Ben Williams introduces a resolution from the Fourth I.W.W. Convention on the creation of new ‘Propaganda Leagues’ submitted to the general membership in a referendum.

‘Propaganda Leagues’ by B.H. Williams from Industrial Union Bulletin. Vol. 2 No. 28. December 12, 1908.

The Fourth Annual Convention of the I.W.W. adopted the following resolution, to be submitted to the referendum of the membership for approval or disapproval:

“Be it resolved, by the convention that the General Administration of the Industrial Workers of the World be authorized to issue credentials or charters to Propaganda Leagues or Clubs, composed of actual members of the working class, in localities where the general organizer deems them necessary.

“1. That these clubs shall be under the control of the General Organizer the same as national organizers.

“2. That these Propaganda Leagues shall be governed by the Preamble and Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World.

“3. That they shall not admit to membership persons suspended from the Industrial Workers of the World.

“4. That they shall not admit to membership members who have withdrawn on account of disagreement with the policy of the organization or any of its subsidiary bodies.”

This proposition in another form came up previously in the convention and was voted down, largely because in connection with it was the proposition to abolish mixed unions and substitute Propaganda Leagues therefor. A majority of delegates were not in favor of doing away with the mixed local, and accordingly voted the whole proposition down. The discussion in the convention on the subject of Propaganda Leagues, which is inadequately reported in the minutes, clearly set forth the reasons for this move.

It was contended by some of the opposition that mixed locals, which were intended as propaganda bodies, could perform all the functions of Propaganda Leagues, and the latter were therefore unnecessary. While this was admitted as far as some localities were concerned, where proper industrial unions had not yet made their appearance, it was contended by the supporters of Propaganda Leagues that in the large industrial centers with a diversity of industrial unions, the mixed local was wholly inadequate to properly conduct the educational and propaganda work. The reason given was that the mixed or propaganda local cannot under the constitution admit to membership workers whose industrial union is already organized in the same locality. For instance, a machinist in New York belonging to the Metal Workers’ Industrial Union of that locality cannot participate in the administrative affairs of the mixed local of that district. Accordingly the scope of the mixed local is limited, and its propaganda affected by the inexperience of such membership in the affairs of genuine industrial unions. On the other hand, the Propaganda League admits to membership all those active members of different industrial unions who, as speakers, literature distributors, etc., are especially fitted to carry on propaganda work. In this way all active propagandists in a given locality may be enlisted for the work, and a fitting instrument for systematizing propaganda and centering it on those industries which afford the best opportunities for the time being. is placed on foot. Different industrial unions may confer with the Propaganda League and obtain its cooperation to hold meetings and distribute literature among workers in shops of that industry, without at the same time jeopardizing the jobs of members of the I.W.W. who may be working in those shops–a thing which the industrial union itself cannot do with safety. The Propaganda League, having done the preparatory educational work for the locals and industrial councils, its function for the time being ceases at that point, and the actual work of placing the men in their respective industrial unions is turned over to the organization committees of the locals or the district council. In other words, the recruiting of members having been done by the League, the organizing is left to the local union itself. Such division of labor was held to be necessary for effective building up of the I.W.W.

Furthermore it was contended that through the Propaganda League, wives of wage workers, who might not otherwise be eligible to membership in industrial unions, could participate in the propaganda and thus become a powerful force for upbuilding the economic organization.

It was also pointed out that foreign nationality clubs in America, whose work has hitherto been confined for the most part to supporting political parties, but whose members are largely non-voters, and before their five years’ residence in the country is passed often drift away from the influence of the club or federation to which they are connected, can, through Propaganda Leagues, bring their fellow workers into immediate contact with the economic organization, where as members they have full rights and privileges from the, start. To this end it is desirable that branch Leagues be formed for the different languages and nationalities wherever necessary.

As an instance of the effectiveness of such an organization, we may cite the example of the New York Propaganda League, which was organized in April last. From a summary of the active work of this League, furnished by the Secretary, Henry Traurig, we gather the following facts:

The New York Propaganda League was organized April 21, 1908. From that date to Sept. 14, when the secretary’s summary ends, the League carried on a systematic agitation throughout Manhattan, mostly in the form of open air meetings. With only three or four regular speakers available, four indoor meetings were held, one large mass meeting in Union Square, and fifty-six street meetings in various parts of the city, at which altogether some 20,000 wage workers were reached with the message of Industrial Unionism.

At these meetings 1,020 I.W.W. pamphlets were sold and 1,802 Bulletins, while many hundreds were distributed gratis. Sixty-one subs. to the Bulletin were taken. The total receipts of the League were more than $70.00, of which $59.28 went to General Headquarters for literature and Bulletins. A local of silk workers, numbering about forty members, was organized through the efforts of the League’s speakers, and ten applications for membership in the I.W.W. were received at open air meetings and referred to the various locals. A special agitation was carried on among machinists in connection with the local of Metal Workers, among longshoremen and railroad workers, along the docks of the water front and in the shops of the Interborough Railway Company. With the aid of an Italian speaker, a body of Italians, is being organized into an Italian Propaganda League, and literature was sold and distributed free at various lecture centers and other places where workers congregate. All this was done in the midst of industrial depression and with the attendant excitement of a presidential election campaign. The League still continues its activity.

It is earnestly hoped that the above-quoted resolution will meet the approval of the rank and file in referendum, and that the General Organizer will be authorized to proceed with the formation of such bodies wherever his survey of the field enables him to see their necessity or advisability.

B. H. WILLIAMS.

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/v2n28-dec-12-1908-iub.pdf