Being an institution of Christian Nationalism par excellence, the Mormon Church was, and is, also a giant snake-oil-selling, money-making grift. With unions portrayed as a tool of Satan to deprive the Church fathers of their ordained profits, the Mormons oversaw, and even delighted in, the 1915 execution of Joe Hill. How to fight this murderous anti-labor behemoth of the West was a test for both the I.W.W. and A.F. of L. Here, a wobbly on their different approaches.

‘The Mormon Church and the Fight Against It’ by F.H. Esmond from Industrial Worker. Vol. (new) 1 No. 3. April 29, 1916.

A CONTRAST IN METHODS OF PROTEST

On the highest pinnacle of the Temple in Salt Lake City stands the bronze figure of the Mormon angel, Maroni. With a clarion raised to his lips, he faces toward the East, as if for ever watching in readiness to sound an alarm at the approach of possible foes of the Church.

If he were suddenly endowed with the power to see, he might sometimes catch a glimpse of distant Soldiers’ Summit, so called as the temporary camping ground of the punitive expedition sent by the Federal Government after the massacre of Mountain Meadow, to remind the Mormon Church that the murder of transients through its territory was a deed likely to breed trouble for that institution.

“Other times, other manners,” however. The Mormon Church of today is at peace with the powers that be, and, itself an essential bulwark of capitalism, it has nothing more serious to fear than mild presidential protests, in case it feels inclined to maltreat or even to slaughter its slaves.

While toward the transient of today–the migratory worker who has taken the place of the emigrant of the days of Mountain Meadow, its policy, though subtly disguised, is still none the less murder. And the place of the Destroying Angels of Brigham Young is taken by its sheriffs and deputies, its gun-packing thugs and whiskey-sodden devotees.

Craft Unions Issue Paper Protests.

Is there then no power in the United States that can give it a sharp reminder that such conduct does not pay? Are there no means at all by which it can be made to realize that its policy of murder as a fine art, under legal or other guises, may perchance entail for it disagreeable consequences? What about the A.F. of L, the “great A.F. of L.,” with its three million of dues-paying members? Did not the A.F. of L. in convention assembled endorse a strong resolution to Governor Spry and the Utah Board of Pardons on behalf of Joe Hill? Did not Sammy Gompers, the pope of the labor movement, express himself very strongly on the subject, even in Salt Lake City, the heart of the Mormon stronghold?

But Sammy Gompers is an astute politician, who knows exactly how to play to the gallery. He knew that he could suffer no loss of prestige as president of the A.F. of L. by meeting a rebuff along with and over the same issue as the president of the U.S.A.; for to be on the same side as the latter is always high finesse for a “practical” labor politician like Sammy, Jesuit general and master of craft.

Also in Utah the State Federation of Labor contains some might-be, real rebels, were it not that connection with the milk-loving Socialist Party tones down a vivid red to a more modest pink. And when it comes to all colors but red, real red, Sammy is a perfect chameleon.

But what does the A.F. of L as a whole do for those of its own members whose militancy in labor’s battles has left them as prisoners of war in the hands of the master class, the men who have dared to break the rules and regulations imposed by the masters? Why, it protests, just protests–that’s all. True, its local bodies contribute liberally to the defense of labor cases, but invariably that is only when the sentiment of the rank and file has been so aroused that the fakers are powerless to stem the tide, and yield with the best grace they may. Yet the Secretary of the State Federation in California says that the A.F. of L never lays down.

A.F. of L. on its Knees.

But for that matter the A.F. of L. has never yet learned to stand up. Furthermore, it will never be allowed to get up, so long as the Gompers and the Scharrenbergs are able to keep it on its knees. For upon their ability to do this and thus to hinder it from aught more effective than a protest, depends their own share of political preferment, and the patronage of the National Civic Federation.

Thirty of their more militant officials are in the Federal prison at Leavenworth; others art dotted all over the various state penitentiaries; others of its fighters are either on trial, or under the shadow of suspended indictments that the virulent animosity of powerful master class organizations is ready and anxious to foreclose.

Yet the three-million-strong A.F. of L that never lays down, just protests and lets it go at that. For the A.F. of L. believes in the shibboleths of legality and constitutionalism as interpreted by its masters’ hirelings of the law. It upholds the sanctity of contracts, and it loves its masters’ property even as its oft-expressed belief in the identity of interests of capital and labor shows that, like a faithful dog, it really loves its master, although it whines and half-heartedly tries to bite at his beatings.

Toward its own militants in the cause of labor, the A.F. of L. stands today in exactly the same position as the scab does to its own union men; always ready to reap the advantage of any benefits the militants may win, always ready to throw them to the dogs, with only too often a “serves them right” for their pains.

From an organization that has not the courage to stand up and fight for its ow members, the Mormon Church knew the exact value of a protest on behalf of Joe Hill; and the Salt Lake antics of the astute Sammy ranged alongside President Wilson’s plea as a subject for scorn to Messrs. Smoot and Smith and Spry.

No; the “great A.F. of L.” is not qualified to teach the Mormon Church the inadvisability of murdering workingmen; nor will it ever be able to fight the battles of the Ameri can proletariat until it learns to fight for its own members with something more effective than protests–something more potent even than financial levies upon its membership.

I.W.W. Can Exact Reparation.

When it comes to exacting reparation from the Mormon Church with the same ruthlessness as that religious institution religiously manifests in the exploitation and subjection of its slaves, then the only organization capable of doing so, is one that is not bound in any way by the notions inculcated by the master class for the protection of itself, its property and its profits. And in the case of the assassination of an active member of the I.W.W., nor organization is better qualified to call the murderers to account by whatever means are expedient than the I.W.W. itself.

For it is by no means burdened by foolish respect for shibboleths, of the master-class at all events.

Now to such organization, that does not confine its militancy to the mere mouthing of magic phrases, there is a certain sardonic humor in the ability to turn upon the master-class the pet theories of that class itself. And one of the beliefs that has the unquestioning support of that class, is the opinion that “Punishment is valuable as a deterrent.”

The reversal of the usual procedure by the spectacle of a proletarian organization trying out the theory on a capitalist institution like the Mormon Church would provide an interesting experiment in working-class methods of fighting, and would undoubtedly tend to prove–even to Messrs. Smoot and Smith and Spry, that the murder, (legal or otherwise). of members of the working-class in general, and the migratory workers in particular and the I.W.W. in special, entails the very costly resentment of the latter organization. Nor are threats against individual any use at all.

For the Mormon Church and its leaders would shed far more bitter tears of anguish over the draining, nickel by nickel, of any portion of its precious profits, than the oozing away, drop by drop, of the very life’s blood of every last one of its jacks-in-office and retainers, high or low. And a lesson to be of any value would have to be sharp and practical, and scientifically administered.

Selecting a Method of Action.

How can it best be done? By the education and organization of the slaves of the Mormon Church? Excellent though these means may be, again it is to be remembered that education is a slow process, depending and following at a tardy pace on the development of machine technology quite as much as upon even the most zealous propaganda, that is sometimes more enthusiastic than well-informed. Further, the education that is received from sporadic outbursts in the shape of spontaneous strikes based on direst hunger, however valuable, is painful and costly to the workers themselves; and if these were the only weapons in Labor’s armory, then indeed it would be “a long way to Tipperary,” as far as revolutionary progress is concerned. At the same time, let it be well understood that education in the form of publicity is no mean weapon in itself.

And the very fact that the I.W.W. has refused to waste its time on the purely religious beliefs of the Mormon Church, but has relentlessly exposed the industrial exploiting character of this Hyena of the Wasatch, not only has been successful in stirring the ripples of thought in many a servile brain, but also has been no small factor in drawing down the ferocious hatred of that loathsome beast that hates to be hunted into the open light of day.

A publicity that is so widespread that it reaches even into the European recruiting grounds of the Mormon Church, would afford no little hindrance to the search of its missionaries for the two-legged brood-mares of its working-mules.

It goes without saying, too, that organization is always valuable. And whatever the difficulties in the way of spies and agents-provocateurs and blacklists, it is work that can never be neglected.

And the I.W.W. is the first organization on this Continent to show to the great slave horde, the necessity, as well as sometimes the greater expediency of organizing and striking as fiercely on the job as off it.

And in dealing with an utterly unscrupulous institution like the Mormon Church, the only methods that are right are those that will “get the goods,” the only methods that are wrong are those that fail to inflict damage where that Church is tenderest–to wit, in its pocket-book.

The Doctrine of Assessment.

The Mormon Church mocks openly by its agents at all legal and constitutional “rights”; and the words “humanity” and “justice” and “decency” play no part in its vocabulary when it is dealing with its slaves.

Today, just as in the days of Brigham Young, the only argument that it can appreciate, must be drastic and direct.

So therefore as it is nominally a religious institution, and as such, believes no doubt in “doctrines,” perhaps it would be as well if it were given a little organized education in a new one, which might well be called the “Doctrine of Assessment,” differing from the metaphysical doctrines of all known churches, in that it is best interpreted by rigorous and practical application. It can be stated very simply as follows, in the form of an account rendered and now due for payment:

The Mormon Church, Rocky Mountain States, to the I.W.W., Dr.:

One I.W.W. member shot in cold blood in Utah Penitentiary…$10,000,000.00

One I.W.W. member shot in cold blood in streets of Salt Lake City…10,000,000.00

Sundry I.W.W. members, clubbed, jailed, and hounded by its agents…5,000,000,00

Total due…$25,000,000.00

N.B.–As this account is now overdue, it will be collected by the general membership of the I.W.W. in such ways as are fit and convenient.

Now twenty-five million dollars is a very considerable assessment, but the Mormon Church is a corporation that has far-reaching interests.

For again be it remembered, that from Southern Alberta to the Mexican boundary, wherever there is irrigation or beet-sugar raising along the Rocky Mountain States, careful inquiry will reveal in divers and unexpected places, colonies of its devotees or dependents, rendering tribute and sustenance to its coffers in the form of tithes or rent.

Workers Ueber Alles.

Nor would it be at all amiss to mention in the presence of resolute partisans of the Fatherland that the Mormon Church is supplying Utah copper to the Allies. And as from its various plants, profit can only accrue by the presence of numerous slaves, all its spies and gunmen cannot keep out the determined rebel whose face is unknown, and who knows how to keep his mouth shut and his sabot-clad feet busy.

And for the construction worker in the West, it is well to remember that wherever he comes across the camps of the Utah Construction Company and its subsidiaries, he will probably find the same old order-tagged tents, lousy bunks, rotten grub, insolent superintendents, driving foremen, low wages, long hours. It is not worthwhile to waste further time arguing with that outfit. Let the wise rebel simply shake off the dust from his wooden shoes upon that scurvy limb of the Mormon Hyena, remembering particularly to call down a special prayer upon the “robbersary shack,” where the hard-earned nickels of the over-worked, shovel-stiff are filched again from him by a three-price system for overalls and snuff.

In a thousand and one different ways and places the Mormon Church can be taught that its murderous doctrine of assassination will meet with the sure and certain application of the doctrine of assessment, and that the time is now come when it must be made perfectly clear, both to that and all similar capitalist institutions that the jailing and murdering of fighting members of the working class, will not forever meet with nothing but feeble protest and that the cold-blooded slaughter in its streets of unarmed men by hireling ruffians acquitted by its servile courts will inevitably entail upon it–not indeed foolish uprisings in its streets that, in its bestial ferocity, it would be only too glad to have an excuse to suppress by the agency of its fiendish thugs and fanatical bloodthirsty adherents, but a remorseless and unremitting and varied series of punctures of its industrial and economic arteries, along which flows the vital stream of profits more dear to its kind than the lives of the whole swarm of human slaves.

I.W.W. Will Assess Assassins.

If it did not exact reparation for the wrong done to its own members, the I.W.W. would belie its own proud motto, “An injury to one is an injury to all; and as a revolutionary organization it would be as useless as the A.F. of L. But it is neither useless, nor is it going out of business; nor can the Mormon Church, nor the whole master class, with all their dirty tools and hirelings, brutal sluggers and swinish spies, put it out.

And it may well be that the bronze angel Maroni, endowed for the time being in imagination with sight and memory, shall from his lofty pinnacle sound in the ears of Messrs. Smoot and Smith and Spry–that stinking trinity of industrial-cum-religious-cum-political assassins–the warning clarion note that once again in the neighborhood of Soldiers’ Summit was first manifested the direct activity of an organization that is not afraid to take up the cause of the transients of today, and is determined that the damnable murderers of the Mormon Church and the cowardly crimes of its agents, shall be as expensive and dangerous to its peace of mind. and even more certain in the exaction of reparation than the bygone expedition sent to interview Brigham Young for the unforgotten massacre of the transients of yesterday, the emigrants of Mountain Meadow.

“Massacre” is the middle name of the Mormon Church, and it needs a stern purging.

F. H. ESMOND.

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.”

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