A delight, this piece early published poem of Mary Marcy’s (her first piece for an I.W.W. publication) was likely aimed at then leading Socialist Party theoretician A.M. Simons, who Mary would eventually replace on ISR’s editorial board. The poem being about a consistent type in our movement, however, it was reprinted many times after.

‘Our Leader’ by Mary E. Marcy from Industrial Union Bulletin. Vol. 1 No. 38. November 16, 1907.

OUR LEADER

There was a College Graduate,
Who Had a Noble Brow;
We thought that
He knew Everything,
        Was IT!
               It!
               It!

He said that if he hadn’t come
To Teach the Workers HOW,
We would NEVER have Progressed
        A Little Bit!
               Bit!
               Bit!

He volunteered to Lead us,
And we Handed him the Job,
He wanted so to “help the Cause
        Along!”
                Long!
                Long!

And he wrote a little Booklet,
And sold it to the Mob,
And showed us “where the
Plutocrats Were
        Wrong,”
               Wrong,
               Wrong!

And so our Leader pondered,
With proud and thoughtful mien,
Devising Ways and thinking out
        A Plan,
               Plan,
               Plan!

No lines were writ so closely,
That He couldn’t read BETWEEN,
As a really, truly GENIUS
        Always CAN,
               Can,
               Can!

One day he went a-walking,
In his absent-minded way,
A-thinking of a Speech he had
        In View,
               View,
               View.

On a lonely railroad crossing,
‘Twas a passing freight, they say,
Cut his Massive Cerebellum
        Right in Two,
               Two!
               Two!

I thought the sun would darkern,
And daylight turn to NIGHT,
And I didn’t hope for Pay Day,
        Any More,
               More,
               More!

But we found we didn’t Need him,
To Sit and Boss the Fight,
And our Wages were nine-fifty,
        As Before,
               Fore,
               Fore!

The Wheels kept on revolving,
And the Factory Whistle blew,
And our Stomachs forced us ever,
        In the Game,
               Game,
               Game!

The sun is really shining,
And it’s quite a comfort, too,
With the Struggle going onward,
        Just the Same!
               Same!
               Same!

-Mary E. Marcy.

The Industrial Union Bulletin, and the Industrial Worker were newspapers published by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) from 1907 until 1913. First printed in Joliet, Illinois, IUB incorporated The Voice of Labor, the newspaper of the American Labor Union which had joined the IWW, and another IWW affiliate, International Metal Worker.The Trautmann-DeLeon faction issued its weekly from March 1907. Soon after, De Leon would be expelled and Trautmann would continue IUB until March 1909. It was edited by A. S. Edwards. 1909, production moved to Spokane, Washington and became The Industrial Worker, “the voice of revolutionary industrial unionism.”

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iub/v1n38-nov-16-1907-iub.pdf