sakaisettlersocr

As the Great Powers were drawn into World War I
the central issue in the European oppressor nation socialist
movements was the opposition to imperialist war. Not
primarily because of the mass bloodshed, but because in a
war for expanding empires it was the absolute duty of all
oppressor nation revolutionaries to oppose the aggression
of their own empire, to work for the defeat of their own
bourgeoisie, and for the liberation of the oppressed nations.
This is the issue that created the international communist
movement of the 20th century.
On this most important struggle the I.W.W. was
revealed as being immature and lacking as a revolutionary
organization. It was simply unwilling to directly oppose
U.S. imperialism. The I. W. W. verbally criticised the war
many times. At the 1914 convention they said: "We, as
members of the industrial army, will refuse to fight for any
purpose except for the realization of industrial freedom."
(24) But when U.S. imperialism entered the war to grab
more markets and colonies, the I.W.W. became frantic to
prove to the bourgeoisie that they wouldn't oppose them in
any way.
The surface problem was that since the I.W.W.
was a totally legal and public union, it was totally unable
to withstand any major government repression. Therefore,
the leadership said, regardless of every class-conscious
worker's opposition to the war the I.W.W. dare not fight
it. Walter Nef, head of the I.W.W. Agricultural Workers
Organization, said: "We are against the war, but not
organized and can do nothing. " (25) Imagine, a revolutionary
organization that built for twelve years, with a
membership of over 100,000, but was "not organized" to
oppose its own bourgeoisie.
The many requests from I.W.W. members for
guidance as to how to fight the imperialist war went
unanswered. Even "Big Bill" Haywood, the angry and
militant I.W.W. leader, had to back off: "I am at a loss as
to definite steps to be taken against the War." (26) Finally,
the I.W.W. decided to duck the issue as much as possible.
The word went out to white workers to stick to local
economic issues of higher wages, etc. and not oppose the
government. "Organize now.. .for the postwar struggle
should be the watchword." (27) This surface political
retreat only revealed the growing settler sickness at the
heart of the I.W.W., and sabotaged the most advanced
and revolutionary-minded white proletarians within their
ranks.
They never organized to oppose U.S. imperialism
because that's not what even the immigrant proletarian
masses wanted - they wanted militant struggle to reach
some "social justice" for themselves. During the July,
1915 A.F.L. strike at the Connecticut munitions plants,
the charge was made that the whole strike was a plot by
German agents - with the strike secretly subsidised by the
Kaiser's treasury. In a lead editorial in its national journal,
Solidarity, the I.W.W. hurried to put itself on record as
not opposing the war effort. While admitting that they had
no proof that the strike was a German conspiracy, the
I.W.W. urged the strikers to "settle quickly." The
editorial angrily suggested that the strike leaders might
move to Germany. Then they came to the main point,
which was undermining the anti-imperialist sentiment
among the workers, and urging them to think only of getting
more money for themselves:
"The owners of these factories are making
millions out of the murderfest in Europe-their slaves
should likewise improve the opportunity to get a little
something for themselves.
"The point may be made here, that we should all
be interested in stoppir~g the production of war munitions.
Yes, of course, but that's only a dream ... so the only thing
the workers in these factories can do is to try to improve
their condition.. . " (28)
The line was very clear. Far from fighting U.S. imperialism,
the I.W.W. was spreading defeatism among the
workers and urging them to concentrate only on getting a
bigger bribe out of the imperialist super-profits. The
I.W.W. is often praised by the settler "left" as very
"American," very "grass roots." We can say that their
cynical, individualistic slant that workers can "only get a
little something for thernselves" out of the slaughter of
millions does represent the essence of Amerikan settler
degeneracy. In Russia the Bolsheviks were telling the Russian
workers to "Turn the Imperialist War into a Revolutionary
War" and overthrow the Imperialists-which they
did.
The I.W.W.'s pathetic efforts to avoid antagonizing
the Bourgeoisie did them little good. The U.S. Empire
tired of these pests, viewing the militant organization of
immigrant labor as dangerous. Finally cranking its police
machinery up, the imperialist state proceeded to smash the
defense-less I.W.W. clear into virtual non-existence. It
wasn't even very difficult, since throughout the West
vigilante mobs of settlers declared an open reign of terror
against the I.W.W. In Arizona some 1,300 miners
suspected of I.W.W. involvement were driven from the
state at gunpoint.
In July 1918, 101 I.W.W. leaders past and present
were convicted in Chicago Federal Court of sabotaging the
Imperialist War effort in a rigged trial that dwarfed the
"Chicago Conspiracy Trial" of the Vietnam War-era. The
political verdict was certain even though the prosecution
was unable to prove that the I. W. W. had obstructed the
war in any way!. Only one defendant out of 101 had
violated the draft registration laws. While the I.W.W.
unions had led strikes that disrupted war production in
Western copper and timber, the government was forced to
admit that of the 521 disruptive strikes that had taken
place since the U.S. Empire entered the war, only 3 were by
the I.W.W. (while 519 were by the pro-government A.F.L.
unions). (29)
Federal raids on the I.W.W. took place from
coast-to-coast. Immigration agents held mass round-ups
which resulted in long jail stays while undergoing deportation
hearings. In 1917 the Federal agents arrested 34
I.W.W. organizers in Kansas, who eventually got prison
terms of up to nine years. In Omaha, Nebraska, the 64
I. W. W. delegates at the Agricultural Workers Organization
Convention were arrested and held 18 months without
trial. In 21 states "criminal syndicalism" laws were passed,
directed at the I.W.W., under which thousands were arrested.
In California alone between 1919-1924 some 500
I.W.W. members were indicted, 128 of whom ended up
serving prison terms of up to 14 years. (30) The I.W.W.
never recovered from these blows, and from 1917 on
68 quickly declined.