Newspaper Page Text
Convention Notes
C'hicago, Iii., Sept. ii.At, 191:3.
The firslt measure cnsid'ered~l yes
t(lrday, tihe 20th, was. th' Press.
:en VWilliams of "Solidarity"
I,iroltlght Up the fact that that paper
,.running $2St a month in debt.
I t cxplllained the condition and eOluiip
illl4ent )of their pilant in ('levelanId. 114'
;talo disclosed tl et slihamefull fact that
: \very, very small minority of the
rle,'llmershii) were suibst'rcil'rs to the,
Iap~e'. i' strongly urgeld the im
Ip"r;tive nece'('ssity of lprovlilitg a
I'ire, lund, if t he papersI'5 are to
thrive.
In this c(onlnectionl, a resolution was
introduced, providing liftv cenits of
thli illilation fee t(o I,.' surfl init l'Press
I"undil. It was ii i('id('d to "2 cents
and theli;i the matter was; referrred to
theli (coltitutio4 li commrnittee.
I )uiring the debiate, many delegates'
fromn the East, who show a strong de
sire to make tie 1. W. W. a; labor utl
ioll, lll'('ly, faltvoreltd o 4 (,irici;:l tr'S.
Manlly sniall iapers were :'4'tverely crit
icisted. T'I'll V'( )l('1': got favorable
mentiotin.
The colnstitution committee report
ed a concurrence to albolish tI e ( . '.
i h. 'This proposition was debated for
six hours. 'herr is no doubt that the
;. I. K1. will bIe retained, though the
V'West is almiiost solidly for' its aboli
t iIon, includinllg strong lE:aste'rn dis
tricts, like New York ;ianld lttshurg.
'The grand l"Mutt": fromn Philadelphia;
with 122 votes, is llted up with the a;d
mlinris.tr;ltioln's forces., whichI closes tl ('
d(celit rallizers out.
Sa;int .John c'losed the debate. lie
outliled what thie prts -nt system of
organlization wd -. Ie str'uck ol, a
Iiew phrase: "Make t he oirg'aniization
lit the ('constitution."
After iis sp~eechi, the Ipr'('iuli5 mlo
tioli was mIno\tved. IIt Col' tiup for a
vote M(10li"y riio'nigiir .
SOL.'TlIS.
Sop)t. 22nd,. 1i. 1..
Afte r a Iil day's rest; the ('oliven
21. st. Thie heavy. lienlt;il st'rain, to
which it.e delegates were s;ijl,jec(ted
for ti.the paslt week, told teriibly (oil
I herh. 'I heiri alertness waned aiil eli
tliuii; nllll di'ed. . (l'our of the delegates
had left for thiei Ionlmes Saiturd'lay.
Ma11iy visitor.s are attenlding th (e C on
Vention, inicludillng the aiar'chist l:tin
eitll;aln, ail h(l, :iisome fuli in tthe
S. I'., I"rank Iohni. Matry alld (It'lshe
Mlarcy ,of the "Socialist Re'view"' were
;al.so in attetildance. Mlany ir'Oft('.(orS
of Chicago I niversiti's are studying
the ColiVentilonl of ti"h, I. W. W.
To-day's session of the Conivetiion
transacted more ;ºusiw:.. th:ai any
previous session. The debate, that
flourishedi last week were not in evi
dle'(nce, to-;day. Thet first lthii g lbefore''
th' (Convet'lit1n wasL the repit(ort of the
'r ,._ . . .i_ t. . 1 . /:,.es ,.lu ti \N o . `:4 ,
oi-ganii.zat ion was rf'ert'l'tito Itheie
,IitillI I l'4ii f Los A i(ngels, irilgiig tthe
I. X'. X'. pI'e' t lhv te' i lu, more s. c('
,h,' lilt n1r4 No. 51, itl':il'tcl iby ln
\\:llialnl , ,,f" ".gitlid rits y," to tll , tf'
lct that all I. W. W. I;iilto'l's h l culn
otl.latd', aiid tlhat ionly (lnt' olicia1 or
ad that a pristl's ftunll be etlllishe'i,
Iii basis of which will be th' sinking
i11 by y vote (if 25 to 7. Ti.i. nitui.
,;lj'r catlluiit li(et t lit' iews of the
.llire 'nlenlmt'rsh.ill. For instance:
T"1l: VoI'l' (iF' Tlli' PEOl)Pli'" is
,.,iit'tl jreft'rl'll' to the W'ste.'ii mem
elrsill thi(n is "Solidiirity." There
.ile'r." kotlt', "t*, (. .. I: 8.mfllembller
'wA ;i ill fivor 4if this pl'rotosition, ta.t
• blu;Itl that" ":n',ne x iag' paper is
'A I " i tha i 3 I ii 'l'.."
Vin - Fleet of Sllil(u', \was 1 out
-i,,ken agaiiist thi resolution. li1
lited his views as follows: "\Ve can
not sa v what the lit' m9em rsi. ip shall
rcad." In the W'st the i''11ndii1trial
XV'orker" isti the 'eaF revolutionai'y pa
Jel, iitd "';olidu'ity," a 1ivxw.vpaper
nlmerely. Why .;hou1ll youu take from
u: "T''he Worker" wvi i w\e lhave )11,It
it? lla.s not le~l William., himself,
stated that it is the \Ve.-t, that is the
support of( ",Solidarity." Le t the
me,-mbn.rshil control the lpal.'r:: arnl
\xw %k ill -ili,'ort all of them."
At this p,oirnt, McEvoy of ()Omah:,
1iiove1 t liat the resolit ionl IM' submit
tedf to the memnler.hilp. Kottegen
;tr>se to al point of ordilr, stating tI at
lie uanhrstsl i thll resolutionll to ,e li
ial \withi the ('onv'enltion.. Iein Wil
liams kil.- giv(1n the (loor aIml ex
jilaine that it was htis ihdea tiiat the
',onventlion shoubl e fioal on this
measure," a;s the' I. W. XV. wa;ts dievel
oped tp a poinrt, wrer, things 1·1.ut- heI,
put in t al pl ,itiv\"' fl'ori." r . John
m);ov)\'-1l ;111 ani|endmolenJt, that iit e subº
mittiI' to, t r1f'1,dur, which car
(Salt u i f Ia Ai ngeles, di(ti ucltreid
t ;tt tl : "ratk andl file will have its
, ',ri,1." ( 1 'lri41i of StoCton)' d -
4 bire' t hat "no0 uP14';t1) of t he Fast can
serve the West." (.. F. 1V. rnembt}cr
IEtteor avo.;e in a rather heated ful'e
anl inuiferred, that "Acordding to the
\e.-:tern deillet., ti('here oughlt 14o )e
the0 W t, (11( tl uit( another kiu l for
i(t.'" h,\ w;t. heart a ondl -,.ul for
Ite (i1t' S' ato' I "'ro .
I ~ ]riig:<of Seat lie stated, "That if
t e, or;:.tnizttion i',iv I tlhe 'iulust.ritl
W,,rker' It) the i e:,t, they will main
:tii it til Ol .elv,:, witho ut outsiob'
;.uppoºrt."
"T'he ,ue..tiolm of u.abotaging the
"`.\'41i. ," ,liuring the lively di(scus
V,, Itci\'l a guotoi deal of comment.
i .'y of thI.' del(gates \1xpessO"d1
1,.n'1:ýtit"s to t ltt f '(ct that, whether
it tta- one i'lre(':, o I1oI''re it had no
;,aritng oa. tihe fact, that tie mtemrn
,.rshilp shall al\xays have the rigl t to
.ailitag'e it, if it fails to reprteselt the
itews of thte rank aund file.
The I;. . 1. shall remain.
On roll call tie l' \te( stood as; fol
lihtws: I' retain. 71 votes. To alol
i-., 1., 1-2 vote,. (Or a majority of
S1-2 votes i; f:t\ir of retaining the
. '. I. , of ," Mich the (;. E. I:. itelf
,til the lIener;ul Oftiters a'-tt 7 votes,
(hi wh 1,, a!- 1). }:. Gordon of the
;iutiite'I li-.t i4t (";tt ill favor o(,f re
;'trnt I)-}i-1' .1 of tlihe N . 1. I'. of F. 1,. \'.
Nat! I1 . .I nlion 1. T. V. .hAtine IC.
.Murphyl, 12 vote.. No voteo (?).
Nie delegate,. were atlsent ot roll
',ill andi threet wer, retorecuhl tas not
en-titedl, notlably the finet' hcatl at l:dl
mnto:|), C'ranada. \%ith I I Votes.
T'he l'ac'ific ('o;st \iot(ld solidly to
;atilish, with the 'excelption of San
Fr anc isco, No. 17:, wiose I votes
\we'It to the retainer,
S( )II.TIS.
("Solidai ity" of" Sett. 27th, repolrts
t he vote to abioi.h ( ,. :I. I .. and
ing 7;, to II. - '. 1lt
S,';utemlbher l 2;(d. 1¶11;.
,\ 11ioi.t4r d'l" eml('l11struitiOnl mei&'etin"
hita. I4,0n airangel l y th1( (o'(nventio<u
ifor the l,no'lit of str'iking s"logie
i Ibu>A' 41 XX\'WlIne.l(day, S'tl. 2 ith.
Ti[ie i,,.-olutiin of . .i. I. moem'her
Iitthi' t1( th,4' (ticd that, where 2"1
Yliwmberl'l'., ("f aiy mhixel l4,.I wo'er'e el
.ag"',l ii tie, .<arn , ihinllst v. that they
144r111 it labrarclh uIf th ,ir itlth>try, came
litol 4 lhay. Th', \\',st<,n hl'hgats
that it" -t(h 1wa< to ho' the ca.se, it
woihil wmaike tlho' WVe'Sttlrn l,,catls imlllos
".ileh, ,ft 4'xi-tnlct,, u\,illj.' to tile r -lligrt
;4'114l ()'rgauiizo'r ,'Ste'u ratilit'il the
mieubilrtl" ,Ittele, dh1cltr4( d in an ele
vattetl t14e, tlhat "'What we want is jol
(1n'tr l." TI' . i- at iltty ph[la<se of
hi>. M+i<,tiou cartried 2"1 t1( 9.
T''h4 lrie,\-tce 1'n 'n it tee report
gat', <.M11aly otf T',uledvo, whl, ,'4very
noi\ tlit tl ti 4v t'..i ge l-or tu.1s tiilie
mllo\'lig tihe "hrl'ev1i41 - ue+.''tio)1l, "T*rhe
le'-olhtiot aio ketd lktor th1, (oflii(' ial C4 in
It h4velho,e' ti at ",Justice," a radi
cal sheet of Pittsburgh, was using the
label to exploit the sentiment that ex
i:;ts in that town for the I. W. W. This
paper has been condemned all along
in thle 'Convention. The charge is
that its shop is scabbing on the A. F.
of l, ,uinier ti,, universal label. The
mat l(,r was refer'red to the (;. E. U.
it ;s il(ved t hat the label be only
ild on ,oiliciai I. W. W. literature.
(airied.
: cial ('Committee reported on G.
IK. I:. nmmnler resolution, F. Little,
whichi i:ý, "tlh:t the free speech fights
of t:he 1. W. W. he not abandoned, but
that the tactics relative to same, be
altered." lie advocated Sabotage in
the shops, where the right of free
spieech is denied. A varm debate en
sued. Mcl)erzmott of San Francisco
took the floor, and decried against
agitaltors hurling their spleen at the
police, church, etc. McEvoy of Oma
ha, asked him if he ever participated
in onle; hlie an:weredl, no.
.1. W. Kelly of St. Louis, evidently
wa., firedl at the remarks of delegate
hMel lermnitt. lie took the floor and
declared that I hlie police did not molest
the I. \V. W. ,ecause of certain agi
tiitors; not controlling their tongues,
i,;ut because they advocated the aboli
tion of ca(litalism: "Wh:ose tongue
slipped in San Diego; whose tonge
slipped in Stiokane; whose tonge
sliplped in Akron ?" He asked in a
pitch of dranmatic fervor, "To hell
with the'polie!"'' he concluded.
(;. . 1:. Kottegen, in a fine strain
of respiectiability, emitted a few gen
tie, well cultured remarks, relative to
the futility of attacking the sacred
police. Tie iimatthr was referred to
the I;. . IL
SOLTI'lS.
Sepltember 24.th, 1913.
'T'iere i hardly any enthusiasm left
in the delegates. Many left for their
I onmes last night. The long, mon
otonous s :s.i,ºn, h as sapped their en
Tom Mahinn, the great English la
bor leader, graced the hall for a few
moments this morning by his pres
ence.
The attire of some local celebrities,
contrasted with that of many dele
gates and I. W. W. agitators attend
ing, is vivid. All kinds and colors of
Windsor ties are worn. Jack Whyte
ihas a long flowing immaculate tie;
t:i(ltman a rainbow coloi'; while oth
'r ras iil''(' i green to purple. If
the lIevolul ion was dependent iupon
the lavish display of a Windsor tie,
lJack WVI yte alone would precipitate it.
A res olution to lprohibit any officer
of tiOe, 1. W. W. to hiold ollice inore
than two years was lost, 16; to 1. A
liive'ly debate marked its defeat.
A letter from New York locals,
nominating delegate Flynn for Gener
al Secr'tary-Treasurer was cause for
.ome vitroli(c discussion. This docu
in(,nt hiad the seal of two locals, but
lie 'siglnatures allppended to it were all
1ly'lwritten. Jos. J. Ettor, (. 1K. fU.
nellmier, nliide it aplpear during the
wralngle that Flynln of New York, was
thle ma;in lwho causedl its formation.
i'lynn flatly denied this. After two
hours delIate, the ('conventioll voted to
c-nlsier the letter a farce and fraud,
iver the \ehIemen protest of many
decelnt iralizers. TI (' vote was 18 to
i .
The ('constitutioni ('ommittee re
Iported a lieaisure to abolish the ('on
vention flavoral)ly. This measure
seetr'mltd t arouse ;all the delegate:
ir('sent.
Ml:\voy ,f ()maha prolposed a mo
tion tbat thiis measure be left to a
Ireferenduilnl. Ettor, (;. E:. Ii. mem
I r, r'ai.ised a point of order, explain
ing" thait only measu'lres piasseLd b)y this
('Ionvenitill) ctouIl le referred to the
nemllershiili. he was uphell by tile
chair. The report of the committee
was rejected.
A l'rolposition was reported upon,
that editors le elected lby the rank
and file, and also be directly responsi
ile to them. I:ttor, (;. E. I!., op
p,,sed this on the ground, that :t
takes over three months to get a ref
irlelidum vote, and, since the editor
contr'ols the medium of information,
he coulld make that vote suit himself.
TIereuion, ()'llrien, of Stockton, ('al.,
asked( him a question, to this effect:
"1lowv long didl it take the members to
act on the 'Worker' Case?" Ettor
replied, that that action was wrong.
The report was tabled.
SOLTIS.
September 25th, 1913.
Miss Iva Shuster is taking down the
official notes of the Convention. She
it is said, is the world's fastest stenog
rapher; she is a member of the I. W.
W., belonging to Local 173, San Fran
cisco. It happened that she was at
tending the Chicago Business Show,
held a week prior to the Convention,
and thus became available to the I.
W. W,
$6.75 was collected last night, at
the meeting held in Hull House, for
the striking stogie workers of Pitts
burg. Speed, Ettor, and Whyte were
the speakers. Another meeting un
der the auspices of the General Con
vention has been arranged for the de
fense fund of Fellow-Workers Morgan
and Murphy.
The Convention got busy this.
morning, with the reports of the
Press Committee. A resolution, that
all locals that have asked for a com
plete stenographic report, pay $5.00
toward its publicity, was carried 13
to 9.
At the outset of the Convention, a
plan for the establishment of a press
bureau, was read from Justus Ebert.
It provides for a central new bureau,
which shall collaborate all news and
facts pertaining to the I. W. W.; also
to tabulate data on Economics. The
Press Committee reported favorably
on this plan. It was adopted 17 to 2.
The ('onstitution Committee re
ported on the resolution which provid
ed for the erasure of Art. 2, Section
8, from the ('onstitution. It was de
feated after a lengthy argument.
lResolution No. 341, introduced by
Local Vancouver, that the General
Secretary-Treasurer, Organizer and
Member< of G. E. I., be allowed a
voice in the Convention, but no vote,
was a text for heated debate.
Nilsson, of Portland, cited the prac
ticeof the C. G. T. of France, and the
re(volºltionary union of Sweeden, in
suiport of his contention, that the
General Officers represented no one,
outside of ti emselves. McEvoy, of
Omaha, said, "I am in favor of I del
egate, I vote." Kottegen, G. E. H.
member, who always has one eye to
the "bt:sines-" of the organization,
declared that "such a proposition
would make out of the (Conveneion, a
great mass meeting." Ettor, G. E. B.
suppolrted him, stating that "the best
talker would control the ('onvention."
Clinton, of Ilisbee, Ariz., called it a
"political move." It was defeated 20
to 12.
A resolution tt at the Constitution
h,e changed relative to the eligibility
of persons to menmbership from wage
slaves to workers, was defeated.
A resolution that the (;eneral See
rotary and the (;eneral ()rganizer, be
nominated by the rank avi, file was
lost.
S()IOLTIS.
Sepltember 26th, 1913.
The session opened with the read
ing of a communication from Lawyer
Fred iMor e. It pertained to the legal
hlhrase of fellowworkers. lIocchinni
and Legenre. ie outlined two legal
courses, which may be pIursued to the
endi of winning freedom for the above
mentioned fellowwerkers: First, to
;talpeal the cases; second,, to ask the
;overnor for a pardon. It was filed
'he Committee on Constitution re
porte I.
A\ resolution to the effect, that the
intiation fee not exceed $1.00 and the
due.s 5d cents, was lost- by a vote of 9
lesolution 62, that the universal
hlael shall not be used on any com
mohlity made and sold for profit by
the capitalist class was lost by a vote
of 1:: to 11.
lh(>olution No. 20, tOat the next
('onvention be held at l)etroit, Mich.,
tabled.
l:e.olution No. 23:, to abolish pledge
(,f officers, evoked considerable com
mennt. S:'utter, of Los- Angeles, said,
"I see no reason for a pledge.-" Pow
ell, of Sacramento, 'Cal., declared that
"It is a part of capitalistic ethics."
KNtlegen, (;. E. fl. member, comment
,d. "Any man who has any principle,
' ill pldge his faith." Nilsson, of
Portland, "It is a joke." McEvoy, of
Omaha, "It is like making a pledge to
a priest." It was defeated.
Resolution No. 44, wherever a
strike involves the handling of finan
ces, the Central Committee of the
strike locality will name the finance
committee. Lost 17 to 4.
Resolution No. 10, to hold Conven
tion on 10th day of December. Ta
bled.
Resolution No. 38, any local may
elect an auditing committee to audit
the books of any I. W. W. institution.
TK.led.
Resolution No. 38B, that organizers
shall receive more compensation than
stlrikers. Lost 21 to 1.
Resolution to change the figure 8 to
2, in Art. 2, Section 2, of Constitution.
Lo f.
Resolution to make the word "Busi
ness Manager" to read after the word
editor, in Art. 3, Section 9, of Consti
tution.
Speed, General Organizer, stated,
"I bold that the membership is abso
lutely incapable to nominate any offi
cers. The men oin the floor of the
Convention are the best judges."
Douglas, of Seattle, "I am opposed
to electing any officers here. If there
is any.fizzle, it is here, and not with
the rank and file." The resolution was
lost 14 to 10.
The Special Committee reported on
the subject of long strikes: "It is the
sense of this committee that no gen
eral rules can be laid down regarding
strikes, however, where the industries
are not basic, the strike should be
short." Adopted.
At this point, Jos. J. Etto:, G. E.
B. member, arose to ask if Dilegate
Tom Flynn, of New York, had placed
his charges against him? It happen
ed that, when the question of whether
the G. E. B. was to remain an organic
part of the I. W. W. was on the floor,
I)elegate Tom Flynn, ot New York, in
the course of his remarks against the
retention of the G. E. B., alluded to
Ettor as organizer of the Boss Bar
bers of New York. Ettor resented
this remark and immediately demand
ed a retraction. Flynn, for parlimen
tary reasons, withdrew it. However,
ever since Ettor has been worried
over it, and has boistrously insisted
on an apology. After St. John ex
plained that the record would show
that Flynn withdrew the statement,
the affair was dropped.
A resolution condemning the locals
that threatened to withdraw their
support from General Headquarters,
over the action of the G. E. B., rela
tive to the "Worker" controversy, was
lost. A motion by Ettor, that this
vote be not construed as endorsing
their action, was carried.
An animated discussion took place.
Kottegen, G. E. B. member, declared:
"That kind of action on the part of lo
cals, is traitorous."
The Smith-Heselwood affair came
u., for dlebate, on a resolution that
both Smith and Heselwood be fired.
E:ttor moved to divide the question,
and won. A motion to accept the res
ignation of Heselwood, carried. A
motion to discharge Smith,, called for
a heated flow of language. Nilsson of
Portland, McEvoy of Omaha, Sautter
of los Angeles, Van Fleet of Spokane,
()O'lHrien of Stockton, fiercely contend
ed that the motion was adding insult
to injury, as Smith was innocent of
any charge. The motion to fire Smith
passeld, however.
September 27th, 1913.
When the Convention adjourned
last night it was thought that the
Smith-Heselwood affair was settled.
ilowever, this morning it came up
again. A motion to condemn the ac
tion of the G;. E. B., i. firin, Smith,
was debated for several hours. Dur
ing the debate D)elegate Nilsson re
ceived a letter from Spokane, which
contained a statement from Walker
(:C. Smith. It was read, and caused no
little friction. Ettor, G. E. B. mem
Ier, moved that the entire report of
the G;. I'E. i., on the Smith-Heselwood
controversy be made a part of the
-.tenographic record. It was carried.
This makes the possibility of a
printed (Convention report, very
ioubltful, as the report of the G. E. B.,
alone, is so volumnious.
The Western delegation insisted
that the discharge of Smith was un
founded. In reply Foss, Ettor and
