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“... packed the convention with
a lot of plug-ugly delegates, many of them representing purely
fictitious locals, and had refused to seat properly accredited
delegates from bona fide organizations, amongst these De
Leon himself.
This element, once it found itself in control, promptly Un-
did the work of the 1905 convention; the political clause of the
preamble, or declaration of principles, was eliminated and the
organization placed squarely upon a physical force basis. Sub-
sequent history has demonstrated, amply and convincingly, the
logical and inevitable consequences that flow from assuming
such a posture; the Anarchists did what they are always fated
to do, furnish the raison detre for the police spy, demoralize
the working class and discredit the very name of Labor. The
career of the I. W. W. since 1908, most of this time under
the leadership of Haywood, furnishes a striking lesson of
what not to do, a lesson that should not be lost sight of by
any^ thinking workingman...”
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“...WITH DE LEON SINCE 89. 125
of De Leons integrity and loyalty to the cause of Socialism,
and of his ability as well, for such men as Trautmann, Ed-
wards, Heslewood, and a score of others who afterward turned
on the organization and became De Leons enemies, said that
De Leon had saved the I. W. W. at its second convention.
The Socialist Party officialdom heaved a sigh of relief, for
the rumpus at the second I. W. W. convention, the setting up
of a bogus I. W. W., and the withdrawal of the Western Fed-
eration of Miners from both factions of the I. W. W. ex-
tricated their party from a very tight and unpleasant situation.
The Time But Not the Men
All sincere industrial unionists were at that time hopeful
that there was at least one man among the leaders of the West-
ern Federation of Miners who would exert all his influence in
favor of the bona-fide I. W. W. and against the reactionists of
the Mahoney type in that organization. This man was thought
to be Haywood as it...”
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