Miners' Union to cover the cost of negotiations
with the companies. Besides this a most important amalgamation has taken place in the transport industry, fifteen big unions having joined
hands and formed the Transport and General
Workers' Union. The National Union of Shipsy
Cook, Stewards, etc, has amalgamated with the
British Seafarers Union and formed the Amalgan ated Marine Workers' Union. Marchbanks of the
National Union of Railwaymen has also declared
For one solid. union of every branch of the railroad
tnd general transport service.
But probably more important than any other
feature of this general closing up movement is the
proposition now being acted upon in referendum
by the affiliated unions, to give the General Council of the Trades Union Congress control over all
serious disputes involving trade union standards
so that the united force of the whole movement
may be brought into action when necessary. The
proposition reads: "that in the event of any attack
being made upon any uni6n's general standard of
wages or conditions, the union should not take
action without seeking the advice of the General
Council, and so giving an opportunfty for the consideration of a united policy!'
This is the first
definite move of the British unions to unite the
THE LABOR HERALD
March, 1922
whole labor movement into one compact organization-much as the Belgium and Australian workers are now doing. It is fraught with tremendous
possibilities.
FRANCE
Sad disruption has come into the ranks of French
Labor. A definite split has occurred between the
right and left wings of the trade union movement.
This is the result of a bitter struggle between the
two.
Before the war the French General Confederation of Labor was a very revolutionary organization, but during the big upheaval many of its leaders degenerated into typical labor fakers. This
forced the radicals to organize groups all through
the various unions in opposition to the traitorous
bureaucracy. The minority organization, known as
the Revolutionary Syndicalist Committee, or C. S. R.,
was in line with the customary tactics of French
trade union radicals for many years past.
To defeat the rapidly growing C. S. R., the old
bureaucracy began to expel local unions connected with it. This provoked still further opposition and bad feeling. At the Congress of Lille
last Spring the disruptionist policy of the old officialdom was rebuked. But after the Congress it
was continued just the same. C. S. R. locals were
expelled on all sides. Things went from bad to
worse, with the revolutionaries trying desperately
to stay in the unions and the reactionaries t o expel
them. The latter think that if they can get rid
of the radicals the Government a nd t he empIoying
class will show appreciation of the "cleansed"
unions by giving them recognition and consideration.
Finally the situation got so bad that the organized revolutionaries. to save themselves from annihilation and the movement with them, called a
special national convention to decide upon their
next move for unity and a militant labor movement.
At this juncture, the. Red Trade Union International (Moscow), fearing a split, proposed to the
International Federation of Trade Unions (Amsterdam) that the two bodies meet and compose the
differences between the warring facttons. But the
latter conservatiee organization, which is of one
mind with the French union stand-patters, declined
to assist in keeping the movement intact.
The left-wing unity national convention met in
Paris on December 22-24. To pacify the situation,
it offered to virtually dissolve the Revolutionary
Syndicalist Committee, which was presumably the
bone of contention. But the old officialdom w eie
cold to this. With their unshakable determination
to drive the radicals out even if they had to also
expel the majority of the whole labor movement
that is lined up with them, they refused the conciliation. Then, seeing that all else was hopeless,
the radical convention demanded the calling of a
general Congess of the whole French labor movement early this year and in the meantime set up
a provisional council to act until the Congress takes
plzce.
As things now stand there are practically two
distinct labor movements in France, one radical
a nd the other conservative. Each either has or is
busy establishing provisional organizations in all
of the industries. It is factional war to the knife.
A t present the radicals have the best of it. The
majority of the workers are on their side, won over
by the latter's skillful campaign in the old unions.
Unless all signs fail the old guard are doomed and
the French movement due- for a rennaissance.
BOOK REVIEWS
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION
"Through the Russion RevoIution," by Albert
Rhys Williams, is more than an ordinary book.
Williams w ent through the first months of the revolution, a nd was personally acquainted with many
of t he chief actors. He saw the large aspects of
the greatest social upheaval, and a t the same time
preserved a keen sense of the Russian atmosphere.
He gives the reader both in this book. Especially
valuable are the colored reproductions of the flaming posters which are the unique contribution of
the Communists of Russia to the practice of education of the masses. Here is working-class a r t and
science, organized by a working-class Government;
the thing is laid before one in its originaI form,
together with an amazingly interesting story of the
revolution a s seen through the eyes of Williams.
I t is too bad that the book, with all its splendid
features, cannot be published a t a price which
would give it a wider circulation. W e hasten to
add, t hat compared with other book prices in the
United States, this one is very reasonabIe.
29
"Pen Pictures of Russia," by J ohn S. Clarke, is
quite a different sort of book, but in its way quite
as interesting. The author describes it as "Reminiscences of a surreptitious journey to Russia to
attend the Second Congress of the Third International," and the story is a curious mlxture of narrative of the journey, historical ancedotes. literary
recollections and quotations; and keen observations on things Russian and things revolutionary.
Clarke is editor of The Worker, a weekly paper of
Glasgow, and puts the same rough-and-ready vitality into this book that he does into his paper.
T he forty-two photographs reproduced are not the
least interesting part of the book.
"Through the Rusian Revolution," by Albert Rhys
Williams. Boni & Liveright, New York. $2.
"Pen Pictures of Russia," by John S. Clarke. Na
tional Workers' Committees, Glasgow.
SPECIAL NOTICE 1
In compiling the list of 1,000, live wires with
whom we are communicating to organize THE
TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE, we did
our level best to get the names of the most active
and reliable workers in each locality. There is no
doubt, however, but that we have erred in many
places and have got hold of the wrong parties.
Where such is the case, and where our correspondents do not take the proper action in forming
League branches, we trust that the local militants
will realize the difficulties we are under, and will
get busy a t once to straighten the situation out.
m
RAILROAD M EN!
Learn why our trade unions are on the retreat and what to do about i t?
The Labor Herald for April
will be a
Special Railroad Number Articles by many nationally known rank and file railroad men outlining the
weakness of o ur unions and initiating immediate action t o remedy it.
Every Railroad Man
Must Read This Vital Numbg
T H E L . A B OR H ; E R A L D
LABOR BREVITIES
Newport, Ky.-Tanks
a nd troops are patrolling
the streets here at the request of the Steel Trust, on
account of a strike at the Newport Rolling Mills
Co. Col. Denhart's soldiers have run amuck, assaulting promisciously, so that even t h e city authorities have joined the unions in their protest. Fourteen units of State troops are on duty.
"Provisional Government"
Pittsburg, Kan,-The
o i t he miners of District 14, set up by J. L. Lewis
with a few hundred members, has sent delegates to
the national convention a t Indianapolis to contest
the seating of delegates of the followers of Howat,
consisting of almost 1 ,
3
m miners in the state.
Under advice of friends, H owat a nd Dorchey have
given bonds to secure release from jail for the period of the convention, and are a t Indianapolis to
place their case again before the delegates.
St. Paul-State troops were used effectively here
in breaking the spirit of the packinghouse strikers.
Terrorism on the streets, and invgsion of strikers'
homes by the soldiers were testified to by many
witnesses in hearings before the Grand Jury.
New York-Unions
and workers' organizations
affiliated to the Friends of Soviet Russia have con~ ributedm ore than a third of a million dollars in
cash, and over a quarter of a million dollars worth
of medicines, clothing, etc., in the national drive for
Russian famine relief. Other organizations cooperating through the American Federated Russian
Famine Relief Committe have brought the total cash
well over the half million mark.
Chicag-The
s tory of the mine war in West
Virginia, with its martial law and assasination of
union officials by company gunmen, and wholesale persecution by the State, is told in a series
of articles sent out in February by the Federated
Press. These articles were prepared by the Civil
Liberties Union of New York, a n orgainzation of
liberals not connected with the labor movement,
and summarizes the evidence given before the Senate Investigating Committee which disclosed the
lawless rule of the companies prevailing in the coal
fields of that State.
Washington-"To
secure to all men the enjoyment of the gains which their industry produces,"
is said to be the purpose of a conference called in
Chicago on February Mth, of trade union and farm
organization representatives, and spokesmen oi
liberal parties and groups. The( practical aim seems
to be to secure co-ordinated action in the coming
elections of the labor parties and sympathetic elements. The call is said to be authorized by the sixteen railroad unions.
Albany, N. Y.-Labor
in this state will have an
opportunity to show how much it has learned from
the Kansas miners about the way to kill oppressive legislation, if the bill which has been introduced to establish an Industrial Relations Court is
made law. The bill calls for a special session of
the Supreme Court which will have power to determine wages and working conditions in New York
State, and prohibits strikes and picketing under
penalty of imprisonment. Labor organizations are
March, 1922
March, 1922
and it is r2volutionary; i t i s the only plan offered today that
gives the d igbtest h p e of soIidifying labor'^ s cattered
rallying, to fight the bill, and if it becomes Iaw they
say that it will be openly and in mass disobeyed.
Nebraska City-Governor
McKelvie s ent state
troops into the packinghouse districts here at the
request of the big packing companies, to suppress
the strike.
forces and cglling a halt l o the o ictMious m ar& of organized Capital,
T he fnasue m arks a n epoeh i n o ur labor h istory.- I ca.nt
n ot possibly fail if o w people have a y imagination w hatever; first, b eerum it shows clearly the meet way of tackliag a u r p r ~ b l e m s ; a e m d , i t or$anire.s a ll the heretofore
disorganized radical a nd p ragressiac forces; and t hitd, by
w n o Feb. 10. 1922
eg,
D ear Sir and Brother:-I
have c areidly r ead t h advance
r h n g ~ h u l t a n e o u s l y on a s ingle plan i n many hundred
p ages of t he L AB6R HERALD s eat to me, a a d to shaw
t owns a t t he e m b e , i t draws the fire of our reactionary
what I t hfnk d i t am enclogiia,~m m e r o rder fgr 25 e ~ p i e s leaders from tbe inafviduPil r adical I t h e single laeality,
n
of tka f i s t issae.
t o the h undred t imes rtraagcr g roup in many b n b e d s 08
If t he r est o t he articlks in t hig E rst issuc a r e a s h&- loealitics. This plan multipUer the e B~etiveness of o ur
f
ment-91 a nd timely as t he sdvaner: a rticle I have seea. I
pmpagrrnda a t housandf~ld,whila at the s ame time i t gives
will G v e all my spare time t o a$&
t he good news t hat
the g reatest protection a g a h t d f s ~ r h i n a f i o n ,blacklist, etc.
a tJast we have a atonbhly m a w t hat c overs t he l abat
used a sainst individual a gltatws,
srmblems. n ot only of America, but of t he entire w orld i n
I u nreservedly accept the principles and program of the
a eompteheasive, constructive. a n& a ggressive astamer t hat
League, end affer a ll my spare time in its service. As a
WB ean $eat$ t o the pie-card artist and the t k e r , and
m
member of t he rank and fk I s ay I t is our L a g u e , i t is
i
t he r apid g rgwth of a m ilitant and solidly united E ghting
aar fight, a nd i t i o ur job to put into e @ s t t he pw@;rin
s
laid down h T he Trade Union Educational L a m e .
.
h+w movement.
' F raternally y orvs
Trinidad, Co1o.-Troops which have been patrolling the strike district in Huerfano County coal
fields were withdrawn about the first of February.
Denver, Co1o.-The
S tate Industrial Commission
designed to prevent strikes, has obtained the imprisonment of the leaders of the packinghouse
workers' union, for their part in leading the recent
walkout. Following the lead of the Kansas miners,
the Colorado packinghouse workers refused to recognize the "can't strike" law.
S. H N
..
San Francisco--It is rumored that a move is
about to be made to heal the split in the Building
Trades Council and bring back the unions now outside in the Rank and File Federation. Active unionists say that such a move will be hailed with delight by all sincere union men who deplore the
present disruption.
F rom California.
Fresno, Feb. 1 1922
.
D ear Sir and Bro.:-I.
was sure glad to hear about the plan
YOU a re working o n for the railroadmen, to get us out of
t he hole we are in. The men here are much enthused about
t he proposals, and, looking forward with great interest.
Send me a bundle of the magazine. Fraternally,
CHAS. BRENNEN
F rom the Secretary of a Railroad Union Council:
A SUGGESTION I
St. Paul, Feb. 6, 1922
Dear Sir and Brother:-Please
send me 25 copies of "The
Principles and Program of the Trade Union Education
League" reprint from THE LABOR HERALD. Also advise
if large quantities are obtainable for general distribution.
I am endeavoring to interest the Shop Crafts State Legislative Committee in this work, and if successful, to send a
copy to the secretaries of all local unions, shop chairmen and
roundhouse points in the state.
Fraternally,
( Editor's Note: The leagues in the various cities are requested
to give consideration to the following letter):
New York, Feb. 6, 1 9n.
Dear Sir and Brother :
I see by your Rules of Organization that you
have done, away with all dues and per capita tax in
THE TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE.
Personally I t hink this is a very good thing, and I
a m heartily in favor of the proposition.
We must by all means avoid giving any chance
for the charge of dual organization to be applied to
us. This is accomplished by the rules you have
adopted. Certainly no one can say that we are a
dual union, when the entire finance will come from
literature 'sales, voluntary donations, etc.
The only point that needs consideration is, how
are we to have a definite test of membership in the
League. I understand from the rules how this is
taken care of for the National Conference. W e
are going to have delegates according to the average circulation in our localities of T H E LABOR
HERALD. But this doesn't solve our local League
problem. I w ant to make a suggestion on this
point.
Why should not each local League ask each member to subscribe for THE LABOR HERALD. who
is also a good union man, and wants to join the
League, is certainly entitled to a full voice and vote
in the Lgague; but any one who isn't a subscriber
-well, I'd be inclined to let 'em speak, but dam'd
~f I'd want to see 'em vote.
S a I suggest that each local League make the test
of full membership to be "Subscription to THE
LABOR HERALD!'
Anyway, let's talk it over.
You'll think a long time before you hit on a better
plan to get an accurate and definite membership
list, and a t the same time avoid completely the
dues system and per capita tax. What do you say
to it.
Fraternally yours,
J. S. R.
THE L A B 0R HERALD
Two good ones from Ohio.
E. Liverpool, Jan. 30th, 1922
Dear Comrades:-Have just been reading about the Trade
Union Educational League, and it looks good to me. We
are working along those lines a t present in o ur Potter's
Union; we are trying t o amalgamate four closely related
crafts into one union, and it looks like we will accomplish
it. We have some live wires here, and all are looking forward to the new magazine, THE LABOR HERALD
T. C.
Dear Sir and Brother:-Please
rush about 200 copies of
THE LABOR HERALD and send bill for same.
Fraternally,
J. B
.
F rom the Secretary of a Central Labor Union.
4
J anuary 29, 1922
Dear Sir and Brother:-As
secretary of the Central Labor
Union, I feel it my duty after reading your program to
write you for full information, so that we here can be
playing the game with the rest of the active workers right
from the start. Hoping this venture will meet with the best
of success, and promising you my fullest co-operation.
Fraternally,
January 22, 1922
Dear Comrade:-Rush
by express C. 0 D. one hundred
.
copies of RAILROADERS' NEXT STEP. Must have them
X. Y Z..
.
for system meeting next week. Fraternally
... .
.
New York, peb. gth, 1922
Comrade Foster:-Just
received, read, a d re-read, the advance copy of THE PRINCIPLES AND P R O M O F THE
TRADE UNION EDUCATIONAL LEAGUE?
f h ave been
eagerly awaiting the advent of the League, hoping w ith a
w e hadly t inctured with scepticis'm peculiar to the Axnerie aa radical, born and reared i n t hat dualistis, "destroy-the
k F. of L.' atmosphere, which I see more clearly than ever
h as been the curse of the movement for the past thirty
years.
I a ssure you my scepticism has been entirely removed.
The program leaves no room for argument; it is p ractical
Discipline vs; Freedom in Russia
(Continued from page 14)
of the individual for the sake of the mass remains an inescapable necessity of the labor
movement, nevertheless. It is an inexorable
condition of successful movements by the
masses a t this stage of their development.
When the Soviet Government establishes freedom of speech, press, and assembly for all
classes in Russia-and that must soon occurit will be the unmistakable sign t hat the situation has passed beyond the stage of life and
death struggle; the sure indication that the
revolution has triumphed and that the new
society is firmly established.
The Coal Miners Crisis
(Continued from page 25)
g ether a nd map out their course of action.
Then we would not see the machine riding
rough shod over us as heretofore. Knowing
what we want and being fully organized we
would be able to get it.
Brother coal diggers, no dual unionism, no
gecessionism. T hat would be .fatal. B eware
of the man w ho tells you to split the union,
he is no friend of ours, no m atter how well
he may he equipped with hot air. What we
must do is to organize ourselves wi'thin t he
U. M . W. A W e are just on the verge of
victory. Let us go t hrough to the end. We
must continue t o demand the reinstatement
of the Kansas battlers.
&'
32
THE LABOR HERALD
March, 1922
L IVE WIRES WANTED
T o circulate the following B oob
I
--ThIM&€EIXIATE TASK of the MILITANTS of the American Labor
Movement Is t o PUT ACROSS the Work
1 FOR
Food is the great need in Soviet Russia.
The only food surplus in the world is in America.
If the Russian famine situation is to be met it must be met by America.
I f America is t o meet the situation it is the workers who must act.
There is no one else with the desire or the power.
I n every shop, mine and factory; in every local union; wherever there
are workers, the drive for the collection of funds for the Russian Famine
Relief must be made the matter of primary importance.
The Revolutionary Crisis of 1918-1921in
Germany, England, Italy and France
By Wm.' Z. Foster
64 pages, paper bound
Single copies, 25c each; 10 or more, 15c each
,
, The Russian Revolution
b
1
.
BY w m. Z. ~ o s t e r
155 pages, paper bound, 50c per copy
(Only a few copies left, and no orders filled except for single copies ;cloth bound sold out)
I
:
The Great Steel Strike
BY w Z. ~ o s t e r
m.
265 pages: Cloth bound, $1.75 per copy; paper bound, $1.00 per copy
THE RELIEF OF THE F M I N E
I N SOVIET RUSSIA
1
I1)
O NE HOUR'S P AY A W EEK
FROM EVERY UNION WORKER IN THE UNITED STATES WILL SAVE 10,000,000
LIVES IN SOVIET RUSSIA
It i s up to the trades unions and the trade union men and women, which means that it is
Up to the Trade Union Militants
T o Put the Work Across
The Friends of Soviet Russia has 140 local branches in as many cities. It has collected $400,000, which has been spent for foodstuffs which has been sent to the K amn
District of Soviet Russia in cases marked
"FROM THE AMERICAN WORKERS to the RUSSIAN WORKERS and PEASA$TTS"
The work of the Friends of Soviet Russia must be extended to every city and town
in America. The collections must be increased to the very capacity of the American
working class, which means thah it is
The Railroaders' Next Step
BY w m. Z. ~ o s t e r
48 pages, paper bound
Single copies, 25c each; 10 or more, 15c each
Resolutions and Decisions of the First
World Congress of Revolutionary
Trade Unions-Moscow
P er copy, 15c
SPECIAL RATES TO AGENTS
ORDERS PAYABLE I N ADVANCE
SEND ORDERS AND REMITTANCES TO
III
Chicago, Illinois
Send all communications and contributions to
I FRIENDS OF SOVIET RUSSIA
I/
The Trade Union Educational League
118 North La S de street
Up to t he Trade Union Militants
II
American Section of the I nternationsl Workers' Famine Relief Committee
2 0 1 W est 1 3 t h Street
New York City
Thie advertisement is donated to the Famine Relief Oampaiqn by THE LABOR H ~ A L D