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THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
GRADUATES' EDITION 
 
 VOLUME 40 
 
 THE CHRONICLES 
 
 OF AMERICA SERIES 
 
 ALLEN JOHNSON 
 
 EDITOR 
 
 GERHARD R. LOMER 
 
 CHARLES W. JEFFERYS 
 
 ASSISTANT EDITORS 
 
SAMUEL GOMPERS 
 Photograph by Underwood and Underwood, New York. 
 
THE 
 ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 A CHRONICLE OF THE 
 
 ORGANIZED WAGE-EARNERS 
 
 BY SAMUEL P. ORTH 
 
 LVXET 
 
 NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 TORONTO: GLASGOW, BROOK & CO. 
 
 LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD 
 
 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 
 
 1920 
 
Copyright, 1919, by Yale University Press 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 I. THE BACKGROUND Page 1 
 
 II. FORMATIVE YEARS " 19 
 
 III. TRANSITION YEARS " 40 
 
 IV. AMALGAMATION " 63 
 V. FEDERATION " 87 
 
 VI. THE TRADE UNION " 112 
 
 VII. THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS " 133 
 
 VIII. ISSUES AND WARFARE " 168 
 
 IX. THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I.W.W. " 188 
 
 X. LABOR AND POLITICS " 220 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE " 261 
 
 INDEX •' 265 
 
ILLUSTRATION 
 
 SAMUEL GOMPERS 
 
 Photograph by Underwood and Underwood, 
 
 New York. Frontispiece 
 
THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE BACKGROUND 
 
 Three momentous things symbolize the era that 
 begins its cycle with the memorable year of 1776: 
 the Declaration of Independence, the steam engine, 
 and Adam Smith's book. The Wealth of Nations. 
 The Declaration gave birth to a new nation, whose 
 millions of acres of free land were to shift the eco- 
 nomic equilibrium of the world; the engine mul- 
 tiplied man's productivity a thousandfold and up- 
 rooted in a generation the customs of centuries; 
 the book gave to statesmen a new view of econom- 
 ic affairs and profoundly influenced the course of 
 international trade relations. 
 
 The American people, as they faced the ap- 
 proaching age with the experiences of the race 
 behind them, fashioned many of their institutions 
 
2 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and laws on British models. This is true to such 
 an extent that the subject of this book, the rise of 
 labor in America, cannot be understood without 
 a prehminary survey of the British industrial sys- 
 tem nor even without some reference to the feu- 
 dal system, of which English society for many cen- 
 turies bore the marks and to which many relics of 
 tenure and of class and governmental responsi- 
 bility may be traced. Feudalism was a society in 
 which the status of an individual was fixed : he was 
 underman or overman in a rigid social scale accord- 
 ing as he considered his relation to his superiors or 
 to his inferiors. Whatever movement there was 
 took place horizontally, in the same class or on the 
 same social level. The movement was not vertical, 
 as it so frequently is today, and men did not ordi- 
 narily rise above the social level of their birth, never 
 by design, and only perhaps by rare accident or 
 genius. It was a little world of lords and serfs: of 
 knights who graced court and castle, jousted at 
 tournaments, or fought upon the field of battle; 
 and of serfs who toiled in the fields, served in the 
 castle, or, as the retainers of the knight, formed the 
 crude soldiery of medieval days. For their labor 
 and allegiance they were clothed and housed and 
 fed. Yet though there were feast days gay with 
 
THE BACKGROUND 3 
 
 the color of pageantry and procession, the worker 
 was always in a servile state, an underman depen- 
 dent upon his master, and sometimes looking upon 
 his condition as little better than slavery. 
 
 With the break-up of this rigid system came in 
 England the emancipation of the serf, the rise of 
 the artisan class, and the beginnings of peasant 
 agriculture. That personal gravitation which al- 
 ways draws together men of similar ambitions 
 and tasks now began to work significant changes 
 in the economic order. The peasantry, more or 
 less scattered in the country, found it difficult to 
 unite their powers for redressing their grievances, 
 although there were some peasant revolts of no 
 mean proportions. But the artisans of the towns 
 were soon grouped into powerful organizations, 
 called guilds, so carefully managed and so well dis- 
 ciplined that they dominated every craft and con- 
 trolled every detail in every trade. The relation of 
 master to joiu-neyman and apprentice, the wages, 
 hours, quantity, and quality of the output, were all 
 minutely regulated. Merchant guilds, similarly 
 constituted, also prospered. The magnificent guild 
 halls that remain in our day are monuments of the 
 power and splendor of these organizations that 
 made the towns of the later Middle Ages flourishing 
 
4 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 centers of trade, of handicrafts, and of art. As 
 towns developed, they dealt the final blow to an 
 agricultural system based on feudalism: they be- 
 came cities of refuge for the runaway serfs, and 
 their charters, insuring political and economic free- 
 dom, gave them superior advantages for trading. 
 
 The guild system of manufacture was gradually 
 replaced by the domestic system. The workman's 
 cottage, standing in its garden, housed the loom 
 and the spinning wheel, and the entire family was 
 engaged in labor at home. But the workman, 
 thus apparently independent, was not the owner of 
 either the raw material or the finished product. A 
 middleman or agent brought him the wool, carried 
 away the cloth, and paid him his hire. Daniel 
 Defoe, who made a tour of Britain in 1724-6, left 
 a picture of rural England in this period, often 
 called the golden age of labor. The land, he says, 
 "was divided into small inclosures from two acres 
 to six or seven each, seldom more: every three or 
 four pieces of land had an house belonging to them, 
 . . . hardly an house standing out of a speaking 
 distance from another. . . . We could see at every 
 house a tenter, and on almost every tenter a piece 
 of cloth or kersie or shalloon. ... At every con- 
 siderable house was a manufactory. . . . Every 
 
THE BACKGROUND 5 
 
 clothier keeps one horse, at least, to carry his manu- 
 factures to the market and every one generally 
 keeps a cow or two or more for his family. By this 
 means the small pieces of inclosed land about each 
 house are occupied, for they scarce sow corn enough 
 to feed their poultry. . . . The houses are full of 
 lusty fellows, some at the dye vat, some at the 
 looms, others dressing the clothes; the women or 
 children carding or spinning, being all employed, 
 from the youngest to the oldest." 
 
 But more significant than these changes was 
 the rise of the so-called mercantile system, in which 
 the state took under its care industrial details that 
 were formerly regulated by the town or guild. 
 This system, beginning in the sixteenth century 
 and lasting through the eighteenth, had for its 
 prime object the upbuilding of national trade. 
 The state, in order to insure the homogeneous 
 development of trade and industry, dictated the 
 prices of commodities. It prescribed the laws of 
 apprenticeship and the rules of master and servant. 
 It provided inspectors for passing on the quality 
 of goods offered for sale. It weighed the loaves, 
 measured the cloth, and tested the silverware. It 
 prescribed wages, rural and urban, and bade the 
 local justice act as a sort of guardian over the 
 
6 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 laborers in his district. To relieve poverty poor 
 laws were passed; to prevent the decline of pro- 
 ductivity corn laws were passed fixing arbitrary 
 prices for grain. For a time monopolies creating 
 artificial prosperity were granted to individuals 
 and to corporations for the manufacture, sale, or 
 exploitation of certain articles, such as matches, 
 gunpowder, and playing-cards. 
 
 This highly artificial and paternalistic state was 
 not content with regulating all these internal mat- 
 ters but spread its protection over foreign com- 
 merce. Navigation acts attempted to monopo- 
 lize the trade of the colonies and especially the trade 
 in the products needed by the mother country. 
 England encouraged shipping and during this pe- 
 riod achieved that dominance of the sea which has 
 been the mainstay of her vast empire. She fos- 
 tered plantations and colonies not for their own 
 sake but that they might be tributaries to the 
 wealth of the nation. An absurd importance was 
 attached to the possession of gold and silver, and the 
 ingenuity of statesmen was exhausted in designing 
 lures to entice these metals to London. Banking 
 and insurance began to assume prime importance. 
 By 1750 England had sent ships into every sea and 
 had planted colonies around the globe. 
 
THE BACKGROUND 7 
 
 But while the mechanism of trade and of govern- 
 ment made surprising progress during the mer- 
 cantile period, the mechanism of production re- 
 mained in the slow handicraft stage. This was 
 now to change. In 1738 Kay invented the flying 
 shuttle, multiplying the capacity of the loom. In 
 1767 Hargreaves completed the spinning-jenny, 
 and in 1771 Arkwright perfected his roller spinning 
 machine. A few years later Crompton combined 
 the roller and the jenny, and after the application 
 of steam to spinning in 1785 the power loom 
 replaced the hand loom. The manufacture of 
 woolen cloth being the principal industry of Eng- 
 land, it was natural that machinery should first be 
 invented for the spinning and weaving of wool. 
 New processes in the manufacture of iron and 
 steel and the development of steam transportation 
 soon followed. 
 
 Within the course of a few decades the whole 
 economic order was changed. Whereas many cen- 
 turies had been required for the slow development 
 of the medieval system of feudalism, the guild sys- 
 tem, and the handicrafts, now, like a series of 
 earthquake shocks, came changes so sudden and 
 profound that even today society has not yet 
 learned to adjust itself to the myriads of needs 
 
8 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and possibilities which the union of man's mind 
 with nature's forces has produced. The indus- 
 trial revolution took the workman from the land 
 and crowded him into the towns. It took the 
 loom from his cottage and placed it in the factory. 
 It took the tool from his hand and harnessed it to 
 a shaft. It robbed him of his personal skill and 
 joined his arm of flesh to an arm of iron. It 
 reduced him from a craftsman to a specialist, 
 from a maker of shoes to a mere stitcher of soles. 
 It took from him, at a single blow, his interest in 
 the workmanship of his task, his ownership of the 
 tools, his garden, his wholesome environment, and 
 even his family. All were swallowed by the black 
 maw of the ugly new mill town. The hardships of 
 the old days were soon forgotten in the horrors of 
 the new. For the transition was rapid enough to 
 make the contrast striking. Indeed it was so rapid 
 that the new class of employers, the capitalists, 
 found little time to think of anything but increas- 
 ing their profits, and the new class of employees, 
 now merely wage-earners, found that their long 
 hours of monotonous toil gave them little leisure 
 and no interest. 
 
 The transition from the age of handicrafts to the 
 era of machines presents a picture of greed that 
 
THE BACKGROUND 9 
 
 tempts one to bitter invective. Its details are dis- 
 passionately catalogued by the Royal Commissions 
 that finally towards the middle of the nineteenth 
 century inquired into industrial conditions. From 
 these reports Karl Marx drew inspiration for his 
 social philosophy, and in them his friend Engles 
 found the facts that he retold so vividly, for the 
 purpose of arousing his fellow workmen. And 
 Carlyle and Ruskin, reading this official record of 
 selfishness, and knowing its truth, drew their power- 
 ful indictments against a society which would per- 
 mit its eight-year-old daughters, its mothers, and 
 its grandmothers, to be locked up for fourteen 
 hours a day in dirty, ill-smelling factories, to re- 
 lease them at night only to find more misery in the 
 hovels they pitifully called home. 
 
 The introduction of machinery into manufactur- 
 ing wrought vast changes also in the organization 
 of business. The unit of industry greatly increased 
 in size. The economies of organized wholesale pro- 
 duction were soon made apparent; and the tend- 
 ency to increase the size of the factory and to 
 amalgamate the various branches of industry un- 
 der corporate control has continued to the pres- 
 ent. The complexity of business operations also 
 increased with the development of transportation 
 
10 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and the expansion of the empire of trade. A 
 world market took the place of the old town market, 
 and the world market necessitated credit on a new 
 and infinitely larger scale. 
 
 No less important than the revolution in indus- 
 try was the revolution in economic theory which 
 accompanied it. Unlimited competition replaced 
 the state paternalism of the mercantilists. Adam 
 Smith in 1776 espoused the cause of economic lib- 
 erty, believing that if business and industry were 
 unhampered by artificial restrictions they would 
 work out their own salvation. His pronouncement 
 was scarcely uttered before it became the shib- 
 boleth of statesmen and business men. The revolt 
 of the American colonies hastened the general ac- 
 ceptance of this doctrine, and England soon found 
 herself committed to the practice of every man 
 looking after his own interests. Freedom of con- 
 tract, freedom of trade, and freedom of thought 
 were vigorous and inspiring but often misleading 
 phrases. The processes of specialization and cen- 
 tralization that were at work portended the grow- 
 ing power of those who possessed the means to 
 build factories and ships and railways but not nec- 
 essarily the freedom of the many. The doctrine of 
 laissez faire assumed that power would bring with 
 
THE BACKGROUND 11 
 
 it a sense of responsibility. For centuries, the old- 
 country gentry and governing class of England 
 had shown an appreciation of their duties, as a 
 class, to those dependent upon them. But now 
 another class with no benevolent traditions of re- 
 sponsibility came into power — the capitalist, a 
 parvenu whose ambition was profit, not equity, and 
 whose dealings with other men were not tempered 
 by the amenities of the gentleman but were sharp- 
 ened by the necessities of gain. It was upon such 
 a class, new in the economic world and endowed 
 with astounding power, that Adam Smith's new 
 formularies of freedom were let loose. 
 
 During all these changes in the economic order, 
 the interest of the laborer centered in one question : 
 What return would he receive for his toil.^ With 
 the increasing complexity of society, many other 
 problems presented themselves to the worker, but 
 for the most part thej' were subsidiary to the main 
 question of wages. As long as man's place was 
 fixed by law or custom, a customary wage left small 
 margin for controversj-. But when fixed status 
 gave way to voluntary contract, when paj^ment 
 was made in money, when workmen were free to 
 journey from town to town, labor became both 
 free and fluid, bargaining took the place of custom, 
 
12 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and the wage controversy began to assume definite 
 proportions. As early as 1348 the great plague 
 became a landmark in the field of wage disputes. 
 So scarce had laborers become through the rav- 
 ages of the Black Death, that wages rose rapidly, 
 to the alarm of the employers, who prevailed upon 
 King Edward III to issue the historic proclama- 
 tion of 1349, directing that no laborer should de- 
 mand and no employer should pay greater wages 
 than those customary before the plague. This 
 early attempt to outmaneuver an economic law 
 by a legal device was only the prelude to a long 
 series of labor laws which may be said to have cul- 
 minated in the great Statute of Laborers of 1562, 
 regulating the relations of wage-earner and em- 
 ployer and empowering justices of the peace to 
 fix the wages in their districts. Wages steadily 
 decreased during the two hundred years in which 
 this statute remained in force, and poor laws were 
 passed to bring the succor which artificial wages 
 made necessary. Thus two rules of arbitrary gov- 
 ernment were meant to neutralize each other. It 
 is the usual verdict of historians that the estate 
 of labor in England declined from a flourishing 
 condition in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries 
 to one of great distress by the time of the Industrial 
 
THE BACKGROUND 13 
 
 Revolution. This unhappy dechne was probably 
 
 due to several causes, among which the most im- 
 portant were the arbitrary and artificial attempts 
 of the Government to keep down wages, the 
 heavy taxation caused by wars of expansion, and 
 the want of coercive power on the part of labor. 
 
 From the decline of the guild system, which had 
 placed labor and its products so completely in the 
 hands of the master craftsman, the workman had 
 assumed no controlling part in the labor bargain. 
 Such guilds and such journeyman's fraternities 
 as may have survived were practically helpless 
 against parliamentary rigor and state benevolence. 
 In the domestic stage of production, cohesion 
 among workers was not so necessary. But when 
 the factory system was substituted for the handi- 
 craft system and workers with common interests 
 were thrown together in the towns, they had every 
 impulsion towards organization. They not only 
 felt the need of sociability after long hours spent in 
 spiritless toil but they were impelled bj' a new 
 consciousness — the realization that an inevitable 
 and profound change had come over their condi- 
 tion. They had ceased to be journeymen con- 
 trolling in some measure their activities : they were 
 now merely wage-earners. As the realization of 
 
14 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 this adverse change came over them, they began 
 to resent the unsanitary and burdensome condi- 
 tions under which they were compelled to live and 
 to work. So actual grievances were added to fear 
 of what might happen, and in their common cause 
 experience soon taught them unity of action. Par- 
 liament was petitioned, agitations were organized, 
 sick-benefits were inaugurated, and when these 
 methods failed, machinery was destroyed, factories 
 were burned, and the strike became a common 
 weapon of self-defense. 
 
 Though a few labor organizations can be traced 
 as far back as 1700, their growth during the eight- 
 eenth century was slow and irregular. There was 
 no unity in their methods, and they were known by 
 many names, such as associations, unions, union 
 societies, trade clubs, and trade societies. These 
 societies had no legal status and their meetings 
 were usually held in secret. And the Webbs in 
 their History of Trade Unionism allude to the 
 traditions of "the midnight meeting of patriots in 
 the corner of the field, the buried box of records, 
 the secret oath, the long terms of imprisonment of 
 the leading officials." Some of these tales were 
 unquestionably apocryphal, others were exag- 
 gerated by feverish repetition. But they indicate 
 
THE BACKGROUND 15 
 
 the aversion with which the authorities looked 
 upon these combinations. 
 
 There were two legal doctrines long invoked by 
 the English courts against combined action — doc- 
 trines that became a heritage of the United States 
 and have had a profound effect upon the labor 
 movements in America. The first of these was the 
 doctrine of conspiracy, a doctrine so ancient that 
 its sources are obscure. It was the natural prod- 
 uct of a government and of a time that looked 
 askance at all combined action, fearing sedition, 
 intrigue, and revolution. As far back as 1305 
 there was enacted a statute defining conspiracj^ and 
 outlining the offense. It did not aim at any defi- 
 nite social class but embraced all persons who com- 
 bined for a "mahcious enterprise." Such an enter- 
 prise was the breaking of a law. So when Parlia- 
 ment passed acts regulating wages, conditions of 
 employment, or prices of commodities, those who 
 combined secretly or openly to circumvent the act, 
 to raise wages or lower them, or to raise prices and 
 curtail markets, at once fell under the ban of con- 
 spiracy. The law operated alike on conspiring 
 employers and conniving employees. 
 
 The new class of employers during the early 
 years of the machine age eagerly embraced the 
 
16 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 doctrine of conspiracy. They readily brought un- 
 der the legal definition the secret connivings of 
 the wage-earners. Political conditions now also 
 worked against the laboring class. The unrest in 
 the colonies that culminated in the independence of 
 America and the fury of the French Revolution 
 combined to make kings and aristocracies wary of 
 all organizations and associations of plain folk. 
 And when we add to this the favor which the new 
 employing class, the industrial masters, were able 
 to extort from the governing class, because of their 
 power over foreign trade and domestic finance, we 
 can understand the compulsory laws at length 
 declaring against all combinations of working men. 
 The second legal doctrine which Americans have 
 inherited from England and which has played a 
 leading role in labor controversies is the doctrine 
 that declares unlawful all combinations in restraint 
 of trade. Like its twin doctrine of conspiracy, it is 
 of remote historical origin. One of the earliest 
 uses, perhaps the first use, of the term by Parlia- 
 ment was in the statute of 1436 forbidding guilds 
 and trading companies from adopting by-laws " in 
 restraint of trade," and forbidding practices in price 
 manipulations "for their own profit and to the 
 common hurt of the people." This doctrine thus 
 
THE BACKGROUND 17 
 
 early invoked, and repeatedly reasserted against 
 combinations of traders and masters, was incorpor- 
 ated in the general statute of 1800 which declared 
 all combinations of journeymen illegal. But in spite 
 of legal doctrines, of innumerable laws and court 
 decisions, strikes and combinations multipHed, and 
 devices were found for evading statutory wages. 
 
 In 1824 an act of Parliament removed the 
 general prohibition of combinations and accorded 
 to workingmen the right to bargain collectively. 
 Three men were responsible for this noteworthy 
 reform, each one a new type in British politics. 
 The first was Francis Place, a tailor who had taken 
 active part in various strikes. He was secretary 
 of the London Corresponding Society, a powerful 
 labor union, which in 1795 had twenty branches in 
 London. Most of the ofBcers of this organization 
 were at one time or another arrested, and some 
 were kept in prison three years without a trial. 
 Place, schooled in such experience, became a radi- 
 cal politician of great influence, a friend of Ben- 
 tham, Owen, and the elder Mill. The second type 
 of new reformer was represented by Joseph Hume, 
 a physician who had accumulated wealth in the 
 India Service, who had returned home to enter 
 public life, and who was converted from Toryism to 
 
18 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Radicalism by a careful study of financial, political, 
 and industrial problems. A great number of re- 
 form laws can be traced directly to his incredible 
 activity during his thirty years in Parhament. 
 The third leader was John R. McCulloch, an ortho- 
 dox economist, a disciple of Adam Smith, for some 
 years editor of The Scotsman, which was then 
 a violently radical journal cooperating with the 
 newly established Edinburgh Review in advocating 
 sociological and political reforms. 
 
 Thus Great Britain, the mother country from 
 which Americans have inherited so many institu- 
 tions, laws, and traditions, passed in turn through 
 the periods of extreme paternalism, glorified com- 
 petition, and governmental antagonism to labor 
 combinations, into what may be called the age of 
 conciliation. And today the Labour Party in the 
 House of Commons has shown itself strong enough 
 to impose its programme upon the Liberals and, 
 through this radical coalition, has achieved a pow- 
 er for the working man greater than even Francis 
 Place or Thomas Carlyle ever hoped for. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 FORMATIVE YEARS 
 
 America did not become a cisatlantic Britain, as 
 some of the colonial adventm-ers had hoped. A 
 wider destiny awaited her. Here were economic 
 conditions which upset all notions of the fixity of 
 class distinctions. Here was a continent of free 
 land, luring the disaffected or disappointed artisan 
 and enabling him to achieve economic independ- 
 ence. Hither streamed ceaselessly hordes of immi- 
 grants from Europe, constantly shifting the social 
 equilibrium. Here the demand for labor was con- 
 stant, except during the rare intervals of financial 
 stagnation, and here the door of opportunity 
 swung wide to the energetic and able artisan. The 
 records of American industry are replete with 
 names of prominent leaders who began at the 
 apprentice's bench. 
 
 The old class distinctions brought from the home 
 country, however, had survived for many years in 
 
 19 
 
20 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 the primeval forests of Virginia and Maryland and 
 even among the hills of New England. Indeed, 
 until the Revolution and for some time thereafter, 
 a man's clothes were the badge of his calling. The 
 gentleman wore powdered queue and ruffled shirt; 
 the workman, coarse buckskin breeches, ponder- 
 ous shoes with brass buckles, and usually a leather 
 apron, well greased to keep it pliable. Just before 
 the Revolution the lot of the common laborer was 
 not an enviable one. His house was rude and 
 barren of comforts ; his fare was coarse and without 
 variety. His wage was two shillings a day, and 
 prison — usually an indescribably filthy hole — 
 awaited him the moment he ran into debt. The 
 artisan fared somewhat better. He had spent, as 
 a rule, seven years learning his trade, and his skill 
 and energy demanded and generally received a 
 reasonable return. The account books that have 
 come down to us from colonial days show that his 
 handiwork earned him a fair living. This, how- 
 ever, was before machinery had made inroads upon 
 the product of cabinetmaker, tailor, shoemaker, 
 locksmith, and silversmith, and when the main 
 street of every village was picturesque with the 
 signs of the crafts that maintained the decent 
 independence of the community. 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 21 
 
 Such labor organizations as existed before the 
 Revolution were limited to the skilled trades. In 
 1648 the coopers and the shoemakers of Boston 
 were granted permission to organize guilds, which 
 embraced both master and journeyman, and there 
 were a few similar organizations in New York, 
 Philadelphia, and Baltimore. But these were not 
 unions like those of today. "There are," says 
 Richard T. Ely, "no traces of anything like a 
 modern trades union in the colonial period of Ameri- 
 can history, and it is evident on reflection that 
 there was little need, if any, of organization on the 
 part of labor, at that time."' 
 
 A new epoch for labor came in with the Revolu- 
 tion. Within a decade wages rose fifty per cent, 
 and John Jay in 1784 writes of the "wages of me- 
 chanics and laborers" as "very extravagant." 
 Though the industries were small and depended 
 on a local market within a circumscribed area of 
 communication, they grew rapidly. The period 
 following the Revolution is marked by consider- 
 able industrial restiveness and by the formation of 
 many labor organizations, which were, however, 
 benevolent or friendly societies rather than unions 
 and were often incorporated by an act of the 
 
 ■ The Labor Movement in America, by Richard T. Ely (1905), p. 36. 
 
1 
 
 22 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 legislature. In New York, between 1800 and 1810, 
 twenty-four such societies were incorporated. 
 Only in the larger cities were they composed of 
 artisans of one trade, such as the New York Ma- 
 sons Society (1807) or the New York Society of 
 Journeymen Shipwrights (1807). Elsewhere they 
 included artisans of many trades, such as the 
 Albany Mechanical Society (180l). In Phila- 
 delphia the cordwainers, printers, and hatters had 
 societies. In Baltimore the tailors were the first 
 to organize, and they conducted in 1795 one of 
 the first strikes in America. Ten years later they 
 struck again, and succeeded in raising their pay 
 from seven shillings sixpence the job to eight shill- 
 ings ninepence and "extras." At the same time 
 the pay of unskilled labor was rising rapidly, for 
 workers were scarce owing to the call of the mer- 
 chant marine in those years of the rising splendor 
 of the American sailing ship, and the lure of west- 
 ern lands. The wages of common laborers rose to 
 a dollar and more a day. 
 
 There occurred in 1805 an important strike of 
 the Philadelphia cordwainers. Theirs was one of 
 the oldest labor organizations in the country, and 
 it had conducted several successful strikes. This 
 particular occasion, however, is significant, because 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 23 
 
 the strikers were tried for conspiracy in the mayor's 
 court, with the result that they were found guilty and 
 fined eight dollars each , with costs . As the court per- 
 mitted both sides to tell their story in detail, a full 
 report of the proceedings survives to give us, as it 
 were, a photograph of the labor conditions of that 
 time. The trial kindled a great deal of local ani- 
 mosity. A newspaper called the Aurora contained 
 inflammatory accounts of the proceedings, and a 
 pamphlet giving the records of the court was wide- 
 ly circulated. This pamphlet bore the significant 
 legend, "It is better that the law be known and 
 certain, than that it be right," and was dedicated 
 to the Governor and General Assembly "with the 
 hope of attracting their particular attention, at the 
 next meeting of the legislature. " 
 
 Another early instance of a strike occurred in 
 New York City in 1809, when the cordwainers 
 struck for higher wages and were haled before the 
 mayor's court on the charge of conspiracy. The 
 trial was postponed by Mayor DeWitt Clinton 
 until after the pending municipal elections to avoid 
 the risk of offending either side. When at length 
 the strikers were brought to trial, the court-house 
 was crowded with spectators, showing how keen 
 v/as the public interest in the case. The jury's 
 
24 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 verdict of " guilty," and the imposition of a fine of 
 one dollar each and costs upon the defendants 
 served but as a stimulus to the friends of the strikers 
 to gather in a great mass meeting and protest against 
 the verdict and the law that made it possible. 
 
 In 1821 the New York Tj^pographical Society, 
 which had been organized four years earlier by 
 Peter Force, a labor leader of unusual energy, set a 
 precedent for the vigorous and fearless career of 
 its modern successor by calling a strike in the 
 printing ofBce of Thurlow Weed, the powerful 
 politician, himself a member of the society, be- 
 cause he employed a "rat," as a nonunion worker 
 was called. It should be noted, however, that the 
 organizations of this early period were of a loose 
 structure and scarcelj' comparable to the labor 
 unions of today. 
 
 Sidney Smith, the brilliant contributor to the 
 Edinburgh Review, propounded in 1820 certain 
 questions which sum up the general conditions of 
 American industry and art after nearly a half 
 century of independence: "In the four quarters of 
 the globe, " he asked, " who reads an American 
 book.'* or goes to an American play? or looks at an 
 American picture or statue? What does the world 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 25 
 
 yet owe to American physicians or surgeons? 
 What new substances have their chemists dis- 
 covered? or what old ones have they analyzed? 
 What new constellations have been discovered by 
 the telescopes of Americans? What have they 
 done in mathematics? Who drinks out of Ameri- 
 can glasses? or eats from American plates? or wears 
 American coats or gowns? or sleeps in American 
 blankets?" 
 
 These questions, which were quite pertinent, 
 though conceived in an impertinent spirit, were 
 being answered in America even while the witty 
 Englishman was framing them. The water power 
 of New England was being harnessed to cotton 
 mills, woolen mills, and tanneries. Massachu- 
 setts in 1820 reported one hundred and sixty-one 
 factories. New York had begun that marvelous 
 growth which made the city, in the course of a few 
 decades, the financial capital of a hemisphere. So 
 rapidly were people flocking to New York, that 
 houses had tenants long before they had windows 
 and doors, and streets were lined with buildings 
 before they had sewers, sidewalks, or pavements. 
 New Jersey had well under way those manufacto- 
 ries of glassware, porcelains, carpets, and textiles 
 which have since brought her great prosperity. 
 
26 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Philadelphia was the country's greatest weaving 
 center, boasting four thousand craftsmen engaged 
 in that industry. Even on the frontier, Pittsburgh 
 and Cincinnati were emerging from " settlements " 
 into manufacturing towns of importance. Mc- 
 Master concludes his graphic summary of these 
 years as follows: "In 1820 it was estimated that 
 200,000 persons and a capital of $75,000,000 were 
 employed in manufacturing. In 1825 the capital 
 used had been expanded to $160,000,000 and the 
 number of workers to 2,000,000."' 
 
 The Industrial Revolution had set in. These 
 new millions who hastened to answer the call of 
 industry in the new land were largely composed of 
 the poor of other lands. Thousands of them were 
 paupers when they landed in America, their pas- 
 sage having been paid by those at home who wanted 
 to get rid of them. Vast numbers settled down in 
 the cities, in spite of the lure of the land. It was 
 at this period that universal manhood suffrage was 
 written into the constitutions of the older States, 
 and a new electorate assumed the reins of power. 
 Now the first labor representatives were sent to 
 the legislatures and to Congress, and the older 
 parties began eagerly bidding for the votes of the 
 
 ' History of the People of the United States (1901), vol. v, p. 230. 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 27 
 
 humble. The decision of great questions fell to 
 this new electorate. With the rise of industry 
 came the demand for a protective tariff and for 
 better transportation. State governments vied 
 with each other, in thoughtless haste, in lending 
 their credit to new turnpike and canal construc- 
 tion. And above all political issues loomed the 
 Bank, the monopoly that became the laborer's 
 bugaboo and Andrew Jackson's opportunity to 
 rally to his side the newly enfranchised mechanics. 
 
 So the old days of semi-colonial composure were 
 succeeded bj^ the thrilling experiences that a new 
 industrial prosperity thrusts upon a really demo- 
 cratic electorate. Little wonder that the labor 
 union movement took the political by-path, seek- 
 ing salvation in the promise of the politician and 
 in the panacea of fatuous laws. Now there were 
 to be discerned the beginnings of class solidarity 
 among the working people. But the individual's 
 chances to improve his situation were still very 
 great and opportunity was still a golden word. 
 
 The harsh facts of the hour, however, soon began 
 to call for united action. The cities were expand- 
 ing with such eager haste that proper housing con- 
 ditions were overlooked. Workingmen were obliged 
 to live in wretched structures. Moreover, human 
 
28 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 beings were still levied on for debt and imprisoned 
 for default of payment. Children of less than six- 
 teen years of age were working twelve or more 
 hours a day, and if they received any education 
 at all, it was usually in schools charitably called 
 "ragged schools" or "poor schools," or "pauper 
 schools." There was no adequate redress for the 
 mechanic if his wages were in default, for lien laws 
 had not yet found their way into the statute books. 
 Militia service was oppressive, permitting only the 
 rich to buy exemption. It was still considered an 
 unlawful conspiracy to act in unison for an increase 
 in pay or a lessening of working hours. By 1840 
 the pay of unskilled labor had dropped to about 
 seventy-five cents a day in the overcrowded cities, 
 and in the winter, in either city or country, many 
 unskilled workers were glad to work for merely 
 their board. The lot of women workers was especi- 
 ally pitiful. A seamstress by hard toil, working 
 fifteen hours a day might stitch enough shirts to 
 earn from seventy-two cents to a dollar and twelve 
 cents a week. Skilled labor, while faring better 
 in wages, shared with the unskilled in the uni- 
 versal working day which lasted from sun to sun. 
 Such in brief were the conditions that brought 
 home to the laboring masses that homogeneous 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 29 
 
 consciousness wliich alone makes a group powerful 
 in a democracy. 
 
 The movement can most clearly be discerned 
 in the cities. Philadelphia claims precedence as 
 the home of the first Trades' Union. The master 
 cordwainers had organized a society in 1792, and 
 their journeymen had followed suit two years 
 later. The experiences and vicissitudes of these 
 shoemakers furnished a useful lesson to other 
 tradesmen, many of whom were organized into 
 unions. But they were isolated organizations, 
 each one fighting its own battles. In 1827 the Me- 
 chanics' Union of Trade Associations was formed. 
 Of its significance John R. Commons says: 
 
 England is considered the home of trade-unionism, 
 but the distinction belongs to Philadelphia. . . . The 
 first trades' union in England was that of Manchester, 
 organized in 1829, although there seems to have been 
 an attempt to organize one in 1824. But the first one 
 in America was the "Mechanics' Union of Trade 
 Associations," organized in Philadelphia in 1827, two 
 years earlier. The name came from Manchester, but 
 the thing from Philadelphia. Neither union lasted 
 long. The Manchester union lived two years, and the 
 Philadelphia union one year. But the Manchester 
 union died and the Philadelphia union metamorphosed 
 into politics. Here again Philadelphia was the pio- 
 neer, for it called into being the first labor party. Not 
 
30 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 only this, but through the Mechanics' Union Phila- 
 delphia started probably the first wage-earners' paper 
 ever published — the Mechanics Free Press — ante- 
 dating, in January, 1828, the first similar journal in 
 England by two years.' 
 
 The union had its inception in the first general 
 building strike called in America. In the summer 
 of 1827 the carpenters struck for a ten-hour day. 
 They were soon joined by the bricklayers, painters, 
 and glaziers, and members of other trades. But 
 the strike failed of its immediate object. A second 
 effort to combine the various trades into one organ- 
 ization was made in 1833, when the Trades' Union 
 of the City and County of Philadelphia, was formed. 
 Three years later this union embraced some fifty 
 societies with over ten thousand members. In 
 June, 1835, this organization undertook what was 
 probably the first successful general strike in Amer- 
 ica. It began among the cordwainers, spread to 
 the workers in the building trades, and was pres- 
 ently joined in by cigarmakers, carters, saddlers 
 and harness makers, smiths, plumbers, bakers, 
 printers, and even by the unskilled workers on the 
 docks. The strikers' demand for a ten-hour day re- 
 ceived a great deal of support from the influential 
 
 ' Labor Organization and Labor Politics. 1827-37; in the Quarterly 
 Journal of Economics, February, 1907. 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 31 
 
 men in the community. After a mass meeting of 
 citizens had adopted resolutions endorsing the 
 demands of the union, the city council agreed to 
 a ten-hour day for all municipal employees. 
 
 In 1833 the carpenters of New York City struck 
 for an increase in wages. They were receiving a 
 dollar thirty-seven and a half cents a day; they 
 asked for a dollar and a half. They obtained the 
 support of other workers, notably the tailors, 
 printers, brushmakers, tobacconists, and masons, 
 and succeeded in winning their strike in one month. 
 The printers, who have always been alert and ac- 
 tive in New York City, elated by the success of 
 this coordinate effort, sent out a circular calling 
 for a general convention of all the trades societies 
 of the city. After a preliminary meeting in July, 
 a mass meeting was held in December, at which 
 there were present about four thousand persons 
 representing twenty-one societies. The outcome 
 of the meeting was the organization of the General 
 Trades' Union of New York City. 
 
 It happened in the following year that Ely 
 Moore of the Typographical Association and the 
 first president of the new union, a powerful ora- 
 tor and a sagacious organizer, was elected to Con- 
 gress on the Jackson ticket. He was backed by 
 
32 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Tammany Hall, always on the alert for winners, 
 and was supported by the mechanics, artisans, and 
 workingmen. He was the first man to take his 
 seat in Washington as the avowed representative 
 of labor. 
 
 The movement for a ten-hour day was now in full 
 swing, and the years 1834-7 were full of strikes. 
 The most spectacular of these struggles was the 
 strike of the tailors of New York in 1836, in the 
 course of which twenty strikers were arrested for 
 conspiracy. After a spirited trial attended by 
 throngs of spectators, the men were found guilty 
 by a jury which took only thirty minutes for delib- 
 eration. The strikers were fined $50 each, except the 
 president of the society, who was fined $150. After 
 the trial there was held a mass meeting which was 
 attended, according to the Evening Post, by twenty- 
 seven thousand persons. Resolutions were passed 
 declaring that "to all acts of tyranny and injustice, 
 resistance is just and therefore necessary," and 
 "that the construction given to the law in the case 
 of the journeymen tailors is not only ridiculous and 
 weak in practice but unjust in principle and sub- 
 versive of the rights and liberties of American 
 citizens." The town was placarded with "coffin" 
 handbills, a practice not uncommon in those days. 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 33 
 
 Enclosed in a device representing a coflBn were 
 these words: 
 
 The Rich Against the Poor! 
 
 Twenty of your brethren have been found guilty for 
 presuming to resist a reduction in their wages! . . . 
 Judge Edwards has charged . . . the Rich are the only 
 judges of the wants of the poor. On Monday, June 6, 
 1836, the Freemen are to receive their sentence, to 
 gratify the hellish appetites of aristocracy! . . . Go! 
 Go! Go! Every Freeman, every Workingman, and 
 hear the melancholy sound of the earth on the Coffin 
 of Equality. Let the Court Room, the City-hall — 
 yea, the whole Park, be filled with mourners! But 
 remember, offer no violence to Judge Edwards ! Bend 
 meekly and receive the chains wherewith you are to 
 be bound! Keep the peace! Above all things, keep 
 the peace ! 
 
 The Evening Post concludes a long account of the 
 affair by calling attention to the fact that the 
 Trades IJnion was not composed of "only foreign- 
 ers." "It is a low calculation when we estimate 
 that two-thirds of the workingmen of the city, num- 
 bering several thousand persons, belong to it," and 
 that "it is controlled and supported by the great 
 majoritj^ of our native born." 
 
 The Boston Trades Union was organized in 1834 
 and started out with a great labor parade on the 
 
34 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Fourth of July, followed by a dinner served to a 
 thousand persons in Faneuil Hall. This union 
 was formed primarily to fight for the ten-hour 
 day, and the leading crusaders were the house car- 
 penters, the ship carpenters, and the masons. Simi- 
 lar unions presently sprang up in other cities, 
 including Baltimore, Albany, Troy, Washington, 
 Newark, Schenectady, New Brunswick, Pittsburgh, 
 Cincinnati, and St. Louis. By 1835 all the larger 
 centers of industry were familiar with the idea, and 
 most of them with the practice, of the trades organ- 
 izations of a community uniting for action. 
 
 The local unions were not unmindful of the need 
 for wider action, either through a national union 
 of all the organizations of a single trade, or through 
 a union of all the different trades unions. Both 
 courses of action were attempted. In 1834 the 
 National Trades Union came into being and from 
 that date held annual national conventions of all 
 the trades until the panic of 1837 obliterated the 
 movement. When the first convention was called, 
 it was estimated that there were some 26,250 mem- 
 bers of trades unions then in the United States. 
 Of these 11,500 were in New York and its vicinity, 
 6000 in Philadelphia, 4000 in Boston, and 3500 
 in Baltimore. Meanwhile a movement was under 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 35 
 
 way to federate the unions of a single trade. 
 In 1835 the cordwainers attending the National 
 Trades Union formed a prehminary organization 
 and called a national cordwainers' convention. 
 This met in New York in March, 1836, and in- 
 cluded forty -five delegates from New York, New 
 Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut. In the fall 
 of 1836 the comb-makers, the carpenters, the 
 hand-loom weavers, and the printers likewise or- 
 ganized separate national unions or alliances, 
 and several other trades made tentative efforts 
 by correspondence to organize themselves in the 
 same manner. 
 
 Before the dire year of 1837, there are, then, to 
 be found the beginnings of most of the elements of 
 modern labor organizations — benevolent societies 
 and militant orders; political activities and trades 
 activities; amalgamations of local societies of the 
 same trades and of all trades ; attempts at national 
 organization on the part of both the local trades 
 unions and of the local trade unions ; a labor press 
 to keep alive the interest of the workman; mass 
 meetings, circulars, conventions, and appeals to 
 arouse the interest of the public in the issues of the 
 hour. The persistent demand of the workingmen 
 was for a ten-hour day. Harriet Martineau, who 
 
36 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 traveled extensively through the United States, re- 
 marked that all the strikes she heard of were on 
 the question of hours, not wages. But there were 
 nevertheless abundant strikes either to raise wages 
 or to maintain them. There were, also, other 
 fundamental questions in controversy which could 
 not be settled by strikes, such as imprisonment for 
 debt, lien and exemption and homestead laws, 
 convict labor and slave labor, and universal edu- 
 cation. Most of these issues have since that time 
 been decided in favor of labor, and a new series 
 of demands takes their place today. Yet as one 
 reads the records of the early conspiracy cases or 
 thumbs through the files of old periodicals, he 
 learns that there is indeed nothing new under the 
 sun and that, while perhaps the particular issues 
 have changed, the general methods and the spirit 
 of the contest remain the same. 
 
 The laborer believed then, as he does now, that 
 his organization must be all-embracing. In those 
 days also there were "scabs," often called "rats" 
 or " dung. " Places under ban were systematically 
 picketed, and warnings like the following were sent 
 out: "We would caution all strangers and others 
 who profess the art of horseshoeing, that if they go 
 to work for any employer under the above prices, 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS . 37 
 
 they must abide by the consequences." Usually 
 the consequences were a fine imposed by the union, 
 but sometimes they were more severe. Coercion 
 by the union did not cease with the strike. Jour- 
 neymen who were not members were pursued with 
 assiduity and energy as soon as they entered a 
 town and found work. The boycott was a method 
 early used against prison labor. New York stone- 
 cutters agreed that they would not "either col- 
 lectively or individually purchase any goods manu- 
 factured" by convicts and that they would not 
 "countenance" any merchants who dealt in them; 
 and employers who incurred the displeasure of or- 
 ganized labor were "nullified." 
 
 The use of the militia during strikes presented 
 the same difficulties then as now. During the gen- 
 gral strike in Philadelphia in 1835 there was con- 
 siderable rowdyism, and Michel Chevalier, a keen 
 observer of American life, wrote that "the militia 
 looks on; the sheriff stands with folded hands." 
 Nor was there any difference in the attitude of the 
 laboring man towards unfavorable court decisions. 
 In the tailors' strike in New York in 1836, for 
 instance, twenty-seven thousand sympathizers as- 
 sembled with bands and banners to protest against 
 the jury's verdict, and after sentence had been 
 
38 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 imposed upon the defendants, the lusty throng 
 burned the judge in effigy. 
 
 Sabotage is a new word, but the practice itself is 
 old. In 1835 the striking cabinet-makers in New 
 York smashed thousands of dollars' worth of chairs, 
 tables, and sofas that had been imported from 
 France, and the newspapers observed the signi- 
 ficant fact that the destroyers boasted in a for- 
 eign language that only American-made furniture 
 should be sold in America. Houses were burned 
 in Philadelphia because the contractors erecting 
 them refused to grant the wages that were demand- 
 ed. Vengeance was sometimes sought against new 
 machinery that displaced hand labor. In June, 
 1835, a New York paper remarked that "it is well 
 known that many of the most obstinate turn-outs 
 among workingmen and many of the most violent 
 and lawless proceedings have been excited for the 
 purpose of destroying newly invented machinery. " 
 Such acts of wantonness, however, were few, even 
 in those first tumultuous days of the thirties. 
 Striking became in those days a sort of mania, and 
 not a town that had a mill or shop was exempt. 
 Men struck for "grog or death," for "Liberty, 
 Equality, and the Rights of Man," and even for 
 the right to smoke their pipes at work. 
 
FORMATIVE YEARS 39 
 
 Strike benefits, too, were known in this early 
 period. Strikers in New York received assistance 
 from Philadelphia, and Boston strikers were simi- 
 larly aided by both New York and Philadelphia. 
 When the high cost of living threatened to deprive 
 the wage-earner of half his income, bread riots 
 occurred in the cities, and handbills circulated 
 in New York bore the legend : 
 
 Bread, Meat, Rent, Fuel 
 Their Prices Must Come Down 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 TRANSITION YEARS 
 
 With the panic of 1837 the mills were closed, 
 thousands of unemployed workers were thrown 
 upon private charity, and, in the long years of 
 depression which followed, trade unionism suffered 
 a temporary eclipse. It was a period of social 
 unrest in which all sorts of philanthropic reforms 
 were suggested and tried out. Measured by later 
 events, it was a period of transition, of social 
 awakening, of aspiration tempered by the bitter 
 experience of failure. 
 
 In the previous decade Robert Owen, the dis- 
 tinguished English social reformer and philanthro- 
 pist, had visited America and had begun in 1826 
 his famous colony at New Harmony, Indiana. 
 His experiments at New Lanark, in England, 
 had already made him known to working people 
 the world over. Whatever may be said of his 
 quaint attempts to reduce society to a common 
 
 40 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 41 
 
 denominator, it is certain that his arrival in Ameri- 
 ca, at a time when people's minds were open to 
 all sorts of economic suggestions, had a stimu- 
 lating effect upon labor reforms and led, in the 
 course of time, to the founding of some forty 
 communistic colonies, most of them in New York, 
 Pennsylvania, and Ohio. "We are all a little wild 
 here with numberless projects of social reform," 
 wrote Emerson to Thomas Carlyle; "not a reading 
 man but has the draft of a new community in his 
 waistcoat pocket." One of these experiments, at 
 Red Bank, New Jersey, lasted for thirteen years, 
 and another, in Wisconsin, for six years. But most 
 of them after a year or two gave up the struggle. 
 Of these failures, the best known is Brook Farm, 
 an intellectual community founded in 1841 by 
 George Ripley at West Roxbury, Massachusetts. 
 Six years later the project was abandoned and is 
 now remembered as an example of the futility of 
 trying to leaven a world of realism by means of an 
 atom of transcendental idealism. In a sense, how- 
 ever. Brook Farm typifies this period of transition. 
 It was a time of vagaries and longings. People 
 seemed to be conscious of the fact that a new social 
 solidarity was dawning. It is not strange, there- 
 fore, that — while the railroads were feeling their 
 
42 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 way from town to town and across the prairies, 
 while water-power and steam-power were multi- 
 plying man's productivity, indicating that the old 
 days were gone forever — many curious dreams 
 of a new order of things should be dreamed, nor 
 that among them some should be ridiculous, some 
 fantastic, and some unworthj', nor that, as the fu- 
 tility of a universal social reform forced itself upon 
 the dreamers, they merged the greater in the les- 
 ser, the general in the particular, and sought an out- 
 let in espousing some speciiic cause or attacking 
 some particular evil. 
 
 Those movements which had their inspiration in 
 a genuine humanitarianism achieved great good. 
 Now for the first time the blind, the deaf, the dumb, 
 and the insane were made the object of social 
 solicitude and communal care. The criminal, too, 
 and the jail in which he was confined remained no 
 longer utterly neglected. Men of the debtor class 
 were freed from that medieval barbarism which 
 gave the creditor the right to levy on the person of 
 his debtor. Even the public schools were dragged 
 out of their lethargy. When Horace Mann was 
 appointed secretary of the newly created Massa- 
 chusetts Board of Education in 1837, a new day 
 dawned for American public schools. 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 43 
 
 While these and other substantial improvements 
 were under way, the charlatan and the faddist were 
 not without their opportunities or their votaries. 
 Spirit rappings beguiled or awed the villagers; 
 thousands of religious zealots in 1844 abandoned 
 their vocations and, drawing on white robes, 
 awaited expectantly the second coming of Christ: 
 every cult from free love to celibate austerity found 
 zealous followers; the "new woman" declared her 
 independence in short hair and bloomers; people 
 sought social salvation in new health codes, in 
 vegetarian boarding-houses, and in physical cul- 
 ture clubs ; and some pursued the way to perfection 
 through sensual religious exercises. 
 
 In this seething milieti, this medley of practical 
 humanitarianism and social fantasies, the labor 
 movement was revived. In the forties, Thomas 
 Mooney, an observant Irish traveler who had 
 spent several years in the United States wrote 
 as follows ' : 
 
 The average value of a common uneducated labourer is 
 eighty cents a day. Of educated or mechanical la- 
 bour, one hundred twenty-five and two hundred 
 cents a day; of female labour forty cents a day. 
 Against meat, flour, vegetables, and groceries at 
 
 'Nine Years in America (1850), p. 22. 
 
44 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 one-third less than they rate in Great Britain and 
 Ireland; against clothing, house rent and fuel at about 
 equal; against public taxes at about three-fourths less; 
 and a certainty of employment, and a facility of ac- 
 quiring homes and lands, and education for children, 
 a hundred to one greater. The further you penetrate 
 into the country, Patrick, the higher in general will you 
 find the value of labour, and the cheaper the price of all 
 kinds of living. . . . The food of the American farm- 
 er, mechanic or labourer is the best I believe enjoyed 
 by any similar classes in the whole world. At every 
 meal there is meat or fish or both; indeed I think the 
 women, children, and sedentary classes eat too much 
 meat for their own good health. 
 
 This highly optimistic picture, written by a san- 
 guine observer from the land of greatest agrarian 
 oppression, must be shaded by contrasting details. 
 The truck system of payment, prevalent in mining 
 regions and many factory towns, reduced the ac- 
 tual wage by almost one-half. In the cities, un- 
 skilled immigrants had so overcrowded the com- 
 mon labor market that competition had reduced 
 them to a pitiable state. Hours of labor were 
 generally long in the factories. As a rule only the 
 skilled artisan had achieved the ten-hour day, 
 and then only in isolated instances. Woman's 
 labor was the poorest paid, and her condition 
 was the most neglected. A visitor to Lowell in 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 45 
 
 1846 thus describes the conditions in an average 
 factory of that town : 
 
 In Lowell live between seven and eight thousand 
 young women, who are generally daughters of farmers 
 of the different States of New England. Some of them 
 are members of families that were rich the generation 
 before. . . . The operatives work thirteen hours a 
 day in the summer time, and from daylight to dark 
 in the winter. At half-past four in the morning the 
 factory bell rings and at five the girls must be in the 
 mills. A clerk, placed as a watch, observes those 
 who are a few minutes behind the time, and effectual 
 means are taken to stimulate punctuality. ... At 
 seven the girls are allowed thirty minutes for break- 
 fast, and at noon thirty minutes more for dinner, 
 except during the first quarter of the year, when the 
 time is extended to forty-five minutes. But within 
 this time they must hurry to their boarding-houses 
 and return to the factory. ... At seven o'clock in 
 the evening the factory bell sounds the close of the 
 day's work. 
 
 It was under these conditions that the coopera- 
 tive movement had its brief day of experiment. As 
 early as 1828 the workmen of Philadelphia and Cin- 
 cinnati had begun cooperative stores. The Phila- 
 delphia group were "fully persuaded," accord- 
 ing to their constitution, "that nothing short of 
 an entire change in the present regulation of trade 
 and commerce will ever be permanently beneficial 
 
46 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 to the productive part of the community. " But 
 their little shop survived competition for only a 
 few months. The Cincinnati " Cooperative Maga- 
 zine" was a sort of combination of store and shop, 
 where various trades were taught, but it also soon 
 disappeared. 
 
 In 1845 the New England Workingmen's Associ- 
 ation organized a protective vmion for the purpose 
 of obtaining for its members "steady and profitable 
 employment" and of saving the retailer's profit for 
 the purchaser. This movement had a high moral 
 flavor. "The dollar was to us of minor impor- 
 tance; humanitary and not mercenary were our 
 motives, " reported their committee on organiza- 
 tion of industry. "We must proceed from com- 
 bined stores to combined shops, from combined 
 shops to combined homes, to joint ownership in 
 God's earth, the foundation that our edifice must 
 stand upon. " In this ambitious spirit "they com- 
 menced business with a box of soap and half a 
 chest of tea. " In 1852 they had 167 branches, a 
 capital of $241,712.66, and a business of nearly 
 $2,000,000 a year. 
 
 In the meantime similar cooperative movements 
 began elsewhere. The tailors of Boston struck for 
 higher wages in 1850 and, after fourteen weeks of 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 47 
 
 futile struggle, decided that their salvation lay in 
 cooperation rather than in trade unionism, which 
 at best aflforded only temporary relief. About 
 seventy of them raised $700 as a cooperative 
 nest egg and netted a profit of $510.60 the first 
 year. In the same year the Philadelphia printers, 
 disappointed at their failure to force a higher wage, 
 organized a cooperative printing press. 
 
 The movement spread to New York, where a 
 strike of the tailors was in progress. The strikers 
 were addressed at a great mass meeting by Albert 
 Brisbane, an ardent disciple of Fourier, the French 
 social economist, and were told that they must do 
 away with servitude to capital. "What we want 
 to know, " said Brisbane, "is how to change, peace- 
 fully, the system of today. The first great princi- 
 ple is combination. " Another meeting was ad- 
 dressed by a German, a follower of Karl Marx, who 
 uttered in his native tongue these words that sound 
 like a modern I. W. W. prophet: "Many of us have 
 fought for liberty in the fatherland. We came 
 here because we were opposed, and what have we 
 gained.'' Nothing but misery, hunger, and tread- 
 ing down. But we are in a free country and it is our 
 fault if we do not get our rights. . . . Let those 
 who strike eat; the rest starve. Butchers and 
 
48 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 bakers must withhold suppUes. Yes, they must 
 all strike, and then the aristocrat will starve. We 
 must have a revolution. We cannot submit any 
 longer." The cry of "Revolution! Revolution!" 
 was taken up by the throng. 
 
 In the midst of this agitation a New York 
 branch of the New England Protective Union was 
 organized as an attempt at peaceful revolution 
 by cooperation. The New York Protective Union 
 went a step farther than the New England Union. 
 Its members established their own shops and so 
 became their own employers. And in many other 
 cities striking workmen and eager reformers joined 
 hands in modest endeavors to change the face of 
 things. The revolutionary movements of Europe 
 at this period were having a seismic effect upon 
 American labor. But all these attempts of the 
 workingmen to tourney a rough world with a needle 
 were foredoomed to failure. Lacking the essential 
 business experience and the ability to cooperate, 
 they were soon undone, and after a few years 
 little more was heard of cooperation. 
 
 In the meantime another economic movement 
 gained momentum under the leadership of George 
 Henry Evans, who was a land reformer and may 
 be called a precursor of Henry George. Evans 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 49 
 
 inaugurated a campaign for free farms to entice to 
 the land the unprosperous toilers of the city. In 
 spite of the vast areas of the public domain still un- 
 occupied, the cities were growing denser and larger 
 and filthier by reason of the multitudes from Ire- 
 land and other countries who preferred to cast them- 
 selves into the eager maw of factory towns rather 
 than go out as agrarian pioneers. To such Evans 
 and other agrarian reformers made their appeal. 
 For example, a handbill distributed everywhere in 
 1846 asked: 
 
 Are you an American citizen? Then you area joint- 
 owner of the public lands. Why not take enough of 
 your property to provide yourself a home.' Why not 
 vote yourself a farm? 
 
 Are you a party follower? Then you have long 
 enough employed your vote to benefit scheming ofSce 
 seekers. Use it for once to benefit yourself: Vote 
 yourself a farm. 
 
 Are you tired of slavery — of drudging for others — 
 of poverty and its attendant miseries? Then, vote 
 yourself a farm. 
 
 Would you free your country and the sons of toil 
 everywhere from the heartless, irresponsible mastery 
 of the aristocracy of avarice? . . . Then join with 
 your neighbors to form a true American party . . . 
 whose chief measures will be first to limit the quantity 
 of land that any one may henceforth monopolize or 
 inherit: and second to make the public lands free to 
 
50 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 actual settlers only, each having the right to sell his 
 improvements to any man not possessed of other lands. 
 
 "Vote yourself a farm" became a popular shib- 
 boleth and a part of the standard programme of 
 organized labor. The donation of public lands to 
 heads of families, on condition of occupancy and 
 cultivation for a term of years, was proposed in bills 
 repeatedly introduced in Congress. But the cry of 
 opposition went up from the older States that 
 they would be bled for the sake of the newer, that 
 giving land to the landless was encouraging idle- 
 ness and wantonness and spreading demoralization, 
 and that Congress had no more power to give away 
 land than it had to give away money. These argu- 
 ments had their effect at the Capitol, and it was not 
 until the new Republican party came into power 
 pledged to "a complete and satisfactory home- 
 stead measure" that the Homestead Act of 1862 
 was placed on the statute books. 
 
 A characteristic manifestation of the humani- 
 tarian impulse of the forties was the support given 
 to labor in its renewed demand for a ten-hour 
 day. It has already been indicated how this 
 movement started in the thirties, how its object was 
 achieved by a few highly organized trades, and how 
 it was interrupted in its progress by the panic of 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 51 
 
 1837. The agitation, however, to make the ten- 
 hour day customary throughout the country was 
 not long in coming back to hfe. In March, 1840, 
 an executive order of President Van Buren declar- 
 ing ten hours to be the working day for laborers 
 and mechanics in government employ forced the 
 issue upon private employers. The earliest con- 
 certed action, it would seem, arose in New Eng- 
 land, where the New England Workingmen's As- 
 sociation, later called the Labor Reform League, 
 carried on the crusade. In 1845 a committee 
 appointed by the Massachusetts Legislature to 
 investigate labor conditions affords the first in- 
 stance on record of an American legislature con- 
 cerning itself with the affairs of the labor world 
 to the extent of ordering an official investigation. 
 The committee examined a number of factory oper- 
 atives, both men and women, visited a few of the 
 mills, gathered some statistics, and made certain 
 neutral and specious suggestions. They believed 
 the remedy for such evils as thej' discovered laj- not 
 in legislation but "in the progressive improvement 
 in art and science, in a higher appreciation of 
 man's destiny, in a less love for money, and a more 
 ardent love for social happiness and intellectual 
 superiority. " 
 
52 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 The first ten-hour law was passed in 1847 by the 
 New Hampshire Legislature. It provided that 
 "ten hours of actual labor shall be taken to be a 
 day's work, unless otherwise agreed to by the par- 
 ties, " and that no minor under fifteen years of age 
 should be employed more than ten hours a day 
 without the consent of parent or guardian. This 
 was the unassuming beginning of a movement to 
 have the hours of toil fixed by society rather 
 than by contract. This law of New Hampshire, 
 which was destined to have a widespread influence, 
 was hailed by the workmen everywhere with de- 
 light; mass meetings and processions proclaimed 
 it as a great victory; and only the conservatives 
 prophesied the worthlessness of such legislation. 
 Horace Greeley sympathetically dissected the bill. 
 He had little faith, it is true, in legislative inter- 
 ference with private contracts. "But," he asks, 
 '"who can seriously doubt that it is the duty of 
 the Commonwealth to see that the tender frames 
 of its youth are not shattered by excessively pro- 
 tracted toil? . . . Will any one pretend that ten 
 hours per day, especially at confining and mono- 
 tonous avocations which tax at once the brain 
 and the sinews are not quite enough for any child 
 to labor statedly and steadily?" The consent of 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 53 
 
 guardian or parent he thought a fraud against the 
 child that could be averted only by the positive 
 command of the State specifically limiting the hours 
 of child labor. 
 
 In the following year Pennsylvania enacted a 
 law declaring ten hours a legal day in certain indus- 
 tries and forbidding children under twelve from 
 working in cotton, woolen, silk, or flax mills. 
 Children over fourteen, however, could, by special 
 arrangement with parents or guardians, be com- 
 pelled to work more than ten hours a day. "This 
 act is very much of a humbug," commented 
 Greeley, "but it will serve a good end. Those 
 whom it was intended to put asleep will come back 
 again before long, and, like Oliver Twist, 'want 
 some more.'" 
 
 The ten-hour movement had thus achieved so- 
 cial recognition. It had the stanch support of 
 such men as Wendell Phillips, Edward Everett, 
 Horace Greeley, and other distinguished publicists 
 and philanthropists. Public opinion was becom- 
 ing so strong that both the Whigs and Democrats 
 in their party platforms declared themselves in 
 favor of the ten-hour day. When, in the sum- 
 mer of 1847, the British Parliament passed a ten- 
 hour law, American unions sent congratulatory 
 
54 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 messages to the British workmen. Gradually the 
 various States followed the example of New Hamp- 
 shire and Pennsylvania — New Jersey in 1851, 
 Ohio in 1852, and Rhode Island in 1853 — and 
 the "ten-hour system" was legally established. 
 
 But it was one thing to write a statute and an- 
 other to enforce it. American laws were, after 
 all, based upon the ancient Anglo-Saxon principle 
 of private contract. A man could agree to work 
 for as many hours as he chose, and each employ- 
 er could drive his own bargain. The cotton mill 
 owners of Allegheny City, for example, declared 
 that they would be compelled to run their mills 
 twelve hours a day. They would not, of course, 
 employ children under twelve, although they felt 
 deeply concerned for the widows who would there- 
 by lose the wages of their children. But they must 
 run on a twelve-hour schedule to meet compe- 
 tition from other States. So they attempted to 
 make special contracts with each employee. The 
 workmen objected to this and struck. Finally 
 they compromised on a ten-hour day and a sixteen 
 per cent reduction in wages. Such an arrangement 
 became a common occurrence in the industrial 
 world of the middle of the century. 
 
 In the nieantime the factory system was rapidly 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 55 
 
 recruiting women workers, especially in the New 
 England textile mills. Indeed, as early as 1825 
 "tailoresses" of New York and other cities had 
 formed protective societies. In 1829 the mill girls 
 of Dover, New Hampshire, caused a sensation by 
 striking. Several hundred of them paraded the 
 streets and, according to accounts, "fired ofT a 
 lot of gunpowder." In 1836 the women workers 
 in the Lowell factories struck for higher wages and 
 later organized a Factory Girls' Association which 
 included more than 2,500 members. It was aimed 
 against the strict regimen of the boarding houses, 
 which were owned and managed by the mills. 
 "As our fathers resisted unto blood the lordly ava- 
 rice of the British Ministry," cried the strikers, 
 "so we, their daughters, never will wear the yoke 
 which has been prepared for us. " 
 
 In this vibrant atmosphere was born the power- 
 ful woman's labor union, the Female Labor Reform 
 Association, later called the Lowell Female Indus- 
 trial Reform and Mutual Aid Society. Lowell 
 became the center of a far-reaching propaganda 
 characterized by energy and a definite conception 
 of what was wanted. The women joined in strikes, 
 carried banners, sent delegates to the labor con- 
 ventions, and were zealous m propaganda. It was 
 
56 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 the women workers of Massachusetts who first 
 forced the legislature to investigate labor condi- 
 tions and who aroused pubHc sentiment to a pitch 
 that finally compelled the enactment of laws for 
 the bettering of their conditions. When the mill 
 owners in Massachusetts demanded in 1846 that 
 their weavers tend four looms instead of three, the 
 women promptly resolved that "we will not tend 
 a fourth loom unless we receive the same pay per 
 piece as on three. . . . This we most solemnly 
 pledge ourselves to obtain. " 
 
 In New York, in 1845, the Female Industry 
 Association was organized at a large meeting 
 held in the court house. It included " tailoresses, 
 plain and coarse sewing, shirt makers, book-fold- 
 ers and stickers, capmakers, straw-workers, dress- 
 makers, crimpers, fringe and lacemakers," and 
 other trades open to women "who were like op- 
 pressed. " The New York Herald reported "about 
 700 females generally of the most interesting 
 age and appearance" in attendance. The presi- 
 dent of the meeting unfolded a pitiable condi- 
 tion of affairs. She mentioned several employers 
 by name who paid only from ten to eighteen cents 
 a day, and she stated that, after acquiring skill 
 in some of the trades and by working twelve 
 
TRANSITION YEAES 57 
 
 to fourteen hours a day, a woman might earn 
 twenty -five cents a day! "How is it possible," 
 she exclaimed, "that at such an income we can 
 support ourselves decently and honestly?" 
 
 So we come to the fifties, when the rapid rise 
 in the cost of living due to the influx of gold from 
 the newly discovered California mines created new 
 economic conditions. By 1853, the cost of living 
 had risen so high that the length of the working 
 day was quite forgotten because of the utter inade- 
 quacy of the wage to meet the new altitude of 
 prices. Hotels issued statements that they were 
 compelled to raise their rates for board from a 
 dollar and a half to two dollars a day. News- 
 papers raised their advertising rates. Drinks went 
 up from six cents to ten and twelve and a half 
 cents. In Baltimore, the men in the Baltimore 
 and Ohio Railway shops struck. They were fol- 
 lowed by all the conductors, brakemen, and loco- 
 motive engineers. Machinists employed in other 
 shops soon joined them, and the city's industries 
 were virtually paralyzed. In New York nearly 
 every industry was stopped by strikes. In Philadel- 
 phia, Boston, Pittsburgh, in cities large and small, 
 the striking workmen made their demands known. 
 
 By this time thoughtful laborers had learned the 
 
58 THE AEMIES OF LABOR 
 
 futility of programmes that attempted to reform 
 society. They had watched the birth and death 
 of many experiments. They had participated in 
 short-lived cooperative stores and shops ; they had 
 listened to Owen's alluring words and had seen 
 his World Convention meet and adjourn; had wit- 
 nessed national reform associations, leagues, and 
 industrial congresses issue their high-pitched reso- 
 lutions; and had united on legislative candidates. 
 And yet the old world wagged on in the old way. 
 Wages and hours and working conditions could be 
 changed, they had learned, only by coercion. This 
 coercion could be applied, in general reforms, only 
 by society, by stress of public opinion. But in 
 concrete cases, in their own personal environment, 
 the coercion had to be first applied by themselves. 
 They had learned the lesson of letting the world 
 in general go its way while they attended to their 
 own business. 
 
 In the early fifties, then, a new species of union 
 appears. It discards lofty phraseology and the 
 attempt at world-reform and it becomes simply a 
 trade union. It restricts its house-cleaning to its 
 own shop, limits its demands to its trade, asks 
 for a minimum wage and minimum hours, and lays 
 out with considerable detail the conditions under 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 59 
 
 which its members will work. The weapons in its 
 arsenal are not new — the strike and the boycott. 
 Now that he has learned to distinguish essentials, 
 the new trade unionist can bargain with his em- 
 ployer, and as a result trade agreements stipu- 
 lating hours, wages, and conditions, take the place 
 of the desultory and ineffective settlements which 
 had hitherto issued from labor disputes. But it 
 was not without foreboding that this development 
 was witnessed by the adherents of the status quo. 
 According to a magazine writer of 1853 : 
 
 After prescribing the rate of remuneration many of the 
 Trades' Unions go to enact laws for the government of 
 the respective departments, to all of which the employ- 
 er must assent. . . . The result even thus far is that 
 there is found no limit to this species of encroachment. 
 If workmen may dictate the hours and mode of service, 
 and the number and description of hands to be em- 
 ployed, they may also regulate other items of the 
 business with which their labor is connected. Thus 
 we find that within a few days, in the city of New 
 York, the longshoremen have taken by force from their 
 several stations the horses and labor-saving gear used 
 for delivering cargoes, it being part of their regulations 
 not to allow of such competition. 
 
 The gravitation towards common action was 
 felt over a wide area during this period. Some 
 trades met in national convention to lay down 
 
60 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 rules for their craft. One of the earliest national 
 meetings was that of the carpet-weavers (1846) in 
 New York City, when thirty-four delegates, repre- 
 senting over a thousand operatives, adopted rules 
 and took steps to prevent a reduction in wages. 
 The National Convention of Journeymen Printers 
 met in 1850, and out of this emerged two years 
 later an organization called the National Typo- 
 graphical Union, which ten years later still, on 
 the admission of some Canadian unions, became 
 the International Typographical Union of North 
 America; and as such it flourishes today. In 1855 
 the Journeymen Stone Cutters' Association of 
 North America was organized and in the following 
 year the National Trade Association of Hat Finish- 
 ers, the forerunner of the United Hatters of North 
 America. In 1859 the Iron Holders' Union of 
 North America began its aggressive career. 
 
 The conception of a national trade unity was 
 now well formed; compactly organized national 
 and local trade unions with very definite industrial 
 aims were soon to take the place of ephemeral, 
 loose-jointed associations with vast and vague 
 ambitions. Early in this period a new impetus 
 was given to organized labor by the historic de- 
 cision of Chief Justice Shaw of Massachusetts in 
 
TRANSITION YEARS 61 
 
 a case ' brought against seven bootmakers charged 
 with conspiracy. Their offense consisted in at- 
 tempting to induce all the workmen of a given 
 shop to join the union and compel the master 
 to employ only union men. The trial court found 
 them guilty; but the Chief Justice decided that 
 he did not "perceive that it is criminal for men to 
 agree together to exercise their own acknowledged 
 rights in such a manner as best to subserve their 
 own interests." In order to show criminal con- 
 spiracy, therefore, on the part of a labor union, 
 it was necessary to prove that either the intent or 
 the method was criminal, for it was not a criminal 
 offense to combine for the purpose of raising wages 
 or bettering conditions or seeking to have all la- 
 borers join the union. The liberalizing influence 
 of this decision upon labor law can hardly be 
 over-estimated . 
 
 The period closed amidst general disturbances 
 and forebodings, political and economic. In 1857 
 occurred a panic which thrust the problem of 
 unemployment, on a vast scale, before the Ameri- 
 can consciousness. Instead of demanding higher 
 wages, multitudes now cried for work. The march- 
 ing masses, in New York, carried banners asking 
 
 ' Commonwealth r.v. Hunt. 
 
62 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 for bread, while soldiers from Governor's Island 
 and marines from the Navy Yard guarded the Cus- 
 tom House and the Sub-Treasury. From Phila- 
 delphia to New Orleans, from Boston to Chicago, 
 came the same story of banks failing, railroads 
 in bankruptcy, factories closing, idle and hungry 
 throngs moving restlessly through the streets. In 
 New York 40,000, in Lawrence 3500, in Philadel- 
 phia 20,000, were estimated to be out of work. 
 Labor learned anew that its prosperity was inalien- 
 ably identified with the well-being of industry and 
 commerce; and society learned that hunger and 
 idleness are the golden opportunity of the dema- 
 gogue and agitator. The word "socialism" now 
 appears more and more frequently in the daily 
 press and always a synonym of destruction or of 
 something to be feared. No sooner had business 
 revived than the great shadow of internal strife 
 was cast over the land, and for the duration of the 
 Civil War the peril of the nation absorbed all the 
 energies of the people. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 AMALGAMATION 
 
 After Appomattox, every one seemed bent on 
 finding a short cut to opulence. To foreign obser- 
 vers, the United States was then simply a scram- 
 bling mass of selfish units, for there seemed to be 
 among the American people no disinterested group 
 to balance accounts between the competing ele- 
 ments — no leisure class, living on secured incomes, 
 mellowed by generations of travel, education, and 
 reflection; no bureaucracy arbitrarily guiding the 
 details of governmental routine; no aristocracy, 
 born umpires of the doings of their underlings. All 
 the manifold currents of life seemed swallowed up 
 in the commercial maelstrom. By the standards 
 of what happened in this season of exuberance 
 and intense materialism, the American people were 
 hastily judged by critics who failed to see that 
 the period was but the prelude to a maturer 
 national life. 
 
64 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 It was a period of a remarkable industrial expan- 
 sion. Then "plant" became a new word in the 
 phraseology of the market place, denoting the 
 enlarged factory or mill and suggesting the hardy 
 perennial, each succeeding year putting forth new 
 shoots from its side. The products of this seed- 
 time are seen in the colossal industrial growths of 
 today. Then it was that short railway lines began 
 to be welded into "systems," that the railway 
 builders began to strike out into the prairies and 
 mountains of the West, and that partnerships 
 began to be merged into corporations and corpora- 
 tions into trusts, ever reaching out for the great- 
 er markets. Meanwhile the inventive genius of 
 America was responding to the call of the time. 
 In 1877 Bell telephoned from Boston to Salem; 
 two years later. Brush lighted by electricity the 
 streets of San Francisco. In 1882 Edison was 
 making incandescent electric lights for New York 
 and operating his first electric car in Menlo Park, 
 New Jersey. 
 
 All these developments created a new demand 
 for capital. Where formerly a manufacturer had 
 made products to order or for a small number of 
 known customers, now he made on speculation, for 
 a great number of unknown customers, taking 
 
AMALGAMATION 65 
 
 his risks in distant markets. Where formerly the 
 banker had lent money on local security, now he 
 gave credit to vast enterprises far away. New in- 
 ventions or industrial processes brought on new 
 speculations. This new demand for capital made 
 necessary a new system of credits, which was erect- 
 ed at first, as the recurring panics disclosed, on 
 sand, but gradually, through costly experience, on 
 a more stable foundation. 
 
 The economic and industrial development of the 
 time demanded not only new money and credit but 
 new men. A new type of executive was wanted, 
 and he soon appeared to satisfy the need. Neither 
 a capitalist nor a merchant, he combined in some 
 degree the functions of both, added to them the 
 greater function of industrial manager, and received 
 from great business concerns a high premium for 
 his talent and foresight. This Captain of Industry, 
 as he has been called, is the foremost figure of the 
 period, the hero of the industrial drama. 
 
 But much of what is admirable in that generation 
 of nation builders is obscured by the industrial an- 
 archy which prevailed. Everybody was for himself 
 — and the devil was busy harvesting the hindmost. 
 There were "rate-wars," "cut-rate sales," secret in- 
 trigues, and rebates; and there were subterranean 
 
66 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 passages — some, indeed, scarcely under the sur- 
 face — to council chambers, executive mansions, 
 and Congress. There were extreme fluctuations 
 of industry: prosperity was either at a very high 
 level or depression at a very low one. Prosperity 
 would bring on an expansion of credits, a rise in 
 prices, higher cost of living, strikes and boycotts 
 for higher wages; then depression would follow 
 with the shutdown and that most distressing of so- 
 cial diseases, unemployment. During the panic of 
 1873-74 many thousands of men marched the 
 streets crying earnestly for work. 
 
 Between the panics, strikes became a part of the 
 economic routine of the country. They were ex- 
 pected, just as pay days and legal holidays are 
 expected. Now for the first time came strikes that 
 can only be characterized as stupendous. They 
 were not mere slight economic disturbances; they 
 were veritable industrial earthquakes. In 1873 
 the coal miners of Pennsylvania, resenting the 
 truck system and the miserable housing which the 
 mine owners forced upon them, struck by the tens 
 of thousands. In Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Mary- 
 land, Ohio, and New York strikes occurred in all 
 sorts of industries. There were the usual parades 
 and banners, some appealing, some insulting, and 
 
AMALGAMATION 67 
 
 all the while the militia guarded property. In 
 July, 1877, the men of the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Railroad refused to submit to a fourth reduction 
 in wages in seven years and struck. From Balti- 
 more the resentment spread to Pennsylvania and 
 culminated with riots in Pittsburgh. All the an- 
 thracite coal miners struck, followed by most of the 
 bituminous miners of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. 
 The militia were impotent to subdue the mobs; 
 Federal troops had to be sent by President Hayes 
 into many of the States; and a proclamation by the 
 President commanded all citizens to keep the peace. 
 Thus was Federal authority introduced to bolster 
 up the administrative weakness of the States, and 
 the first step was taken on the road to industrial 
 nationalization. 
 
 The turmoil had hardly subsided when, in 1880, 
 new strikes broke out. In the long catalogue of the 
 strikers of that year are found the ribbon weavers of 
 Philadelphia, Paterson, and New York, the stable- 
 men of New York, New Jersey, and San Francisco, 
 the cotton yard workers of New Orleans, the cotton 
 weavers of New England and New York, the stock- 
 yard employees of Chicago and Omaha, the potters 
 of Green Point, Long Island, the puddlers of Johns- 
 town and Columbia, Pennsylvania, the machinists 
 
68 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 of Buffalo, the tailors of New York, and the shoe- 
 makers of Indiana. The year 1882 was scarcely 
 less restive. But 1886 is marked in labor annals 
 as "the year of the great uprising," when twice 
 as many strikes as in any previous year were re- 
 ported by the United States Commissioner of La- 
 bor, and when these strikes reached a tragic climax 
 in the Chicago Haymarket riots. 
 
 It was during this feverish epoch that organized 
 labor first entered the arena of national politics. 
 When the policy as to the national currency be- 
 came an issue, the lure of cheap money drew labor 
 into an alliance in 1880 with the Greenbackers, 
 whose mad cry added to the general unrest. In 
 this, as in other fatuous pursuits, labor was only 
 responding to the forces and the spirit of the 
 hour. These have been called the years of amal- 
 gamation, but they were also the years of tumult, 
 for, while amalgamation was achieved, discipline 
 was not. Authority imposed from within was not 
 sufficient to overcome the decentralizing forces, and 
 just as big business had yet to learn by self-imposed 
 discipline how to overcome the extremely indi- 
 vidualistic tendencies which resulted in trade 
 anarchy, so labor had yet to learn through disci- 
 pline the lessons of self-restraint. Moreover, in the 
 
AMALGAMATION 69 
 
 sudden expansion and great enterprises of these 
 days, labor even more than capital lost in stability. 
 One great steadying influence, the old personal rela- 
 tion between master and servant, which prevailed 
 during the days of handicraft and even of the 
 small factory, had disappeared almost completely. 
 Now labor was put up on the market — a heart- 
 less term descriptive of a condition from which hu- 
 man beings might be expected to react violent- 
 ly — and they did, for human nature refused to 
 be an inert, marketable thing. 
 
 The labor market must expand with the trader's 
 market. In 1860 there were about one and a third 
 million wage-earners in the United States; in 1870 
 well over two million; in 1880 nearly two and 
 three-quarters million; and in 1890 over four and a 
 quarter million. The city sucked them in from the 
 country; but by far the larger augmentation came 
 from Europe; and the immigrant, normally opti- 
 mistic, often untaught, sometimes sullen and filled 
 with a destructive resentment, and always accus- 
 tomed to low standards of living, added to the 
 armies of labor his vast and complex bulk. 
 
 There were two paramount issues — wages and 
 the hours of labor — to which all other issues were 
 and always have been secondary. Wages tend 
 
70 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 constantly to become inadequate when the stand- 
 ard of living is steadily rising, and they consequent- 
 ly require periodical readjustment. Hours of labor, 
 of course, are not subject in the same degree to 
 external conditions. But the tendency has always 
 been toward a shorter day. In a previous chap- 
 ter, the inception of the ten-hour movement was 
 outlined. Presently there began the eight-hour 
 movement. As early as 1842 the carpenters and 
 caulkers of the Charleston Navy Yard achieved an 
 eight-hour day; but 1863 may more properly be 
 taken as the beginning of the movement. In this 
 year societies were organized in Boston and its vi- 
 cinity for the precise purpose of winning the eight- 
 hour day, and soon afterwards a national Eight- 
 Hour League was established with local leagues 
 extending from New England to San Francisco 
 and New Orleans. 
 
 This movement received an intelligible philoso- 
 phy, and so a new vitality, from Ira Steward, 
 a member of the Boston Machinists' and Black- 
 smiths' Union. Writing as a workingman for work- 
 ingmen. Steward found in the standard of hving 
 the true reason for a shorter workday. With beau- 
 tiful simplicity he pointed out to the laboring man 
 that the shorter period of labor would not mean 
 
AMALGAMATION 71 
 
 smaller pay, and to the employer that it would not 
 mean a diminished output. On the contrary, it 
 would be mutually beneficial, for the unwearied 
 workman could produce as much in the shorter day 
 as the wearied workman in the longer. "As long," 
 Steward wrote, "as tired human hands do most of 
 the world's hard work, the sentimental pretense 
 of honoring and respecting the horny-handed 
 toiler is as false and absurd as the idea that a 
 solid foimdation for a house can be made out of 
 soap bubbles." 
 
 In 1865 Steward's pamphlet, A Reduction of Hours 
 and Increase of Wages, was widely circulated by 
 the Boston Labor Reform Association. It em- 
 phasized the value of leisure and its beneficial re- 
 flex effect upon both production and consumption. 
 Gradually these well reasoned and conservatively 
 expressed doctrines found champions such as 
 Wendell Phillips, Henry Ward Beecher, and Hor- 
 ace Greeley to give them wider publicity and to 
 impress them upon the public consciousness. In 
 1867 Illinois, Missouri, and New York passed 
 eight-hour laws and Wisconsin declared eight hours 
 a day's work for women and children. In 1868 
 Congress established an eight-hour day for public 
 work. These were promising signs, though the 
 
72 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 battle was still far from being won. The eight- 
 hour day has at last received "the sanction of 
 society " — to use the words of President Wilson 
 in his message to Congress in 1916, when he called 
 for action to avert a great railway strike. But to 
 win that sanction required over half a century of 
 popular agitation, discussion, and economic and 
 political evolution. 
 
 Such, in brief, were the general business con- 
 ditions of the country and the issues which en- 
 gaged the energies of labor reformers during the 
 period following the Civil War. Meanwhile great 
 changes were made in labor organizations. Many 
 of the old unions were reorganized, and numer- 
 ous local amalgamations took place. Most of the 
 organizations now took the form of secret socie- 
 ties whose initiations were marked with naive for- 
 malism and whose routines were directed by a 
 group of officers with royal titles and fortified by 
 signs, passwords, and ritual. Some of these or- 
 ders decorated the faithful with high-sounding 
 degrees. The societies adopted fantastic names 
 such as "The Supreme Mechanical Order of the 
 Sun," "The Knights of St. Crispin," and "The 
 Noble Order of the Knights of Labor," of which 
 more presently. 
 
AMALGAMATION 73 
 
 Meanwhile, too, there was a growing desire to 
 unify the workers of the country by some sort of 
 national organization. The outcome was a notable 
 Labor Congress held at Baltimore in August, 1866, 
 which included all kinds of labor organizations 
 and was attended by seventy-seven delegates from 
 thirteen States. In the light of subsequent events 
 its resolutions now seem conservative and con- 
 structive. This Congress believed that, "all re- 
 forms in the labor movement can only be effected by 
 an intelligent, systematic effort of the industrial 
 classes . . . through the trades organizations. " Of 
 strikes it declared that "they have been injudicious 
 and ill-advised, the result of impulse rather than 
 principle, . . . and we would therefore discounte- 
 nance them except as a dernier ressort, and when all 
 means for an amicable and honorable adjustment 
 has been abandoned." It issued a cautious and 
 carefully phrased Address to the Workmen through- 
 out the Country, urging them to organize and assur- 
 ing them that "the first thing to be accomplished 
 before we can hope for any great results is 
 the thorough organization of all the departments 
 of labor. " 
 
 The National Labor Union which resulted from 
 this convention held seven Annual Congresses, 
 
74 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and its proceedings show a statesmanlike conser- 
 vatism and avoid extreme radicalism. This or- 
 ganization, which at its high tide represented a 
 membership of 640,000, in its brief existence was 
 influential in three important matters: first, it 
 pointed the way to national amalgamation and 
 was thus a forerunner of more lasting eflForts in 
 this direction; secondly, it had a powerful influence 
 in the eight-hour movement; and, thirdly, it was 
 largely instrumental in establishing labor bureaus 
 and in gathering statistics for the scientific study 
 of labor questions. But the National Labor Union 
 unfortunately went into politics; and politics 
 proved its undoing. Upon affiliating with the 
 Labor Reform party it dwindled rapidly, and after 
 1871 it disappeared entirely. 
 
 One of the typical organizations of the time 
 was the Order of the Knights of St. Crispin, so 
 named after the patron saint of the shoemakers, 
 and accessible only to members of that craft. It 
 was first conceived in 1864 by Newell Daniels, a 
 shoemaker in Milford, Massachusetts, but no or- 
 ganization was effected until 1867, when the foun- 
 der had moved to Milwaukee. The ritual and 
 constitution he had prepared was accepted then by 
 a group of seven shoemakers, and in four years 
 
AMALGAMATION 75 
 
 this insignificant mustard seed had grown into a 
 great tree. The story is told by Frank K. Foster/ 
 who says, speaking of the order in 1868 : "It made 
 and unmade poHticians; it estabUshed a monthly 
 journal; it started cooperative stores; it fought, 
 often successfully, against threatened reductions 
 of wages . . . ; it became the undoubted foremost 
 trade organization of the world. " But within five 
 years the order was rent by factionalism and in 
 1878 was acknowledged to be dead. It perished 
 from various causes — partly because it failed to 
 assimilate or imbue with its doctrines the thou- 
 sands of workmen who subscribed to its rules 
 and ritual, partly because of the jealousy and 
 treachery which is the fruitage of sudden pros- 
 perity, partly because of failure to fulfill the fer- 
 vent hopes of thousands who joined it as a prelude 
 to the industrial millennium; but especially it failed 
 to endure because it was founded on an economic 
 principle which could not be imposed upon society. 
 The rule which embraced this principle reads as 
 follows: "No member of this Order shall teach, or 
 aid in teaching, any fact or facts of boot or shoe- 
 making, unless the lodge shall give permission by 
 
 ' The Labor Movement, the Problem of Today, edited by George 
 E. McNeill, Chapter VIII. 
 
76 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 a three-fourths vote . . . provided that this arti- 
 cle shall not be so construed as to prevent a father 
 from teaching his own son. Provided also, that 
 this article shall not be so construed as to hinder 
 any member of this organization from learning any 
 or all parts of the trade." The medieval craft 
 guild could not so easily be revived in these days 
 of rapid changes, when a new stitching machine 
 replaced in a day a hundred workmen. And so 
 the Knights of St. Crispin fell a victim to their 
 own greed. 
 
 The Noble Order of the Knights of Labor, an- 
 other of those societies of workingmen, was organ- 
 ized in November, 1869, by Uriah S. Stephens, a 
 Philadelphia garment cutter, with the assistance 
 of six fellow craftsmen. It has been said of Ste- 
 phens that he was " a man of great force of char- 
 acter, a skilled mechanic, with the love of books 
 which enabled him to pursue his studies during 
 his apprenticeship, and feeling withal a strong 
 affection for secret organizations, having been for 
 many years connected with the Masonic Order." 
 He was to have been educated for the ministry 
 but, owing to financial reverses in his family, was 
 obliged instead to learn a trade. Later he taught 
 school for a few years, traveled extensively in 
 
AMALGAMATION 77 
 
 the West Indies, South America, and California, 
 and became an accomplished public speaker and 
 a diligent observer of social conditions. 
 
 Stephens and his six associates had witnessed 
 the dissolution of the local garment cutters' union. 
 They resolved that the new society should not be 
 limited by the lines of their own trade but should 
 embrace " all branches of honorable toil. " Subse- 
 quently a rule was adopted stipulating that at 
 least three-fourths of the membership of lodges 
 must be wage-earners eighteen years of age. More- 
 over, " no one who either sells or makes a living, or 
 any part of it, by the sale of intoxicating drinks 
 either as manufacturer, dealer, or agent, or through 
 any member of his family, can be admitted to 
 membership in this order; and no lawyer, bank- 
 er, professional gambler, or stock broker can be 
 admitted." They chose their motto from Solon, 
 the wisest of lawgivers: "That is the most per- 
 fect government in which an injury to one is the 
 concern of all"; and they took their preamble 
 from Burke, the most philosophical of statesmen: 
 "When bad men combine, the good must asso- 
 ciate, else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied 
 sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." 
 
 The order was a secret society and for years 
 
78 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 kept its name from the public. It was generally 
 known as the "Five Stars," because of the five as- 
 terisks that represented its name in all public no- 
 tices. While mysterious initials and secret cere- 
 monies gratified the members, they aroused a cor- 
 responding antagonism, even fear, among the pub- 
 lic, especially as the order grew to giant size. What 
 were the potencies of a secret organization that had 
 only to post a few mysterious words and symbols 
 to gather hundreds of workingmen in their halls.'* 
 And what plottings went on behind those locked 
 and guarded doors? To allay public hostility se- 
 crecy was gradually removed and in 1881 was en- 
 tirely abolished — not, however, without serious 
 opposition from the older members. 
 
 The atmosphere of high idealism in which the or- 
 der had been conceived continued to be fostered by 
 Stephens, its founder and its first Grand Mas- 
 ter Workman. He extolled justice, discounte- 
 nanced violence, and pleaded for "the mutual de- 
 velopment and moral elevation of mankind." His 
 exhortations were free from that narrow class an- 
 tagonism which frequently characterizes the utter- 
 ances of labor. One of his associates, too, invoked 
 the spirit of chivalry, of true knighthood, when he 
 said that the old trade union had failed because "it 
 
AMALGAMATION 79 
 
 had failed to recognize the rights of man and looked 
 only to the rights of tradesmen," that the labor 
 movement needed "something that will develop 
 more of charity, less of selfishness, more of gener- 
 osity, less of stinginess and nearness, than the av- 
 erage society has yet disclosed to its members." 
 Nor were these ideas and principles betrayed by 
 Stephens's successor, Terence V. Powderly, who 
 became Grand Master in 1879 and served dur- 
 ing the years when the order attained its greatest 
 power. Powderly, also, was a conservative ideal- 
 ist. His career may be regarded as a good ex- 
 ample of the rise of many an American labor 
 leader. He had been a poor boy. At thirteen he 
 began work as a switchtender ; at seventeen he was 
 apprenticed as machinist; at nineteen he was ac- 
 tive in a machinists' and blacksmiths' union. After 
 working at his trade in various places, he at length 
 settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and became 
 one of the organizers of the Greenback Labor 
 party. He was twice elected mayor of Scranton, 
 and might have been elected for a third term had 
 he not declined to serve, preferring to devote all 
 his time to the society of which he was Grand 
 Master. The obligations laid upon every member 
 of the Knights of Labor were impressive: 
 
80 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Labor is noble and holy. To defend it from degrada- 
 tion; to divest it of the evils to body, mind and estate 
 wtich ignorance and greed have imposed; to rescue the 
 toiler from the grasp of the selfish — is a work worthy 
 of the noblest and best of our race. In all the multi- 
 farious branches of trade capital has its combinations; 
 and, whether intended or not, it crushes the manly 
 hopes of labor and tramples poor humanity in the 
 dust. We mean no conflict with legitimate enterprise, 
 no antagonism to necessary capital; but men in their 
 haste and greed, blinded by self-interests, overlook the 
 interests of others and sometimes violate the rights 
 of those they deem helpless. We mean to uphold the 
 dignity of labor, to affirm the nobility of all who earn 
 their bread by the sweat of their brows. We mean to 
 create a healthy public opinion on the subject of labor 
 (the only creator of values or capital) and the justice 
 of its receiving a full, just share of the values or capital 
 it has created. We shall, with all our strength, support 
 laws made to harmonize the interests of labor and 
 capital, for labor alone gives life and value to capital, 
 and also those laws which tend to lighten the exhaus- 
 tiveness of toil. To pause in his toil, to devote himself 
 to his own interests, to gather a knowledge of the 
 world's commerce, to unite, combine and cooperate 
 in the great army of peace and industry, to nourish 
 and cherish, build and develop the temple he lives in 
 is the highest and noblest duty of man to himself, to 
 his fellow men and to his Creator. 
 
 The phenomenal growth and collapse of the 
 Knights of Labor is one of the outstanding events 
 
AMALGAMATION 81 
 
 in American economic history. The membership 
 in 1869 consisted of eleven tailors. This small 
 beginning grew into the famous Assembly No. 1. 
 Soon the ship carpenters wanted to join, and As- 
 sembly No. 2 was organized. The shawl-weavers 
 formed another assembly, the carpet-weavers an- 
 other, and so on, until over twenty assemblies, cov- 
 ering almost every trade, had been organized in 
 Philadelphia alone. By 1875 there were eighty as- 
 semblies in the city and its vicinity. As the num- 
 ber of lodges multiplied, it became necessary to 
 establish a common agency or authority, and a 
 Committee on the Good of the Order was consti- 
 tuted to represent all the local units, but this com- 
 mittee was soon superseded by a delegate body 
 known as the District Assembly. As the move- 
 ment spread from city to city and from State to 
 State, a General Assembly was created in 1878 
 to hold annual conventions and to be the supreme 
 authority of the order. In 1883 the membership of 
 the order was 52,000; within three years, it had 
 mounted to over 700,000; and at the climax of 
 its career the society boasted over 1,000,000 work- 
 men in the United States and Canada who had 
 vowed fealty to its knighthood. 
 It is not to be imagined that every member 
 
82 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 of this vast horde so suddenly brought together 
 understood the obligations of the workman's chiv- 
 alry. The selfish and the lawless rushed in with 
 the prudent and sincere. But a resolution of the 
 executive board to stop the initiation of new mem- 
 bers came too late. The undesirable and radi- 
 cal element in many communities gained control of 
 local assemblies, and the conservatism and intel- 
 ligence of the national leaders became merely a 
 shield for the rowdy and the ignorant who brought 
 the entire order into popular disfavor. 
 
 The crisis came in 1886. In the early months 
 of this turbulent year there were nearly five hun- 
 dred labor disputes, most of them involving an 
 advance in wages. An epidemic of strikes then 
 spread over the country, many of them actual- 
 ly conducted by the Knights of Labor and all of 
 them associated in the public mind with that or- 
 der. One of the most important of these occurred 
 on the Southwestern Railroad. In the preceding 
 year, the Knights had increased their lodges in 
 St. Louis from five to thirty, and these were un- 
 der the domination of a coarse and ruthless dis- 
 trict leader. When in February, 1886, a me- 
 chanic, working in the shops of the Texas and Pa- 
 cific Railroad at Marshall, Texas, was discharged 
 
AMALGAMATION 83 
 
 for cause and the road refused to reinstate him, 
 a strike ensued which spread over the entire six 
 thousand miles of the Gould system ; and St. Louis 
 became the center of the tumult. After nearly 
 two months of violence, the outbreak ended in the 
 complete collapse of the strikers. This result was 
 doubly damaging to the Knights of Labor, for 
 they had oflBcially taken charge of the strike and 
 were censured on the one hand for their conduct of 
 the struggle and on the other for the defeat which 
 they had sustained. 
 
 In the same year, against the earnest advice of 
 the national leaders of the Knights of Labor, the 
 employees of the Third Avenue Railway in New 
 York began a strike which lasted many months and 
 which was characterized by such violence that po- 
 licemen were detailed to guard every car leaving 
 the barns. In Chicago the freight handlers struck, 
 and some 60,000 workmen stopped work in sym- 
 pathy. On the 3d of May, at the McCormick 
 Harvester Works, several strikers were wounded 
 in a tussle with the poHce. On the following day 
 a mass meeting held in Haymarket Square, Chi- 
 cago, was harangued by a number of anarchists. 
 When the police attempted to disperse the mob, 
 guns were fired at the officers of the law and a bomb 
 
84 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 was hurled into their throng, kiUing seven and 
 wounding sixty. For this crime seven anarchists 
 were indicted, found guilty, and sentenced to 
 be hanged. The Knights of Labor passed resolu- 
 tions asking clemency for these murderers and 
 thereby grossly offended public opinion, and that 
 at a time when public opinion was frightened by 
 these outrages, angered by the disclosures of bra- 
 zen plotting, and upset by the sudden conscious- 
 ness that the immunity of the United States from 
 the red terror of Europe was at an end. 
 
 Powderly and the more conservative national 
 officers who were opposed to these radical machin- 
 ations were strong enough in the Grand Lodge in 
 the following year to suppress a vote of sympathy 
 for the condemned anarchists. The radicals there- 
 upon seceded from the organization. This out- 
 come, however, did not restore the order to the 
 confidence of the public, and its strength now rap- 
 idly decHned. A loss of 300,000 members for the 
 year 1888 was reported. Early in the nineties, 
 financial troubles compelled the sale of the Phila- 
 delphia headquarters of the Knights of Labor and 
 the removal to more modest quarters in Washing- 
 ton. A remnant of members still retain an organi- 
 zation, but it is barely a shadow of the vast army of 
 
AMALGAMATION 85 
 
 Knights who at one time so hopefully carried on a 
 crusade in every center of industry. It was not 
 merely the excesses of the lawless but the multi- 
 plicity of strikes which ahenated public sympa- 
 thy. Powderly's repeated warnings that strikes, in 
 and of themselves, were destructive of the stable 
 position of labor were shown to be prophetic. 
 
 These excesses, however, were forcing upon the 
 public the idea that it too had not only an inter- 
 est but a right and a duty in labor disputes. Meth- 
 ods of arbitration and conciliation were now dis- 
 cussed in every legislature. In 1883 the House of 
 Representatives established a standing committee 
 on labor. In 1884 a national Bureau of Labor 
 was created to gather statistical information. In 
 1886 President Cleveland sent to Congress a mes- 
 sage which has become historic as the first presi- 
 dential message devoted to labor. In this he pro- 
 posed the creation of a board of labor commis- 
 sioners who should act as official arbiters in labor 
 disputes, but Congress was unwilling at that 
 time to take so advanced a step. In 1888, how- 
 ever, it enacted a law providing for the settle- 
 ment of railway labor disputes by arbitration, upon 
 agreement of both parties. 
 
 Arbitration signifies a judicial attitude of mind, a 
 
86 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 judgment based on facts. These facts are derived 
 from specific conditions and do not grow out of 
 broad generalizations. Arbitral tribunals are cre- 
 ated to decide points in dispute, not philosophies 
 of human action. The businesslike organization 
 of the new trade union could as readily adapt it- 
 self to arbitration as it had already adapted itself, 
 in isolated instances, to collective bargaining. A 
 new stage had therefore been reached in the labor 
 movement. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 FEDEKATION 
 
 Experience and events had now paved the way 
 for that vast centralization of industry which char- 
 acterizes the business world of the present era. 
 The terms sugar, coffee, steel, tobacco, oil, acquire 
 on the stock exchange a new and precise mean- 
 ing. Seventy-five per cent of steel, eighty-three 
 per cent of petroleum, ninety per cent of sugar pro- 
 duction are brought under the control of indus- 
 trial combinations. Nearly one-fourth of the wage- 
 earners of America are employed by great cor- 
 portions. But while financiers are talking only 
 in terms of millions, while super-organization is 
 reaching its eager fingers into every industry, and 
 while the units of business are becoming national in 
 scope, the workingman himself is being taught at 
 last to rely more and more upon group action in 
 his endeavor to obtain better wages and working 
 conditions. He is taught also to widen the area of 
 
 87 
 
88 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 his organization and to intensify its efforts. So, 
 while the pubhc reads in the daily and periodical 
 press about the oil trust and the coffee trust, it 
 is also being admonished against a labor trust and 
 against two personages, both symbols of colossal 
 economic unrest — the promoter, or the stalking 
 horse of financial enterprise, and the walking dele- 
 gate, or the labor union representative and only 
 too frequently the advance agent of bitterness 
 and revenge. 
 
 In response to the call of the hour there appeared 
 the American Federation of Labor, frequently called 
 in these later days the labor trust. The Federa- 
 tion was first suggested at Terre Haute, Indiana, 
 on August 2, 1881, at a convention called by the 
 Knights of Industry and the Amalgamated La- 
 bor Union, two secret societies patterned after the 
 model common at that period. The Amalgamated 
 Union was composed largely of disaffected Knights 
 of Labor, and the avowed purpose of the Conven- 
 tion was to organize a new secret society to sup- 
 plant the Knights. But the trades union element 
 predominated and held up the British Trades Un- 
 ion and its powerful annual congress as a model. 
 At this meeting the needs of intensive local organi- 
 zation, of trades autonomy, and of comprehensive 
 
FEDERATION 89 
 
 team work were foreseen, and from the discussion 
 there grew a plan for a second convention. With 
 this meeting, which was held at Pittsburgh in No- 
 vember, 1881, the actual work of the new association 
 began under the name, "The Federation of Organ- 
 ized Trades and Labor Unions of the United States 
 of America and Canada. " 
 
 When this Federation learned that a conven- 
 tion representing independent trade unions was 
 called to meet in Columbus, Ohio, in December, 
 1886, it promptly altered its arrangements for its 
 own annual session so that it, too, met at the same 
 time and place. Thereupon the Federation effect- 
 ed a union with this independent body, which 
 represented twenty -five organizations. The new 
 organization was called the American Federation 
 of Labor. Until 1889, this was considered as the 
 first annual meeting of the new organization, but in 
 that year the Federation resolved that its "con- 
 tinuity ... be recognized and dated from the 
 year 1881." 
 
 For some years the membership increased slowly; 
 but in 1889 over 70,000 new members were re- 
 ported, in 1900 over 200,000, and from that time 
 the Federation has given evidence of such growth 
 and prosperity that it easily is the most powerful 
 
90 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 labor organization America has known, and it 
 takes its place by the side of the British Trades 
 Union Congress as "the sovereign organization in 
 the trade union world." In 1917 its membership 
 reached 2,371,434, with 110 affiliated national 
 unions, representing virtually every element of 
 American industry excepting the railway brother- 
 hoods and a dissenting group of electrical workers. 
 
 The foundation of this vast organization was the 
 interest of particular trades rather than the inter- 
 ests of labor in general. Its membership is made 
 up "of such Trade and Labor Unions as shall con- 
 form to its rules and regulations." The preamble 
 of the Constitution states: "We therefore declare 
 ourselves in favor of the formation of a thorough 
 federation, embracing every trade and labor organ- 
 ization in America under the Trade Union System 
 of organization." The Knights of Labor had en- 
 deavored to subordinate the parts to the whole; 
 the American Federation is willing to bend the 
 whole to the needs of the unit. It zealously sends 
 out its organizers to form local unions and has 
 made provision that "any seven wage workers of 
 good character following any trade or calling" can 
 estabhsh a local union with federal affihations. 
 
 This vast and potent organization is based upon 
 
FEDERATION 91 
 
 the principle of trade homogeneity — namely, that 
 each trade is primarily interested in its own par- 
 ticular affairs but that all trades are interested 
 in those general matters which affect all laboring 
 men as a class. To combine effectually these dual 
 interests, the Federation espouses the principle of 
 home rule in purely local matters and of federal 
 supervision in all general matters. It combines, 
 with a great singleness of purpose, so diverse a 
 variety of details that it touches the minutiae of 
 every trade and places at the disposal of the hum- 
 blest craftsman or laborer the tremendous powers 
 of its national influence. While highly centralized in 
 organization, it is nevertheless democratic in oper- 
 ation, depending generally upon the referendum 
 for its sanctions. It is flexible in its parts and 
 can mobilize both its heavy artillery and its caval- 
 ry with equal readiness. It has from the first been 
 managed with skill, energy, and great adroitness. 
 
 The supreme authority of the American Feder- 
 ation is its Annual Convention composed of dele- 
 gates chosen from national and international un- 
 ions, from state, central, and local trade unions, 
 and from fraternal organizations. Experience has 
 evolved a few simple rules by which the conven- 
 tion is safeguarded against political and factional 
 
92 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 debate and against the interruptions of "sore- 
 heads." Besides attending to the necessary rou- 
 tine, the Convention elects the eleven national 
 officers who form the executive council which 
 guides the administrative details of the organi- 
 zation. The funds of the Federation are derived 
 from a per capita tax on the membership. The 
 official organ is the Americati Federationist. It is 
 interesting to note in passing that over two hun- 
 dred and forty labor periodicals together with a 
 continual stream of circulars and pamphlets issue 
 from the trades union press. 
 
 The Federation is divided into five departments, 
 representing the most important groups of labor: 
 the Building Trades, the Metal Trades, Mining, 
 Railroad Employees, and the Union Label Trades. ' 
 Each of these departments has its own autonomous 
 sphere of action, its own set of officers, its own 
 financial arrangements, its own administrative 
 details. Each holds an annual convention, in the 
 same place and week, as the Federation. Each is 
 made up of affiliated unions only and confines itself 
 solely to the interest of its own trades. This sub- 
 organization serves as an admirable clearing house 
 
 ' There is in the Federation, however, a group of unions not 
 affiliated with any of these departments. 
 
FEDERATION 93 
 
 and shock-absorber and succeeds in eliminating 
 much of the friction which occurs between the 
 several unions. 
 
 There are also forty-three state branches of the 
 Federation, each with its own separate organization. 
 There are annual state conventions whose member- 
 ship, however, is not always restricted to unions 
 affiliated with the American Federation. Some of 
 these state organizations antedate the Federation. 
 
 There remain the local unions, into personal 
 touch with which each member comes. There 
 were in 1916 as many as 647 "city centrals," the 
 term used to designate the affiliation of the unions 
 of a city. The city centrals are smaller replicas of 
 the state federations and are made up of delegates 
 elected by the individual unions. They meet at 
 stated intervals and freely discuss questions relat- 
 ing to the welfare of organized labor in general as 
 well as to local labor conditions in every trade. 
 Indeed, vigilance seems to be the watchword of 
 the Central. Organization, wages, trade agree- 
 ments, and the attitude of public officials and city 
 councils which even remotely might affect labor 
 rarely escape their scrutiny. This oldest of all the 
 groups of labor organizations remains the most 
 vital part of the Federation. 
 
94 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 The success of the American Federation of Labor 
 is due in large measure to the crafty generalship 
 of its President, Samuel Gompers, one of the most 
 astute labor leaders developed by American econo- 
 mic conditions. He helped organize the Feder- 
 ation, carefully nursed it through its tender years, 
 and boldly and unhesitatingly used its great power 
 in the days of its maturity. In fact, in a very real 
 sense the Federation is Gompers, and Gompers is 
 the Federation. Born in London of Dutch-Jewish 
 lineage, on January 27, 1850, the son of a cigar- 
 maker, Samuel Gompers was early apprenticed to 
 that craft. At the age of thirteen he went to New 
 York City, where in the following year he joined 
 the first cigar-makers' union organized in that city. 
 He enlisted all his boyish ardor in the cause of the 
 trade union and, after he arrived at maturity, was 
 elected successively secretary and president of his 
 union. The local unions were, at that time, gin- 
 gerly feeling their way towards state and national 
 organization, and in these early attempts young 
 Gompers was active. In 1887, he was one of the 
 delegates to a national meeting which constituted 
 the nucleus of what is now the Cigar-makers' 
 International Union. 
 
 The local cigar-makers' union in which Gompers 
 
FEDERATION 95 
 
 received his necessary preliminary training was one 
 of the most enHghtened and compactly organized 
 groups of American labor. It was one of the first 
 American Unions to adopt in an efficient manner 
 the British system of benefits in the case of sick- 
 ness, death, or unemployment. It is one of the few 
 American unions that persistently encourages skill 
 in its craft and intelligence in its membership. It 
 has been a pioneer in collective bargaining and in 
 arbitration. It has been conservatively and yet 
 enthusiastically led and has generally succeeded 
 in enlisting the respect and cooperation of employ- 
 ers. This union has been the kindergarten and 
 preparatory school of Samuel Gompers, who, dur- 
 ing all the years of his wide activities as the head 
 of the Federation of Labor, has retained his mem- 
 bership in his old local and has acted as first 
 vice-president of the Cigar-makers' International. 
 These early experiences, precedents, and enthusi- 
 asms Gompers carried with him into the Federa- 
 tion of Labor. He was one of the original group 
 of trade union representatives who organized the 
 Federation in 1881. In the following year he was 
 its President. Since 1885 he has, with the excep- 
 tion of a single year, been annually chosen as 
 President. During the first years the Federation 
 
was very weak, and it was even doubtful if the 
 organization could survive the bitter hostihty of 
 the powerful Knights of Labor. It could pay its 
 President no salary and could barely meet his 
 expense account.' Gompers played a large part 
 in the complete reorganization of the Federation 
 in 1886. He subsequently received a yearly salary 
 of $1000 so that he could devote all of his time to 
 the cause. From this year forward the growth of 
 the Federation was steady and healthy. In the 
 last decade it has been phenomenal. The earher 
 policy of caution has, however, not been discarded 
 — for caution is the word that most aptly de- 
 scribes the methods of Gompers. From the first, he 
 tested every step carefully, like a wary mountain- 
 eer, before he urged his organization to follow. 
 From the beginning Gompers has followed three 
 general lines of policy. First, he has built the im- 
 posing structure of his Federation upon the au- 
 tonomy of the constituent unions. This is the se- 
 cret of the united enthusiasm of the Federation. 
 It is the Anglo-Saxon instinct for home rule apphed 
 to trade union politics. In the tentative years of its 
 early struggles, the Federation could hope for survi- 
 val only upon the suffrance of the trade union, and 
 
 ' In one of the early years this was $13. 
 
FEDERATION 97 
 
 today, when the Federation has become powerful, 
 its potencies rest upon the same foundation. 
 
 Secondly, Gompers has always advocated frugal- 
 ity in money matters. His Federation is powerful 
 but not rich. Its demands upon the resources of 
 the trade unions have always been moderate, and 
 the salaries paid have been modest.' When the 
 Federation erected a new building for its headquar- 
 ters in Washington a few years ago, it symbolized 
 in its architecture and equipment this modest yet 
 adequate and substantial financial policy. Amer- 
 ican labor unions have not yet achieved the op- 
 ulence, ambitions, and splendors of the guilds of the 
 Middle Ages and do not yet direct their activities 
 from splendid guild halls. 
 
 In the third place, Gompers has always insisted 
 upon the democratic methods of debate and refer- 
 endum in reaching important decisions. However 
 arbitrary and intolerant his impulses may have 
 been, and however dogmatic and narrow his 
 conclusions in regard to the relation of labor to 
 society and towards the employer (and his Dutch 
 inheritance gives him great obstinacy), he has 
 
 ' Before 1899 the annual income of the Federation was less than 
 $25,000; in 1901 it reached the $100,000 mark; and since 1903 it has 
 exceeded $200,000. 
 
astutely refrained from too obviously bossing his 
 own organization. 
 
 With this sagacity of leadership Gompers has 
 combined a fearlessness that sometimes verges on 
 brazenness. He has never hesitated to enter a con- 
 test when it seemed prudent to him to do so. He 
 crossed swords with Theodore Roosevelt on more 
 than one occasion and with President Eliot of Har- 
 vard in a historic newspaper controversy over trade 
 union exclusiveness. He has not been daunted by 
 conventions, commissions, courts, congresses, or 
 public opinion . During the long term of his Federa- 
 tion presidency, which is unparalleled in labor his- 
 tory and alone is conclusive evidence of his executive 
 skill, scarcely a year has passed without some dra- 
 matic incident to cast the searchlight of publicity 
 upon him — a court decision, a congressional in- 
 quiry, a grand jury inquisition, a great strike, a 
 nation-wide boycott, a debate with noted public 
 men, a political maneuver, or a foreign pilgrimage. 
 Whenever a constituent union in the Federation 
 has been the object of attack, he has jumped into 
 the fray and has rarely emerged humiliated from 
 the encounter. This is the more surprising when 
 one recalls that he possesses the limitations of the 
 zealot and the dogmatism of the partisan. 
 
FEDERATION 99 
 
 One of the most important functions of Gompers 
 has been that of national lobbyist for the Feder- 
 ation. He was one of the earliest champions of 
 the eight-hour day and the Saturday half-holiday. 
 He has energetically espoused Federal child labor 
 legislation, the restriction of immigration, ahen 
 contract labor laws, and employers' liability laws. 
 He advocated the creation of a Federal Depart- 
 ment of Labor which has recently developed into a 
 cabinet secretariat. His legal bete noire, however, 
 was the Sherman Anti-Trust Law as applied to la- 
 bor unions. For many years he fought vehement- 
 ly for an amending act exempting the laboring class 
 from the rigors of that famous statute. Presi- 
 dent Roosevelt with characteristic candor told a 
 delegation of Federation officials who called on 
 him to enlist his sympathy in their attempt, that 
 he would enforce the law impartially against law- 
 breakers, rich and poor alike. Roosevelt recom- 
 mended to Congress the passage of an amendment 
 exempting "combinations existing for and engaged 
 in the promotion of innocent and proper pur- 
 poses." An exempting bill was passed by Con- 
 gress but was vetoed by President Taft on the 
 ground that it was class legislation . Finally, during 
 President Wilson's administration, the Federation 
 
100 THE ARMIES UE LAUUK 
 
 accomplished its purpose, first indirectly by a rider 
 on an appropriation bill, then directly by the 
 Clayton Act, which specifically declared labor 
 combinations, instituted for the "purpose of mu- 
 tual help and . . . not conducted for profit," not 
 to be in restraint of trade. Both measures were 
 signed by the President. Encouraged by their 
 success, the Federation leaders have moved with 
 a renewed energy against the other legal citadel 
 of their antagonists, the use of the injunction in 
 strike cases. 
 
 Gompers has thus been the political watchman 
 of the labor interests. Nothing pertaining, even 
 remotely, to labor conditions escapes the vigilance 
 of his Washington office. During President Wil- 
 son's administration, Gompers's influence achieved 
 a power second to none in the political field, ow- 
 ing partly to the political power of the labor vote 
 which he ingeniously marshalled, partly to the 
 natural inclination of the dominant political party, 
 and partly to the strategic position of labor in the 
 war industries. 
 
 The Great War put an unprecedented strain 
 upon the American Federation of Labor. In 
 every center of industry laborers of foreign birth 
 early showed their racial sympathies, and under 
 
FEDERATION 101 
 
 the stimuli of the intriguing German and Austrian 
 ambassadors sinister plots for cripphng munitions 
 plants and the shipping industries were hatched 
 everywhere. Moreover, workingmen became res- 
 tive under the burden of increasing prices, and 
 strikes for higher wages occurred almost daily. 
 
 At the beginning of the War, the ofBcers of the 
 Federation maintained a calm and neutral atti- 
 tude which increased in vigilance as the strain 
 upon American patience and creduhty increased. 
 As soon as the United States declared war, the 
 whole energies of the oflScials of the Federation 
 were cast into the national cause. In 1917, under 
 the leadership of Gompers, and as a practical anti- 
 dote to the I. W. W. and the foreign labor and 
 pacifist organization known as The People's Coun- 
 cil, there was organized The American Alliance 
 for Labor and Democracy in order "to American- 
 ize the labor movement." Its campaign at once 
 became nation wide. Enthusiastic meetings were 
 held in the great manufacturing centers, stimulated 
 to enthusiasm by the incisive eloquence of Gom- 
 pers. At the annual convention of the Federa- 
 tion held in Buffalo in November, 1917, full 
 endorsement was given to the Alliance by a vote of 
 21,602 to 402. In its formal statement the Alliance 
 
102 THE ARMIES Oi^' LABUK 
 
 declared: "It is our purpose to try, by educational 
 methods, to bring about a more American spirit 
 in the labor movement, so that what is now the 
 clear expression of the vast majority may become 
 the conviction of all. Where we find ignorance, we 
 shall educate. Where we find something worse, we 
 shall have to deal as the situation demands. But 
 we are going to leave no stone unturned to put 
 a stop to anti-American activities among work- 
 ers." And in this patriotic effort the Alliance was 
 successful. 
 
 This was the first great step taken by Gompers 
 and the Federation. The second was equally im- 
 portant. With characteristic energy the organi- 
 zation put forward a programme for the readjust- 
 ment of labor to war conditions. "This is labor's 
 war" declared the manifesto issued by the Feder- 
 ation. "It must be won by labor, and every stage 
 in the fighting and the final victory must be made to 
 count for humanity." These aims were embodied 
 in constructive suggestions adopted by the Council 
 of National Defense appointed by President Wil- 
 son. This programme was in a large measure the 
 work of Gompers, who was a member of the Coun- 
 cil. The following outline shows the comprehen- 
 sive nature of the view which the laborer took of 
 
FEDERATION 103 
 
 the relation between task and the War. The plan 
 embraced : 
 
 1. Means for furnishing an adequate supply of 
 labor to war industries. 
 
 This included : (a) A system of labor exchanges, 
 (b) The training of workers, (c) Agencies for 
 determining priorities in labor demands, (d) 
 Agencies for the dilution of skilled labor. 
 
 2. Machinery for adjusting disputes between 
 capital and labor, without stoppage of work. 
 
 3. Machinery for safeguarding conditions of la- 
 bor, including industrial hygiene, safety appliances, 
 etc. 
 
 4. Machinery for safeguarding conditions of 
 living, including housing, etc. 
 
 5. Machinery for gathering data necessary for 
 effective executive action. 
 
 6. Machinery for developing sound public senti- 
 ment and an exchange of information between the 
 various departments of labor administration, the 
 numerous industrial plants, and the public, so as 
 to facilitate the carrying out of a national labor 
 programme. 
 
 Having thus first laid the foundations of a na- 
 tional labor poHcy and having, in the second place, 
 developed an effective means of Americanizing, as 
 
104 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 far as possible, the various labor groups, the Fed- 
 eration took another step. As a third essential 
 element in uniting labor to help to win the war, 
 it turned its attention to the inter-allied solidar- 
 ity of workingmen. In the late summer and au- 
 tumn of 1917, Gompers headed an American labor 
 mission to Europe and visited England, Belgium, 
 France, and Italy. His frequent public utterances 
 in numerous cities received particular attention in 
 the leading European newspapers and were eagerly 
 read in the allied countries. The pacifist group 
 of the British Labour Party did not relish his out- 
 spokenness on the necessity of completely defeat- 
 ing the Teutons before peace overtures could be 
 made. On the other hand, some of the ultracon- 
 servative papers misconstrued his sentiments on 
 the terms which should be exacted from the enemy 
 when victory was assured. This misunderstand- 
 ing led to an acrid international newspaper con- 
 troversy, to which Gompers finally replied: "I ut- 
 tered no sentence or word which by the wildest 
 imagination could be interpreted as advocating 
 the formula 'no annexations, and no indemnities.' 
 On the contrary, I have declared, both in the 
 United States and in conferences and public meet- 
 ings while abroad, that the German forces must be 
 
FEDERATION 105 
 
 driven back from the invaded territory before even 
 peace terms could be discussed, that Alsace-Lor- 
 raine should be returned to France, that the ' Irre- 
 dente' should be returned to Italy, and that the 
 imperialistic militarist machine which has so out- 
 raged the conscience of the world must be made to 
 feel the indignation and righteous wrath of all 
 liberty and peace loving peoples. " This mission 
 had a deep effect in uniting the labor populations of 
 the allied countries and especially in cheering the 
 over-wrought workers of Britain and France, and 
 it succeeded in laying the foundation for a more 
 lasting international labor solidarity. 
 
 This considerable achievement was recognized 
 when the Peace Conference at Paris formed a Com- 
 mission on International Labor Legislation. Gom- 
 pers was selected as one of the American represen- 
 tatives and was chosen chairman. While the Com- 
 mission was busy with its tasks, an international 
 labor conference was held at Berne. Gompers and 
 his colleagues, however, refused to attend this con- 
 ference. They gave as their reasons for this aloof- 
 ness the facts that delegates from the Central pow- 
 ers, with whom the United States was still at war, 
 were in attendance; that the meeting was held "for 
 the purpose of arranging socialist procedure of an 
 
106 THE ARMIES UE LAJ5UK 
 
 international character"; and that the convention 
 was irregularly called, for it had been announced as 
 an inter-allied conf erencebuthad been surreptitious- 
 ly converted into an international pacifist gather- 
 ing, conniving with German and Austrian socialists. 
 Probably the most far-reaching achievement of 
 Gompers is the by no means inconsiderable con- 
 tribution he has made to that portion of the treaty 
 of peace with Germany relating to the interna- 
 tional organization of labor. This is an entirely 
 new departure in the history of labor, for it at- 
 tempts to provide international machinery for 
 stabilizing conditions of labor in the various sig- 
 natory countries. On the ground that "the well- 
 being, physical and moral, of the industrial wage- 
 earners is of supreme international importance," 
 the treaty lays down guiding principles to be fol- 
 lowed by the various countries, subject to such 
 changes as variations in climate, customs, and 
 economic conditions dictate. These principles are 
 as follows : labor shall not be regarded merely as a 
 commodity or an article of commerce; employers 
 and employees shall have the right of forming 
 associations; a wage adequate to maintain a rea- 
 sonable standard of living shall be paid; an eight- 
 hour day shall be adopted; a weekly day of rest 
 
FEDERATION 107 
 
 shall be allowed; child labor shall be abolished and 
 provision shall be made for the education of youth; 
 men and women shall receive equal pay for equal 
 work; equitable treatment shall be accorded to 
 all workers, including aliens resident in foreign 
 lands; and an adequate system of inspection shall 
 be provided in which women should take part. 
 
 While these international adjustments were tak- 
 ing place, the American Federation began to antici- 
 pate the problems of the inevitable national labor 
 readjustment after the war. Through a committee 
 appointed for that purpose, it prepared an ample 
 programme of reconstruction in which the basic 
 features are the greater participation of labor in 
 shaping its environment, both in the factory and in 
 the community, the development of cooperative 
 enterprise, public ownership or regulation of pub- 
 he utilities, strict supervision of corporations, re- 
 striction of immigration, and the development of 
 public education. The programme ends by de- 
 claring that "the trade union movement is unal- 
 terably and emphatically opposed ... to a large 
 standing army." 
 
 During the entire period of the war, both at 
 home and abroad, Gompers fought the pacifist and 
 the socialist elements in the labor movement. At 
 
108 THE ARMIES OE LAiJUK 
 
 the same time he was ever vigilant in pushing for- 
 ward the claims of trade unionism and was always 
 beforehand in constructive suggestions. His life 
 has spanned the period of great industrial expan- 
 sion in America. He has had the satisfaction of 
 seeing his Federation grow under his leadership at 
 first into a national and then into an internation- 
 al force. Gompers is an orthodox trade unionist of 
 the British School. Bolshevism is to him a syn- 
 onym for social ruin. He believes that capital 
 and labor should cooperate but that capital should 
 cease to be the predominant factor in the equation. 
 In order to secure this balance he believes la- 
 bor must unite and fight, and to this end he has 
 devoted himself to the federation of American 
 trade unions and to their battle. He has stead- 
 fastly refused political preferment and has de- 
 clined many alluring offers to enter private busi- 
 ness. In action he is an opportunist — a shrewd, 
 calculating captain, whose knowledge of human 
 frailties stands him in good stead, and whose per- 
 sonal acquaintance with hundreds of leaders of 
 labor, of finance, and of politics, all over the coun- 
 try, has given him an unusual opportunity to use 
 his influence for the advancement of the cause of 
 labor in the turbulent field of economic warfare. 
 
m 
 
 FEDERATION 109 
 
 The American Federation of Labor has been 
 forced by the increasing complexity of modern 
 industrial life to recede somewhat from its early 
 trade union isolation. This broadening point of 
 view is shown first in the recognition of the man of 
 no trade, the unskilled worker. For years the 
 skilled trades monopolized the Federation and 
 would not condescend to interest themselves in 
 their humble brethren. The whole mechanism of 
 the Federation in the earlier period revolved 
 around the organization of the skilled laborers. 
 In England the great dockers' strike of 1889 and in 
 America the lurid flare of the I. W. W. activities 
 forced the labor aristocrat to abandon his pharisaic 
 attitude and to take an interest in the welfare of 
 the unskilled. The future will test the stability 
 of the Federation, for it is among the unskilled 
 that radical and revolutionary movements find 
 their first recruits. 
 
 A further change in the internal policy of the 
 Federation is indicated by the present tendency 
 towards amalgamating the various allied trades 
 into one union. For instance, the United Bro- 
 therhood of Carpenters and the Amalgamated 
 Wood Workers' Association, composed largely of 
 furniture makers and machine wood workers. 
 
110 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 combined a few years ago and then proceeded to 
 absorb the Wooden Box Makers, and the Wood 
 Workers in the shipbuilding industry. The gen- 
 eral secretary of the new amalgamation said that 
 the organization looked "forward with pleasur- 
 able anticipations to the day when it can truly be 
 said that all men of the wood- working craft on this 
 continent hold allegiance to the United Brother- 
 hood of Carpenters and Joiners of America." A 
 similar unification has taken place in the lumber- 
 ing industry. When the shingle weavers formed an 
 international union some fifteen years ago, they 
 limited the membership "to the men employed in 
 skilled departments of the shingle trade." In 1912 
 the American Federation of Labor sanctioned a 
 plan for including in one organization all the 
 workers in the lumber industry, both skilled and 
 unskilled. This is a far cry from the minute trade 
 autocracy taught by the orthodox unionist thirty 
 years ago. 
 
 Today the Federation of Labor is one of the most 
 imposing organizations in the social system of 
 America. It reaches the workers in every trade. 
 Every contributor to the physical necessities of 
 our materialistic civilization has felt the far-reach- 
 ing influence of confederated power. A sense of its 
 
FEDERATION 111 
 
 strength pervades the Federation. Like a healthy, 
 seK-conscious giant, it stalks apace among our 
 national organizations. Through its cautious yet 
 pronounced policy, through its seeking after defi- 
 nite results and excluding all economic vagaries, it 
 bids fair to overcome the disputes that disturb it 
 from within and the onslaughts of Socialism and of 
 Bolshevism that threaten it from without. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE TRADE UNION 
 
 The trade union ' forms the foundation upon which 
 the whole edifice of the American Federation of 
 Labor is built. Like the Federation, each particu- 
 lar trade union has a tripartite structure: there is 
 first the national body called the Union, the Inter- 
 national, the General Union, or the Grand Lodge; 
 there is secondly the district division or council, 
 which is merely a convenient general union in min- 
 iature; and finally there is the local individual 
 union, usually called "the local." Some unions, 
 such as the United Mine Workers, have a fourth 
 division or subdistrict, but this is not the general 
 practice. 
 
 The sovereign authority of a trade union is its 
 general convention, a delegate body meeting at 
 stated times. Some unions meet annually, some 
 
 ' The term "trade union " is used here in its popular sense, em- 
 bracing labor, trade, and industrial unions, unless otherwise specified. 
 
 112 
 
THE TEADE UNION 113 
 
 biennially, some triennially, and a few determine 
 by referendum when the convention is to meet. 
 Sometimes a long interval elapses : the granite cut- 
 ters, for instance, held no convention between 
 1880 and 1912, and the cigar-makers, after a con- 
 vention in 1896, did not meet for sixteen years. 
 The initiative and referendum are, in some of the 
 more compact unions, taking the place of the gen- 
 eral convention, while the small executive council 
 insures promptness of administrative action. 
 
 The convention elects the general officers. Of 
 these the president is the most conspicuous, for he 
 is the field marshal of the forces and fills a large 
 place in the public eye when a great strike is called. 
 It was in this capacity that John Mitchell rose to 
 sudden eminence during the historic anthracite 
 strike in 1902, and George W. Perkins of the cigar- 
 makers' union achieved his remarkable hold upon 
 the laboring people. As the duties of the president 
 of a union have increased, it has become the custom 
 to elect numerous vice-presidents to relieve him. 
 Each of these has certain specific functions to per- 
 form, but all remain the president's aides. One, 
 for instance, may be the financier, another the 
 strike agent, another the organizer, another the 
 agitator. With such a group of virtual specialists 
 
lit inni AnivjLiniO V7x? xjjxd\ji\ 
 
 around a chieftain, a union has the immense ad- 
 vantage of centralized command and of highly 
 organized leadership. The tendency, especially 
 among the more conservative unions, is to reelect 
 these officers year after year. The president of 
 the Carpenters' Union held his office for twenty 
 years, and John Mitchell served the miners as 
 president ten years. Under the immediate super- 
 vision of the president, an executive board com- 
 posed of all the officers guides the destinies of the 
 union. When this board is not occupied with the 
 relations of the men to their employers, it gives its 
 judicial consideration to the more delicate and 
 more difficult questions of inter-union comity and 
 of local differences. 
 
 The local union is the oldest labor organization, 
 and a few existing locals can trace their origin as 
 far back as the decade preceding the Civil War. 
 Many more antedate the organization of the Fed- 
 eration. Not a few of these almost historic local 
 unions have refused to surrender their complete 
 independence by affiliating with those of recent 
 origin, but they have remained merely isolated in- 
 dependent locals with very little general influence. 
 The vast majority of local unions are members of 
 the national trades union and of the Federation. 
 
THE TRADE UNION 115 
 
 The local union is the place where the laborer 
 comes into direct personal contact with this power- 
 ful entity that has become such a factor in his daily 
 life. Here he can satisfy that longing for the rec- 
 ognition of his point of view denied him in the 
 great factory and here he can meet men of similar 
 condition, on terms of equality, to discuss freely 
 and without fear the topics that interest him most. 
 There is an immense psychic potency in this inti- 
 mate association of fellow workers, especially in 
 some of the older unions which have accumulated 
 a tradition. 
 
 It is in the local union that the real life of the 
 labor organization must be nourished, and the 
 statesmanship of the national leaders is directed to 
 maintaining the greatest degree of local autonomy 
 consistent with the interests of national homo- 
 geneity. The individual laborer thus finds himself 
 a member of a group of his fellows with whom he is 
 personally acquainted, who elect their own officers, 
 to a large measure fix their own dues, transact their 
 own routine business, discipline their own mem- 
 bers, and whenever possible make their own terms 
 of employment with their employers. The local 
 unions are obliged to pay their tithe into the great- 
 er treasury, to make stated reports, to appoint a 
 
116 THE AKMIES UJb EAKUK 
 
 certain roster of committees, and in certain small 
 matters to conform to the requirements of the na- 
 tional union. On the whole, however, they are 
 independent little democracies confederated, with 
 others of their kind, by means of district and 
 national organizations. 
 
 The unions representing the different trades vary 
 in structure and spirit. There is an immense 
 difference between the temper of the tumultuous 
 structural iron workers and the contemplative 
 cigar-makers, who often hire one of their number to 
 read to them while engaged in their work, the 
 favorite authors being in many instances Ruskin 
 and Carlyle. Some unions are more successful than 
 others in collective bargaining. Martin Fox, the 
 able leader of the iron moulders, signed one of the 
 first trade agreements in America and fixed the 
 tradition for his union; and the shoemakers, as well 
 as most of the older unions are fairly well accus- 
 tomed to collective bargaining. In matters of dis- 
 cipline, too, the unions vary. Printers and certain 
 of the more skilled trades find it easier to enforce 
 their regulations than do the longshoremen and 
 unions composed of casual foreign laborers. In 
 size also the unions of the different trades vary. 
 In 1910 three had a membership of over 100,000 
 
THE TRADE UNION 117 
 
 each. Of these the United Mine Workers reached a 
 total of 370,800, probably the largest trades union 
 in the world. The majority of the unions have a 
 membership between 1000 and 10,000, the average 
 for the entire number being 5000 ; but the member- 
 ship fluctuates from year to year, according to the 
 conditions of labor, and is usually larger in seasons 
 of contest. Fluctuation in membership is most 
 evident in the newer unions and in the unskilled 
 trades. The various unions differ also in resources. 
 In some, especially those composed largely of for- 
 eigners, the treasury is chronically empty; yet at 
 the other extreme the mine workers distributed 
 $1,890,000 in strike benefits in 1902 and had $750,- 
 000 left when the board of arbitration sent the 
 workers back into the mines. 
 
 The efforts of the unions to adjvist themselves to 
 the quickly changing conditions of modern indus- 
 try are not always successful. Old trade lines are 
 constantly shifting, creating the most perplexing 
 problem of inter-union amity. Over two score 
 jurisdictional controversies appear for settlement 
 at each annual convention of the American Fed- 
 eration. The Association of Longshoremen and 
 the Seamen's Union, for example, both claim juris- 
 diction over employees in marine warehouses. The 
 
118 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 cigar-makers and the stogie-makers have also long 
 been at swords' points. Who shall have control 
 over the coopers who work in breweries — the 
 Brewery Workers or the Coopers' Union? Who 
 shall adjust the machinery in elevators — the Ma- 
 chinists or Elevator Constructors? Is the opera- 
 tor of a linotype machine a typesetter? So plaster- 
 ers and carpenters, blacksmiths and structural iron 
 workers, printing pressmen and plate engravers, 
 hod carriers and cement workers, are at logger- 
 heads; the electrification of a railway creates a 
 jurisdictional problem between the electrical rail- 
 way employees and the locomotive engineers; and 
 the marble workers and the plasterers quarrel as to 
 the setting of imitation marble. These quarrels 
 regarding the claims of rival unions reveal the 
 weakness of the Federation as an arbitral body. 
 There is no centralized authority to impose a stand- 
 ard or principle which could lead to the settlement 
 of such disputes. Trade jealousy has overcome the 
 suggestions of the peacemakers that either the 
 nature of the tools used, or the nature of the opera- 
 tion, or the character of the establishment be taken 
 as the basis of settlement. 
 
 When the Federation itself fails as a peacemaker, 
 it cannot be expected that locals will escape these 
 
THE TRADE UNION 119 
 
 controversies. There are many examples, often 
 ludicrous, of petty jealousies and trade rivalries. 
 The man who tried to build a brick house, employ- 
 ing union bricklayers to lay the brick and union 
 painters to paint the brick walls, found to his loss 
 that such painting was considered a bricklayer's 
 job by the bricklayers' union, who charged a higher 
 wage than the painters would have done. It would 
 have relieved him to have the two unions amalga- 
 mate. And this in general has become a real way 
 out of the difficulty. For instance, a dispute be- 
 tween the Steam and Hot Water Fitters and the 
 Plumbers was settled by an amalgamation called 
 the United Association of Journeymen Plumbers, 
 Gas Fitters, Steam Fitters, and Steam Fitters' 
 Helpers, which is now affiliated with the Federa- 
 tion. But the International Association of Steam, 
 Hot Water, and Power Pipe Fitters and Helpers 
 is not affiliated, and inter-union war results. The 
 older unions, however, have a stabilizing influence 
 upon the newer, and a genuine conservatism such 
 as characterizes the British unions is becoming 
 more apparent as age solidifies custom and lends 
 respect to by-laws and constitutions. But even 
 time cannot obviate the seismic effects of new in- 
 ventions, and shifts in jurisdictional matters are 
 
120 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 always imminent. The dominant policy of the 
 trade union is to keep its feet on the earth, no 
 matter where its head may be, to take one step at 
 a time, and not to trouble about the future of 
 society. This purpose, which has from the first 
 been the prompter of union activity, was clearly 
 enunciated in the testimony of Adolph Strasser, a 
 converted socialist, one of the leading trade union- 
 ists, and president of the Cigar-makers' Union, 
 before a Senate Committee in 1883: 
 
 Chairman: You are seeking to improve home matters 
 
 first? 
 Witness: Yes sir, I look first to the trade I represent: 
 
 I look first to cigars, to the interests of 
 
 men who employ me to represent their 
 
 interests. 
 Chairman: I was only asking you in regard to your 
 
 ultimate ends. 
 Witness : We have no ultimate ends. We are going 
 
 on from day to day. We are fighting only 
 
 for immediate objects — objects that can 
 
 be realized in a few years. 
 Chairman: You want something better to eat and to 
 
 wear, and better houses to live in? 
 Witness: Yes, we want to dress better and to live 
 
 better, and become better citizens gener- 
 
 ally. 
 Chairman : I see that you are a little sensitive lest it 
 
 should be thought that you are a mere, 
 
THE TRADE UNION 121 
 
 theorizer. I do not look upon you in that 
 light at all. 
 Witness: Well, we say in our constitution that we 
 are opposed to theorists, and I have to 
 represent the organization here. We are 
 all practical men. 
 
 This remains substantially the trade union plat- 
 form today. Trade unionists all aim to be "prac- 
 tical men." 
 
 The trade union has been the training school 
 for the labor leader, that comparatively new and 
 increasingly important personage who is a product 
 of modern industrial society. Possessed of natural 
 aptitudes, he usually passes by a process of logical 
 evolution, through the important committees and 
 offices of his local into the wider sphere of the 
 national union, where as president or secretary, 
 he assumes the leadership of his group. Circum- 
 stances and conditions impose a heavy burden 
 upon him, and his tasks call for a variety of gifts. 
 Because some particular leader lacked tact or a 
 sense of justice or some similar equality, many a 
 labor maneuver has failed, and many a labor organi- 
 zation has suffered in the public esteem. No other 
 class relies so much upon wise leadership as does 
 the laboring class. The average wage-earner is 
 
122 TRt: AKJMLEb (Jf L,A«UK 
 
 without experience in confronting a new situation 
 or trained and superior minds. From his tasks he 
 has learned only the routine of his craft. When 
 he is faced with the necessity of prompt action, 
 he is therefore obliged to depend upon his chosen 
 captains for results. 
 
 In America these leaders have risen from the 
 rank and file of labor. Their education is limited. 
 The great majority have only a primary schooling. 
 Many have supplemented this meager stock of 
 learning by rather wide but desultory reading and 
 by keen observation. A few have read law, and 
 some have attended night schools. But all have 
 graduated from the University of Life. Many of 
 them have passed through the bitterest poverty, 
 and all have been raised among toilers and from 
 infancy have learned to sympathize with the toiler's 
 point of view. ' They are therefore by training and 
 origin distinctly leaders of a class, with the outlook 
 
 'A well-known labor leader once said to the writer: "No 
 matter how much you go around among laboring people, you will 
 never really understand us unless you were brought up among us. 
 There is a real gulf between your way of looking on life and ours. 
 You can be only an investigator or an intellectual sympathizer 
 with my people. But you cannot really understand our view- 
 point." Whatever of misconception there may be in this attitude, 
 it nevertheless marks the actual temper of the average wage- 
 earner, in spite of the fact that in America many employers have 
 risen from the ranks of labor. 
 
THE TRADE UNION 123 
 
 upon life, the prejudices, the limitations, and the 
 fervent hopes of that class. 
 
 In a very real sense the American labor leader is 
 the counterpart of the American business man — 
 intensively trained, averse to vagaries, knowing 
 thoroughly one thing and only one thing, and 
 caring very little for anything else. 
 
 This comparative restriction of outlook marks 
 a sharp distinction between American and British 
 labor leaders. In Britain such leadership is a dis- 
 tinct career for which a young man prepares him- 
 self. He is usually fairly well educated, for not 
 frequently he started out to study for the law or the 
 ministry and was sidetracked by hard necessity. 
 A few have come into the field from journalism. 
 As a result, the British labor leader has a certain 
 veneer of learning and puts on a more impressive 
 front than the American. For example, Britain 
 has produced Ramsey MacDonald, who writes 
 books and makes speeches with a rare grace : John 
 Burns, who quotes Shakespeare or recites history 
 with wonderful fluency : Keir Hardie, a miner from 
 the ranks, who was possessed of a charming poetic 
 fancy: Philip Snowden, who displays the spiritual 
 qualities of a seer; and John Henderson, who com- 
 bines philosophical power with skill in dialectics. 
 
124 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 On the other hand, the rank and file of American 
 labor is more intelligent and alert than that of 
 British labor, and the American labor leader 
 possesses a greater capacity for intensive growth 
 and is perhaps a better specialist at rough and 
 tumble fighting and bargaining than his British 
 colleague. ' 
 
 In a very real sense every trade union is typi- 
 fied by some aggressive personality. The Granite 
 Cutters' National Union was brought into active 
 being in 1877 largely through the instrumentality 
 of James Duncan, a rugged fighter who, having 
 federated the locals, set out to establish an eight- 
 hour day through collective bargaining and to set- 
 tle disputes by arbitration. He succeeded in form- 
 ing a well-disciplined force out of the members of 
 his craft, and even the employers did not escape the 
 touch of his rod. 
 
 The Glassblowers' Union was saved from dis- 
 ruption by Dennis Hayes, who, as president of the 
 national union, reorganized the entire force in the 
 years 1896-99, unionized a dozen of the largest 
 
 ' The writer recalls spending a day in one of the Midland manu- 
 facturing towns with the secretary of a local cooperative society, 
 a man who was steeped in Bergson's philosophy and talked on 
 local botany and geology as fluently as on local labor conditions. 
 It would be difficult to duplicate this experience in America. 
 
THE TRADE UNION 125 
 
 glass producing plants in the United States and 
 succeeded in raising the wages fifteen per cent. 
 He introduced methods of arbitration and col- 
 lective agreements and established a successful 
 system of insurance. 
 
 James O'Connell, the president of the Inter- 
 national Association of Machinists, led his organi- 
 zation safely through the panic of 1893, reorganized 
 it upon a broader basis, and introduced sick bene- 
 fits. In 1901 after a long and wearisome dickering 
 with the National Metal Trades Association, a 
 shorter day was agreed upon, but, as the employers 
 would not agree to a ten-hour wage for a nine-hour 
 day, O'Connell led his men out on a general strike 
 and won. 
 
 Thomas Kidd, secretary of the Wood- Workers' 
 International Union, was largely responsible for the 
 agreement made with the manufacturers in 1897 
 for the establishment of a minimum wage of fifteen 
 cents an hour for a ten-hour day, a considerable 
 advance over the average wage paid up to that 
 time. Kidd was the object of severe attacks in 
 various localities, and in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, 
 where labor riots took place for the enforcement of 
 the Union demands, he was arrested for conspiracy 
 but acquitted by the trial jury. 
 
126 THE ARMIES OF LABOK 
 
 When the Amalgamated Association of Iron and 
 Steel Workers lost their strike at Homestead, Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1892, the union was thought to be 
 dead. It was quietly regalvanized into activity, 
 however, by Theodore Schaffer, who has displayed 
 adroitness in managing its affairs in the face of 
 tremendous opposition from the great steel manu- 
 facturers who refuse to permit their shops to be 
 unionized. 
 
 The International Typographical Union, com- 
 posed of an unusually intelligent body of men, owes 
 its singular success in collective contracting largely 
 to James M. Lynch, its national president. The 
 great newspapers did not give in to the demands of 
 the union without a series of struggles in which 
 Lynch manipulated his forces with skill and tact. 
 Today this is one of the most powerful unions in 
 the country. 
 
 Entirely different was the material out of which 
 D. J. Keefe formed his Union of Longshoremen, 
 Marine and Transport Workers. His was a mass of 
 unskilled workers, composed of many nationahties 
 accustomed to rough conditions, and not easily led. 
 Keefe, as president of their International Union, 
 has had more difficulty in restraining his men and 
 in teaching them the obligations of a contract than 
 
THE TRADE UNION 127 
 
 any other leader. At least on one occasion he 
 employed non-union men to carry out the agree- 
 ment which his recalcitrant following had made 
 and broken. 
 
 The evolution of an American labor leader is 
 shown at its best in the career of John Mitchell, 
 easily the most influential trade unionist of this 
 generation. He was born on February 4, 1870, on 
 an Illinois farm, but at two years of age he lost his 
 mother and at four his father. With other lads of 
 his neighborhood he shared the meager privileges 
 of the school terms that did not interfere with 
 farm work. At thirteen he was in the coal mines in 
 Braidwood, Illinois, and at sixteen he was the out- 
 er doorkeeper in the local lodge of the Knights of 
 Labor. Eager to see the world, he now began a 
 period of wandering, working his way from State 
 to State. So he traversed the Far West and the 
 Southwest, alert in observing social conditions and 
 coming in contact with many types of men. These 
 wanderings stood him in lieu of an academic course, 
 and when he returned to the coal fields of Illinois 
 he was ready to settle down. From his Irish par- 
 entage he inherited a genial personality and a 
 gift of speech. These traits, combined with his 
 continual reading on economic and sociological 
 
128 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 subjects, soon lifted him into local leadership. He 
 became president of the village school board and of 
 the local lodge of the Knights of Labor. He joined 
 the United Mine Workers of America upon its or- 
 ganization in 1890. He rose rapidly in its ranks, 
 was a delegate to the district and sub-district con- 
 ventions, secretary -treasurer of the Illinois district, 
 chairman of the Illinois legislative committee, 
 member of the executive board, and national or- 
 ganizer. In January, 1898, he was elected national 
 vice-president, and in the following autumn, upon 
 the resignation of the president, h j became acting 
 president. The national conventioa in 1899 chose 
 him as president, a position which he held for ten 
 years. He has served as one of the vice-presidents 
 of the American Federation of Labor since 1898, 
 was for some years chairman of the Trade Agree- 
 ment Department of the National Civic Federation 
 and has held the position of Chairman of the New 
 York State Industrial Commission. 
 
 When he rose to the leadership of the United 
 Mine Workers, this union had only 43,000 mem- 
 bers, confined almost exclusively to the bitumi- 
 nous regions of the West. ' Within the decade of his 
 
 ' Less than 1 0,000 out of 140,000 anthracite miners were members 
 of the union. 
 
THE TRADE UNION 129 
 
 presidency he brought virtually all the miners of 
 the United States under his leadership. Wherever 
 his union went, there followed sooner or later the 
 eight-hour day, raises in wages of from thirteen to 
 twenty-five per cent, periodical joint conventions 
 with the operators for settling wage scales and 
 other points in dispute, and a spirit of prosperity 
 that theretofore was unknown among the miners. 
 
 In unionizing the anthracite miners, Mitchell 
 had his historic fight with the group of powerful 
 corporations that owned the mines and the rail- 
 ways which fed them. This great strike, one of 
 the most significant in our history, attracted uni- 
 versal attention because of the issues involved, 
 because a coal shortage threatened many Eastern 
 cities, and because of the direct intervention of 
 President Roosevelt. The central figure of this 
 gigantic struggle was the miners' young leader, 
 barely thirty years old, with the features of a schol- 
 ar and the demeanor of an ascetic, marshaling his 
 forces with the strategic skill of a veteran general. 
 
 At the beginning of the strike Mitchell, as presi- 
 dent of the Union, announced that the miners were 
 eager to submit all their grievances to an impartial 
 arbitral tribunal and to abide by its decisions. 
 The ruthless and prompt refusal of the mine owners 
 
130 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 to consider this proposal reacted powerfully in the 
 strikers' favor among the public. As the long weeks 
 of the struggle wore on, increasing daily in bitter- 
 ness, multiplying the apprehension of the strikers 
 and the restiveness of the coal consumers, Mitch- 
 ell bore the increasing strain with his customary 
 calmness and self-control. 
 
 After the parties had been deadlocked for many 
 weeks. President Roosevelt called the mine owners 
 and the union leaders to a conference in the White 
 House. Of Mitchell's bearing, the President after- 
 wards remarked: "There was only one man in the 
 room who behaved like a gentleman, and that man 
 was not I." 
 
 The Board of Arbitration eventually laid the 
 blame on both sides but gave the miners the bulk 
 of their demands. The public regarded the victory 
 as a Mitchell victory, and the unions adored the 
 leader who had won their first strike in a quarter of 
 a century, and who had won universal confidence 
 by his ability and demeanor in the midst of the 
 most harassing tensions of a class war. ' 
 
 ' Mitchell was cross-examined for three days when he was tes- 
 tifying before the Anthracite Coal Strike Commission. Every 
 weapon which craft, prejudice, and skill could marshal against 
 him failed to rufHe his temper or to lead him into damaging 
 admissions or contradictions. 
 
THE TRADE UNION 131 
 
 John Mitchell's powerful hold upon public opin- 
 ion today is not alone due to his superior intelli- 
 gence, his self-possession, his business skill, nor his 
 Irish gift of human accommodation, but to the 
 greater facts that he was always aware of the grave 
 responsibilities of leadership, that he realized the 
 stern obligation of a business contract, and that he 
 always followed the trade union policy of asking 
 only for that which was attainable. Soon after the 
 Anthracite strike he wrote: 
 
 I am opposed to strikes as I am opposed to war. As 
 yet, however, the world with all its progress has not 
 made war impossible: neither, I fear, considering the 
 nature of men and their institutions, will the strike 
 entirely disappear for years to come. . . . 
 
 This strike has taught both capital and labor that 
 they owe certain obligations to society and that their 
 obligations must be discharged in good faith. If both 
 are fair and conciliatory, if both recognize the moral 
 restraint of the state of society by which they are sur- 
 rounded, there need be few strikes. They can, and it 
 is better that they should, settle their differences 
 between themselves. . . . 
 
 Since labor organizations are here, and here to stay, 
 the managers of employing corporations must choose 
 what they are to do with them. They may have the 
 union as a present, active, and unrecognized force, 
 possessing influence for good or evil, but without 
 direct responsibility; or they may deal with it, give it 
 
132 THE AKJMlEb Ob' LABOR 
 
 responsibility as well as power, define and regulate 
 that power, and make the union an auxiliary in the 
 promotion of stability and discipline and the amicable 
 adjustment of all local disputes. 
 
CHAPTER Vn 
 
 THE RAILWAY BROTHEBHOOD8 
 
 The solidarity and statesmanship of the trade un- 
 ions reached perfection in the railway "Brother- 
 hoods." Of these the Brotherhood of Locomotive 
 Engineers' is the oldest and most powerful. It 
 grew out of the union of several early associations; 
 one of these was the National Protective Associa- 
 tion formed after the great Baltimore and Ohio 
 strike in 1854; another was the Brotherhood of the 
 Footboard, organized in Detroit after the bitter 
 strike on the Michigan Central in 1862. Though 
 born thus of industrial strife, this railroad union 
 has nevertheless developed a poise and a conserv- 
 atism which have been its greatest assets in the 
 
 ' Up to this time the Brotherhoods have not afEliated with the 
 Knights of Labor nor with the American Federation of Labor. 
 After the passage of the eight-hour law by Congress in 1916, defi- 
 nite steps were taken towards affiliating the Railway Brotherhoods 
 with the Federation, and at its annual convention in 1919 the 
 Federation voted to grant them a charter. 
 
 133 
 
134 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 numerous controversies engaging its energies. No 
 other union has had a more continuous and hard- 
 headed leadership, and no other has won more 
 universal respect both from the public and from 
 the employer. 
 
 This high position is largely due, no doubt, to the 
 fact that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers 
 is composed of a very select and intelligent class of 
 men. Every engineer must first serve an appren- 
 ticeship as a fireman, which usually lasts from four 
 to twelve years. Very few are advanced to the 
 rank of engineer in less than four years. The fire- 
 men themselves are selected men who must pass 
 several physical examinations and then submit to 
 the test of as arduous an apprenticeship as modern 
 industrialism affords. In the course of an eight- to 
 twelve-hour run firemen must shovel from fifteen 
 to twenty-five tons of coal into the blazing fire box 
 of a locomotive. In winter they are constantly 
 subjected to hot blasts from the furnace and freez- 
 ing drafts from the wind. Records show that 
 out of every hundred who begin as firemen only 
 seventeen become engineers and of these only 
 six ever become passenger engineers. The mere 
 strain on the eyes caused by looking into the coal 
 blaze eliminates 17 per cent. Those who eventually 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 135 
 
 become engineers are therefore a select group as far 
 as physique is concerned. 
 
 The constant dangers accompanying their daily 
 work require railroad engineers to be no less de- 
 pendable from the moral point of view. The his- 
 tory of railroading is as replete with heroism as is 
 the story of any war. A coward cannot long sur- 
 vive at the throttle. The process of natural selec- 
 tion which the daily labor of an engineer involves 
 the Brotherhood has supplemented by most rigid 
 moral tests. The character of every applicant for 
 membership is thoroughly scrutinized and must be 
 vouched for by three members. He must demon- 
 strate his skill and prove his character by a year's 
 probation before his application is finally voted 
 upon. Once within the fold, the rules governing 
 his conduct are inexorable. If he shuns his finan- 
 cial obligations or is guilty of a moral lapse, he is 
 summarily expelled. In 1909, thirty-six members 
 were expelled for " unbecoming conduct. " Drunk- 
 ards are particularly^ dangerous in railroading. 
 When the order was only five years old and still 
 struggling for its life, it nevertheless expelled 172 
 members for drunkenness. In proven cases of this 
 sort the railway authorities are notified, the offend- 
 ing engineer is dismissed from the service, and the 
 
136 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 shame of these culprits is published to the world in 
 the Locomotive Engineers^ Journal, which reaches 
 every member of the order. There is probably no 
 other club or professional organization so exact- 
 ing in its demands that its members be self-re- 
 specting, faithful, law-abiding, and capable; and 
 surely no other is so summary and far-reaching 
 in its punishments. 
 
 Today ninety per cent of all the locomotive en- 
 gineers in the United States and Canada belong to 
 this union. But the Brotherhood early learned the 
 lesson of exclusion. In 1864 after very annoying 
 experiences with firemen and other railway em- 
 ployees on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chi- 
 cago Railroad, it amended its constitution and ex- 
 cluded firemen and machinists from the order. 
 This exclusive policy, however, is based upon the 
 stern requirements of professional excellence and 
 is not displayed towards engineers who are not 
 members of the Brotherhood. Towards them there 
 is displayed the greatest toleration and none of 
 the narrow spirit of the "closed shop." The non- 
 union engineer is not only tolerated but is even 
 on occasion made the beneficiary of the activities 
 of the union. He shares, for example, in the rise 
 of wages and readjustment of runs. There are 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 137 
 
 even cases on record where the railroad unions 
 have taken up a specific grievance between a non- 
 union man and his employer and have attempted 
 a readjustment. 
 
 From the inception of the Brotherhood, the 
 policy of the order towards the employing railroad 
 company has been one of business and not of senti- 
 ment. The Brotherhood has held that the relation 
 between the employer and employee concerning 
 wages, hours, conditions of labor, and settlement of 
 difficulties should be on the basis of a written con- 
 tract; that the engineer as an individual was at a 
 manifest disadvantage in making such a contract 
 with a railway company; that he therefore had a 
 right to join with his fellow engineers in pressing 
 his demands and therefore had the right to a col- 
 lective contract. Though for over a decade the 
 railways fought stubbornly against this policy, in 
 the end every important railroad of this countrj^ 
 and Canada gave way. It is doubtful, indeed, if 
 any of them would today be willing to go back to 
 the old method of individual bargaining, for the 
 Brotherhood has insisted upon the inviolability of 
 a contract once entered into. It has consistentlj' 
 held that " a bargain is a bargain, even if it is a poor 
 bargain." Members who violate an agreement 
 
138 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 are expelled, and any local lodge which is guilty 
 of such an offense has its charter revoked. ' 
 
 Once the practice of collective contract was 
 fixed, it naturally followed that some mechanism 
 for adjusting differences would be devised. The 
 Brotherhood and the various roads now maintain 
 a general board of adjustment for each railway 
 system. The Brotherhood is strict in insisting that 
 the action of this board is binding on all its mem- 
 bers. This method of bargaining and of settling 
 disputes has been so successful that since 1888 the 
 Brotherhood has not engaged in an important 
 strike. There have been minor disturbances, it is 
 true, and several nation-wide threats, but no seri- 
 ous strikes inaugurated by the engineers. This 
 great achievement of the Brotherhood could not 
 have been possible without keen ability in the 
 leaders and splendid solidarity among the men. 
 
 The individual is carefully looked after by the 
 Brotherhood. The Locomotive Engineers' Mutual 
 Life and Accident Insurance Association is an in- 
 tegral part of the Brotherhood, though it main- 
 tains a separate legal existence in order to comply 
 
 ' In 1905 in New York City 393 members were expelled and 
 their charter was revoked for violation of their contract of em- 
 ployment by taking part in a sympathetic strike of the subway 
 and elevated roads. 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 139 
 
 with the statutory requirements of many States. ' 
 Every member must carry an insurance policy in 
 this Association for not less than $1500, though 
 he cannot take more than $4500. The policy is car- 
 ried by the order if the engineer becomes sick or 
 is otherwise disabled, but if he fails to pay assess- 
 ments when he is in full health, he gives grounds 
 for expulsion. There is a pension roll of three hun- 
 dred disabled engineers, each of whom receives $25 
 a month; and the four railroad brotherhoods to- 
 gether maintain a Home for Disabled Railroad 
 Men at Highland Park, Illinois. 
 
 The technical side of engine driving is empha- 
 sized by the Locomotive Engineers' Journal, which 
 goes to every member, and in discussions in the 
 stated meetings of the Brotherhood. Intellectual 
 and social interests are maintained also by lec- 
 ture courses, study clubs, and women's auxiliaries. 
 Attendance upon the lodge meetings has been 
 made compulsory with the intention of insuring 
 the order from falling prey to a designing minority 
 
 ■ The following figures show the status of the Insurance Asso- 
 ciation in 1918. The total amount of life insurance in force was 
 $161,205,500.00. The total amount of claims paid from 1868 to 
 1918 was $41,085,123.04. The claims paid in 1918 amounted to 
 $3,014,540.22. The total amount of indemnity insurance in force 
 in 1918 was $12,486,397.50. The total claims paid up to 1918 
 were $1,624,537.61; and during 1918, $241,780.08. 
 
140 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 — a condition which has proved the cause of the 
 downfall of more than one labor union. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Engineers is virtually a large 
 and prosperous business concern. Its management 
 has been enterprising and provident; its treasury 
 is full; its insurance policies aggregate many mil- 
 Hons; it owns a modern skyscraper in Cleveland 
 which cost $1 ,250,000 and which yields a substantial 
 revenue besides housing the Brotherhood offices. 
 
 The engineers have, indeed, succeeded in form- 
 ing a real Brotherhood — a "feudal" brotherhood 
 an opposing lawyer once called them — reestab- 
 lishing the medieval guild-paternalism so that each 
 member is responsible for every other and all are 
 responsible for each. They therefore merge them- 
 selves through self-discipline into a powerful uni- 
 ty for enforcing their demands and fulfilling their 
 obligations. 
 
 The supreme authority of the Brotherhood is the 
 Convention, which is composed of delegates from 
 the local subdivisions. In the interim between con- 
 ventions, the authorized leader of the organization 
 is the Grand Chief Engineer, whose decrees are 
 final unless reversed by the Convention. This au- 
 thority places a heavy responsibilitj^ upon him, 
 but the Brotherhood has been singularly fortunate 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 141 
 
 in its choice of chiefs. Since 1873 there have been 
 only two. The first of these was P. M. Arthur, a 
 sturdy Scot, born in 1831 and brought to America in 
 boyhood. He learned the blacksmith and machinist 
 trades but soon took to railroading, in which he 
 rose rapidly from the humblest place to the position 
 of engineer on the New York Central lines. He 
 became one of the charter members of the Brother- 
 hood in 1863 and was active in its affairs from 
 the first. In 1873 the union became involved in a 
 bitter dispute with the Pennsylvania Railroad, and 
 Arthur, whose prompt and energetic action had 
 already designated him as the natural leader of 
 the Brotherhood, was elected to the chieftainship. 
 For thirty years he maintained his prestige and 
 became a national figure in the labor world. He 
 died suddenly at Winnipeg in 1903 while speaking 
 at the dinner which closed the general convention 
 of the Brotherhood. 
 
 When P. M. Arthur joined the engineers' union, 
 the condition of locomotive engineers was unsatis- 
 factory. Wages were unstable; working conditions 
 were hard and, in the freight service, intolerable. 
 For the first decade of the existence of the Brother- 
 hood, strike after strike took place in the effort to 
 establish the right of organizing and the principle 
 
142 THE AKMlEb Ot LAUUK 
 
 of the collective contract. Arthur became head 
 of the order at the beginning of the period of great 
 financial depression which followed the first Civil 
 War boom and which for six years threatened 
 wages in all trades. But Arthur succeeded, by 
 shrewd and careful bargaining, in keeping the pay 
 of engineers from slipping down and in some in- 
 stances he even advanced them. Gradually strikes 
 became more and more infrequent; and the rail- 
 ways learned to rely upon his integrity, and the 
 engineers to respect his skill as a negotiator. He 
 proved to the first that he was not a labor agitator 
 and to the others that he was not a visionary. 
 
 Year by year, Arthur accumulated prestige and 
 power for his union by practical methods and by 
 being content with a step at a time. This success, 
 however, cost him the enmity of virtually all the 
 other trades unionists. To them the men of his 
 order were aristocrats, and he was lord over the 
 aristocrats. He is said to have "had rare skill in 
 formulating reasonable demands, and by consist- 
 ently putting moderate demands strongly instead 
 of immoderate demands weakly he kept the good 
 will of railroad managers, while steadily obtaining 
 better terms for his men." In this practice, he 
 could not succeed without the solid good will of the 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 143 
 
 members of the Brotherhood ; and this good will was 
 possible only in an order which insisted upon that 
 high standard of personal skill and integrity essen- 
 tial to a first-class engineer. Arthur possessed a 
 genial, fatherly personality . His Scotch shrewdness 
 was seen in his own real estate investments, which 
 formed the foundation of an independent fortune. 
 He lived in an imposing stone mansion in Cleve- 
 land; he was a director in a leading bank; and he 
 identified himself with the public affairs of the city. 
 When Chief Arthur died, the Assistant Grand 
 Chief Engineer, A. B. Youngson, who would other- 
 wise have assumed the leadership for the unexpired 
 term, was mortally ill and recommended the ad- 
 visory board to telegraph Warren S. Stone an offer 
 of the chieftainship. Thus events brought to the 
 fore a man of marked executive talent who had 
 hitherto been unknown but who was to play a tre- 
 mendous role in later labor politics. Stone was 
 little known east of the Mississippi. He had spent 
 most of his life on the Rock Island system, had 
 visited the East only once, and had attended but 
 one meeting of the General Convention. In the 
 West, however, he had a wide reputation for sound 
 sense, and, as chairman of the general committee 
 of adjustment of the Rock Island system, he had 
 
144 THE AJbiMlES OF LABUK 
 
 made a deep impression on his union and his em- 
 ployers. Born in Ainsworth, Iowa, in 1860, Stone 
 had received a high school education and had be- 
 gun his railroading career as fireman on the Rock 
 Island when he was nineteen years old. At twenty- 
 four he became an engineer. In this capacity he 
 spent the following nineteen years on the Rock 
 Island road and then accepted the chieftainship 
 of the Brotherhood. 
 
 Stone followed the general policy of his pred- 
 ecessor, and brought to his tasks the energy of 
 youth and the optimism of the West. When he 
 assumed the leadership, the cost of living was rising 
 rapidly and he addressed himself to the adjustment 
 of wages. He divided the country into three sec- 
 tions in which conditions were similar. He began 
 in the Western section, as he was most familiar 
 with that field, and asked all the general managers 
 of that section to meet the Brotherhood for a wage 
 conference. The roads did not accept his invita- 
 tion until it was reenforced by the threat of a West- 
 em strike. The conference was a memorable one. 
 For nearly three weeks the grand officers of the 
 Brotherhood wrangled and wrought with the man- 
 agers of the Western roads, who yielded ground 
 slowly, a few pennies' increase at a time, until a 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 14o 
 
 satisfactory wage scale was reached. Similarly the 
 Southern section was conquered by the inexorable 
 hard sense and perseverance of this new chieftain. 
 
 The dispute with the fifty-two leading roads in 
 the so-called Eastern District, east of the Missis- 
 sippi and north of the Norfolk and Western Rail- 
 road, came to a head in 1912. The engineers de- 
 manded that their wages should be " standardized " 
 on a basis that one hundred miles or less, or ten 
 hours or less, constitute a day's work; that is, the 
 inequalities among the different roads should be 
 leveled and similar service on the various roads 
 be similarly rewarded. They also asked that their 
 wages be made equal to the wages on the Western 
 roads and presented several minor demands. All 
 the roads concerned flatly refused to grant the de- 
 mand for a standardized and increased wage, on 
 the ground that it would involve an increased ex- 
 penditure of $7,000,000 a year. This amount could 
 be made up only by increased rates, which the In- 
 terstate Commerce Commission must sanction, or 
 by decreased dividends, which vrould bring a real 
 hardship to thousands of stockholders. 
 
 The unions were fully prepared for a strike which 
 would paralyze the essential traffic supplying ap- 
 proximately 38,000,000 people. Through the agency 
 
146 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 of Judge Knapp of the United States Commerce 
 Court and Dr. Neill of the United States Depart- 
 ment of Labor, and under the authority of the Erd- 
 man Act, there was appointed a board of arbitration 
 composed of men whose distinction commanded 
 national attention. P. H. Morrissey, a former 
 chief of the Conductors' and Trainmen's Union, 
 was named by the engineers. President Daniel Wil- 
 lard of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, known for 
 his fair treatment of his employees, was chosen by 
 the roads. The Chief Justice of the United States 
 Supreme Court, the Commissioner of Labor, and 
 the presiding judge of the United States Commerce 
 Court designated the following members of the 
 tribunal: Oscar S. Straus, former Secretary of 
 Commerce and Labor, chairman; Albert Shaw, 
 editor of the Review of Reviews; Otto M. Eidlitz, 
 former president of the Building Trades Associa- 
 tion; Charles R. Van Hise, president of the Uni- 
 versity of Wisconsin ; and Frederick N. Judson, of 
 the St. Louis bar. 
 
 After five months of hearing testimony and de- 
 liberation, this distinguished board brought in a 
 report that marked, it was hoped, a new epoch in 
 railway labor disputes, for it recognized the rights 
 of the public, the great third party to such disputes. 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 147 
 
 It granted the principle of standardization and 
 minimum wage asked for by the engineers, but it 
 allowed an increase in pay which was less by one- 
 half than that demanded. In order to prevent sim- 
 ilar discord in the future, the board recommended 
 the establishment of Federal and state wage com- 
 missions with functions pertaining to wage disputes 
 analogous to those of the public service commis- 
 sions in regard to rates and capitalization. The 
 report stated that, "while the railway employees 
 feel that they cannot surrender their right to strike, 
 if there were a wage commission which would se- 
 cure them just wages the necessity would no longer 
 exist for the exercise of their power. It is believed 
 that, in the last analysis, the only solution — un- 
 less we are to rely solely upon the restraining power 
 of public opinion — is to qualify the principle of free 
 contract in the railroad service."' 
 
 While yielding to the wage findings of the board, 
 
 ' The board recognized the great obstacles in the way of such a 
 solution but went on to say: "The suggestion, however, grows 
 out of a profound conviction that the food and clothing of our 
 people, the industries and the general welfare of our nation, can- 
 not be permitted to depend upon the policies and dictates of any 
 particular group of men, whether employers or employees." And 
 this conviction has grown apace with the years until it stands to- 
 day as the most potent check to aggression by either trade unions 
 or capital. 
 
148 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 P. H. Morrissey vigorously dissented from the 
 principle of the supremacy of public interest in 
 these matters. He made clear his position in an 
 able minority report: "I wish to emphasize my 
 dissent from that recommendation of the board 
 which in its effect virtually means compulsory ar- 
 bitration for the railroads and their employees. 
 Regardless of any probable constitutional prohibi- 
 tion which might operate against its being adopted, 
 it is wholly impracticable. The progress towards 
 the settlement of disputes between the railways 
 and their employees without recourse to industrial 
 warfare has been marked. There is nothing under 
 present conditions to prevent its continuance. We 
 will never be perfect, but even so, it will be im- 
 measurably better than it will be under conditions 
 such as the board proposes." 
 
 The significance of these words was brought out 
 four years later when the united railway brother- 
 hoods made their famous cowp in Congress. For 
 the time being, however, the public with its usual 
 self-assurance thought the railway employee ques- 
 tion was solved, though the findings were for one 
 year only.' 
 
 ' The award dated back to May 1, 1912, and was valid only one 
 year from that date. 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 149 
 
 Daniel Willard speaking for the railroads, said: 
 "My acceptance of the award as a whole does not 
 signify my approval of all the findings in detail. It 
 is intended, however, to indicate clearly that, al- 
 though the award is not such as the railroads had 
 hoped for, nor is it such as they felt would be jus- 
 tified by a full consideration of all the facts, yet 
 having decided to submit this case to arbitra- 
 tion and having been given ample opportunity to 
 present the facts and arguments in support of 
 their position, they now accept without question 
 the conclusion which was reached by the board 
 appointed to pass upon the matter at issue." 
 
 A comparison of these statements shows how the 
 balance of power had shifted, since the days when 
 railway policies reigned supreme, from the corpora- 
 tion to the union. The change was amply dem- 
 onstrated by the next grand entrance of the rail- 
 way brotherhoods upon the public stage. After 
 his victory in the Western territory, Chief Stone 
 remarked: "Most labor troubles are the result of 
 one of two things, misrepresentation or misunder- 
 standing. Unfortunately, negotiations are some- 
 times entrusted to men who were never intended 
 by nature for this mission, since they cannot dis- 
 cuss a question without losing their temper. . . . 
 
150 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 It may be laid down as a fundamental principle 
 without which no labor organization can hope to 
 exist, that it must carry out its contracts. No em- 
 ployer can be expected to live up to a contract that 
 is not regarded binding by the union." 
 
 The other railway brotherhoods to a consider- 
 able degree follow the model set by the engineers. 
 The Order of Railway Conductors developed rap- 
 idly from the Conductors' Union which was or- 
 ganized by the conductors of the Illinois Central 
 Railroad at Amboy, Illinois, in the spring of 1868. 
 In the following July this union was extended to 
 include all the lines in the State. In November of 
 the same year a call to conductors on all the roads 
 in the United States and the British Provinces was 
 issued to meet at Columbus, Ohio, in December, to 
 organize a general brotherhood. Ten years later 
 the union adopted its present name. It has an 
 ample insurance fund' based upon the principle 
 that policies are not matured but members arriving 
 at the age of seventy years are relieved from further 
 payments. About thirty members are thus annu- 
 ally retired. At Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the national 
 headquarters, the order publishes The Railway 
 
 ' In 1919 the total amount of outstanding insurance was some- 
 what over $90,000,000. 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 151 
 
 Conductor, a journal which aims not only at the 
 solidarity of the membership but at increasing their 
 practical efficiency. 
 
 The conductors are a conservative and carefully 
 selected group of men. Each must pass through a 
 long term of apprenticeship and must possess abil- 
 ity and personality. The order has been carefully 
 and skillfully led and in recent years has had but 
 few differences with the railways which have not 
 been amicably settled. Edgar E. Clark was chosen 
 president in 1890 and served until 1906, when he 
 became a member of the Interstate Commerce 
 Commission. He was born in 1856, received a 
 public school education, and studied for some time 
 in an academy at Lima, New York. At the age of 
 seventeen, he began railroading and served as con- 
 ductor on the Northern Pacific and other Western 
 lines. He held numerous subordinate positions in 
 the Brotherhood and in 1889 became its vice-presi- 
 dent. He was appointed by President Roosevelt 
 as a member of the Anthracite Coal Strike Com- 
 mission in 1902 and is generally recognized as one 
 of the most judicial heads in the labor world. He 
 was succeeded as president of the order by Austin B. 
 Garretson, who was born in Winterset, Iowa, in 1856. 
 He began his railroad career at nineteen years of 
 
152 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 age, became a conductor on the Burlington system, 
 and had a varied experience on several Western 
 lines, including the Mexican National and Mexican 
 Central railways. His rise in the order was rapid 
 and in 1889 he became vice-president. One of his 
 intimate friends wrote that "in his capacity as 
 Vice-President and President of the Order he has 
 written more schedules and successfully negotiated 
 more wage settlements, including the eight-hour 
 day settlement in 1916, under the method of col- 
 lective bargaining than any other labor leader on 
 the American continent." 
 
 Garretson has long served as a member of the 
 executive committee of the National Civic Federa- 
 tion and in 1912 was appointed by President Wil- 
 son a member of the Federal Commission on Indus- 
 trial Relations. A man of great energj^ and force 
 of character, he has recently assumed a leading 
 place in labor union activities. 
 
 In addition to the locomotive engineers and the 
 conductors, the firemen also have their union. 
 Eleven firemen of the Erie Railroad organized a 
 brotherhood at Port Jervis, New York, in Decem- 
 ber, 1873, but it was a fraternal order rather than 
 a trade union. In 1877, the year of the great rail- 
 way strikes, it was joined by the International 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 153 
 
 Firemen's Union, an organization without any fra- 
 ternal or insurance features. In spite of this amal- 
 gamation, however, the growth of the Brother- 
 hood was very slow. Indeed, so unsatisfactory 
 was the condition of affairs that in 1879 the order 
 took an unusual step. "So bitter was the contin- 
 ued opposition of railroad officials at this time," 
 relates the chronicler of the Brotherhood (in some 
 sections of the country it resulted in the disband- 
 ment of the lodges and the depletion of member- 
 ship) "that it was decided, in order to remove the 
 cause of such opposition, to eliminate the protec- 
 tive feature of the organization. With a view to 
 this end a resolution was adopted ignoring strikes." 
 This is one of the few recorded retreats of militant 
 trade unionism. The treasury of the Brotherhood 
 was so depleted that it was obliged to call upon 
 local lodges for donations. By 1885, however, the 
 order had sufficiently recovered to assume again 
 the functions of a labor union in addition to its 
 fraternal and beneficiary obligations. The days 
 of its greatest hardships were over, although the 
 historic strike on the Burlington lines that lasted 
 virtually throughout the year 1888 and the Pull- 
 man strike in 1894 wrought a severe strain upon 
 its staying powers. In 1906 the enginemen were 
 
154 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 incorporated into the order, and thenceforth the 
 membership grew rapidly. In 1913 a joint agree- 
 ment was effected with the Brotherhood of Loco- 
 motive Engineers whereby the two organizations 
 could work together "on a labor union basis." 
 Today men operating electric engines or motor or 
 gas cars on lines using electricity are eligible for 
 membership, if they are otherwise qualified. This 
 arrangement does not interfere with unions already 
 established on interurban lines. 
 
 The leadership of this order of firemen has been 
 less continuous, though scarcely less conspicuous, 
 than that of the other brotherhoods. Before 1886 
 the Grand Secretary and Treasurer was invested 
 with greater authority than the grand master, 
 and in this position Eugene V. Debs, who served 
 from 1881 to 1892, and Frank W. Arnold, who 
 served from 1893 to 1903, were potent in shaping 
 the policies of the Union. There have been seven 
 grand masters and one president (the name now 
 used to designate the chief officer) since 1874. Of 
 these leaders Frank P. Sargent served from 1886 
 until 1892, when he was appointed Commissioner 
 General of Immigration by President Roosevelt. 
 Since 1909, William S. Carter has been president 
 of the Brotherhood. Born in Texas in 1859, he 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 155 
 
 began railroading at nineteen years of age and 
 served in turn as fireman, baggageman, and en- 
 gineer. Before his election to the editorship of the 
 Firemen's Magazine, he held various minor offices 
 in local lodges. Since 1894 he has served the 
 order successively as editor, grand secretary and 
 treasurer, and president. To his position he has 
 brought an intimate knowledge of the affairs of the 
 Union as well as a varied experience in practical 
 railroading. Upon the entrance of America into 
 the Great War, President Wilson appointed him 
 Director of the Division of Labor of the United 
 States Railway Administration. 
 
 Of the government and policy of the firemen's 
 union President Carter remarked: 
 
 This Brotherhood may be compared to a state in a re- 
 public of railway unions, maintaining almost complete 
 autonomy in its own affairs yet uniting with other rail- 
 way brotherhoods in matters of mutual concern and in 
 common defense. It is true that these railway brother- 
 hoods carry the principle of home rule to great lengths 
 and have acknowledged no common head, and by this 
 have invited the criticism from those who believe . . . 
 that only in one "big" union can railway employees 
 hope for improved working condition. . . . That in 
 union there is strength, no one will deny, but in any 
 confederation of forces there must be an exchange 
 of individual rights for this collective power. There is 
 
156 THE AHMffiS OF LABOR 
 
 a point in the combining of working people in la- 
 bor unions where the loss of individual rights is not 
 compensated by the increased power of the masses 
 of workers. 
 
 In the cautious working out of this principle, the 
 firemen have prospered after the manner of their 
 colleagues in the other brotherhoods. Their mem- 
 bership embraces the large majority of their craft. 
 From the date of the establishment of their bene- 
 ficiary fund to 1918 a total of $21,860,103.00 has 
 been paid in death and disability claims and in 1918 
 the amount so paid was $1,538,207.00. The Fire- 
 men's Magaziyie, established in 1876 and now pub- 
 lished from headquarters in Cleveland, is indicative 
 of the ambitions of the membership, for its avowed 
 aim is to "make a specialty of educational matter 
 for locomotive enginemen and other railroad em- 
 ployees." An attempt was even made in 1908 to 
 conduct a correspondence school, under the super- 
 vision of the editor and manager of the magazine, 
 but after three years this project was discontinued 
 because it could not be made self-supporting. 
 
 The youngest of the railway labor organizations 
 is the Brotherhood of Trainmen, organized in 
 September, 1883, at Oneonta, New York. Its early 
 years were lean and filled with bickerings and 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 157 
 
 doubts, and it was not until S. E. Wilkinson was 
 elected grand master in 1885 that it assumed an 
 important role in labor organizations. Wilkinson 
 was one of those big, rough and ready men, with a 
 natural aptitude for leadership, who occasionally 
 emerge from the mass. He preferred railroading 
 to schooling and spent more time in the train sheds 
 of his native town of Monroeville, Ohio, than he 
 did at school. At twelve years of age he ran away 
 to join the Union Army, in which he served as an 
 orderly until the end of the war. He then followed 
 his natural bent, became a switchman and later a 
 brakeman, was a charter member of the Brother- 
 hood, and, when its outlook was least encourag- 
 ing, became its Grand Master. At once under his 
 leadership the organization became aggressive. 
 
 The conditions under which trainmen worked 
 were far from satisfactory. At that time, in the 
 Eastern field, the pay of a brakeman was between 
 $1.50 and $2 a day in the freight service, $45 a 
 month in the passenger service, and $50 a month 
 for yard service. In the Southern territory, the 
 wages were very much lower and in the Western 
 about $5 per month higher. The runs in the differ- 
 ent sections of the country were not equalized; 
 there was no limit to the number of hours called a 
 
158 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 day's work; overtime and preparatory time were 
 not counted in; and there were many complaints 
 of arbitrary treatment of trainmen by their supe- 
 riors. Wilkinson set to work to remedy the wage 
 situation first. Almost at once he brought about 
 the adoption of the principle of collective bargain- 
 ing for trainmen and yardmen. By 1895, when he 
 relinquished his office, the majority of the rail- 
 ways in the United States and Canada had work- 
 ing agreements with their train and yard service 
 men. Wages had been raised, twelve hours or less 
 and one hundred miles or less became recognized 
 as a daily measure of service, and overtime was 
 paid extra. 
 
 The panic of 1893 hit the railway service very 
 hard. There followed many strikes engineered by 
 the American Railway Union, a radical organiza- 
 tion which carried its ideas of violence so far that it 
 wrecked not only itself but brought the newer and 
 conservative Brotherhoods to the verge of ruin. 
 It was during this period of strain that, in 1895, 
 P. H. Morrissey was chosen Grand Master of the 
 Trainmen. With a varied training in railroading, 
 in insurance, and in labor organization work, Mor- 
 rissey was in many ways the antithesis of his pred- 
 ecessors who had, in a powerful and brusque way. 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 159 
 
 prepared the ground for his analytical and judi- 
 cial leadership. He was unusually well informed 
 on all matters pertaining to railroad operations, 
 earnings, and conditions of employment, and on 
 general economic conditions. This knowledge, 
 together with his forcefulness, tact, parliamen- 
 tary ability, and rare good judgment, soon made 
 him the spokesman of all the railway Brother- 
 hoods in their joint conferences and their leader 
 before the public. He was not afraid to take 
 the unpopular side of a cause, cared nothing for 
 mere temporary advantages, and had the gift of 
 inspiring confidence. 
 
 When Morrissey assumed the leadership of the 
 Trainmen, their order had lost 10,000 members in 
 two years and was about $200,000 in debt. The 
 panic had produced unemployment and distrust, 
 and the violent reprisals of the American Railway 
 Union had reaped a harvest of bitterness and dis- 
 loyalty. During his fifteen years of service until 
 he retired in 1909, Morrissey saw his order re- 
 juvenated and virtually reconstructed, the work of 
 the men standardized in the greater part of the 
 country, slight increases of pay given to the freight 
 and passenger men, and very substantial increases 
 granted to the yard men. But his greatest service 
 
160 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 to his order was in thoroughly establishing it in 
 the public confidence. 
 
 He was succeeded by William G. Lee, who had 
 served in many subordinate offices in local lodges 
 before he had been chosen First Vice-Grand Mas- 
 ter in 1895. For fifteen years he was a faithful 
 understudy to Morrissey whose policy he has con- 
 tinued in a characteristically fearless and thor- 
 oughgoing manner. When he assumed the presi- 
 dency of the order, he obtained a ten-hour day in 
 the Eastern territory for all train and yard men, 
 together with a slight increase in pay for all classes 
 fixed on the ten-hour basis. The ten-hour day was 
 now adopted in Western territory where it had not 
 already been put into effect. The Southern terri- 
 tory, however, held out until 1912, when a general 
 advance on all Southern railroads, with one excep- 
 tion, brought the freight and passenger men to a 
 somewhat higher level of wages than existed in 
 other parts of the country. In the following year 
 the East and the West raised their wages so that 
 finally a fairly level rate prevailed throughout the 
 United States. In the movement for the eight- 
 hour day which culminated in the passage of the 
 Adamson Law by Congress, Lee and his order took 
 a prominent part. In 1919 the Trainmen had 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 161 
 
 $253,000,000 insurance in force, and up to that year 
 had paid out $42,500,000 in claims. Of this latter 
 amount $3,604,000 was paid out in 1918, one-half 
 of which was attributed to the influenza epidemic. 
 
 Much of the success and power of the railroad 
 Brotherhoods is due to the character of their mem- 
 bers as well as to able leadership. The editor of 
 a leading newspaper has recently written: "The 
 impelling power behind every one of these or- 
 ganizations is the membership. I say this without 
 detracting from the executive or administrative 
 abilities of the men who have been at the head of 
 these organizations, for their influence has been 
 most potent in carrying out the will of their several 
 organizations. But whatever is done is first de- 
 cided upon by the men and it is then put up to their 
 chief executive officers for their direction." 
 
 With a membership of 375,000 uniformly clean 
 and competent, so well captained and so well for- 
 tified financially by insurance, benefit, and other 
 funds, it is little wonder that the Brotherhoods 
 have reached a permanent place in the railroad 
 industry. Their progressive power can be dis- 
 cerned in Federal legislation pertaining to arbitra- 
 tion and labor conditions in interstate carriers. 
 In 1888 an act was passed providing that, in cases 
 
162 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 of railway labor disputes, the President might 
 appoint two investigators who, with the United 
 States Commission of Labor, should form a board 
 to investigate the controversy and recommend 
 "the best means for adjusting it." But as they 
 were empowered to produce only findings and not 
 to render decisions, the law remained a dead letter, 
 without having a single case brought up under it. 
 It was superseded in 1898 by the Erdman Act, 
 which provided that certain Federal officials should 
 act as mediators and that, in case they failed, a 
 Board of Arbitrators was to be appointed whose 
 word should be binding for a certain period of time 
 and from whose decisions appeal could be taken to 
 the Federal courts. Of the hundreds of disputes 
 which occurred during the first eight years of the 
 existence of this statute, only one was brought 
 under the mechanism of the law. Federal arbitra- 
 tion was not popular. In 1905, however, a rather 
 sudden change came over the situation. Over 
 sixty cases were brought under the Erdman Act 
 in about eight years. In 1913 the Newlands Law 
 was passed providing for a permanent Board of 
 Mediation and Conciliation, by which over sixty 
 controversies have been adjusted. 
 
 The increase of brotherhood influence which 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 163 
 
 such legislation represents was accompanied by a 
 consolidation in power. At first the Brotherhoods 
 operated by railway systems or as individual orders. 
 Later on they united into districts, all the Brother- 
 hoods of a given district cooperating in their de- 
 mands. Finally the cooperation of all the Brother- 
 hoods in the United States on all the railway sys- 
 tems was effected. This larger organization came 
 clearly to light in 1912, when the Brotherhoods 
 submitted their disputes to the board of arbitra- 
 tion. This step was hailed by the public as going a 
 long way towards the settlement of labor disputes 
 by arbitral boards. 
 
 The latest victory of the Brotherhoods, however, 
 has shaken public confidence and has ushered in 
 a new era of brotherhood influence and Federal in- 
 terference in railroad matters. In 1916, the four 
 Brotherhoods threatened to strike. The mode of 
 reckoning pay — whether upon an eight-hour or a 
 longer day — was the subject of contention. The 
 Department of Labor, through the Federal Con- 
 ciliation Board, tried in vain to bring the oppo- 
 nents together. Even President Wilson's efforts to 
 bring about an agreement proved futile. The 
 roads agreed to arbitrate all the points, allowing 
 the President to name the arbitrators; but the 
 
164 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Brotherhoods, probably realizing their temporary 
 strategic advantage, refused point-blank to arbi- 
 trate. When the President tried to persuade the 
 roads to yield the eight-hour day, they replied that 
 it was a proper subject for arbitration. 
 
 Instead of standing firmly on the principle of 
 arbitration, the President chose to go before Con- 
 gress, on the afternoon of the 29th of August, and 
 ask, first, for a reorganization of the Interstate 
 Commerce Commission; second, for legal recogni- 
 tion of the eight-hour day for interstate carriers; 
 third, for power to appoint a commission to ob- 
 serve the operation of the eight-hour day for a 
 stated time; fourth, for reopening the question of 
 an increase in freight rates to meet the enlarged 
 cost of operation; fifth, for a law declaring railway 
 strikes and lockouts unlawful until a public inves- 
 tigation could be made; sixth, for authorization to 
 operate the roads in case of military necessity. 
 
 The strike was planned to fall on the expect- 
 ant populace, scurrying home from their vacations, 
 on the 4th of September. On the 1st of September 
 an eight-hour bill, providing also for the appoint- 
 ment of a board of observation, was rushed through 
 the House; on the following day it was hastened 
 through the staid Senate; and on the third it 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 165 
 
 received the President's signature.' The other 
 recommendations of the President were made to 
 await the pleasure of Congress and the unions. To 
 the suggestion that railway strikes be made unlaw- 
 ful until their causes are disclosed the Brotherhoods 
 were absolutely opposed. 
 
 Many readjustments were involved in launch- 
 ing the eight-hour law, and in March, 1917, the 
 Brotherhoods again threatened to strike. The 
 President sent a committee, including the Secre- 
 tary of the Interior and the Secretary of Labor, to 
 urge the parties to come to an agreement. On the 
 19th of March, the Supreme Court upheld the 
 validity of the law, and the trouble subsided. But 
 in the following November, after the declaration 
 of war, clouds reappeared on the horizon, and 
 again the unions refused the Government's sugges- 
 tion of arbitration. Under war pressure, however, 
 the Brotherhoods finally consented to hold their 
 grievance in abeyance. 
 
 The haste with which the eight-hour law was 
 enacted, and the omission of the vital balance sug- 
 gested by the President appeared to many citizens 
 
 ' This was on Sunday. In order to obviate any objection as to 
 the legality of the signature the President signed the bill again on 
 the following Tuesday, the intervening Monday being Labor Day. 
 
166 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 to be a holdup of Congress, and the nearness of 
 the presidential election suggested that a political 
 motive was not absent. The fact that in the en- 
 suing presidential election, Ohio, the home of the 
 Brotherhoods, swung from the Republican to the 
 Democratic column, did not dispel this suspicion 
 from the public mind. Throughout this maneuver 
 it was apparent that the unions were very con- 
 fident, but whether because of a prearranged pact, 
 or because of a full treasury, or because of a feeling 
 that the public was with them, or because of the 
 opposite belief that the public feared them, must 
 be left to individual conjecture. None the less, the 
 public realized that the principle of arbitration had 
 given way to the principle of coercion. 
 
 Soon after the United States had entered the 
 Great War, the Government, under authority of 
 an act of Congress, took over the management of 
 all the interstate railroads, and the nation was 
 launched upon a vast experiment destined to test 
 the capacities of all the parties concerned. The dis- 
 pute over wages that had been temporarily quieted 
 by the Adamson Law broke out afresh until settled 
 by the famous Order No. S7, issued by William 
 G. McAdoo, the Director General of Railroads, 
 and providing a substantial readjustment of wages 
 
THE RAILWAY BROTHERHOODS 167 
 
 and hours. In the spring of 1919 another large 
 wage increase was granted to the men by Director 
 General Hines, who succeeded McAdoo. Mean- 
 while the Brotherhoods, through their counsel, 
 laid before the congressional committee a plan for 
 the government ownership and joint operation of 
 the roads, known as the Plumb plan, and the Amer- 
 ican people are now face to face with an issue which 
 will bring to a head the paramount question of the 
 relation of employees on government works to the 
 Government and to the general public. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ISSUES AND WARFARE 
 
 There has been an enormous expansion in the de- 
 mands of the unions since the early days of the 
 Philadelphia cordwainers; yet these demands in- 
 volve the same fundamental issues regarding hours, 
 wages, and the closed shop. Most unions, when 
 all persiflage is set aside, are primarily organized 
 for business — the business of looking after their 
 own interests. Their treasury is a war chest rather 
 than an insurance fund. As a benevolent organi- 
 zation, the American union is far behind the British 
 union with its highly developed Friendly Societies. 
 The establishment of a standard rate of wages is 
 perhaps, as the United States Industrial Commis- 
 sion reported in 1901, "the primary object of trade 
 union policy." The most promising method of 
 adjusting the wage contract is by the collective 
 trade agreement. The mechanism of the union 
 has made possible collective bargaining, and in 
 
 168 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 169 
 
 numerous trades wages and other conditions are 
 now adjusted by this method. One of the earliest 
 of these agreements was effected by the Iron Hold- 
 ers' Union in 1891 and has been annually renewed. 
 The coal operatives, too, for a number of years 
 have signed a wage agreement with their miners, 
 and the many local difficulties and differences have 
 been ingeniously and successfully met. The great 
 railroads have, likewise, for many years made pe- 
 riodical contracts with the railway Brotherhoods. 
 The glove-makers, cigar-makers, and, in many 
 localities, workers in the building trades and on 
 street-railway systems have the advantage of simi- 
 lar collective agreements. In 1900 the American 
 Newspaper Publishers Association and the Inter- 
 national Typographical Union, after many years 
 of stubborn fighting merged their numerous differ- 
 ences in a trade contract to be in effect for one year. 
 This experiment proved so successful that the 
 agreement has since then been renewed for five- 
 year periods. In 1915 a bitter strike of the gar- 
 ment makers in New York City was ended by a 
 ' ' protocol . ' ' The principle of collective agreement 
 has become so prevalent that the Massachusetts 
 Bureau of Labor believes that it "is being ac- 
 cepted with increasing favor by both employers 
 
170 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and employees, " and John Mitchell, speaking from 
 wide experience and an intimate knowledge of con- 
 ditions, says that "the hope of future peace in 
 the industrial world lies in the trade agreement." 
 These agreements are growing in complexity, and 
 today they embrace not only questions of wages 
 and hours but also methods for adjusting all the 
 differences which may arise between the parties to 
 the bargain. 
 
 The very success of collective bargaining hinges 
 upon the solidarity and integrity of the union which 
 makes the bargain. A union capable of enforcing 
 an agreement is a necessary antecedent condition 
 to such a contract. With this fact in mind, one 
 can believe that John Mitchell was not unduly 
 sanguine in stating that "the tendency is toward 
 the growth of compulsory membership . . . and 
 the time will doubtless come when this compulsion 
 will be as general and will be considered as little of 
 a grievance as the compulsory attendance of chil- 
 dren at school." There are certain industries so 
 well centralized, however, that their coercive power 
 is greater than that of the labor union, and these 
 have maintained a consistent hostility to the closed 
 shop. The question of the closed shop is, indeed, 
 the most stubborn issue confronting the union. 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 171 
 
 The principle involves the employment of only 
 union men in a shop ; it means a monopoly of jobs 
 by members of the union. The issue is as old as the 
 unions themselves and as perplexing as human 
 nature. As early as 1806 it was contended for by 
 the Philadelphia cordwainers and by 1850 it had 
 become an established union policy. While wages 
 and hours are now, in the greater industrial fields, 
 the subject of a collective contract, this question 
 of union monopoly is still open, though there has 
 been some progress towards an adjustment. Wher- 
 ever the trade agreement provides for a closed 
 shop, the union, through its proper committees and 
 officers, assumes at least part of the responsibility 
 of the discipline. The agreement also includes 
 methods for arbitrating differences. The acid test 
 of the union is its capacity to live up to this 
 trade agreement. 
 
 For the purpose of forcing its policies upon its 
 employers and society the unions have resorted to 
 the strike and picketing, the boycott, and the union 
 label. When violence occurs, it usually is the con- 
 comitant of a strike; but violence unaccompanied 
 by a strike is sometimes used as a union weapon. 
 
 The strike is the oldest and most spectacular 
 weapon in the hands of labor. For many years it 
 
172 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 was thought a necessary concomitant of machine 
 industry. The strike, however, antedates machin- 
 ery and was a practical method of protest long 
 before there were unions. Men in a shop simply 
 agreed not to work further and walked out. The 
 earliest strike in the United States, as disclosed by 
 the United States Department of Labor occurred 
 ia 1741 among the journeymen bakers in New York 
 City. In 1792 the cordwainers of Philadelphia 
 struck. By 1834 strikes were so prevalent that the 
 New York Daily Advertiser declared them to be 
 "all the fashion." These demonstrations were all 
 small affairs compared with the strikes that dis- 
 organized industry after the Civil War or those 
 that swept the country in successive waves in the 
 late seventies, the eighties, and the nineties. The 
 United States Bureau of Labor has tabulated the 
 strike statistics for the twenty-five year period 
 from 1881 to 1905. This list discloses the fact that 
 38,303 strikes and lockouts occurred, involving 
 199,954 establishments and 7,444, 279 employees. 
 About 2,000,000 other employees were thrown out 
 of work as an indirect result. In 1894, the year of 
 the great Pullman strike, 610,425 men were out of 
 work at one time; and 659,792 in 1902. How much 
 time and money these ten million wage-earners 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 173 
 
 lost, and their employers lost, and society lost, can 
 never be computed, nor how much nervous energy 
 was wasted, good will thrown to the winds, and 
 mutual suspicion created. 
 
 The increase of union influence is apparent, for 
 recognition of the union has become more fre- 
 quently a cause for strikes. ' Moreover, while the 
 unions were responsible for about 47 per cent of the 
 strikes in 1881, they had originated, directly or 
 indirectly, 75 per cent in 1905. More significant, 
 indeed, is the fact that striking is a growing habit. 
 In 1903, for instance, there were 3494 strikes, an 
 average of about ten a day. 
 
 Preparedness is the watchword of the Unions in 
 this warfare. They have generals and captains, a 
 war chest and relief committees, as well as publici- 
 ty agents and sympathy scouts whose duty it is 
 to enlist the interest of the public. Usually the 
 leaders of the unions are conservative and deprecate 
 
 ' The cause of the strikes tabulated by the Bureau of Labor is 
 shown in the following table of percentages: 
 
 18S1 1S91 1901 1906 
 
 For increase of wages: 
 
 61 
 
 27 
 
 29 
 
 32 
 
 Against reduction of wages: 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 For reduction in hours: 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 Recognition of Union: 
 
 6 
 
 U 
 
 28 
 
 31 
 
174 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 violence. But a strike by its very nature oflFers 
 an opportunity to the lawless. The destruction of 
 property and the coercion of workmen have been 
 so prevalent in the past that, in the public mind, 
 violence has become universally associated with 
 strikes. Judge Jenkins, of the United States Circuit 
 Court, declared, in a leading case, that "a strike 
 without violence would equal the representation of 
 Hamlet with the part of Hamlet omitted. " Justice 
 Brewer of the United States Supreme Court said 
 that "the common rule as to strikes" is not only 
 for the workers to quit but to "forcibly prevent 
 others from taking their place. " Historic examples 
 involving violence of this sort are the great railway 
 strikes of 1877, when Pittsburgh, Reading, Cincin- 
 nati, Chicago, and Buffalo were mob-ridden; the 
 strike of the steel-workers at Homestead, Pennsyl- 
 vania, in 1892; the Pullman strike of 1894, when 
 President Cleveland sent Federal troops to Chicago ; 
 the great anthracite strike of 1902, which the Fed- 
 eral Commission characterized as "stained with 
 a record of riot and bloodshed " ; the civil war in the 
 Colorado and Idaho mining regions, where the West- 
 ern Federation of Miners battled with the militia 
 and Federal troops; the dynamite outrages, per- 
 petrated by the structural iron workers, stretching 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 175 
 
 across the entire country, and reaching a das- 
 tardly cHmax in the dynamiting of the Los Angeles 
 Times building on October 1, 1910, in which some 
 twenty men were killed. The recoil from this out- 
 rage was the severest blow which organized labor 
 has received in America. John J. McNamara, 
 Secretary of the Structural Iron Workers' Associa- 
 tion, and his brother James were indicted for mur- 
 der. After the trial was staged and the eyes of the 
 nation were upon it, the public was shocked and 
 the hopes of labor unionists were shattered by the 
 confessions of the principals. In March, 1912, a 
 Federal Grand Jury at Indianapolis returned fifty- 
 four indictments against oflScers and members of 
 the same union for participation in dynamite out- 
 rages that had occurred during the six years in 
 many parts of the country, with a toll of over one 
 hundred lives and the destruction of property 
 valued at many millions of dollars. Among those 
 indicted was the president of the International 
 Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers. 
 Most of the defendants were sentenced to various 
 terms in the penitentiary. 
 
 The records of this industrial warfare are re- 
 plete with lesser battles where thuggery joined 
 hands with desperation in the struggle for wages. 
 
176 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Evidence is not wanting that local leaders have 
 • frequently incited their men to commit acts of vio- 
 lence in order to impress the public with their 
 earnestness. It is not an inviting picture, this 
 matching of the sullen violence of the mob against 
 the sullen vigilance of the corporation. Yet such 
 methods have not always been used, for the union 
 has done much to systematize this guerrilla war- 
 fare. It has matched the ingenuity and the resolu- 
 tion of the employer, backed by his detectives and 
 professional strike-breakers; it has perfected its 
 organization so that the blow of a whistle or the 
 mere uplifting of a hand can silence a great mill. 
 Some of the notable strikes have been managed 
 with rare skill and diplomacy. Some careful ob- 
 servers, indeed, are inclined to the opinion that the 
 amount of violence that takes place in the average 
 strike has been grossly exaggerated. They main- 
 tain that, considering the great number of strikes, 
 the earnestness with which they are fought, the op- 
 portunity they offer to the lawless, and the vast 
 range of territory thej' cover, the amount of dam- 
 age to property and person is unusually small and 
 that the public, through sensational newspaper re- 
 ports of one or two acts of violence, is led to an 
 xaggerated opinion of its prevalence. 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 177 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that the wisdom 
 and conservatism of the national labor leaders is 
 neutralized by their lack of authority in their par- 
 ticular organization. A large price is paid for the 
 autonomy that permits the local unions to declare 
 strikes without the sanction of the general officers. 
 There are only a few unions, perhaps half a dozen, 
 in which a local can be expelled for striking con- 
 trary to the wish of the national officers. In the 
 United Mine Workers' Union, for example, the 
 local must secure the consent of the district offi- 
 cers and national president, or, if these disagree, 
 of the executive board, before it can declare a 
 strike. The tendency to strike on the spur of the 
 moment is much more marked among the newer 
 unions than among the older ones, which have per- 
 fected their strike machinery through much ex- 
 perience and have learned the cost of hasty and 
 unjustified action. 
 
 A less conspicuous but none the less effective 
 weapon in the hands of labor is the boycott,' 
 which is carried by some of the unions to a terrible 
 
 ■ In 1880, Lord Erne, an absentee Irish landlord, sent Captain 
 Boycott to Connemara to subdue his irate tenants. The people of 
 the region refused to have any intercourse whatever with the agent 
 or his family. And social and business ostracism has since been 
 known as the boycott. 
 
178 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 perfection. It reached its greatest power in the dec- 
 ade between 1881 and 1891. Though it was aimed 
 at a great variety of industries, it seemed to be pecu- 
 liarly eflfective in the theater, hotel, restaurant, and 
 publishing business, and in the clothing and cigar 
 trades. For sheer arbitrary coerciveness, nothing 
 in the armory of the union is so eflfective as the boy- 
 cott. A flourishing business finds its trade gone 
 overnight. Leading customers withdraw their pat- 
 ronage at the union's threat. The alert picket is 
 the harbinger of ruin, and the union black list is as 
 fraught with threat as the black hand. 
 
 The New York Bureau of Statistics of Labor 
 has shown that during the period of eight years 
 between 1885 and 1892 there were 1352 boycotts 
 in New York State alone. A sort of terrorism 
 spread among the tradespeople of the cities. But 
 the unions went too far. Instances of gross unfair- 
 ness aroused public sympathy against the boy- 
 cotters. In New York City, for instance, a Mrs. 
 Grey operated a small bakery with nonunion help. 
 Upon her refusal to unionize her shop at the com- 
 mand of the walking delegate, her customers were 
 sent the usual boycott notice, and pickets were 
 posted. Her delivery wagons were followed, and 
 her customers were threatened. Grocers selling 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 179 
 
 her bread were systematically boycotted. All this 
 persecution merely aroused public sympathy for 
 Mrs. Grey, and she found her bread becoming im- 
 mensely popular. The boycotters then demanded 
 $2500 for paying their boycott expenses. When 
 news of this attempt at extortion was made public, 
 it heightened the tide of sympathy, the courts took 
 up the matter, and the boycott failed. The New 
 York Boy cotter, a journal devoted to this form of 
 coercion, declared: "In boycotting we believe it 
 to be legitimate to strike a man financially, socially, 
 or politically. We believe in hitting him where it 
 will hurt the most; we believe in remorselessly 
 crowding him to the wall; but when he is down, 
 instead of striking him, we would lift him up and 
 stand him once more on his feet." When the boy- 
 cott thus enlisted the aid of blackmail, it was 
 doomed in the public esteem. Boycott indictments 
 multiplied, and in one year in New York City alone, 
 over one hundred leaders of such attempts at 
 coercion were sentenced to imprisonment. 
 
 The boycott, however, was not laid aside as a 
 necessary weapon of organized labor because it 
 had been abused by corrupt or overzealous union- 
 ists, nor because it had been declared illegal by the 
 courts. All the resources of the more conservative 
 
180 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 unions and of the American Federation of Labor 
 have been enlisted to make it effective in extreme 
 instances where the strike has failed. This appli- 
 cation of the method can best be illustrated by the 
 two most important cases of boycott in our history, 
 the Buck's Stove and Range case and the Danbury 
 Hatters' case. Both were fought through the Feder- 
 al courts, with the defendants backed by the Ameri- 
 can Federation and opposed by the Anti-Boj^cott 
 Association, a federation of employers. 
 
 The Buck's Stove and Range Company of St. 
 Louis incurred the displeasure of the Metal Polish- 
 ers' Union by insisting upon a ten-hour day. On 
 August 27, 1906, at five o'clock in the afternoon, on 
 a prearranged signal, the employees walked out. 
 They returned to work the next morning and all 
 were permitted to take their accustomed places 
 except those who had given the signal. They were 
 discharged. At five o'clock that afternoon the 
 men put aside their work, and the following morn- 
 ing reappeared. Again the men who had given the 
 signal were discharged, and the rest went to work. 
 The union then sent notice to the foreman that the 
 discharged men must be reinstated or that all would 
 quit. A strike ensued which soon led to a boycott 
 of national proportions. It spread from the local 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 181 
 
 to the St. Louis Central Trades and Labor Union 
 and to the Metal Polishers' Union. In 1907 the 
 executive council of the American Federation of 
 Labor ofhcially placed the Buck's Stove and Range 
 Company on the unfair list and gave this action 
 wide and conspicuous circulation in The Federa- 
 tionist. This boycott received further impetus 
 from the action of the Mine Workers, who in their 
 Annual Convention resolved that the Buck's Stove 
 and Range Company be put on the unfair list and 
 that " any member of the United Mine Workers of 
 America purchasing a stove of above make be 
 fined $5.00 and failing to pay the same be expelled 
 from the organization." 
 
 Espionage became so efficient and letters from 
 old customers withdrawing patronage became so 
 numerous and came from so wide a range of terri- 
 tory that the company found itself rapidly nearing 
 ruin. An injunction was secured, enjoining the 
 American Federation from blacklisting the com- 
 pany. The labor journals circumvented this man- 
 date by publishing in display type the statement 
 that "It is unlawful for the American Federation 
 of Labor to boycott Buck's Stoves and Ranges," 
 and then in small type adroitly recited the news of 
 the court's decision in such a way that the reader 
 
182 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 would see at a glance that the company was under 
 union ban. These evasions of the court's order 
 were interpreted as contempt, and in punishment 
 the officers of the Federation were sentenced to 
 imprisonment — Frank Morrison for six months, 
 John Mitchell for nine months, Samuel Gompers 
 for twelve months. But a technicality intervened 
 between the leaders and the cells awaiting them. 
 The public throughout the country had followed 
 the course of this case with mingled feelings of 
 sympathy and disfavor, and though the boycott 
 had never met with popular approval, on the 
 whole the public was relieved to learn that the 
 jail-sentences were not to be served. 
 
 The Danbury Hatters' boycott was brought on 
 in 1903 by the attempt of the Hatters' Union to 
 make a closed shop of a manufacturing concern in 
 Danbury, Connecticut. The unions moved upon 
 Danbury, flushed with two recent victories — one 
 in Philadelphia, where an important hat factory 
 had agreed to the closed shop after spending 
 some $40,000 in fighting, and another at Orange, 
 New Jersey, where a manufacturer had spent 
 $25,000. But as the Danbury concern was de- 
 termined to fight the union, in 1902 a nation- 
 wide boycott was declared. The company then 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 183 
 
 brought suit against members of the union in the 
 United States District Court. Injunction proceed- 
 ings reached the Supreme Court of the United 
 States on a demurrer, and in February, 1908, the 
 court declared that the Sherman Anti-Trust Law 
 forbade interstate boycotts. The case then re- 
 turned to the original court for trial. Testimony 
 was taken in many States, and after a trial lasting 
 twelve weeks the jury assessed the damages to the 
 plaintiff at $74,000. On account of error, the case 
 was remanded for re-trial in 1911. At the second 
 trial the jury gave the plaintiff a verdict for 
 $80,000, the full amount asked. According to the 
 law, this amount was trebled, leaving the judg- 
 ment, with costs added, at $252,000. The Supreme 
 Court having sustained the verdict, the puzzling 
 question of how to collect it arose. As such funds 
 as the union had were invulnerable to process, the 
 savings bank accounts of the individual defendants 
 were attached. The union insisted that the defend- 
 ants were not taxable for accrued interest, and the 
 United States Supreme Court, now appealed to 
 for a third time, sustained the plaintiff's contention. 
 In this manner $60,000 were obtained. Fore- 
 closure proceedings were then begun against one 
 hundred and forty homes belonging to union men 
 
184 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 in the towns of Danbury, Norwalk, and Bethel. 
 The union boasted that this sale would prove only 
 an incubus to the purchasers, for no one would 
 dare occupy the houses sold under such circum- 
 stances. In the meantime the American Federa- 
 tion, which had financed the litigation, undertook 
 to raise the needed sum by voluntary collection 
 and made Gompers's birthday the occasion for a 
 gift to the Danbury local. The Federation insisted 
 that the houses be sold on foreclosure and that the 
 collected money be used not as a prior settlement 
 but as an indemnity to the individuals thus de- 
 prived of their homes. Rancor gave way to reason, 
 however, and just before the day fixed for the fore- 
 closure sale the matter was settled. In all, $235,- 
 000 was paid in damages by the union to the com- 
 pany. In the fourteen years during which this 
 contest was waged, about forty defendants, one of 
 the plaintiffs, and eight judges who had passed on 
 the controversy, died. The outcome served as a 
 spur to the Federation in hastening through Con- 
 gress the Clayton bill of 1914, designed to place la- 
 bor unions beyond the reach of the anti-trust laws. 
 The union label has in more recent years achieved 
 importance as a weapon in union warfare. This 
 is a mark or device denoting a union-made article. 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 185 
 
 It might be termed a sort of labor union trade- 
 mark. Union men are admonished to favor the 
 goods so marked, but it was not until national 
 organizations were highly perfected that the label 
 could become of much practical value. It is a 
 device of American invention and was first used 
 by the cigar makers in 1874. In 1880 their nation- 
 al body adopted the now familiar blue label and, 
 with great skill and perseverance and at a consider- 
 able outlay of money, has pushed its union-made 
 ware, in the face of sweat-shop competition, of 
 the introduction of cigar making machinery, and 
 of fraudulent imitation. Gradually other unions 
 making products of common consumption adopted 
 labels. Conspicuous among these were the gar- 
 ment makers, the hat makers, the shoe makers, 
 and the brewery workers. As the value of the 
 label manifestly depends upon the trade it en- 
 tices, the unions are careful to emphasize the 
 sanitary conditions and good workmanship which 
 a label represents. 
 
 The application of the label is being rapidly 
 extended. Building materials are now in many 
 large cities under label domination. In Chicago 
 the bricklayers have for over fifteen years been 
 able to force the builders to use only union-label 
 
186 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 brick, and the carpenters have forced the contrac- 
 tors to use only material from union mills. There 
 is practically no limit to this form of mandatory 
 boycott. The barbers, retail clerks, hotel em- 
 ployees, and butcher workmen hang union cards 
 in their places of employment or wear badges as 
 insignia of union loyalty. As these labels do not 
 come under the protection of the United States 
 trade-mark laws, the unions have not infrequently 
 been forced to bring suits against counterfeiters. 
 
 Finally, in their efforts to fortify themselves 
 against undue increase in the rate of production or 
 "speeding up," against the inrush of new machin- 
 ery, and against the debilitating alternation of rush 
 work and no work, the unions have attempted to 
 restrict the output. The United States Industri- 
 al Commission reported in 1901 that "there has 
 always been a strong tendency among labor or- 
 ganizations to discourage exertion beyond a certain 
 limit. The tendency does not express itself in for- 
 mal rules. On the contrary, it appears chiefly in 
 the silent, or at least informal pressure of working 
 class opinion." Some unions have rules, others a 
 distinct understanding, on the subject of a normal 
 day's work, and some discourage piecework. But 
 it is difficult to determine how far this policy has 
 
ISSUES AND WARFARE 187 
 
 been carried in application. Carroll D. Wright, 
 in a special report as United States Commissioner 
 of Labor in 1904, said that "unions in some cases 
 fix a limit to the amount of work a workman may 
 perform a day. Usually it is a secret understand- 
 ing, but sometimes, when the union is strong, 
 no concealment is made." His report mentioned 
 several trades, including the building trades, in 
 which this curtailment is prevalent. 
 
 The course of this industrial warfare between 
 the unions and the employers has been replete 
 with sordid details of selfishness, corruption, hatred, 
 suspicion, and malice. In every community the 
 strike or the boycott has been an ominous visitant, 
 leaving in its trail a social bitterness which even 
 time finds it difficult to efface. In the great cities 
 and the factory towns, the constant repetition of 
 labor struggles has created centers of perennial dis- 
 content which are sources of never-ending reprisals. 
 In spite of individual injustice, however, one can 
 discern in the larger movements a current setting 
 towards a collective justice and a communal ideal 
 which society in self-defense is imposing upon 
 the combatants. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE NEW terrorism: THE I. W. W. 
 
 It was not to be expected that the field of organized 
 labor would be left undisputed to the moderation 
 of the trade union after its triumph over the ex- 
 treme methods of the Knights of Labor. The 
 public, however, did not anticipate the revolution- 
 ary ideal which again sought to inflame industrial 
 unionism. After the decadence of the older type 
 of the industrial union several conditions mani- 
 fested themselves which now, in retrospect, appear 
 to have encouraged the violent militants who call 
 themselves the Industrial Workers of the World. 
 
 First of all, there took place in Europe the rise 
 of syndicalism with its adoption of sympathetic 
 strikes as one of its methods. Syndicalism flour- 
 ished especially in France, where from its incep- 
 tion the alert French mind had shaped for it a 
 philosophy of violence, whose subtlest exponent 
 was Georges Sorel. The Socialist Future of Trade 
 
 188 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 189 
 
 Unions, which he published in 1897, was an early 
 exposition of his views, but his Reflections upon 
 Violence in 1908 is the best known of his contribu- 
 tions to this newer doctrine. With true Gallic fer- 
 vor, the French workingman had sought to trans- 
 late his philosophy into action, and in 1906 under- 
 took, with the aid of a revolutionary organization 
 known as the Confederation General du Travail, a 
 series of strikes which culminated in the railroad 
 and post office strike of 1909. All these uprisings 
 — for they were in reality more than strikes — 
 were characterized by extreme language, bj^ vio- 
 lent action, and by impressive public demonstra- 
 tions. In Italy, Spain, Norway, and Belgium, the 
 syndicalists were also active. Their partiality to 
 violent methods attracted general attention in 
 Europe and appealed to that small group of Ameri- 
 can labor leaders whose experience in the Western 
 Federation of Miners had taught them the value of 
 dynamite as a press agent. 
 
 In the meantime material was being gathered 
 for a new outbreak in the United States. The 
 casual laborers had greatly increased in numbers, 
 especially in the West. These migratory working- 
 men — the "hobo miners," the "hobo lumber- 
 jacks," the "blanket stiffs," of colloquial speech — 
 
190 THE ARMIES OF LABOE 
 
 wander about the country in search of work. They 
 rarely have ties of family and seldom ties of local- 
 ity. About one-half of these wanderers are Ameri- 
 can born. They are to be described with precision 
 as "floaters." Their range of operations includes 
 the wheat regions west of the Mississippi, the iron 
 mines of Michigan and Minnesota, the mines and 
 forests of Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Washington, 
 and Oregon, and the fields of California and Ari- 
 zona. They prefer to winter in the cities, but, as 
 their only refuge is the bunk lodging house, they 
 increase the social problem in New York, Chicago, 
 San Francisco, and other centers of the unem- 
 ployed. Many of these migrants never were skilled 
 workers; but a considerable portion of them have 
 been forced down into the ranks of the unskilled 
 by the inevitable tragedies of prolonged unemploy- 
 ment. Such men lend a willing ear to the labor 
 agitator. The exact number in this wandering 
 class is not known. The railroad companies have 
 estimated that at a given time there have been 
 500,000 hobos trying to beat their way from place 
 to place. Unquestionably a large percentage of 
 the 23,964 trespassers killed and of the 25,236 in- 
 jured on railway rights of way from 1901 to 1904 
 belonged to this class. 
 
THE JNEW TEKKORISM: THE I. W. W. 191 
 
 It is not alone these drifters, however, who be- 
 cause of their irresponsibihty and their hostihty 
 toward society became easy victims to the indus- 
 trial organizer. The great mass of unskilled work- 
 ers in the factory towns proved quite as tempting 
 to the propagandist. Among laborers of this class, 
 wages are the lowest and living conditions the most 
 uninviting. Moreover, this group forms the indus- 
 trial reservoir which receives the settlings of the 
 most recent European and Asiatic immigration. 
 These people have a standard of living and concep- 
 tions of political and individual freedom which are 
 at variance with American traditions . Though their 
 employment is steadier than that of the migratory 
 laborer, and though they often have ties of family 
 and other stabilizing responsibilities, their lives 
 are subject to periods of unemployment, and these 
 fluctuations serve to feed their innate restlessness. 
 They are, in quite the literal sense of the word, 
 American proletarians. They are more volatile 
 than any European proletarian, for they have 
 learned the lesson of migration, and they retain 
 the socialistic and anarchistic philosophy of their 
 European fellow-workers. 
 
 There were several attempts to organize casual 
 labor after the decline of the Knights of Labor. 
 
192 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 But it is difficult to arouse any sustained interest 
 in industrial organizations among workingmen of 
 this class. They lack the motive of members of a 
 trade union, and the migratory character of such 
 workers deprives their organization of stability. 
 One industrial organization, however, has been of 
 the greatest encouragement to the I. W. W. The 
 Western Federation of Miners, which was organ- 
 ized at Butte, Montana, on May 15, 1893, has 
 enjoyed a more turbulent history than any other 
 American labor union. It was conceived in that 
 spirit of rough resistance which local unions of 
 miners, for some years before the amalgamation 
 of the unions, had opposed to the ruthless and firm 
 determination of the mine owners. In 1897, the 
 president of the miners, after quoting the words of 
 the Constitution of the United States giving citi- 
 zens the right to bear arms, said: "This you should 
 comply with immediately. Every union should 
 have a rifle club. I strongly advise you to provide 
 every member with the latest improved rifle which 
 can be obtained from the factory at a nominal 
 price. I entreat you to take action on this impor- 
 tant question, so that in two years we can hear the 
 inspiring music of the martial tread of 25,000 
 armed men in the ranks of labor." 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 193 
 
 This militant vision was fortunately never quite 
 ulfiUed. But armed strikers there were, by the 
 housands, and the gruesome details of their fight 
 vith mine owners in Colorado are set forth in a spe- 
 :ial report of the United States Commissioner of 
 ^abor in 1905. The use of dynamite became early 
 issociated with this warfare in Colorado. In 1903 a 
 atal explosion occurred in the Vindicator mine, and 
 Telluridcthe county seat, was proclaimed to be in a 
 itate of insurrection and rebellion. In 1904 a cage 
 ifting miners from the shaft in the Independence 
 nine at Victor was dropped and fifteen men were 
 ailed. There were many minor outrages, isolated 
 nurders, "white cap" raids, infernal machines, de- 
 )ortations, black lists, and so on. In Montana and 
 .daho similar scenes were enacted and reached a 
 ;limax in the murder of Governor Steunenberg 
 )f Idaho. Yet the union officers indicted for this 
 nurder were released by the trial jury. 
 
 Such was the preparatory school of the new 
 mionism, which had its inception in several infor- 
 nal conferences held in Chicago. The first, at- 
 ;ended by only six radical leaders, met in the au- 
 ;umn of 1904. The second, held in January, 1905, 
 ssued a manifesto attacking the trade unions, call- 
 ng for a "new departure" in the labor movement. 
 
194 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 and inviting those who desired to join in organ- 
 izing such a movement to "meet in convention 
 in Chicago the 27th day of June, 1905." About 
 two hundred persons responded to this appeal and 
 organized the Industrial Workers of the World, 
 almost unnoticed by the press of the day and 
 scorned by the American Federation of Labor, 
 whose official organ had called those in attendance 
 at the second conference "engaged in the delecta- 
 ble work of trying to divert, pervert, and disrupt 
 the labor movement of the country." 
 
 An overwhelming influence in this convention 
 was wielded by the Western Federation of Miners 
 and the Socialistic American Labor Union, two 
 radical labor bodies which looked upon the trade 
 unions as "union snobbery" and the "aristocracy 
 of labor," and upon the American Federation as 
 "the consummate flower of craft unionism" and 
 "a combination of job trusts." They believed 
 trade unionism wrong in principle. They discarded 
 the principle of trade autonomy for the principle 
 of laboring class solidarity, for, as one of their 
 spokesmen said, "The industrial union, in contra- 
 distinction to the craft union, is that organization 
 through which all its members in one industry, or 
 in all industries if necessary, can act as a unit." 
 
THE JSEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 195 
 
 While this convention was united in denouncing 
 the trade unions, it was not so unanimous in other 
 matters, for the leaders were all veterans in those 
 factional quarrels which characterize Socialists the 
 world over. Eugene V. Debs, for example, was the 
 hero of the Knights of Labor and had achieved 
 wide notoriety during the Pullman strike by being 
 imprisoned for contempt of court. William D. 
 Haywood, popularly known as "Big Bill," re- 
 ceived a rigorous training in the Western Federa- 
 tion of Miners. Daniel DeLeon, whose right name, 
 the American Federationist alleged, was Daniel 
 Loeb, was a university graduate and a vehement 
 revolutionary, the leader of the Socialistic Labor 
 party, and the editor of the Daily People. A. M. 
 Simons, the leader of the Socialist party and the 
 editor of the Coming Nation, was at swords' points 
 with DeLeon. William E. Trautmann was the flu- 
 ent spokesman of the anti-political faction. These 
 men dominated the convention. 
 
 After some twelve days of discussion, they 
 agreed upon a constitution which established six 
 departments, ' provided for a general executive 
 
 ' 1. Agriculture, Land, Fisheries, and Water Products. 2. 
 Mining. 3. Transportation and Communication. 4. Manu- 
 facturing and General Production. 5. Construction. 6. Public 
 Service. 
 
196 THE AKMIES OF LABOR 
 
 board with centralized powers, and at the same 
 time left to the local and department organi- 
 zations complete industrial autonomy. The I. 
 W. W. in "the first constitution, crude and provi- 
 sional as it was, made room for all the world's 
 workers."' This was, indeed, the great object of 
 the organization. 
 
 Whatever visions of world conquest the mili- 
 tants may at first have fostered were soon shattered 
 by internal strife. There were unreconcilable ele- 
 ments in the body : those who regarded the politi- 
 cal aspect as paramount and industrial imions as 
 allies of socialism; those who regarded the forming 
 of unions as paramount and politics as secondary; 
 and those who regarded all forms of political activ- 
 ity as mere waste of energy. The first two groups 
 were tucked under the wings of the Socialist party 
 and the Socialist Labor party. The third group 
 was frankly anarchistic and revolutionary. In the 
 fourth annual convention the Socialist factions 
 withdrew, established headquarters at Detroit, 
 organized what is called the Detroit branch, and 
 left the Chicago field to the revolutionists. So 
 socialism "pure and simple, " and what amounts to 
 
 ' J. G. Brissenden, The Launching of the Industrial Workert 0/ 
 the World, page 41. 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 197 
 
 anarchism "pure and simple," fell out, after they 
 had both agreed to disdain trade unionism "pure 
 and simple." 
 
 This shift proved the great opportunity for Hay- 
 wood and his disciples. Feeling himself now free 
 of all political encumbrances, he gathered around 
 him a small group of enthusiastic leaders, some of 
 whom had a gift of diabolical intrigue, and with in- 
 domitable perseverance and zeal he set himself to 
 seeking out the neglected, unskilled, and casual 
 laborer. Within a few years he so dominated the 
 movement that, in the public mind, the I. W. W. is 
 associated with the Chicago branch and the Detroit 
 faction is well-nigh forgotten. 
 
 As a preliminary to a survey of some of the 
 battles that made the I. W. W. a symbol of terror 
 in many communities it will be well to glance for a 
 moment at the underlying doctrines of the organi- 
 zation. In a preamble now notorious it declared 
 that "the working class and the employing class 
 have nothing in common. There can be no peace 
 so long as hunger and want are found among mil- 
 lions of working people, and the few who make up 
 the employing class have all the good things of 
 life. Between these two classes a struggle must 
 go on until the workers of the world as a class take 
 
198 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 possession of the earth and the machinery of 
 production and abolish the wage system." 
 
 This thesis is a declaration of war as well as a 
 declaration of principles. The I. W. W. aims at 
 nothing less than the complete overthrow of mod- 
 ern capitalism and the political structure which 
 accompanies it. Emma Goldman, who prides 
 herself on having received her knowledge of syn- 
 dicalism "from actual contact" and not from 
 books, says that "syndicalism repudiates and con- 
 demns the present industrial arrangement as un- 
 just and criminal." Edward Hamond calls the 
 labor contract "the sacred cow" of industrial 
 idolatry and says that the aim of the I. W. W. is 
 "the abolition of the wage system." And W. E. 
 Trantmann afBrms that "the industrial unionist 
 holds that there can be no agreement with the em- 
 I)loyers of labor which the workers have to consider 
 sacred and inviolable." In place of what they 
 consider an unjust and universal capitalistic order 
 they would establish a new society in which "the 
 unions of the workers will own and manage all 
 industries, regulate consumption, and administer 
 the general social interests." 
 
 How is this contemplated revolution to be 
 achieved.? By the working classes themselves and 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 199 
 
 not through poUtical activity, for "one of the first 
 principles of the I. W. W. is that political power 
 rests on economic power. ... It must gain con- 
 trol of the shops, ships, railways, mines, mills." 
 And how is it to gain this all-embracing control.'* 
 By persuading every worker to join the union, the 
 "one great organization " which, according to Hay- 
 wood, is to be "big enough to take in the black 
 man, the white man; big enough to take in all 
 nationalities — an organization that will be strong 
 enough to obliterate state boundaries, to obliter- 
 ate national boundaries. . . . We, the I. W. W., 
 stand on our two feet, the class struggle and indus- 
 trial unionism, and coolly say we want the whole 
 earth. " When the great union has become uni- 
 versal, it will simply take possession of its own, will 
 "lock the employers out for good as owners and 
 parasites, and give them a chance to become use- 
 ful toilers." The resistance that will assuredly be 
 made to this process of absorption is to be met by 
 direct action, the general strike, and sabotage — 
 a trinity of phrases imported from Europe, each 
 one of special significance. 
 
 "The general strike means a stoppage of work," 
 says Emma Goldman with naive brevity. It was 
 thought of long before the I. W. W. existed, but it 
 
200 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 has become the most valuable weapon in their 
 arsenal. Their pamphlets contain many allusions 
 to the great strikes in Belgium, Russia, Italy, 
 France, Scandinavia, and other European coun- 
 tries, that were so widespread as to merit being 
 called general. If all the workers can be induced 
 to stop work, even for a very brief interval, 
 such action would be regarded as the greatest 
 possible manifestation of the "collective power 
 of the producers." 
 
 Direct action, a term translated directly from 
 the French, is more diflBcult to define. This 
 method sets itself in opposition to the methods of the 
 capitalist in retaining control of industry, which is 
 spoken of as indirect action. Laws, machinery, 
 credits, courts, and constabulary are indirect 
 methods whereby the capitalist keeps possession of 
 his property. The industrialist matches this with 
 a direct method. For example, he engages in a 
 passive strike, obeying rules so literally as to de- 
 stroy both their utility and his work; or in an oppor- 
 tune strike, ceasing work suddenly when he knows 
 his employer has orders that must be immediately 
 filled; or in a temporary strike, quitting work one 
 day and coming back the next. His weapon is 
 organized opportunism, wielding an unexpected 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 201 
 
 blow, and keeping the employer in a frenzy of 
 fearful anticipation. 
 
 Finally, sabotage is a word that expresses the 
 whole philosophy and practice of revolutionary 
 labor. John Spargo, in his Syndicalism, Industrial 
 Unionism and Socialism, traces the origin of the 
 word to the dockers' union in London. Attempt 
 after attempt had proved futile to win by strikes 
 the demands of these unskilled workers. The men 
 were quite at the end of their resources, when 
 finally they hit upon the plan of "lying down on 
 the job" or "soldiering." As a catchword they 
 adopted the Scotch phrase ca'canny, to go slow or 
 be careful not to do too much. As an example they 
 pointed to the Chinese coolies who met a refusal of 
 increased wages by cutting off a few inches from 
 their shovels on the principle of "small pay, small 
 work." He then goes on to say that "the idea 
 was very easily extended. From the slowing up 
 of the human worker to the slowing up of the iron 
 worker, the machine, was an easy transition. Judi- 
 ciously planned 'accidents' might easily create 
 confusion for which no one could be blamed. A 
 few 'mistakes' in handling cargoes might easily 
 cost the employers far more than a small increase 
 in wages would. " 
 
202 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Some French syndicalists, visiting London, were 
 greatly impressed with this new cunning. But as 
 they had no ready translation for the Scottish ca- 
 canny, they ingeniously abstracted the same idea 
 from the old French saying Travailler a coups de 
 sabots — to work as if one had on wooden shoes — 
 and sabotage thus became a new and expressive 
 phrase in the labor war. 
 
 Armed with these weapons, Haywood and his 
 henchmen moved forward. Not long after the 
 first convention in 1905, they made their presence 
 known at Goldfield, Nevada. Then they struck 
 simultaneously at Youngstown, Ohio, and Port- 
 land, Oregon. The first battle, however, to attract 
 general notice was at McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, 
 in 1909. In this warfare between the recently or- 
 ganized unskilled workers and the efficient state 
 constabulary, the I. W. W. sent notice "that for 
 every striker killed or injured by the cossacks, the 
 life of a cossack will be exacted in return." And 
 they collected their gruesome toll. 
 
 In 1912 occurred the historic strike in the mill 
 town of Lawrence, Massachusetts. This affair 
 was so adroitly managed by the organizers of the 
 Workers that within a few weeks every newspaper 
 of importance in America was publishing long 
 
THE NEW TEKEORISM: THE I. W. W. 203 
 
 descriptions of the new anarchism. Magazine writ- 
 ers, self-appointed reformers, delegations represent- 
 ing various organizations, three committees of the 
 state legislature, the Governor's personal emissary, 
 the United States Attorney, the United States 
 Commissioner of Labor, and a congressional com- 
 mittee devoted their time to numerous investiga- 
 tions, thereby giving immense satisfaction to those 
 obscure agitators who were lifted suddenly into 
 the glare of universal notoriety, to the disgust of 
 the town thus dragged into unenviable publicity, 
 and to the discomfiture of the employers. 
 
 The legislature of Massachusetts had reduced 
 the hours of work of women and children from fifty- 
 six to fifty-four hours a week. Without making 
 adequate announcement, the employers withheld 
 two hours' pay from the weekly stipend. A large 
 portion of the workers were foreigners, represent- 
 ing eighteen different nationalities, most of them 
 with a wholly inadequate knowledge of English, 
 and all of an inflammable temperament. When 
 they found their pay short, a group marched 
 through the mills, inciting others to join them, and 
 the strike was on. The American Federation of 
 Labor had paid little attention to these workers. 
 There were some trade unions in the mills, but 
 
204 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 most of the workers were unorganized except for 
 the fact that the I. W. W. had, about eight months 
 before, gathered several hundred into an industrial 
 union. Yet it does not appear that this union 
 started the strike. It was a case of spontaneous 
 combustion. No sooner had it begun, however, than 
 Joseph J. Ettor, an I. W. W. organizer, hastened 
 to take charge, and succeeded so well that within 
 a few weeks he claimed 7000 members in his union. 
 Ettor proved a crafty, resourceful general, quick 
 in action, magnetic in personality, a linguist who 
 could command his polyglot mob. He was also a 
 successful press agent who exploited fully the un- 
 palatable drinking water provided by the com- 
 panies, the inadequate sewerage, the unpaved 
 streets, and the practical destitution of many of 
 the workers. The strikers made an attempt to 
 send children to other towns so that they might be 
 better cared for. After several groups had thus 
 been taken away, the city of Lawrence interfered, 
 claiming that many children had been sent without 
 their parents' consent. On the 24th of February, 
 when a group of forty children and their mothers 
 gathered at the railway station to take a train for 
 Philadelphia, the police after due warning refused 
 to let them depart. It was then that the Federal 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 205 
 
 Government was called upon to take action. The 
 strike committee telegraphed Congress: "Twenty- 
 five thousand striking textile workers and citizens 
 of Lawrence protest against the hideous brutality 
 with which the police handled the women and 
 children of Lawrence this morning. Carrying out 
 the illegal and original orders of the city marshal 
 to prevent free citizens from sending their children 
 out of the city, striking men were knocked down, 
 women and mothers who were trying to protect 
 their children from the onslaught of the police 
 were attacked and clubbed." So widespread was 
 the opinion that unnecessary brutality had taken 
 place that petitions for an investigation poured in 
 upon Congress from many States and numerous 
 organizations. 
 
 The whole country was watching the situation. 
 The hearings held by a congressional committee 
 emphasized the stupidity of the employers in ar- 
 bitrarily curtailing the wage, the inadequacy of the 
 town government in handling the situation, and 
 the cupidity of the I. W. W. leaders in taking ad- 
 vantage of the fears, the ignorance, the inflamma- 
 bility of the workers, and in creating a "terrorism 
 which impregnated the whole city for days." Law- 
 rence became a symbol. It stood for the American 
 
206 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 factory town ; for municipal indifference and social 
 neglect, for heterogeneity in population, for the 
 tinder pile awaiting the incendiary match. 
 
 At Little Falls, New York, a strike occurred in 
 the textile mills in October, 1912, as a result of a 
 reduction of wages due to a fifty-four hour law. 
 No organization was responsible for the strike, but 
 no sooner had the operatives walked out than here 
 also the I. W. W. appeared. The leaders ordered 
 every striker to do something which would involve 
 arrest in order to choke the local jail and the courts. 
 The state authorities investigating the situation 
 reported that " all of those on strike were foreigners 
 and few, if any, could speak or understand the Eng- 
 lish language, complete control of the strike being 
 in the hands of the I. W. W." 
 
 In February, 1913, about 15,000 employees in 
 the rubber works at Akron, Ohio, struck. The in- 
 troduction of machinery into the manufacture of 
 automobile tires caused a reduction in the piece- 
 work rate in certain shops. One of the companies 
 posted a notice on the 10th of February that this 
 reduction would take effect immediately. No time 
 was given for conference, and it was this sudden 
 arbitrary act which precipitated all the discontent 
 lurking for a long time in the background; and the 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 207 
 
 employees walked out. The legislative investigat- 
 ing committee reported "there was practically no 
 organization existing among the rubber employees 
 when the strike began. A small local of the Indus- 
 trial Workers of the World comprised of between 
 fifteen and fifty members had been formed. . . . 
 Simultaneously with the beginning of the strike, 
 organizers of the I. W. W. appeared on the ground 
 inviting and urging the striking employees to unite 
 with their organization." Many of these testified 
 before the public authorities that they had not 
 joined because they believed in the preachings of 
 the organization but because "they hoped through 
 collective action to increase their wages and im- 
 prove their conditions of employment." The tac- 
 tics of the strike leaders soon alienated the public, 
 which had at first been inclined towards the strikers, 
 and acts of violence led to the organization of a 
 vigilance committee of one thousand citizens which 
 warned the leaders to leave town. 
 
 In February, 1913, some 25,000 workers in the 
 silk mills of Paterson, New Jersey, struck, and 
 here again the I. W. W. repeated its maneuvers. 
 Sympathetic meetings took place in New York and 
 other cities. Daily "experience meetings" were 
 held in Paterson and all sorts of devices were 
 
208 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 invented to maintain the fervor of the strikers. 
 The leaders threatened to make Paterson a "howl- 
 ing wilderness," an "industrial graveyard," and 
 '"to wipe it off the map." This threat naturally 
 arrayed the citizens against the strikers, over one 
 thousand of whom were lodged in jail before the 
 outbreak was over. Among the five ringleaders ar- 
 rested and held for the grand jury were Elizabeth 
 Gurley Flynn and Patrick Quinlan, whose trials 
 attracted wide attention. Elizabeth Flynn, an 
 appealing young widow scarcely over twenty-one, 
 testified that she had begun her work as an organ- 
 izer at the age of sixteen, that she had not incited 
 strikers to violence but had only advised them to 
 picket and to keep their hands in their pockets, 
 "so that detectives could not put stones in them 
 as they had done in other strikes." The jury dis- 
 agreed and she was discharged. Quinlan, an un- 
 usually attractive young man, also a professional 
 I. W. W. agitator, was found guilty of inciting to 
 violence and was sentenced to a long term of im- 
 prisonment. After serving nine months he was 
 freed because of a monster petition signed by some 
 20,000 sympathetic persons all over the United 
 States. Clergymen, philanthropists, and promi- 
 nent public men, were among the signers, as well as 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 209 
 
 le jurors who convicted and the sheriff who locked 
 p the defendant. 
 
 These cases served to fix further pubHc atten- 
 on upon the nature of the new movement and the 
 )rt of revivalists its evangel of violence was pro- 
 acing. Employers steadfastly refused to deal 
 ith the I. W. W., although they repeatedly as- 
 Tted they were willing to negotiate with their em- 
 loyees themselves. After three months of strike 
 id turmoil the mayor of Paterson had said: 
 The fight which Paterson is making is the fight of 
 le nation. Their agitation has no other object in 
 iew but to establish a reign of terror throughout 
 le United States." A large number of thoughtful 
 jople all over the land were beginning to share 
 lis view. 
 
 In New York City a new sort of agitation was 
 jvised in the winter of 1913-14 under the cap- 
 lincy of a young man who quite suddenly found 
 !mself widely advertised. Frank Tannenbaum 
 •ganized an "army of the unemployed," com- 
 andeered Rutgers Square as a rendezvous. Fifth 
 venue as a parade ground, and churches and 
 Irish houses as forts and commissaries. Several 
 ' the churches were voluntarily opened to them, 
 it other churches they attempted to enter by 
 u 
 
210 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 storm. In March, 1914, Tannenbaum led several 
 score into the church of St. Alphonsus while mass 
 was being celebrated. Many arrests followed this 
 bold attempt to emulate the French Revolution- 
 ists. Though sympathizers raised $7500 bail for 
 the ringleader, Tannenbaum loyally refused to ac- 
 cept it as long as any of his "army" remained in 
 jail. Squads of his men entered restaurants, ate 
 their fill, refused to pay, and then found their 
 way to the workhouse. So for several months 
 a handful of unemployed, some of them profes- 
 sional unemployed, held the headlines of the met- 
 ropolitan papers, rallied to their defense sentimen- 
 tal social sympathizers, and succeeded in calling 
 the attention of the public to a serious industrial 
 condition. 
 
 At Granite City, Illinois, another instance of 
 unrest occurred when several thousand laborers in 
 the steel mills, mostly Roumanians and Bulgarians, 
 demanded an increase in wages. When the whistle 
 blew on the appointed morning, they gathered at 
 the gates, refused to enter, and continued to shout 
 " Two dollars a day ! " Though the manager feared 
 violence and posted guards, no violence was offered. 
 Suddenly at the end of two hours the men quietly 
 resumed their work, and the management believed 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 211 
 
 the trouble was over. But for several successive 
 mornings this maneuver was repeated. Strike 
 breakers were then sent for. For a week, however, 
 the work went forward as usual. The order for 
 strike breakers was countermanded. Then came 
 a continued repetition of the early morning strikes 
 until the company gave way. 
 
 Nor were the subtler methods of sabotage for- 
 gotten in these demonstrations. From many 
 places came reports of emery dust in the gearings 
 of expensive machines. Men boasted of powdered 
 soap emptied into water tanks that fed boilers, of 
 kerosene applied to belting, of railroad switches 
 that had been tampered with. With these and 
 many similar examples before them, the public 
 became convinced that the mere arresting of a few 
 leaders was futile. A mass meeting at Ipswich, 
 Massachusetts, in 1913, declared, as its principle of 
 iction, "We have got to meet force with force," 
 md then threatened to run the entire local I. W. 
 W. group out of town. In many towns vigilance 
 committees acted as eyes, ears, and hands for the 
 community. When the community refused to 
 'emain neutral, the contest assumed a different 
 ispect and easily became a feud between a small 
 ?roup of militants and the general public. 
 
212 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 In the West this contest assumed its most aggres- 
 sive form. At Spokane, in 1910, the jail was soon 
 filled, and sixty prisoners went on a hunger strike 
 which cost several lives. In the lumber mills of 
 Aberdeen, South Dakota, explosions and riots 
 occurred. In Hoquiam, Washington, a twelve- 
 foot stockade surmounted by barbed wire entangle- 
 ments failed to protect the mills from the assaults 
 of strikers. At Gray's Harbor, Washington, a citi- 
 zens' committee cut the electric light wires to 
 darken the meeting place of the I. W. W. and then 
 used axe handles and wagon spokes to drive the 
 members out of town. At Everett, Washington, a 
 strike in the shingle mills led to the expulsion of 
 the I. W. W. The leaders then called for volun- 
 teers to invade Everett, and several hundred mem- 
 bers sailed from Seattle. They were met at the 
 dock, however, by a large committee of citizens 
 and were informed by the sheriff that they would 
 not be allowed to land. After some parley, the 
 invaders opened fire, and in the course of the shoot- 
 ing that followed the sheriff was seriously wound- 
 ed, five persons were killed, and many were in- 
 jured. The boat and its small invading army then 
 returned to Seattle without making a landing 
 at Everett. 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 213 
 
 The I. W. W. found an excuse for their riotous 
 ction in the refusal of communities to permit them 
 a speak in the streets and public places. This, 
 bey claimed, was an invasion of their constitu- 
 ional right of free speech. The experience of San 
 )iego serves as an example of their "free speech" 
 ampaigns. In 1910, I. W. W. agitators began to 
 old public meetings in the streets, in the course of 
 ?hich their language increased in ferocity until the 
 idignation of the community was aroused. An 
 rdinance was then passed by the city council pro- 
 ibiting street speaking within the congested por- 
 ions of the city, but allowing street meetings in 
 ther parts of the city if a permit from the police 
 epartment were first obtained. There was, how- 
 ver, no law requiring the issue of such a permit, 
 nd none was granted to the agitators. This re- 
 triction of their liberties greatly incensed the agita- 
 ors, who at once raised the cry of "free speech" 
 nd began to hold meetings in defiance of the 
 rdinance. The jail was soon glutted with these 
 postles of riotous speaking. In order to delay 
 he dispatch of the court's overcrowded calendar, 
 very one demanded a jury trial. The mayor of 
 he town then received a telegram from the general 
 ecretary of the organization which disclosed their 
 
214 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 tactics: "This fight will be continued until free 
 speech is established in San Diego if it takes twenty 
 thousand members and twenty years to do so." 
 The national membership of the I. W. W. had been 
 drafted as an invading army, to be a constant irri- 
 tation to the city until it surrendered. The police 
 asserted that "there are bodies of men leaving all 
 parts of the country for San Diego " for the purpose 
 of defying the city authorities and overwhelming 
 its municipal machinery. A committee of vigi- 
 lantes armed with "revolvers, knives, night-sticks, 
 black jacks, and black snakes," supported by the 
 local press and commercial bodies, undertook to 
 run the unwelcome guests out of town. That this 
 was not done gently is clearly disclosed by subse- 
 quent official evidence. Culprits were loaded into 
 auto trucks at night, taken to the county line, made 
 to kiss the flag, sing the national anthem, run the 
 gauntlet between rows of vigilantes provided with 
 cudgels and, after thus proving their patriotism 
 under duress, were told never to return. 
 
 "There is an unwritten law," one of the local 
 papers at this time remarked, "that permits a citi- 
 zen to avenge his outraged honor. There is an un- 
 written law that permits a community to defend 
 itself by any means in its power, lawful or unlawful, 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 215 
 
 igainst any evil which the operation of the written 
 aw is inadequate to oppose or must oppose by 
 slow, tedious, and unnecessarily expensive proceed- 
 ngs." So this municipal homeopathy of curing law- 
 essness with lawlessness received public sanction. 
 With the declaration of war against Germany in 
 \.pril, 1917, hostility to the I. W. W. on the part 
 )f the American public was intensified. The mem- 
 bers of the organization opposed war. Their leaflet 
 War and the Workers, bore this legend: 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN SA[D 
 "WAR IS HELL" 
 
 DON'T GO TO HELL 
 
 IN ORDER TO GIVE A BUNCH OF 
 
 PIRATICAL 
 
 PLUTOCRATIC 
 
 PARASITES 
 
 A BIGGER SLICE OF HEAVEN 
 
 Soon rumors abounded that German money was 
 being used to aid the I. W. W. in their plots. In 
 
216 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, and other 
 States, members of the organization were arrested 
 for failure to comply with the draft law. The gov- 
 ernors of Oregon, Washington, Montana, Idaho, 
 and Nevada met to plan laws for suppressing the 
 I. W. W. Similar legislation was urged upon Con- 
 gress. Senator Thomas, in a report to the Senate, 
 accused the I. W. W. of cooperating with German 
 agents in the copper mines and harvest fields of the 
 West by inciting the laborers to strikes and to the 
 destruction of food and material. Popular opinion 
 in the West inclined to the view of Senator Poin- 
 dexter of Washington when he said that "most of 
 the I. W. W. leaders are outlaws or ought to be 
 made outlaws because of their official utterances, 
 inflammatory literature and acts of violence." 
 Indeed, scores of communities in 1917 took matters 
 into their own hands. Over a thousand I. W. W. 
 strikers in the copper mines of Bisbee, Arizona, 
 were loaded into freight cars and shipped over the 
 state line. In Billings, Montana, one leader was 
 horsewhipped, and two others were hanged until 
 they were unconscious. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a 
 group of seventeen members were taken from 
 policemen, thoroughly flogged, tarred, feathered, 
 and driven out of town by vigilantes. 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 217 
 
 The Federal Government, after an extended 
 inquiry through the secret service, raided the De- 
 troit headquarters of the I. W. W., where a plot to 
 tie up lake traffic was brewing. The Chicago offices 
 were raided some time later ; over one hundred and 
 sixty leaders of the organization from all parts of 
 the country were indicted as a result of the exami- 
 nation of the wagon-load of papers and documents 
 seized. As a result, 166 indictments were returned. 
 Of these 99 defendants were found guilty by the 
 trial jury, 16 were dismissed during the trial, and 
 51 were dismissed before the trial. In Cleveland, 
 Buffalo, and other lake ports similar disclosures 
 were made, and everywhere the organization fell 
 under popular and official suspicion. 
 
 In many other portions of the country members 
 of the I. W. W. were tried for conspiracy under the 
 Federal espionage act. In January, 1919, a trial 
 jury in Sacramento found 46 defendants guilty. 
 The offense in the majority of these cases con- 
 sisted in opposing military service rather than in 
 overt acts against the Government. But in May 
 and June, 1919, the country was startled by a series 
 of bomb outrages aimed at the United States 
 Attorney-General, certain Federal district judges, 
 and other leading public personages, which were 
 
218 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 evidently the result of centralized planning and 
 were executed by members of the I. W. W., aided 
 very considerably by foreign Bolshevists. 
 
 In spite of its spectacular warfare and its mo- 
 nopoly of newspaper headlines, the I. W. W. has 
 never been numerically strong. The first conven- 
 tion claimed a membership of 60,000. All told, the 
 organization has issued over 200,000 cards since 
 its inception, but this total never constituted its 
 membership at any given time, for no more fluc- 
 tuating group ever existed. When the I. W. W. 
 fosters a strike of considerable proportions, the 
 membership rapidly swells, only to shrink again 
 when the strike is over. This temporary member- 
 ship consists mostly of foreign workmen who are 
 recent immigrants. What may be termed the 
 permanent membership is diflBcult to estimate. 
 In 1913 there were about 14,000 members. In 1917 
 the membership was estimated at 75,000. Though 
 this is probably a maximum rather than an aver- 
 age, nevertheless the members are mostly young 
 men whose revolutionary ardor counterbalances 
 their want in numbers. It is, moreover, an or- 
 ganization that has a wide penumbra. It readily 
 attracts the discontented, the unemployed, the 
 man without a horizon. In an instant it can lay 
 
THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I. W. W. 219 
 
 a fire and put an entire police force on the qui vive. 
 The organization has always been in financial 
 straits. The source of its power is to be sought 
 elsewhere. Financially bankrupt and numerically 
 unstable, the I. W. W. relies upon the brazen 
 cupidity of its stratagems and the habitual timor- 
 ousness of society for its power. It is this self- 
 seeking disregard of constituted authority that has 
 given a handful of bold and crafty leaders such 
 prominence in the recent literature of fear. And 
 the members of this industrial Ku Klux Klan, these 
 American Bolsheviki, assume to be the "conscious 
 minority" which is to lead the ranks of labor into 
 the Canaan of industrial bliss. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 LABOR AND POLITICS 
 
 In a democracy it is possible for organized labor to 
 extend its influence far beyond the confines of a 
 mere trade policy. It can move the political mech- 
 anism directly in proportion to its capacity to en- 
 list public opinion. It is not surprising, therefore, 
 to find that labor is eager to take part in politics 
 or that labor parties were early organized. They 
 were, however, doomed to failure, for no working- 
 man's party can succeed, except in isolated locali- 
 ties, without the cooperation of other social and 
 political forces. Standing alone as a political entity, 
 labor has met only rebuff and defeat at the hands 
 of the American voter. 
 
 The earlier attempts at direct political action 
 were local. In Philadelphia a workingman's par- 
 ty was organized in 1828 as a result of the disap- 
 pointment of the Mechanics' Union at its failure 
 to achieve its ambitions by strikes. At a public 
 
 220 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 221 
 
 meeting it was resolved to support only such candi- 
 dates for the legislature and city council as would 
 pledge themselves to the interests of "the working 
 classes." The city was organized, and a delegate 
 convention was called which nominated a ticket of 
 thirty candidates for city and county ofEces. But 
 nineteen of these nominees were also on the Jack- 
 son ticket, and ten on the Adams ticket; and both 
 of these parties used the legend "Working Man's 
 Ticket, " professing to favor a shorter working day. 
 The isolated labor candidates received only from 
 229 to 539 votes, while the Jackson party vote 
 ranged from 3800 to 7000 and the Adams party 
 vote from 2500 to 3800. So that labor's first excur- 
 sion into politics revealed the eagerness of the 
 older parties to win the labor vote, and the futility 
 of relying on a separate organization, except for 
 propaganda purposes. 
 
 Preparatory to their next campaign, the working- 
 men organized political clubs in all the wards of 
 Philadelphia. In 1829 they nominated thirty-two 
 candidates for local offices, of whom nine received 
 the endorsement of the Federalists and three that 
 of the Democrats. The workingmen fared bet- 
 ter in this election, pollinf nearly 2000 votes in 
 the county and electing sixteen candidates. So 
 
222 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 encouraged were they by this success that they 
 attempted to nominate a state ticket, but the domi- 
 nant parties were too strong. In 1831 the work- 
 ingmen's candidates, who were not endorsed by 
 the older parties, received less than 400 votes in 
 Philadelphia. After this year the party vanished. 
 New York also early had an illuminating experi- 
 ence in labor politics. In 1829 the workingmen 
 of the city launched a political venture under the 
 immediate leadership of an agitator by the name 
 of Thomas Skidmore. Skidmore set forth his social 
 panacea in a book whose elongated title betrays 
 his secret : The Rights of Man to Property! Being 
 a Proposition to Make it Equal among the Adults of 
 the Present Generation; and to Provide for its Equal 
 Transmission to Every Individual of Each Succeeding 
 Generation, on Arriving at the Age of Maturity. 
 The party manifesto began with the startling dec- 
 laration that "all human society, our own as well 
 as every other, is constructed radically wrong." 
 The new party proposed to right this defect by an 
 equal distribution of the land and by an elaborate 
 system of public education. Associated with Skid- 
 more were Robert Dale Owen and Frances Wright 
 of the Free Enquirer, a paper advocating all sorts 
 of extreme social and economic doctrines. It was 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 223 
 
 not strange, therefore, that the new party was at 
 once connected, in the pubhc mind, with all the 
 erratic vagaries of these Apostles of Change. It 
 was called the "Fanny Wright ticket" and the 
 "Infidel Ticket." Every one forgot that it aimed 
 to be the workingman's ticket. The movement, 
 however, was supported by The Working Man's 
 Advocate, a new journal that soon reached a 
 wide influence. 
 
 There now appeared an eccentric Quaker, Rus- 
 sell Comstock by name, to center public attention 
 still more upon the new partj'. As a candidate 
 for the legislature, he professed an alarmingly ad- 
 vanced position, for he believed that the State 
 ought to establish free schools where handicrafts 
 and morals, but not religion, should be taught; 
 that husband and wife should be equals before the 
 law; that a mechanics' lien and bankruptcy law 
 should be passed; and that by wise graduations all 
 laws for the collection of debts should be repealed. 
 At a meeting held at the City Hall, for the further 
 elucidation of his "pure Republicanism," he was 
 greeted by a great throng but was arrested for 
 disturbing the peace. He received less than one 
 hundred and fifty votes, but his words went far to 
 excite, on the one hand, the interest of the laboring 
 
224 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 classes in reform, and, on the other hand, the de- 
 termination of the conservative classes to defeat 
 "a ticket got up openly and avowedly," as one 
 newspaper said, "in opposition to all banks, in 
 opposition to social order, in opposition to rights 
 of property." 
 
 Elections at this time lasted three days. On the 
 first day there was genuine alarm at the large vote 
 cast for "the Infidels." Thoughtful citizens were 
 importuned to go to the polls, and on the second 
 and third days they responded in suflScient num- 
 bers to compass the defeat of the entire ticket, 
 excepting only one candidate for the legislature. 
 
 The Workingman's party contained too many 
 zealots to hold together. After the election of 1829 
 a meeting was called to revise the party platform. 
 The more conservative element prevailed and omit- 
 ted the agrarian portions of the platform. Skid- 
 more, who was present, attempted to protest, but 
 his voice was drowned by the clamor of the audi- 
 ence. He then started a party of his own, which he 
 called the Original Workingman's party but which 
 became known as the Agrarian party. The major- 
 ity endeavored to rectify their position in the com- 
 munity by an address to the people. "We take 
 this opportunity," they said, "to aver, whatever 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 225 
 
 may be said to the contrary by ignorant or de- 
 signing individuals or biased presses, that we have 
 no desire or intention of disturbing the rights 
 of property in individuals or the public." In the 
 meantime Robert Dale Owen and Fanny Wright 
 organized a party of their own, endorsing an ex- 
 treme form of state paternalism over children. 
 This State Guardianship Plan, as it was called, 
 aimed to "regenerate America in a generation" 
 and to "make but one class out of the many that 
 now envy and despise each other." 
 
 There were, then, three workingmen's parties in 
 New York, none of which, however, succeeded in 
 gaining an influential position in state politics. 
 After 1830 all these parties disappeared, but not 
 without leaving a legacy of valuable experience. 
 The Working Man's Advocate discovered political 
 wisdom when it confessed that "whether these 
 measures are carried by the formation of a new 
 party, by the reform of an old one, or by the abol- 
 ishment of party altogether, is of comparative 
 unimportance." 
 
 In New England, the workingmen's political 
 endeavors were joined with those of the farmers 
 under the agency of the New England Association 
 of Farmers, Mechanics, and Workingmen. This 
 
226 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 organization was initiated in 1830 by the working- 
 men of Woodstock, Vermont, and their journal, the 
 Working Man's Gazette, became a medium of agi- 
 tation which affected all the New England man- 
 ufacturing towns as well as many farming com- 
 munities. "Woodstock meetings," as they were 
 called, were held everywhere and aroused both 
 workingmen and farmers to form a new political 
 party. The Springfield Republican summarized 
 the demands of the new party thus : 
 
 The avowed objects generally seem to be to abolish 
 imprisonment for debt, the abolishment of litigation, 
 and in lieu thereof the settlement of disputes by refer- 
 ence to neighbors; to establish some more equal and 
 universal system of public education; to diminish the 
 salaries and extravagance of public officers; to support 
 no men for offices of public trust, but farmers, mechan- 
 ics, and what the party call "working men"; and to 
 elevate the character of this class by mental instruc- 
 tion and mental improvement. . . . Much is said 
 against the wealth and aristocracy of the land, their 
 influence, and the undue influence of lawyers and other 
 professional men. . . . The most of these objects 
 appear very well on paper and we believe they are 
 already sustained by the good sense of the people. . . . 
 What is most ridiculous about this party is, that in 
 many places where the greatest noise is made about it, 
 the most indolent and most worthless persons, men of 
 no trade or useful occupation have taken the lead. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 227 
 
 We cannot of course answer for the character for in- 
 dustry of many places where this party is agitated: 
 but we believe the great body of our own community, 
 embracing every class and profession, may justly be 
 called workingmen: nor do we believe enough can be 
 found who are not such, to make even a decent party 
 of drones. 
 
 In the early thirties many towns and cities in 
 Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, 
 and Rhode Island elected workingmen's candidates 
 to local offices, usually with the help of small 
 tradespeople. In 1833 and 1834 the workingmen 
 of Massachusetts put a state ticket in the field 
 which polled about 2000 votes, and in Boston a 
 workingman's party was organized, but it did not 
 gather much momentum and soon disappeared. 
 
 These local and desultory attempts at forming a 
 separate labor party failed as partisan movements. 
 The labor leader proved an inefficient amateur 
 when matched against the shrewd and experienced 
 party manipulator; nor was there a sufficient class 
 homogeneity to keep the labor vote together; and, 
 even if it had so been united, there were not enough 
 labor votes to make a majority. So the labor can- 
 didate had to rely on the good will of other classes 
 in order to win his election. And this support 
 was not forthcoming. Americans have, thus far. 
 
228 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 always looked with suspicion upon a party that 
 represented primarily the interests of only one 
 class. This tendency shows a healthy instinct 
 founded upon the fundamental conception of 
 society as a great unity whose life and progress 
 depend upon the freedom of all its diverse parts. 
 
 It is not necessary to assume, as some observers 
 have done, that these petty political excursions 
 wrecked the labor movement of that day. It was 
 perfectly natural that the laborer, when he awoke 
 to the possibilities of organization and found him- 
 self possessed of unlimited political rights, should 
 seek a speedy salvation in the ballot box. He took, 
 by impulse, the partisan shortcut and soon found 
 himself lost in the slough of party intrigue. On 
 the other hand, it should not be concluded that 
 these intermittent attempts to form labor parties 
 were without political significance. The politician 
 is usually blind to every need except the need of his 
 party; and the one permanent need of his party is 
 votes. A demand backed by reason will usually 
 find him inert; a demand backed by votes gal- 
 vanizes him into nervous attention. When, there- 
 fore, it was apparent that there was a labor vote, 
 even though a small one, the demands of this 
 vote were not to be ignored, especially in. States 
 
LABOE AND POLITICS 229 
 
 where the parties were well balanced and the 
 scale was tipped by a few hundred votes. With- 
 in a few decades after the political movement 
 began, many States had passed lien laws, had 
 taken active measures to establish efficient free 
 schools, had abolished imprisonment for debt, had 
 made legislative inquiry into factory conditions, 
 and had recognized the ten-hour day. These had 
 been the leading demands of organized labor, and 
 they had been brought home to the public con- 
 science, in part at least, by the influence of the 
 workingmen's votes. 
 
 It was not until after the Civil War that labor 
 achieved sufficient national homogeneity to at- 
 tempt seriously the formation of a national party. 
 In the light of later events it is interesting to sketch 
 briefly the development of the political power of 
 the workingman. The National Labor Union at 
 its congress of 1866 resolved "that, so far as po- 
 litical action is concerned, each locality should be 
 governed by its own policy, whether to run an in- 
 dependent ticket of workingmen, or to use political 
 parties already existing, but at all events to cast 
 no vote except for men pledged to the interests of 
 labor." The issue then seemed clear enough. But 
 six years later the Labor Reform party struck out 
 
230 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 on an independent course and held its first and 
 only national convention. Seventeen States were 
 represented. ' The Labor party, however, had yet 
 to learn how hardly won are independence and 
 unity in any political organization. Rumors of 
 pernicious intermeddling by the Democratic and 
 Republican politicians were afloat, and it was 
 charged that the Pennsylvania delegates had come 
 on passes issued by the president of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad. Judge David Davis of Illinois, 
 then a member of the United States Supreme Court, 
 was nominated for President and Governor Joel 
 Parker of New Jersej' for Vice-President. Both 
 declined, however, and Charles O'Conor of New 
 York, the candidate of "the Straight-Out Demo- 
 crats," was named for President, but no nomina- 
 tion was made for Vice-President. Considering 
 the subsequent phenomenal growth of the labor 
 vote, it is worth noting in passing that O'Conor 
 received only 29,489 votes and that these em- 
 braced both the labor and the so-called "straight" 
 Democratic strength. 
 
 For some years the political labor movement 
 
 • It is interesting to note that in this first National Labor Party 
 Convention a motion favoring government ownership and the 
 referendum was voted down. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 231 
 
 ost its independent character and was absorbed 
 )y the Greenback party which offered a meeting- 
 jround for discontented farmers and restless work- 
 ngmen. In 1876 the party nominated for Presi- 
 lent the venerable Peter Cooper, who received 
 ibout eighty thousand votes — most of them prob- 
 ibly cast by farmers. During this time the leaders 
 )f the labor movement were serving a political ap- 
 jrenticeship and were learning the value of co- 
 operation. On February 22, 1878, a conference 
 leld at Toledo, Ohio, including eight hundred 
 delegates from twenty-eight States, perfected an 
 illiance between the Labor Reform and Greenback 
 aarties and invited all "patriotic citizens to unite 
 n an effort to secure financial reform and industrial 
 emancipation." Financial reform meant the adop- 
 :ion of the well-known greenback free silver policy, 
 [ndustrial emancipation involved the enactment 
 )f an eight-hour law; the inspection of workshops, 
 'actories, and mines; the regulation of interstate 
 commerce; a graduated federal income tax; the 
 arohibition of the importation of alien contract 
 abor; the forfeiture of the unused portion of the 
 arincely land grants to railroads; and the direct 
 jarticipation of the people in government. These 
 'undamental issues were included in the demands 
 
232 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 of subsequent labor and populist parties, and some 
 of them were bequeathed to the Progressive party 
 of a later date. The convention was thus a fore- 
 runner of genuine reform, for its demands were 
 based upon industrial needs. For the moment it 
 made a wide popular appeal. In the state elections 
 of 1878 about a million votes were polled by the 
 party candidates. The bulk of these were farmers' 
 votes cast in the Middle and Far West, though in 
 the East, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, 
 Maine, and New Jersey cast a considerable vote 
 for the party. 
 
 With high expectations the new party entered 
 the campaign of 1880. It had over a dozen mem- 
 bers in Congress, active organizations in nearly 
 every State, and ten thousand local clubs. General 
 James B. Weaver, the presidential nominee of the 
 party, was the first candidate to make extensive 
 campaign journeys into distant sections of the 
 country. His energetic canvass netted him only 
 308,578 votes, most of which came from the West. 
 The party was distinctly a farmers' party. In 
 1884, it noininated the lurid Ben Butler who had 
 been, according to report, "ejected from the Demo- 
 cratic party and booted out of the Republican." 
 His demagogic appeals, however, brought him not 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 233 
 
 much more than half as many votes as the party 
 received at the preceding election, and helped to 
 end the political career of the Greenbackers. 
 
 With the power of the farmers on the wane, the 
 balance began to shift. There now followed a num- 
 ber of attempts to organize labor in the Union 
 Labor party, the United Labor party, the Pro- 
 gressive Labor party, the American Reform party, 
 and the Tax Reformers. There were still numerous 
 farmers' organizations such as the Farmers' Al- 
 liance, the Anti-Monopolists, the Homesteaders, 
 and others, but they were no longer the dominant 
 force. Under the stimulus of the labor unions, 
 delegates representing the Knights of Labor, the 
 Grangers, the Anti-Monopolists, and other farm- 
 ers' organizations, met in Cincinnati on February 
 22, 1887, and organized the National Union Labor 
 party. ' The following May the party held its only 
 nominating convention. Alson J. Streeter of Illi- 
 nois was named for President and Samuel Evans of 
 Texas for Vice-President. The platform of the 
 party was based upon the prevalent economic and 
 political discontent. Farmers were over mortgaged, 
 laborers were underpaid, and the poor were growing 
 poorer, while the rich were daily growing richer. 
 
 ' McKee, National Conventions and Platforms, p. 251. 
 
234 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 "The paramount issues," the new party declared, 
 "are the aboHtion of usury, monopoly, and trusts, 
 and we denounce the RepubHcan and Democrat- 
 ic parties for creating and perpetuating these mon- 
 strous evils." 
 
 In the meantime Henry George, whose Progress 
 and Poverty had made a profound impression upon 
 public thought, had become in 1886 a candidate for 
 mayor of New York City, and polled the phenome- 
 nal total of 68,110 votes, while Theodore Roose- 
 velt, the Republican candidate, received 60,435, 
 and Abram S. Hewitt, the successful Democratic 
 candidate, polled 90,552. The evidence of popular 
 support which attended Henry George's brief po- 
 litical career was the prelude to a national effort 
 which culminated in the formation of the United 
 Labor party. Its platform was similar to that of 
 the Union party, except that the single tax now 
 made its appearance. This method contemplated 
 the "taxation of land according to its value and 
 not according to its area, to devote to common use 
 and benefit those values which arise, not from the 
 exertion of the individual, but from the growth of 
 society," and the abolition of all taxes on industry 
 and its products. But it was apparent from the 
 similarity of their platforms and the geographical 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 235 
 
 distribution of their candidates that the two labor 
 parties were competing for the same vote. At a 
 conference held in Chicago to effect a union, how- 
 ever, the Union Labor party insisted on the com- 
 plete effacement of the other ticket and the single 
 taxers refused to submit. In the election which 
 followed, the Union Labor party received about 
 147,000 votes, largely from the South and West 
 and evidently the old Greenback vote, while the 
 United party polled almost no votes outside of 
 Illinois and New York. Neither party survived 
 the result of this election. 
 
 In December, 1889, committees representing 
 the Knights of Labor and the Farmers' Alliance 
 met in St. Louis to come to some agreement on 
 political policies. Owing to the single tax predilec- 
 tion of the Knights, the two organizations were 
 unable to enter into a close union, but they never- 
 theless did agree that "the legislative committees 
 of both organizations [would] act in concert before 
 Congress for the purpose of securing the enactment 
 of laws in harmony with their demands." This 
 cooperation was a forerunner of the People's party 
 or, as it was commonly called, the Populist party, 
 the largest third party that had taken the field 
 since the Civil War. Throughout the West and the 
 
236 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 South political conditions now were feverish. Old 
 party majorities were overturned, and a new type 
 of Congressman invaded Washington. When the 
 first national convention of the People's party met 
 in Omaha on July 2, 1892, the outlook was bright. 
 General Weaver was nominated for President and 
 James G. Field of Virginia for Vice-President. 
 The platform rehabilitated Greenbackism in co- 
 gent phrases, demanded government control of 
 railroads and telegraph and telephone systems, the 
 reclamation of land held by corporations, an in- 
 come tax, the free coinage of silver and gold "at 
 the present legal ratio of sixteen to one," and postal 
 savings banks. In a series of resolutions which 
 were not a part of the platform but were neverthe- 
 less "expressive of the sentiment of this conven- 
 tion, " the party declared itself in sympathy "with 
 the efforts of organized workingmen to shorten the 
 hours of labor"; it condemned "the fallacy of pro- 
 tecting American labor under the present system, 
 which opens our ports to the pauper and criminal 
 classes of the world and crowds out our wage- 
 earners"; and it opposed the Pinkerton system of 
 capitalistic espionage as "a menace to our liber- 
 ties." The party formally declared itself to be a 
 "union of the labor forces of the United States," 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 237 
 
 'or "the interests of rural and city labor are the 
 >ame; their enemies identical." 
 
 These national movements prior to 1896 are 
 lot, however, an adequate index of the political 
 strength of labor in partisan endeavor. Organized 
 abor was more of a power in local and state elec- 
 :ions, perhaps because in these cases its pressure 
 s^as more direct, perhaps because it was unable to 
 ;ope with the great national organization of the 
 )lder parties. During these years of effort to gain 
 I footing in the Federal Government, there are 
 lumerous examples of the success of the labor 
 )arty in state elections. As early as 1872 the labor 
 •eformers nominated state tickets in Pennsylvania 
 md Connecticut. In 1875 they nominated Wen- 
 lell Phillips for Governor of Massachusetts. In 
 1878, in coalition with the Greenbackers, they 
 elected many state officers throughout the West. 
 Fen years later, when the Union Labor party was 
 it its height, labor candidates were successful in 
 leveral municipalities. In 1888 labor tickets were 
 lominated in many Western States, including 
 Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, 
 Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Of these 
 iCansas cast the largest labor vote, with nearly 
 56,000, and Missouri came next with 15,400. In 
 
238 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 the East, however, the showing of the party in state 
 elections was far less impressive. 
 
 In California the political labor movement 
 achieved a singular prominence. In 1877 the labor 
 situation in San Francisco became acute because of 
 the prevalence of unemployment. Grumblings of 
 dissatisfaction soon gave way to parades and infor- 
 mal meetings at which imported Chinese labor and 
 the rich "nobs, " the supposed dual cause of all the 
 trouble, were denounced in lurid language. The 
 agitation, however, was formless until the necessary 
 leader appeared in Dennis Kearney, a native of 
 Cork County, Ireland. For fourteen years he had 
 been a sailor, had risen rapidly to first officer of a 
 clipper ship, and then had settled in San Francisco 
 as a drayman. He was temperate and industrious 
 in his personal life, and possessed a clear eye, a 
 penetrating voice, the vocabulary of one versed 
 in the crude socialistic pamphlets of his day, and, 
 in spite of certain domineering habits bred in the 
 sailor, the winning graces of his nationality. 
 
 Kearney appeared at meetings on the vacant lots 
 known as the "sand lots," in front of the City Hall 
 of San Francisco, and advised the discontented 
 ones to "wrest the government from the hands of 
 the rich and place it in those of the people." On 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 239 
 
 September 12, 1877, he rallied a group of unem- 
 aloyed around him and organized the Working- 
 nan's Trade and Labor Union of San Francisco. 
 3n the 5th of October, at a great public meeting, 
 Lhe Workingman's party of California was formed 
 md Kearney was elected president. The platform 
 idopted by the party proposed to place the govern- 
 ment in the hands of the people, to get rid of the 
 Chinese, to destroy the money power, to "provide 
 decently for the poor and unfortunate, the weak 
 md the helpless," and "to elect none but com- 
 petent workingmen and their friends to any ofBce 
 whatever. . . . When we have 10,000 members 
 we shall have the sympathy and support of 20,000 
 ather workingmen. This party," concluded the 
 pronouncement, "will exhaust all peaceable means 
 jf attaining its ends, but it will not be denied jus- 
 tice, when it has the power to enforce it. It will 
 encourage no riot or outrage, but it will not volun- 
 teer to repress or put down or arrest or prosecute 
 the hungry and impatient, who manifest their ha- 
 tred of the Chinamen by a crusade against ' John,' 
 jr those who employ him. Let those who raise 
 the storm by their selfishness, suppress it them- 
 selves. If they dare raise the devil, let them 
 meet him face to face. We will not help them." 
 
240 THE ARMIES OF LABOE 
 
 In advocating these views, Kearney held meeting 
 after meeting, each rhetorically more violent than 
 the last, until on the 3d of November he was ar- 
 rested. This martyrdom in the cause of labor 
 increased his power, and when he was released 
 he was drawn by his followers in triumph through 
 the streets on one of his own drays. His lan- 
 guage became more and more extreme. He blud- 
 geoned the "thieving politicians" and the "blood- 
 sucking capitalists," and he advocated "judicious 
 hanging" and " discretionary shooting." The City 
 Council passed an ordinance intended to gag him; 
 the legislature enacted an extremely harsh riot 
 act; a body of volunteers patrolled the streets of 
 the city ; a committee of safety was organized. On 
 January 5, 1878, Kearney and a number of as- 
 sociates were indicted, arrested, and released on 
 bail. When the trial jury acquitted Kearney, what 
 may be called the terrorism of the movement at- 
 tained its height, but it fortunately spent itself in 
 violent adjectives. 
 
 The Workingman's party, however, elected a 
 workingman mayor of San Francisco, joined forces 
 with the Grangers, and elected a majority of the 
 members of the state constitutional convention 
 which met in Sacramento on September 28, 1878. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 241 
 
 This was a notable triumph for a third party. The 
 framing of a new constitution gave this coalition of 
 farmers and workingmen an unusual opportunity 
 to assail the evils which they declared infested the 
 State. The instrument which they drafted bound 
 the state legislature with numerous restrictions and 
 made lobbying a felony; it reorganized the courts, 
 placed innumerable limitations upon corporations, 
 forbade the loaning of the credit or property of the 
 State to corporations, and placed a state commis- 
 sion in charge of the railroads, which had been per- 
 niciously active in state politics. Alas for these 
 visions of reform ! A few years after the adoption 
 of this new constitution by California, Hubert H. 
 Bancroft wrote: 
 
 Those objects which it particularly aimed at, it failed 
 to achieve. The effect upon corporations disappointed 
 its authors and supporters. Many of them were strong 
 enough still to defy state power and evade state laws, 
 in protecting their interests, and this they did without 
 scruple. The relation of capital and labor is even 
 more strained than before the constitution was adopt- 
 ed. Capital soon recovered from a temporary intimi- 
 dation. . . . Labor still uneasy was still subject to 
 the inexorable law of supply and demand. Legis- 
 latures were still to be approached by agents. . . . 
 Chinese were still employed in digging and grad- 
 ing. The state board of railroad Commissioners was a 
 
242 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 useless expense, . . . being as wax in the hands of the 
 companies it was set to watch.' 
 
 After the collapse of the Populist party, there is 
 to be discerned in labor politics a new departure, 
 due primarily to the attitude of the American Fed- 
 eration of Labor in partisan matters, and second- 
 arily to the rise of political socialism. A social- 
 istic party deriving its support almost wholly from 
 foreign-born workmen had appeared in a few of the 
 large cities in 1877, but it was not until 1892 that a 
 national party was organized, and not until after 
 the collapse of Populism that it assumed some 
 political importance. 
 
 In August, 1892, a Socialist-Labor convention 
 which was held in New York City nominated 
 candidates for President and Vice-President and 
 adopted a platform that contained, besides the 
 familiar economic demands of socialism, the rath- 
 er unusual suggestion that the Presidency, Vice- 
 Presidency, and Senate of the United States be 
 abolished and that an executive board be estab- 
 lished "whose members are to be elected, and 
 may at any time be recalled, by the House of 
 Representatives, as the only legislative body, the 
 States and municipalities to adopt corresponding 
 
 ' Works (vol. xxiv): History of California, vol. vii, p. 404. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 243 
 
 amendments to their constitutions and statutes." 
 Under the title of the Socialist-Labor party, this 
 ticket polled 21,532 votes in 1892, and in 1896, 
 36,373 votes. 
 
 In 1897 the inevitable split occurred in the Social- 
 ist ranks. Eugene V. Debs, the radical labor leader, 
 who, as president of the American Railway Union, 
 had directed the Pullman strike and had become a 
 martyr to the radical cause through his imprison- 
 ment for violating the orders of a Federal Court, 
 organized the Social-Democratic party. In 1900 
 Debs was nominated for President, and Job Harri- 
 man, representing the older wing, for Vice-Presi- 
 dent. The ticket polled 94,864 votes. The Social- 
 ist-Labor party nominated a ticket of their own 
 which received only 38,432 votes. Eventually this 
 party shrank to a mere remnant, while the Social 
 Democratic party became generally known as the 
 Socialist party. Debs became their candidate in 
 three successive elections. In 1904 and 1908 his 
 vote hovered around 400,000. In 1910 congres- 
 sional and local elections spurred the Socialists 
 to hope for a million votes in 1912 but they 
 fell somewhat short of this mark. Debs re- 
 ceived 901,873 votes, the largest number which a 
 Socialist candidate has ever yet received. Benson, 
 
244 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 the presidential candidate in 1916, received 590,- 
 579 votes. ' 
 
 In the meantime, the influence of the Sociahst 
 labor vote in particular localities vastly increased. 
 In 1910 Milwaukee elected a Socialist mayor by a 
 plurality of seven thousand, sent Victor Berger to 
 Washington as the first Socialist Congressman, and 
 elected labor-union members as five of the twelve 
 Socialist councilmen, thus revealing the sympathy 
 of the working class for the cause. On January 1, 
 1912, over three hundred towns and cities had one 
 or more Socialist ofiicers. The estimated Socialist 
 vote of these locahties was 1,500,000. The 1039 
 Socialist officers included 56 mayors, 205 aldermen 
 and cOuncilmen, and 148 school officers. This was 
 not a sectional vote but represented New England 
 and the far West, the oldest commonwealths and 
 the newest, the North and the South, and cities filled 
 with foreign workingmen as well as staid towns 
 controlled by retired farmers and shopkeepers. 
 
 When the United States entered the Great War, 
 the Socialist party became a reservoir for all the 
 unsavory disloyalties loosened by the shock of the 
 
 ' The Socialist vote is stated differently by McKee, National 
 Conventions and Platforms. The above figures, to 1912, are taken 
 from Stanwood's History of the Presidency, and for 1912 and 1916 
 from the World Almanac. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 245 
 
 great conflict. Pacifists and pro-Germans found a 
 common refuge under its red banner. In the New 
 York mayoralty elections in 1917 these Socialists 
 cast nearly one-fourth of the votes, and in the Wis- 
 consin senatorial election in 1918 Victor Berger, 
 their standard-bearer, swept Milwaukee, carried 
 seven counties, and polled over one hundred thou- 
 sand votes. On the other hand, a large number of 
 American Socialists, under the leadership of Wil- 
 liam English Walling and John Spargo, vigorously 
 espoused the national cause and subordinated their 
 economic and political theories to their loyalty. 
 
 The Socialists have repeatedly attempted to 
 make official inroads upon organized labor. They 
 have the sympathy of the I. W. W., the remnant of 
 the Knights of Labor, and the more radical trades 
 unions, but from the American Federation of La- 
 bor they have met only rebuff. A number of state 
 federations, especially in the Middle West, not a 
 few city centrals, and some sixteen national unions, 
 have officially approved of the Socialist programme, 
 but the Federation has consistently refused such 
 an endorsement. 
 
 The political tactics assumed by the Federation 
 discountenance a distinct labor party movement, 
 as long as the old parties are willing to subserve the 
 
246 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 ends of the unions. This self-restraint does not 
 mean that the Federation is not "in poHtics." On 
 the contrary, it is constantly vigilant and aggres- 
 sive and it engages every year in political maneu- 
 vers without, however, having a partisan organi- 
 zation of its own. At its annual conventions it has 
 time and again urged local and state branches to 
 scrutinize the records of legislative candidates and 
 to see that only friends of union labor receive the 
 union laborer's ballot. In 1897 it "firmly and un- 
 equivocally" favored "the independent use of the 
 ballot by trade unionists and workmen united re- 
 gardless of party, that we may elect men from our 
 own ranks to write new laws and administer them 
 along lines laid down in the legislative demands of 
 the American Federation of Labor and at the same 
 time secure an impartial judiciary that will not 
 govern us by arbitrary injunctions of the courts, 
 nor act as the pliant tool of corporate wealth." 
 And in 1906 it determined, first, to defeat all candi- 
 dates who are either hostile or indifferent to labor's 
 demands ; second, if neither party names such can- 
 didates, then to make independent labor nomina- 
 tions; third, in every instance to support "the 
 men who have shown themselves to be friendly 
 to labor." 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 247 
 
 With great astuteness, perseverance, and alert- 
 ness, the Federation has pursued this method to its 
 uttermost possibilities. In Washington it has met 
 with singular success, reaching a high-water mark 
 in the first Wilson Administration, with the pas- 
 sage of the Clayton bill and the eight-hour railroad 
 bill. After this action, a great New York daily 
 lamented that "Congress is a subordinate branch 
 of the American Federation of Labor. . . . The 
 unsleeping watchmen of organized labor know how 
 intrepid most Congressmen are when threatened 
 with the ' labor vote.' The American laborites don't 
 have to send men to Congress as their British 
 brethren do to the House of Commons. From the 
 galleries they watch the proceedings. They are 
 mighty in committee rooms. They reason with the 
 recalcitrant . They fight opponents in their Congress 
 districts. There are no abler or more potent poli- 
 ticians than the labor leaders out of Congress. Why 
 should rulers like Mr. Gompers and Mr. Furuseth' 
 go to Congress.'' They are a Super-Congress." 
 
 Many Congressmen have felt the retaliatory 
 power of the Federation. Even such powerful 
 leaders as Congressman Littlefield of Maine and 
 
 ' Andrew Furuseth, the president of the Seamen's Union and 
 reputed author of the Seaman's Act of 1915. 
 
THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Speaker Cannon were compelled to exert their ut- 
 most to overcome union opposition. The Federa- 
 tion has been active in seating union men in Con- 
 gress. In 1908 there were six union members in 
 the House; in 1910 there were ten; in 1912 there 
 were seventeen. The Secretary of Labor himself 
 holds a union card. Nor has the Federation shrunk 
 from active participation in the presidential lists 
 It bitterly opposed President Roosevelt when he 
 espoused the open shop in the Government Print- 
 ing Office; and in 1908 it openly espoused the 
 Democratic ticket. 
 
 In thus maintaining a sort of grand partisan 
 neutrality, the Federation not only holds in numer- 
 ous instances the balance of power but it makes 
 party fealty its slave and avoids the costly luxury 
 of maintaining a separate national organization 
 of its own. The all-seeing lobby which it maintains 
 at Washington is a prototype of what one may dis- 
 cern in most state capitals when the legislature is 
 in session. The legislative programmes adopted by 
 the various state labor bodies are metamorphosed 
 into demands, and well organized committees are 
 present to cooperate with the labor members 
 who sit in the legislature. The unions, through 
 their steering committee, select with caution the 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 249 
 
 nembers who are to introduce the labor bills and 
 snatch paternally over every stage in the progress 
 )f a measure. 
 
 Most of this legislative output has been strictly 
 arotective of union interests. Labor, like all other 
 interests that aim to use the power of government, 
 bas not been wholly altruistic in its motives, es- 
 pecially since in recent years it has found itself 
 matched against such powerful organizations of 
 employers as the Manufacturers' Association, the 
 National Erectors' Association, and the Metal 
 Trades Association. In fact, in nearly every im- 
 portant industry the employers have organized for 
 defensive and offensive purposes. These organi- 
 zations match committee with committee, lobby 
 with lobby, add espionage to open warfare, and 
 issue effective literature in behalf of their open 
 shop propaganda. 
 
 The voluminous labor codes of such great manu- 
 facturing communities as Massachusetts, New 
 York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, reflect a new and 
 enlarged conception of the modern State. Labor 
 has generally favored measures that extend the 
 inquisitional and regulative functions of the State, 
 excepting where this extension seemed to interfere 
 with the autonomy of labor itself. Workshops, 
 
250 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 mines, factories, and other places of employment 
 are now minutely inspected, and innumerable sani- 
 tary and safety provisions are enforced. A work- 
 man's compensation law removes from the em- 
 ployee's mind his anxiety for the fate of his family 
 if he should be disabled. The labor contract, long 
 extolled as the aegis of economic liberty, is no longer 
 free from state vigilance. The time and method 
 of paying wages are ordered by the State, and in 
 certain industries the hours of labor are fixed by 
 law. Women and children are the special proteges 
 of this new State, and great care is taken that they 
 shall be engaged only in employment suitable to 
 their strength and under an environment that will 
 not ruin their health. 
 
 The growing social control of the individual is 
 significant, for it is not only the immediate condi- 
 tions of labor that have come under public sur- 
 veillance. Where and how the workman lives is no 
 longer a matter of indifference to the public, nor 
 what sort of schooling his children get, what games 
 they play, and what motion pictures they see. The 
 city, in cooperation with the State, now provides 
 nurses, dentists, oculists, and surgeons, as well as 
 teachers for the children. This local paternalism 
 increases yearlj' in its solicitude and receives the 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 251 
 
 ager sanction of the labor members of city councils, 
 ^he State has also set up elaborate machinery for 
 bserving all phases of the labor situation and for 
 athering statistics and other information that 
 hould be helpful in framing labor laws, and has 
 Iso established state employment agencies and 
 loards of conciliation and arbitration. 
 
 This machinery of mediation is significant not 
 lecause of what it has already accomplished but as 
 vidence of the realization on the part of the State 
 hat labor disputes are not merely the concern of 
 he two parties to the labor contract. Society has 
 inally come to realize that, in the complex of the 
 Qodern State, it also is vitally concerned, and, in 
 lespair at thousands of strikes every year, with 
 heir wastage and their aftermath of bitterness, 
 t has attempted to interpose its good offices 
 ,s mediator. 
 
 The modern labor laws cannot be credited, how- 
 ver, to labor activity alone. The new social at- 
 Qosphere has provided a congenial milieu for this 
 'ast extension of state functions. The philan- 
 hropist, the statistician, and the sociologist have 
 lecome potent allies of the labor-legislator; and 
 uch non-labor organizations, as the American 
 association for Labor Legislation, have added 
 
252 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 their momentum to the movement. New ideals 
 of social cooperation have been established, and 
 new conceptions of the responsibilities of private 
 ownership have been evolved. 
 
 While labor organizations have succeeded rather 
 readily in bending the legislative power to their 
 wishes, the military arm of the executive and the 
 judiciary which ultimately enforce the command of 
 the State have been beyond their reach. To bend 
 these branches of the government to its will, or- 
 ganized labor has fought a persistent and aggres- 
 sive warfare. Decisions of the courts which do not 
 sustain union contentions are received with great 
 disfavor. The open shop decisions of the United 
 States Supreme Court are characterized as unfair 
 and partisan and are vigorously opposed in all the 
 labor journals. It is not, however, until the sanc- 
 tion of public opinion eventually backs the attitude 
 of the unions that the laws and their interpretation 
 can conform entirely to the desires of labor. 
 
 The chief grievance of organized labor against 
 the courts is their use of the injunction to prevent 
 boycotts and strikes. "Government by injunc- 
 tion" is the complaint of the unions and it is based 
 upon the common, even reckless, use of a writ 
 which was in origin and intent a high and rarely 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 253 
 
 sed prerogative of the Court of Chancery. What 
 'as in early times a powerful weapon in the hands 
 f the Crown against riotous assemblies and threat- 
 aed lawlessness was invoked in 1868 by an English 
 3urt as a remedy against industrial disturbances. ' 
 ince the Civil War the American courts in rap- 
 lly increasing numbers have used this weapon, 
 nd the Damascus blade of equity has been trans- 
 )rmed into a bludgeon in the hands even of 
 lagistrates of inferior courts. 
 The prime objection which labor urges against 
 bis use of the injunction is that it deprives the de- 
 mdant of a jury trial when his liberty is at stake, 
 'he unions have always insisted that the law 
 tiould be so modified that this right would accom- 
 any all injunctions growing out of labor disputes, 
 uch a denatured injunction, however, would de- 
 >at the purpose of the writ; but the union leader 
 laintains, on the other hand, that he is placed un- 
 lirly at a disadvantage, when an employer can 
 3mmand for his own aid in an industrial dispute 
 le swift and sure arm of a law originally intended 
 )r a very different purpose. The imprisonment of 
 >ebs during the Pullman strike for disobeying a 
 ederal injunction brought the issue vividly before 
 
 ■ Springfield Spinning Company vs. Riley, L. R. 6 Eq. 551. 
 
254 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 the public; and the sentencing of Gompers, Mitch- 
 ell, and Morrison to prison terms for violating 
 the Buck's Stove injunction produced new waves 
 of popular protest. Occasional dissenting opinions 
 by judges and the gradual conviction of lawyers 
 and of society that some other tribunal than a 
 court of equity or even a court of law would be 
 more suitable for the settling of labor disputes is 
 indicative of the change ultimately to be wrought 
 in practice. 
 
 The unions are also violently opposed to the use 
 of military power by the State during strikes. Not 
 only can the militia be called out to enforce the 
 mandates of the State but whenever Federal inter- 
 ference is justified the United States troops may 
 be sent to the scene of turmoil. After the period 
 of great labor troubles culminating in the Pullman 
 strike, many States reorganized their militia into 
 national guards. The armories built for the ac- 
 commodation of the guard were called by the 
 unions "plutocracy's bastiles, " and the mounted 
 State constabulary organized in 1906 by Pennsyl- 
 vania were at once dubbed "American Cossacks." 
 Several States following the example of Pennsyl- 
 vania have encountered the bitterest hostility on 
 the part of the labor unions. Already opposition 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 255 
 
 to the militia has proceeded so far that some un- 
 ions have forbidden their members to perform mih- 
 tia service when called to do strike duty, and the 
 military readjustments involved in the Great War 
 have profoundly affected the relation of the State 
 to organized labor. Following the signing of the 
 armistice, a movement for the organization of an 
 American Labor party patterned after the British 
 Labour party gained rapid momentum, especially 
 in New York and Chicago. A platform of fourteen 
 points was formulated at a general conference of 
 the leaders, and provisional organizations were per- 
 fected in a number of cities. What power this 
 latest attempt to enlist labor in partisan politics 
 will assume is problematical. It is obviously in- 
 spired by European experiences and promulgated 
 by socialistic propaganda. It has not succeeded in 
 invading the American Federation of Labor, which 
 did not formally endorse the movement at its An- 
 nual Convention in 1919. Gompers, in an inti- 
 mate and moving speech, told a group of labor lead- 
 ers gathered in New York on December 9, 1918, 
 that "the organization of a political party would 
 simply mean the dividing of the activities and al- 
 legiance of the men and women of labor between 
 two bodies, such as would often come in conflict." 
 
256 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Under present conditions, it would appear that no 
 Labor party could succeed in theUnited States with- 
 out the cooperation of the American Federation 
 of Labor. 
 
 The relation between the American Federation 
 of Labor and the socialistic and political labor 
 movements, as well as the monopolistic eagerness 
 of the socialists to absorb these activities, is clearly 
 indicated in Gompers's narrative of his experiences 
 as an American labor representative at the Lon- 
 don Conference of 1918. The following paragraphs 
 are significant: 
 
 When the Inter-Allied Labor Conference opened in 
 London, on September 17th, early in the morning, 
 there were sent over to my room at the hotel cards 
 which were intended to be the credential cards for our 
 delegation to sign and hand in as our credentials. The 
 card read something like this: "The undersigned is 
 a duly accredited delegate to the Inter-Allied Socialist 
 Conference to be held at London," etc., and giving 
 the dates. 
 
 I refused to sign my name, or permit my name to be 
 put upon any card of that character. My associates 
 were as indignant as I was and refused to sign any such 
 credential. We went to the hall where the conference 
 was to be held. There was a young lady at the door. 
 When we made an effort to enter she asked for our 
 cards. We said we had no cards to present. "Well," 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 257 
 
 he answer came, "you cannot be admitted." We 
 eplied, "That may be true — we cannot be admitted 
 — but we will not sign any such card. We have our 
 Tedentials written out, signed, and sealed and will 
 )resent them to any committee of the conference for 
 icrutiny and recommendation, but we are not going to 
 ign such a card." 
 
 Mr. Charles Bowerman, Secretary of the Parlia- 
 nentary Committee of the British Trade Union Con- 
 gress, at that moment emerged from the door. He 
 isked why we had not entered. I told him the situa- 
 ion, and he persuaded the young lady to permit us to 
 )ass in. We entered the hall and presented our cre- 
 lentials. Mr. James Sexton, officer and representa- 
 ;ive of the Docker's Union of Liverpool, arose and 
 called the attention of the Conference to this situa- 
 tion, and declared that the American Federation of 
 Labor delegates refused to sign any such document. 
 He said it was not an Inter-Allied Socialist Con- 
 'erence, but an Inter-Allied Socialist and Labor 
 Conference. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Henderson, of the Labor Party, made an 
 explanation something to this effect, if my memory 
 serves me: "It is really regrettable that such an error 
 should have been made. It was due to the fact 
 that the old card of credentials which has been used 
 ,n former conferences was sent to the printer, no 
 Dne pay'ng any attention to it, thinking it was all 
 right." 
 
 I want to call your attention to the significance of 
 that explanation, that is, that the trade union move- 
 ment of Great Britain was represented at these former 
 conferences, but at this conference the importance of 
 
258 THE ARMIES OF LABOR 
 
 Labor was regarded as so insignificant that everybody 
 took it for granted that it was perfectly all right to 
 have the credential card read " Inter- Allied Social- 
 ist Conference" and with the omission of this more 
 important term, "Labor."' 
 
 As one looks back upon the history of the work- 
 ingman, one finds something impressive, even 
 majestic, in the rise of the fourth estate from a 
 humble place to one of power in this democratic 
 nation. In this rise of fortune the laborer's union 
 has unquestionably been a moving force, perhaps 
 even the leading cause. At least this homogeneous 
 mass of workingmen, guided by self-developed 
 leadership, has aroused society to safeguard more 
 carefully the individual needs of all its parts. La- 
 bor has awakened the state to a sense of respon- 
 sibility for its great sins of neglect and has made 
 it conscious of its social duties. Labor, like other 
 elements of society, has often been selfish, narrow, 
 vindictive; but it has also shown itself earnest and 
 constructive. The conservative trades union, at 
 the hour of this writing, stands as a bulwark be- 
 tween that amorphous, inefficient, irresponsible 
 Socialism which has made Russia a lurid warning 
 and Prussia a word of scorn, and that rational 
 
 'American Federationist, January, 1919, pp. 40-41. 
 
LABOR AND POLITICS 259 
 
 social ideal which is founded upon the conviction 
 that society is ultimately an organic spiritual unity, 
 the blending of a thousand diverse interests whose 
 justly combined labors and harmonized talents 
 create civilization and develop culture. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 
 
 While there is a vast amount of writing on the labor 
 problem, there are very few works on the history of 
 labor organizations in the United States. The main 
 reliance for the earlier period, in the foregoing pages, 
 has been the Documentary History of American Indus- 
 trial Society, edited by John R. Commons, 10 vols. 
 (1910). The History of Labour in the United States, 2 
 vols. (1918), which he published with associates, is the 
 most convenient and complete compilation that has 
 yet appeared and contains a large mass of historical 
 material on the labor question. 
 
 The following works are devoted to discussions of 
 various phases of the history of American labor and 
 industry : 
 
 T. S. Adams and Helen L. Sumner, Labor Problems 
 (1905). Contains several refreshing chapters on labor 
 organizations. 
 
 F. T. Carlton, The History and Problem of Organized 
 Labor (1911). A succinct discussion of union problems. 
 
 R. T. Ely, The Labor Movement in America (1886). 
 Though one of the earliest American works on the 
 subject, it remains indispensable. 
 
 G. G. Groat, An Introduction to the Study of Organ- 
 ized Labor in America (1916). A useful and up-to-date 
 
 compendium. 
 
 2«1 
 
262 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 
 
 R. F. Hoxie, Trade Unionism in the United States 
 (1917). A suggestive study of the philosophy of 
 unionism. 
 
 J. R. Commons (Ed.), Trade Unionism and Labor 
 Problems (1905). 
 
 J. H. Hollander and G. E. Barnett (Eds.), Studies in 
 American Trade Unionism (1905). These two volumes 
 are collections of contemporary studies of many phases 
 of organized labor by numerous scholars. They are 
 not historical. 
 
 The Report of the Industrial Commission, vol. xvn 
 (1901) provides the most complete analysis of trade- 
 union policies and also contains valuable historical 
 summaries of many unions. 
 
 G. E. McNeill (Ed.), The Labor Movement: the Prob- 
 lem, of Today (1892). This collection contains histori- 
 cal sketches of the organizations of the greater labor 
 groups and of the development of the more important 
 issues espoused by them. For many years it was the 
 most comprehensive historical work on American union- 
 ism, and it remains a necessary source of information 
 to the student of trades union history. 
 
 J. G. Brissenden, The Launching of the Industrial 
 Workers of the World (1913). An account of the origin 
 of the I. W. W. 
 
 J. G. Brooks, American Syndicalism: the I. W. W. 
 (1913). 
 
 John Mitchell, Organized Labor (1903). A sugges- 
 tive exposition of the principles of Unionism by a dis- 
 tinguished labor leader. It contains only a limited 
 amount of historical matter. 
 
 T. V. Powderly, Thirty Years of Labor (1889.) A his- 
 tory of the Knights of Labor from a personal viewpoint. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE 263 
 
 E. L. Bogart, The Economic History of the United 
 States (rev. ed., 1918). A concise and clear account 
 of our economic development. 
 
 R. T. Ely, Evolution of Industrial Society (1903). 
 
 Carroll D. Wright, The Industrial Evolution of the 
 United States (1895). 
 
 G. S. Callender, Selections from the Economic History 
 of the United States (1909). A collection of readings. 
 The brief introductory essays to each chapter give a 
 succinct account of American industrial development 
 to 1860. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aberdeen (S. D.), I- W. W. in, 
 212 
 
 idamson Law (eight-hour 
 railroad law), 133 (note), 
 160, 164-66, 247 
 
 \grarian party, 224 
 
 4.kron (O.), strike in rubber 
 works, 206-07 
 
 Albany, trade unions in, 34 
 
 Albany Mechanical Society 
 (1801), 22 
 
 Allegheny City, ten-hour con- 
 troversy in cotton mills, 54 
 
 Amalgamated Association of 
 Iron and Steel Workers, 126 
 
 Amalgamated Labor LTnion, 88 
 
 Amalgamated Wood Workers' 
 Association, 109 
 
 Vmboy (IIl-)> Conductors' 
 Union organized (1868), 150 
 
 American Alliance for Labor 
 and Democracy, 101-02 
 
 American Association for 
 Labor Legislation, 251 
 
 'American Cossacks," 254 
 
 American Federation of Labor, 
 suggested at Terre Haute 
 (1881), 88; established 
 (1886), 89; growth, 89-90; 
 organization, 90-93, 112; 
 Gompers and, 94 ei seq.; 
 financial policy, 97; and 
 Great War, 100 ct seq.; and 
 labor readjustment, 107; at- 
 titudetoward Socialism, 108, 
 111, 245, 256; tendency to- 
 ward amalgamating allied 
 trades, 109-10; and un- 
 
 skilled labor, 109; impor- 
 tance, 110-11; Mitchell and, 
 128; and Brotherhood of 
 Locomotive Engineers, 133 
 (note); and Buck's Stove 
 and Range Company boy- 
 cott, 181; and Danbury 
 Hatters' case, 184; and 
 I. W. W., 194; and Lawrence 
 mill workers, 203; and poli- 
 tics, 242, 245-46, 256; in- 
 fluences legislation, 246-52; 
 and American Labor party 
 movement, 255-56 
 
 American Federal iotiist, organ 
 of American Federation of 
 Labor, 92, 181, 195 
 
 American Labor party, move- 
 ment for forming, 255 
 
 American Nev,"spaper Pul>- 
 lishers Association, 109 
 
 American Railway Union, and 
 strikes, 158, 159; Debs presi- 
 dent of, 243 
 
 Anthracite Coal Strike (1902), 
 113, 129-30, 174; Commis- 
 sion cross-examines Mitchell, 
 130 (note) 
 
 Anti-Boycott Association, 180 
 
 Anti-Monopolist party, 233 
 
 Arbitration, 85-86; law provid- 
 ing for settlement of railway 
 disputes (1888), 85; in An- 
 thracite Coal Strike, 129-30; 
 Board to deal with railway 
 problems (1912), 146-50; 
 Erdman Act (1898), 146, 
 162; Federal legislation 
 
 265 
 
INDEX 
 
 Arbitration — Continued 
 
 (1883), 1C1-C2; Newlands 
 Law (1913), 162; Brother- 
 hoods refuse (1916), 163-64 
 
 Arizona, "hobo" labor in, 190 
 
 Arkwright, Sir Richard, in- 
 vents roller spinning 
 machine, 7 
 
 Arnold, F. W., 154 
 
 Arthur, P. M., 141-43 
 
 Association of Longshoremen, 
 117 
 
 Aurora, Philadelphia news- 
 paper, 23 
 
 Baltimore, guilds before 
 Revolution in, 21; tailors' 
 strike (1795), 22; early 
 unionsin,34; Baltimore and 
 Ohio strikes, 57, 67; Labor 
 Congress (1866), 73 
 
 Bancroft, H. H., quoted, 241- 
 242 
 
 Bank, United States, as politi- 
 cal issue, 27 
 
 Beecher, IL W., and eight- 
 hour day, 71 
 
 Belgium, syndicalism in, 189; 
 general strikes, 200 
 
 Bell, A. G., and the telephone, 
 64 
 
 Benson, A. L., presidential 
 candidate (1916), 243-44 
 
 Bentham, Jeremy, Place and, 
 17 
 
 Berger, Victor, 244, 245 
 
 Berne (Switzerland), labor 
 conference at, 105-00 
 
 Billings (Mont.), treatment of 
 I. W. W. leaders in, 216 
 
 Bisbee (Ariz.), I. W. W. 
 strikers in, 216 
 
 Bolshevists, Gompers's atti- 
 tude toward, 108; and L 
 W. W., 218 
 
 Boston, early trade unions in, 
 34; strike benefits in, 39; 
 cooperative movement, 46- 
 47; strikes because of cost of 
 
 living (1853), 57; eight-hour 
 societies, 70; workingman's 
 party, 227 
 
 Boston Labor Reform Asso- 
 ciation circulates Steward's 
 pamphlet, 71 
 
 Boston Trades Union, 33 
 
 Bowerman, Charles, 257 
 
 Boycott, Captain, 177 (note) 
 
 Boycott, 177 et seq.\ used 
 against convict labor, 37; 
 union label as weapon, 184- 
 186; court injunction to pre- 
 vent, 252 
 
 Braidwood (111.), Mitchell at, 
 127-28 
 
 Brewer, Justice D. J., on strike 
 violence, 174 
 
 Brewery workers and control 
 of coopers, 118 
 
 Brisbane, Albert, 47 
 
 Brissenden, J. G., The Launch- 
 ing of the Industrial Workers 
 of the World, cited, 196 
 (note) 
 
 Brook Farm experiment, 41 
 
 Brotherhood of Locomotive 
 Engineers, origin, 133; and 
 American Federation of La- 
 bor, 133 (note); character, 
 134; supervision of members, 
 135-36; excludes firemen, 
 136; attitude toward non- 
 members, 136-37; business 
 policy, 137-38; activities, 
 138-40; organization, 140; 
 and Firemen's Brotherhood, 
 154 
 
 Brotherhood of the Footboard, 
 133 
 
 Brotherhood of Trainmen, 156 
 
 Brush, C. F., and electric 
 lighting, 64 
 
 Buck's Stove and Range Com- 
 pany of St. Louis, boycott 
 case, 180-82, 254 
 
 Buffalo, machinists' strike 
 (1880), 67-68; annual con- 
 vention of Federation of 
 
INDEX 
 
 267 
 
 Buffalo — Continued 
 
 Labor (1917), 101; railway 
 strike (1877), 174; I. W. W. 
 disclosures, 217 
 
 Burns, John, 123 
 
 Butler, General B. F., 232-33 
 
 Butte (Mont.), Western Fed- 
 eration of Miners organized 
 at, 192 
 
 California, effect of discovery 
 of gold on cost of living, 67; 
 "hobo "labor in, 190; politi- 
 cal labor movement, 238- 
 242; Workingman's party, 
 239; new constitution, 241 
 
 Cannon, J. G., 248 
 
 Carlyle, Thomas, 18; and 
 British industrial conditions, 
 9; Emerson writes to, 41 
 
 Carter, W. S., 154-50 
 
 Cedar Rapids (la.), head- 
 quarters of Order of Railway 
 Conductors, 150 
 
 Charleston Navy Yard, eight- 
 hour day in (1842), 70 
 
 Chevalier, Michel, quoted, 37 
 
 Chicago, stockyards' strike 
 (1880), 67; Haymarket riots, 
 G8, 83-84; Railway strike 
 (1877), 174; "floaters" 
 winter in, 190; conferences 
 organize I. W. W., 193-94; 
 revolutionary branch of I. 
 W. W. in, 196; I. W. W. 
 offices raided, 217; Labor 
 party conference, 235; move- 
 ment to form American 
 Labor party, 255 
 
 Child labor, 28; in England, 9; 
 Greeley and, 52-53; Paris 
 peace treaty and, 107; State 
 regulation, 250 
 
 Chinese denounced in Cali- 
 fornia, 238, 239 
 
 Cigar-makers' International 
 Union, Gompers and, 94 
 
 Cincinnati, becomes manu- 
 facturing town (1820), 26; 
 
 early unions in, 34; coopera- 
 tive movement in, 45, 46; 
 Railway strike (1877), 174; 
 National Union party or- 
 ganized (1887), 233 
 
 Civil War, condition of United 
 States after, 63-64 
 
 Clark, E. E., 151 
 
 Clayton Act, 100, 184, 247 
 
 Cleveland, Grover, Message 
 (1886), 85; and Pullman 
 strike, 174 
 
 Cleveland, Brotherhood of 
 Locomotive Engineers own 
 building in, 140; Firemen s 
 Magazine published in, 156; 
 I. W. W. disclosures, 217 
 
 Clinton, De Witt, 23 
 
 Collective bargaining, trade 
 unions and, 108-71 
 
 Colorado, miners' strikes, 174, 
 193; "hobo" labor in, 190; 
 labor ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Columbia, puddlers' strike 
 (1880), 67 
 
 Columbus, American Federa- 
 tion of Labor established 
 (1886), 89; Order of Railway 
 Conductorsorganized(1868), 
 150 
 
 Combinations in restraint of 
 trade, origin of doctrine, 16; 
 in England, 17 
 
 Coming Nation, A. II. Simons 
 editor of, 195 
 
 Commerce of Great Britain, 6 
 
 Commons, J. R., 29-30 
 
 Communistic colonies, Owen's 
 attempts, 40-41; Brook 
 Farm, 41 
 
 Comstock, Russell, 223 
 
 Confederation GSnSral du Tra- 
 vail, 189 
 
 Congress, Homestead Act 
 (1862), 50; establishes eight- 
 hour day for public work, 
 71; Clayton bill (1914), 100, 
 184, 247; eight-hour railroad 
 law, 133 (note), 100, 164-65, 
 
£68 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Congress — Continued 
 
 166, 247; Wilson and, 164; 
 and I. W. W., 216; and 
 American Federation of 
 Labor, 247 
 
 Connecticut, delegates to na- 
 tional cordwainers' conven- 
 tion (1836), 35; labor politics, 
 227; labor ticket (1872), 237 
 
 Conspiracy, legal doctrine in 
 England, 15-16; strikers 
 tried for, 23; trials in New 
 York City, 23-24, 32; acting 
 in unison considered, 28 
 
 Convict labor, 36; boycott used 
 against, 37 
 
 Cooper, Peter, 231 
 
 Cooperative movement, 45-48, 
 58 
 
 Corn laws, 6 
 
 Cost of living, bread riots 
 caused by bigb, 39; Mooney 
 on (1850), 43-44; in 1853, 
 57; Stone's attempt to ad- 
 just wages to meet, 144 
 
 Council of National Defense, 
 102-03 
 
 Crompton, Samuel, and spin- 
 ning machine, 7 
 
 Daily Advertiser, New York, 
 
 on strikes (1834), 172 
 Daily People, DeLeon editor 
 
 of, 195 
 Danbury Hatters' Boycott, 
 
 180, 182-84 
 Daniels, Newell, 74 
 Davis, Judge David, 230 
 Debs, E. v., 154, 195, 243, 253 
 Debt, imprisonment for, 36 
 Declaration of Independence, 1 
 Defoe, Daniel, on domestic 
 system of manufacture, 4-5 
 Delaware, delegates to national 
 cordwainers' convention 
 (1836), 35 
 DeLeon, Daniel, 195 
 Democratic party and ten- 
 hour day, 53 
 
 Detroit, headquarters for So- 
 cialist factions of I. W. W., 
 190; L W. W. offices raided, 
 
 217 
 Direct action. 200-01 
 Dover (N. H.), mill girls' 
 
 strike (1829), 55 
 Duncan, James, 124 
 
 Edison, T. A., 64 
 
 Education, condition before 
 1840, 28; issue with labor, 
 36; public school improve- 
 ment, 42; Paris peace treaty 
 and, 107 
 
 Edward III, proclamation of 
 1349, 12 
 
 Eidlitz, O. M., 146 
 
 Eight-Hour League, 70; see 
 also Hours of labor 
 
 Elevator Constructors' Union, 
 118 
 
 Eliot, C. W., and Gompers, 98 
 
 Ely, R. T., quoted, 21 
 
 Emerson, R. W., on commun- 
 istic experiments, 41 
 
 Employers' organizations, 249 
 
 Erdraan Act, 146, 162 
 
 Erie Railroad, firemen organize 
 Brotherhood, 152 
 
 Erne, Lord, Irish landlord, 177 
 (note) 
 
 Ettor, J. J., 204 
 
 Evans, G. H., 48-49 
 
 Evans, Samuel, 233 
 
 Evening Post, account of mass 
 meeting in New York, 32; 
 quoted, 33 
 
 Everett, Edward, 53 
 
 Everett (Wash.), and I. W. W., 
 212 
 
 Factory Girls' Association 
 
 (Lowell), 55 
 Factory inspection, Paris peace 
 
 treaty and, 107; as political 
 
 issue, 231; provided by law, 
 
 249-50 
 
INDEX 
 
 Farmers' Alliance, 233 ; and 
 Knights of Labor at St. 
 Louis, 235 
 
 Federation of Organized 
 Trades and Labor Unions of 
 the United States and Can- 
 ada, 89 
 
 Female Industry Association, 
 56 
 
 Female Labor Reform Asso- 
 ciation, 55 
 
 Field, J. G., 236 
 
 Finance, demand for capital 
 after Civil War, 64-65; re- 
 form as political issue, £31; 
 People's party platform, 236 ; 
 see also Panics, Taxation 
 
 Firemen's Magazine, ISS, 156 
 
 "Five Stars," see Knights of 
 Labor 
 
 Flynn, E. G., 208 
 
 Force, Peter, 2-i 
 
 Foster, F. K., The Labor Move- 
 ment, the Problem of Today, 
 quoted, 75-76 
 
 Fox, Martin, 116 
 
 France, syndicalism in, 188; 
 general strikes, 200 
 
 Free Enquirer, 222 
 
 Friendly Societies, 168 
 
 Furuseth, Andrew, 247 
 
 Garretson, A. B., 151, 152 
 
 General Trades' Union of New 
 York City, 31 
 
 George, Henry, 234; Evans 
 precursor of, 48 
 
 Glassblowers' TTnion, 124 
 
 Goldfield (Nev.), L W. 'W. at, 
 202 
 
 Goldman, Emma, on syndical- 
 ism, 198; on general strikes, 
 199 
 
 Gompers, Samuel, President of 
 American Federation of 
 Labor, 94 et seq.\ early life. 
 94; national lobbyist for 
 Federation, 99, 247; organ- 
 izes American Alliance for 
 
 Labor and Democracy, 101; 
 on Council of Defense, 102; 
 heads American labor mis- 
 sion to Europe (1917), 104- 
 105; and Berne labor con- 
 ference, 105-06; contribu- 
 tion to Paris treaty of peace, 
 106-07; and Socialism. 107- 
 108; personal characteristics, 
 108; sentenced to imprison- 
 ment, 182, 254; birthday 
 occasion of gift to Danbury 
 union, 184; on American 
 Labor party, 255; experience 
 at London Conference 
 (1918), 256-58 
 
 Government control of public 
 utilities. People's party de- 
 mands, 236 
 
 Government operation of rail- 
 roads. Brotherhoods' plan 
 for (1919), 167 
 
 Government ownership, Na- 
 tional Labor party on, 230 
 (note) 
 
 Government Printing Office, 
 Roosevelt espouses open shop 
 in, 248 
 
 Grangers, help organize Na- 
 tional Union party, 233; 
 join 'Workingman's party in 
 California, 240 
 
 Granite City (111.), early 
 morning strikes in steel mills, 
 210-11 
 
 Granite Cutters' National 
 Union, 124 
 
 Gray's Harbor (Wash.), I. W. 
 W. in, 212 
 
 Great Britain, American insti- 
 tutions modeled after those 
 of, 1-2; survey of industrial 
 system, 2 et seq.; ten-hour 
 law in, 53; British Trades 
 Union as model for Ameri- 
 can Federation, 88; labor 
 leaders in, 123; labor com- 
 pared with that of America, 
 124 
 
£70 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Great War, American Federa- 
 tion of Labor and, 100 etseq.; 
 and railroads, 166-67; I. W. 
 W. and, 215; and Socialist 
 party, 244-45 
 
 Greeley, Horace, and ten-hour 
 bill, 62; on child labor law, 
 53; and eight-hour day, 71 
 
 Green Point (L. I.), potters' 
 strike (1880), 67 
 
 Greenback party, 68, 231, 237 
 
 Guild system, 3-4, 13 
 
 Hamond, Edward, on I. W. 
 W., 198 
 
 Hardie, Keir, 123 
 
 Hargreaves, James, invents 
 spinning-jenny, 7 
 
 Harriman, Job, 243 
 
 Hayes, Dennis, 124-25 
 
 Haj'es, R. B., proclamation, 67 
 
 Haywood, W. D., 195, 197, 
 202; quoted, 199 
 
 Henderson, Arthur, 257 
 
 Henderson, John, 123 
 
 Uerald, New York, quoted, 56 
 
 Hewitt, A, S., 234 
 
 Highland Park (111.). Home for 
 Disabled Railroad Men, 139 
 
 Hines, W. D., Director-Gen- 
 eral of Railroads, 167 
 
 Homestead Act (1802), 50 
 
 Homestead strike (1892), 126, 
 174 
 
 Homesteaders, 233 
 
 Hoquiam (Wash.), sabotage in, 
 212 
 
 Hours of labor, long hours, 28, 
 44; ten-hour day, 30-31, 32, 
 34, 35, 44, 50-54, ICO; first 
 ten-hour law (1847), 52; 
 as issue, 69-70; eight-hour 
 day, 70-72, 74. 129, 152; 
 Paris peace treaty and eight- 
 hour day, 106; eight-hour 
 railroad law, 133 (note), 
 160, 164-66, 247; eight-hour 
 law as political issue, 231; 
 State regulation, 250 
 
 Housing conditions about 1840, 
 
 27 
 Hume, Joseph, 17-18 
 
 I. W. W., see Industrial 
 Workers of the World 
 
 Idaho, miners' strike, 174; 
 "hobo" labor in, 190; vio- 
 lence in, 193; and I. W. W., 
 216 
 
 Illinois, strikes, 66, 67; eight- 
 hour law (1867), 71;I. W. W. 
 and draft in, 216; United 
 Labor party in, 235; labor 
 code, 249 
 
 Illinois Central Railroad, con- 
 ductors organize union, 150 
 
 Immigration, character of im- 
 migrants, 20; adds to armies 
 of labor, 69; I. W. W. and, 
 191; People's party on, 236 
 
 Indiana, strikes, 66, 67; shoe- 
 makers' strike (1880), 68; 
 labor ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Indianapolis, McNamara trial 
 at, 175 
 
 Industrial Commission, United 
 States, 152; report quoted, 
 168; on union restriction of 
 output, 186 
 
 Industrial Revolution, 26 
 
 Industrial Workers of the 
 World American Alliance 
 for Labor and Democracy 
 as antido^L for, 101; and 
 American Federation of La- 
 bor, 109; history of move- 
 ment, 188 ei seq.; factions, 
 196; and direct action, 
 200-01; and Socialist party, 
 245 
 
 Industry, centralization of, 
 87-88 
 
 "InSdel" party, 223, 224 
 
 Inspection, see Factory in- 
 spection 
 
 Insurance, Locomotive En- 
 gineers' Mutual Life and 
 Accident Insurance Associa- 
 
INDEX 
 
 271 
 
 Insurance — Continued 
 
 tion, 138-39; Order of Rail- 
 way Conductors, 150; 
 Brotherhood of Trainmen, 
 160-61 
 
 Inter- Allied Labor Conference, 
 London'.(1918), 256-58 
 
 International Association of 
 Machinists, 125 
 
 International Association of 
 Steam, Hot Water and 
 Power Pipe Fitters and 
 Helpers, 119 
 
 International Firemen's Union, 
 152-53 
 
 International Typographical 
 Union of North America, 
 60, 126, 169 
 
 Interstate commerce, regula- 
 tion as political issue, 231 
 
 Interstate Commerce Com- 
 mission, and wage increases, 
 145; Clark on, 151; Wilson 
 asks for reorganizationof , 164 
 
 Ipswich (Mass.), meeting 
 against I. W. W., 211 
 
 Iron Holders' Union of North 
 America, 60, 169 
 
 Italy, syndicalism in, 189; 
 general strikes, 200 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, and mechan- 
 ics, 27 
 
 Jay, John, on wages (1784), 21 
 
 Jenkins, Judge J. G., of United 
 States Circuit Court, on 
 strike violence, 174 
 
 Johnstown, puddlers' strike 
 (1880), 07 
 
 Journeymen Stone Cutters' 
 Association of North 
 America, 60 
 
 Judson, F. K., 146 
 
 Kansas, I. W. W. and draft, 
 216; labor ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Kay, John, invents flying 
 shuttle, 7 
 
 Kearney, Dennis, 238 
 
 Keefe, D. J., 126-27 
 
 Kidd, Thomas, 125 
 
 Knapp, Judge, of United 
 States Commerce Court, 146 
 
 Knights of Industry, 88 
 
 Knights of Labor, 72; history 
 of, 76-85; contrasted to 
 American Federation of La- 
 bor, 90; Mitchell and, 127, 
 128; and Brotherhood of 
 Locomotive Engineers, 133 
 (note); help organize Na- 
 tional Union party, 233; and 
 Farmers' Alliance at St. 
 Louis, 235; and Socialist 
 party, 245 
 
 "Knights of St. Crispin," 72, 
 74-76 
 
 Labor, organizations in eight- 
 eenth century, 14-15; or- 
 ganizations in America 
 before Revolution, 21; and 
 politics, 68, 74, 220 et seq.; 
 relations with capital, 69; 
 number of wage-earners in 
 United States (18C0-90), 
 69; Congress at Baltimore 
 (1866), 73; Bureau of, es- 
 tablished (1884), 85; and 
 corporations, 87; and Paris 
 peace treaty, 106-07; 
 leaders, 121-23; Department 
 of, and Brotherhoods, 163; 
 "floaters," 189-90; special 
 report of United States 
 Commissioners of (1905), 
 193; contract labor as politi- 
 cal issue, 231; legislation, 
 247-52; see also Hours of 
 labor; and the courts, 252- 
 254; bibliography, 261; sec 
 also Child labor. Convict 
 labor. Hours of labor. Strikes, 
 Trade unions. Wages 
 
 Labor Reform League, 51 
 
 Labor Reform party, 74. 229- 
 230 
 
 Labour Party in England, 18 
 
272 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Land, Evans and, 48-50; 
 Homestead Act (1862), 50; 
 forfeiture of grants as po- 
 litical issue, 231 
 
 Lawrence (Mass.), unemploy- 
 ment (1857), 62; strike 
 (1912), 202-06 
 
 Lee, W. G., 160 
 
 Lima (N, Y.), Clark at, 151 
 
 Little Falls (N. Y.), strike in 
 textile mills (1912), 206 
 
 Littlefield, Congressman from 
 Maine, 2it7-48 
 
 Locomotive Engineers' Journal, 
 136, 139 
 
 Locomotive Engineers' Mutual 
 Life and Accident Insurance 
 Association, 138-39 
 
 Loeb, Daniel, alias Daniel De- 
 Leon, 195 
 
 London, Inter-Allied Labor 
 Conference (1918), 256-58 
 
 London Corresponding So- 
 ciety, 17 
 
 Los Angeles, dynamiting of 
 Times building, 175 
 
 Lowell (Mass.), condition of 
 women factory workers 
 (1846), 44-45; women strike 
 in (1836), 55 
 
 Lowell Female Industrial Re- 
 form and Mutual Aid So- 
 ciety, 55 
 
 Lynch, J. M., 126 
 
 McAdoo, W. G., 166 
 McCulloch, J. R., 18 
 MacDonald, Ramsey, 123 
 Machinists' Union, 118 
 McKee, National Conventions 
 
 and Platforms, cited, 233 
 
 (note), 244 (note) 
 McKees Rocks (Penn.), I. W. 
 
 W. at, 202 
 McMaster, J. B., quoted, 26 
 McNamara, James, 175 
 McNamara, J. J., 175 ■ 
 Maine, labor politics, 227; 
 
 labor party (1878), 232 
 
 Mann, Horace, 42 
 
 Manufacturers' Association, 
 249 
 
 Manufacturing, guild system 
 replaced by domestic. 4; 
 introduction of machinery, 
 7-10; in United States, 24- 
 26 
 
 Martineau, Harriet, cited, 35- 
 36 
 
 Marx, Karl, 9; follower ad- 
 dresses meeting in New 
 York, 47 
 
 Maryland, class distinctions, 
 20; strikes, 06 
 
 Massachusetts, factories in 
 1820, 25; first labor investi- 
 gation, 51; women factory 
 workers, 56; Bureau of La- 
 borandcollective bargaining 
 169-70; labor politics, 227 
 labor party (1878), 232 
 labor code, 249 
 
 Mechanics' Union of Trade 
 Associations, 29 
 
 Menlo Park (N. J.), electric 
 car in, 04 
 
 Mercantile system, 5-6 
 
 Metal Polishers' Union and 
 Buck's Stove and Range 
 case, 180 
 
 Metal Trades Association, 249 
 
 Mexican Central Railway, 
 Garretson on, 152 
 
 Michigan, "hobo" labor in, 
 190; labor ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Militia, use during strikes, 37, 
 254-55 
 
 Mill, James, Place and, 17 
 
 Milwaukee, Knights of St. 
 Crispin in, 74; and Socialism, 
 244, 245 
 
 Minnesota, "hobo" labor in, 
 190; labor ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Missouri, strikes, 66; eight- 
 hour law (1867), 71; labor 
 ticket (1888), 237 
 
 Mitchell, John, president of 
 United Mine Workers, 113, 
 
INDEX 
 
 273 
 
 Mitchell, John — Continued 
 
 114, 128-29; life and char- 
 acter, 127-28; and Anthra- 
 cite Coal Strike, 129-30; 
 quoted, 131-S2; on compul- 
 sory membership in unions, 
 170; on collective bargain- 
 ing, 170; sentenced to im- 
 prisonment, 182, 254 
 
 Montana, "hobo" labor in, 
 190; violence in, 193; and 
 I. W. W., 216 
 
 Mooney, Thomas, Nine Years 
 in Ajnerica (1850), quoted, 
 43-44 
 
 Moore, Ely, 31 
 
 Morrison, Frank, 182, 254 
 
 Morrissey, P. H., 146, 148, 
 158-60 
 
 National Civic Federation, 152 
 National Convention of Jour- 
 neymen Printers (1850), 60 
 National Erectors' Association, 
 
 249 
 National Labor party, con- 
 vention, 230 (note); see also 
 Labor Reform party 
 National Labor Union, 73-74, 
 
 229 
 National Metal Trade Asso- 
 ciation, 125 
 National Protective Associa- 
 tion, 133 
 National Trade Association of 
 
 Hat Finishers, GO 
 National Trades Union, 34 
 National TypographicalUnion, 
 
 60 
 National Union party, 233 
 Navigation Laws, 6, 10 
 Nebraska, labor ticket (1888), 
 
 237 
 Nevada, and I. W. W., 216 
 New Brunswick, union in, 34 
 New England, class distinc- 
 tions, 20; manufacture in, 
 25; women in textile mills, 
 55; cotton weavers' strike 
 
 (1880), 67; labor politics, 
 225-27 
 
 New England Association of 
 Farmers, Mechanics, and 
 Workingmen, 225 
 
 New England Protective 
 Union, 48 
 
 New England Workingmen's 
 Association, 46, 51 
 
 New Hampshire, first ten-hour 
 law, 52 
 
 New Jersey, manufacturing in, 
 25; delegates to national 
 cordwainers' convention 
 (1836), 35; ten-hour law 
 (1851), 54; stablemen's 
 strike (1880), 67; labor 
 party (1878), 232 
 
 New York (State), delegates 
 to national cordwainers' 
 convention (1836), 35; com- 
 munistic colonies, 41 ; cotton 
 weavers' strike (1880), 67; 
 eight-hour law (1867), 71; 
 boycotts, 178; labor party 
 (1878), 232: United Labor 
 party in, 235; labor code, 249 
 
 New York Boycotter quoted, 
 179 
 
 New York Bureau of Statistics 
 and Labor, on boycotts, 178 
 
 New Y'ork Central Railroad, 
 Arthur as engineer on, 141 
 
 New York City, early labor 
 organizations, 21, 22; cord- 
 wainers' strike (1809), 23- 
 24; growth, 25; strikes 
 (1833), 31; General Trades' 
 Union organized, 31; tailors' 
 strike (1830), 32; union in, 
 34 ; boycott of oonvict labor, 
 37; sabotage in (1835), 38; 
 strike benefits, 39; coopera- 
 tive movement, 47-48; 
 women's organizations 
 (1825), 55; Female Industry 
 Association organized (1845), 
 58; strikes (1853), 57; na- 
 tional meeting of carpet- 
 
274 
 
 INDEX 
 
 New York City — Continued 
 weavers (1846), 60; demon- 
 stration in 1857, 61-62; un- 
 employment, 62; ribbon 
 weavers' strike (1880), 67; 
 stablemen's strike (1880), 
 67; tailors' strike (1880), 68; 
 Third Avenue Railway 
 strike (1886), 83; Brother- 
 hood of Locomotive Engi- 
 neers expels members (1905), 
 138 (note); garment makers' 
 strike (1915), 169; bakers- 
 strike (1741), 172; Mrs. 
 Grey boycotted, 178-79; 
 "floaters " winter in, 190; 
 "army of the unemployed" 
 (1913-14), 209; labor poli- 
 tics, 222; election (1886), 
 234; Socialist-Labor con- 
 vention (1892), 242; move- 
 ment to form American 
 Labor party, 255 
 
 New York Masons Society 
 (1807), 22 
 
 New York Protective Union, 
 48 
 
 New Y'ork Society of Journey- 
 men Shipwrights (1807), 22 
 
 New York Typographical So- 
 ciety, 24 
 
 Newark (N. J.), union in, 34 
 
 Newlands Law, 162 
 
 Noble Order of the Knights of 
 Labor, see Knights of Labor 
 
 Northern Pacific Railroad, 
 Clark on, 151 
 
 Norway, syndicalism in, 189 
 
 O'Connell, James, 125 
 O'Conor, Charles, of New 
 
 York, 230 
 Ohio, communistic colonies in, 
 
 41; ten-hour law (1852), 54; 
 
 strikes, 66, 67; in election of 
 
 1916, 166; labor ticket 
 
 (1888), 237 
 Oklahoma, I. W. W. and draft, 
 
 216 
 
 Omaha, stockyards strike 
 (1880), 67; People's party 
 convention (1892), 236 
 
 Oneonta (N. Y.), Brother- 
 hood of the Trainmen or- 
 ganized at (1883), 156 
 
 Orange (N. J.), Hatters' Union 
 victory in, 182 
 
 Order of Railway Conductors, 
 150-52 
 
 Oregon, "hobo" labor in, 190; 
 and I. W. W., 216 
 
 Original Working Man's party, 
 224 
 
 Osceola (la.), Garretson born 
 in, 151 
 
 Oshkosh (Wis.), Kidd arrested 
 in, 25 
 
 Owen, Robert, Place and, 17; 
 in America, 40-41, 58 
 
 Owen, R. D., 222, 225 
 
 Panics (1837), 34, 35, 40, 50- 
 51; (1857), 61-62; (1873-74), 
 66; (1893), 158 
 
 Paris Peace Conference, Com- 
 mission on International 
 Labor Legislation, 105;Gom- 
 pers and the treaty, 106-07 
 
 Parker, Joel, Governor of New 
 Jersey, 230 
 
 Paterson (N. J.), ribbon 
 weavers' strike (1880), 67; 
 silk mills strike (1913), 207- 
 209 
 
 Pennsylvania, communistic 
 colonies in, 41 ; ten-hour law, 
 63; child labor law, 53; coal 
 miners (1873), 66; strikes, 
 67; labor party (1878), 232; 
 labor ticket (1872), 237; 
 labor code, 249; mounted 
 constabulary, 254 
 
 Pennsylvania Railroad, Broth- 
 erhood and, 141 
 
 People's Council, 101 
 
 People's party, 235, 236; see 
 also Populist party 
 
 Philadelphia, early labor or- 
 
INDEX 
 
 275 
 
 Philadelphia — Continued 
 
 ganizations, 21, 22; weaving 
 center, 26; first Trades' 
 Union in, 29; Trades' Union 
 of the City and County of, 
 30; number of union mem- 
 bers (1334), 34; strike (1835), 
 37; sabotage in, 38; strike 
 benefits, 39; cooperative 
 movement, 45-46, 47; 
 strikes, 57; unemployment 
 (1857), 62; ribbon weavers' 
 strike (1880), 67; Knights 
 of Labor in, 81; cordwainers 
 (1806), 171; cordwainers' 
 strike (1792), 172; hatters' 
 union victory, 182; Law- 
 rence strikers start for, 204; 
 Workingman's party, 220- 
 221; workingmen's political 
 clubs, 221-22 
 
 Phillips, Wendell, and ten- 
 hour movement, 53; and 
 eight-hour day, 71; nomi- 
 nated Governor of Massa- 
 chusetts, 237 
 
 Pinkerton detectives opposed 
 by People's party, 236 
 
 Pittsburgh, becomes manu- 
 facturing town, 20; union in, 
 34; strikes, 57; riots, 67; 
 Federation of Organized 
 Trades established (1881), 
 89; railway strikes (1877), 
 174 
 
 Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and 
 Chicago Railroad, Brother- 
 hood and, 136 
 
 Place, Francis, 17, 18 
 
 Plumb plan of railroad opera- 
 tion, see Government opera- 
 tion of railroads 
 
 Poindexter, Miles, Senator, 
 and I. W. W., 216 
 
 Politics, Labor and, 68, 74, 
 220 et seq. 
 
 Populist party, 235, 242; see 
 also People's party 
 
 Port Jervis (N. Y.), Firemen's 
 
 Brotherhood organized at, 
 152 
 
 Portland (Ore.), I. W. W. at, 
 202 
 
 Postal savings banks advo- 
 cated by People's party, 236 
 
 Powderly, T. V., Grand Mas- 
 ter of Knights of Labor, 
 79-80, 84 
 
 Prison reform, 42 
 
 Progressive party, 232 
 
 Progressive Labor partv, 233 
 
 Pullman strike, 172, 174, 195. 
 243, 253 
 
 Quinlau, Patrick, 208 
 
 Railway Brotherhoods, 133 
 et seq. 
 
 Railway Conductor, The, 150- 
 151 
 
 Reading, railway strike (1877), 
 174 
 
 Red Bank (N. J.), communistic 
 experiment at, 41 
 
 Referendum, National Labor 
 party on, 230 (note) 
 
 Revolutionary War, new epoch 
 for labor begins with, 21 
 
 Rhode Island, ten-hour law 
 (1853), 54; labor politics, 227 
 
 Ripley, George, and Brook 
 Farm experiment, 41 
 
 Rock Island Railroad, Stone 
 on, 143-44 
 
 Roosevelt, Theodore, and 
 Gompers, 98, 99; interven- 
 tion in coal miners' strike, 
 129, 130; and Clark, 151; 
 and Sargent, 154; defeated 
 as mayor of New York City, 
 234; Federation of Labor 
 opposes, 248 
 
 Ruskin, John, and labor condi- 
 tions, 9 
 
 Russia, general strikes, 200 
 
 Sabotage, 38, 201 ct seq., 211 
 Sacramento (Cal.), I. W. W. 
 
276 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Sacramento (Cal.) — -Continued 
 trials (1919), 217; Working- 
 man's party convention 
 (1878), 240 
 
 St. Louis, union in, 34; Knights 
 of Labor in, 82, 83; meeting 
 of Knights of Labor and 
 Farmers' Alliance, 235 
 
 St. Louis Central Trades and 
 Labor Union, 181 
 
 San Diego, L W. W. in, 213-15 
 
 San Francisco, stablemen's 
 strike (1880), 67; "floaters" 
 winter in, 190; labor situa- 
 tion (1877), 238; Workman's 
 Trade and Labor Union of, 
 239 
 
 Sargent, F. P., 154 
 
 Scandinavia, general strikes 
 in, 200 
 
 Schaffer, Theodore, 126 
 
 ■Schenectady, union in, 34 
 
 Scranton (Penn.), Powderly at, 
 79 
 
 Seaman's Act (1915), 247 
 (note) 
 
 Seamen's Union, 117 
 
 Sexton, James, 257 
 
 Shaw, Albert, 146 
 
 Shaw, Chief Justice of Massa- 
 chusetts, opinion in Com- 
 monwealth vs. Hunt, 60-61 
 
 Sherman Anti-Trust Law, 
 Gompers and, 99; and boy- 
 cotts, 183 
 
 Silver, free coinage, 236 
 
 Simons, A. M., 195 
 
 Skidmore, Thomas, 224; The 
 Rights of Man to Property 
 . . . , 222 
 
 Smith, Adam, 10, 18; The 
 Wealth of Nations, 1 
 
 Smith, Sidney, quoted, 24-25 
 
 Snowden, Philip, 123 
 
 Social Democratic party, 243 
 
 Socialism, synonym of destruc- 
 tion, 02; organized labor and, 
 245, 258 
 
 Socialist Labor party, 196, 243 
 
 Socialist party, 196, Social 
 Democratic party becomes 
 knownas, 243;in Milwaukee, 
 244; progress (1912), 244; 
 and Great War, 244-45 
 
 Socialistic American Labor 
 Union, 194 
 
 Sorel, Georges, The Socialist 
 Future of Trade Unions, 
 188-89; Reflections upon 
 Violence, 189 
 
 Spain, syndicalism in, 189 
 
 Spargo, John, 245; Syndical- 
 ism, Industrial Unionism 
 and Socialism, 201 
 
 Spokane, I. W. W. in, 212 
 
 Springfield Republican, on 
 labor party, 226-27 
 
 Stanwood, History of the Presi- 
 dency, cited, 244 (note) 
 
 State Guardianship Plan, 225 
 
 Statute of Laborers (1502), 12 
 
 Stephens, U. S., founder of 
 Knights of Labor, 76-77, 78, 
 79 
 
 Steunenberg, Frank, Governor 
 of Idaho, murdered, 193 
 
 Steward, Ira, and eight-hour 
 day, 70-71; A Reduction of 
 Hours and Increase of Wages, 
 71 
 
 Stone, W. S., 143-45, 149-50 
 
 Strasser, Adolph, testimony 
 before Senate Committee 
 (1883), 120-21 
 
 Straus, O. S., 146 
 
 Streeter, A. J., 233 
 
 Strikes, weapon of self-de- 
 fense, 14; tailors' strike in 
 Baltimore (1795), 22; cord- 
 wainers in Philadelphia 
 (1805), 22-23; cordwainers 
 in New York City (1809), 
 23; first general building 
 strike (1827), 30; first gen- 
 eral strike in America (1835), 
 30-31; (1834-37), 32; issues 
 not to be settled by, 36; 
 use of militia, 37, 254-55; 
 
irsjfjiiA. 
 
 XT/ 
 
 Strikes — Continued 
 
 sabotage, 38, 201 et seq., 211; 
 benefits, 39; Boston tailors 
 (1850), 46-47; New York 
 tailors, 47-48; Dover mill 
 girls (1829), 55; Lowell 
 women factory workers 
 (1836), 55; in 1853, 57; 
 Baltimore and Ohio, 57, 07, 
 133; become part of eco- 
 nomic routine, 66 ; increase in 
 number and importance, 66- 
 68; in 1880, 67-68; of 1886, 
 68, 82-84; Anthracite Coal 
 Strike, 113, 129-30, 174; 
 O'Connell leads, 125; New 
 York City railway (1905), 
 138 (note); railroad, 141, 142, 
 145, 153, 158, 174; Brother- 
 hoods threaten (1910), 163, 
 165; New York City gar- 
 ment makers, 169; history 
 in United States, 171-73; 
 strike statistics of United 
 States Bureau of Labor, 172, 
 173; violence, 174-76; Law- 
 rence mill strike (1912), 
 202-06; Little Falls textile 
 strike, 206; Akron rubber 
 works, 206-07; Granite City 
 (111.), steel mills, 210-211; 
 court prevention, 252-53 
 
 Supreme Court, Danbury Hat- 
 ters' case, 183; open shop 
 decision, 252 
 
 "Supreme Mechanical Order 
 of the Sun," 72 
 
 Syndicalism, in Europe, 188; 
 I. W. W. and, 198 
 
 Taft, W. H., vetoes exemption 
 bill for Anti-Trust Law, 99 
 
 Tammany Hall, 32 
 
 Tannenbaum, Frank, 209-10 
 
 Tariff, demand for protective, 
 27 
 
 Tax Reformers, 233 
 
 Taxation, single tax, 234, 235; 
 income tax, 231, 236 
 
 Terre Haute (Ind.), conven- 
 tion (1881), 88-89 
 
 Texas, I. W. W. and draft, 216 
 
 Thomas, C. S., Senator, report 
 on I. W. W., 216 
 
 Times, Los Angeles, dynamit- 
 ing of building, 175 
 
 Toledo (O.), conference of 
 Labor Reform and Green- 
 back parties, 231 
 
 Trade unions, beginnings, 29- 
 39; temporary eclipse, 40; 
 new species in early fifties, 
 58-59; organization of 
 special trades, 60; organiza- 
 tion, 112; conventions, 112- 
 113; local unions, 114-16; 
 characterization of different 
 trades, 116-17; disputes as 
 to authority, 117-18; ad- 
 justment to changing condi- 
 tions, 117-18; advantages of 
 amalgamation, 119; and 
 labor leaders, 121 el seq.; 
 purpose, 168; and collective 
 bargaining, 168-71; ques- 
 tion of monopoly, 170-71; 
 and strikes, 173-77; local 
 autonomy, 177; union label, 
 184-86; restriction of out- 
 put, 186-87; oppose use of 
 military, 254; bibliography, 
 262 
 
 Trades' Union of the City and 
 County of Philadelphia, 30 
 
 Transportation, demand for 
 better 27 
 
 Trautmann, W. E., 195; 
 quoted, 198 
 
 Troy (N. Y.), union in, 34 
 
 Tulsa (Okla.), treatment of 
 I. W. W. in, 216 
 
 Unemployment, in 1857,61-02; 
 
 in 1873-74, 00; "floaters," 
 
 190; among immigrants, 191; 
 
 in San Francisco (1877), 
 
 238 
 Union Labor party, 233, 237; 
 
278 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Union Labor party — Continued 
 see also National Union 
 Labor party 
 
 Union of Longshoremen, Ma- 
 rine and Transport Workers, 
 lie 
 
 United Association of Journey- 
 men Plumbers, Gas Fitters, 
 Steam Fitters and Steam Fit- 
 ters' Helpers, 119 
 
 United Brotherhood of Car- 
 penters, 109 
 
 United Brotherhood of Car- 
 penters and Joiners of 
 America, 110 
 
 United Hatters of North 
 America, 60 
 
 United Labor party, 233, 234 
 
 United Mine Workers, 112, 
 117, 128-29, 177, 181 
 
 Van Buren, Martin, executive 
 
 order for ten-hour day, 51 
 Van Hise, C. R., 146 
 Vermont, labor politics, 227 
 Virginia, class distinction in, 20 
 
 Wages, beginning of contro- 
 versy, 11-12; in 1784, 21; 
 result of tailors' strike, 22; 
 rise of, 22; in 1840, 28; car- 
 penters', 31; strikes to raise, 
 36; Mooney on (1850), 43; 
 issue, 69-70; Paris peace 
 treaty and, 106; United 
 Mine Workers and, 129; 
 Arthur and engineers', 142; 
 Stone and, 144; Eastern en- 
 gineers demand standardiza- 
 tion of, 145; Garretson and, 
 152; brakemen's, 157; Wil- 
 kins and, 158; Adamson Law 
 and, 166; further increase 
 for railroad employees, 167; 
 Trade unions and, 168- 
 169; State regulation, 250 
 
 Walling, W. E., 245 
 ashington (State), "hobo" 
 
 labor in, 190; and I. W. W., 
 216 
 
 Washington (D. C.)> union in, 
 34; Knights of Labor, 84; 
 headquarters of American 
 Federation of Labor in, 97 
 
 Weaver, General J. B., 232, 
 236 
 
 Webb, Sidney and Beatrice, 
 History of Trade Unionism, 
 14 
 
 Weed, Thurlow, 24 
 
 West Roxbury (Mass.), Brook 
 Farm experiment at, 41 
 
 Western Federation of Miners, 
 174, 189, 192, 194 
 
 Whig party and ten-hour day, 
 53 
 
 Wilkinson, S. E., 157 
 
 Willard, Daniel, 146, 149 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow, quoted, 72; 
 and Clayton Act, 100; and 
 Garretson, 152; and threat- 
 ened strike of Brotherhoods 
 (1910), 163-64-, and eight- 
 hour railroad law, 164-66 
 
 Wisconsin, communistic ex- 
 periment in, 41; eight-hour 
 law for women and children 
 (1867), 71; labor ticket 
 (1888), 237; Socialist party 
 (1918), 245 
 
 Women, wages in 1840, 28; 
 "new woman" movement, 
 43; conditions of labor, 44- 
 45; in factories, 54-55; or- 
 ganizations, 55-56; Paris 
 peace treaty and equal pay 
 for, 107; State regulation of 
 labor, 250 
 
 Wood Workers in shipbuilding 
 industry, 110 
 
 Wood-Workers' International 
 Union, 125 
 
 Wooden Box Makers, 110 
 
 "Woodstock meetings," 226 
 
 Working Mans Advocate, The, 
 223, 225 
 
 Working Man's Gazette, 226 
 
INDEX 
 
 279 
 
 Workingman's party, 220- 
 221 
 
 Workingman's party of Cali- 
 fornia, 239, 240 
 
 Workman's Trade and Labor 
 Union of San Francisco, 239 
 
 Workmen's compensation, 250 
 
 Wright, C. D., report quoted, 
 
 187 
 Wright, Frances, 222, 225 
 
 Youngson, A. B., 143 
 Youngstown (O.), I. W. W. at, 
 202