upon the combatants.

CHAPTER IX. THE NEW TERRORISM: THE I.W.W.

It was not to be expected that the field of organized labor would be
left undisputed to the moderation of the trade union after its triumph
over the extreme methods of the Knights of Labor. The public, however,
did not anticipate the revolutionary ideal which again sought to inflame
industrial unionism. After the decadence of the older type of the
industrial union several conditions manifested themselves which now,
in retrospect, appear to have encouraged the violent militants who call
themselves the Industrial Workers of the World.

First of all, there took place in Europe the rise of syndicalism with
its adoption of sympathetic strikes as one of its methods. Syndicalism
flourished especially in France, where from its inception the alert
French mind had shaped for it a philosophy of violence, whose subtlest
exponent was Georges Sorel. "The Socialist Future of Trade Unions,"
which he published in 1897, was an early exposition of his views,
but his "Reflections upon Violence" in 1908 is the best known of his
contributions to this newer doctrine. With true Gallic fervor, the
French workingman had sought to translate his philosophy into action,
and in 1906 undertook, with the aid of a revolutionary organization
known as the "Confederation General du Travail," a series of strikes
which culminated in the railroad and post office strike of 1909. All
these uprisings--for they were in reality more than strikes--were
characterized by extreme language, by violent action, and by impressive
public demonstrations. In Italy, Spain, Norway, and Belgium, the
syndicalists were also active. Their partiality to violent methods
attracted general attention in Europe and appealed to that small group
of American labor leaders whose experience in the Western Federation of
Miners had taught them the value of dynamite as a press agent.

In the meantime material was being gathered for a new outbreak in the
United States. The casual laborers had greatly increased in numbers,
especially in the West. These migratory workingmen--the "hobo
miners," the "hobo lumberjacks," the "blanket stiffs," of colloquial
speech--wander about the country in search of work. They rarely have
ties of family and seldom ties of locality. About one-half of these
wanderers are American born. They are to be described with precision as
"floaters." Their range of operations includes the wheat regions west