sons responded to this appeal and organized the Industrial
Workers of the World, almost unnoticed by the press of the day and
scorned by the American Federation of Labor, whose official organ had
called those in attendance at the second conference "engaged in the
delectable work of trying to divert, pervert, and disrupt the labor
movement of the country."

An overwhelming influence in this convention was wielded by the Western
Federation of Miners and the Socialistic American Labor Union, two
radical labor bodies which looked upon the trade unions as "union
snobbery" and the "aristocracy of labor," and upon the American
Federation as "the consummate flower of craft unionism" and "a
combination of job trusts." They believed trade unionism wrong in
principle. They discarded the principle of trade autonomy for the
principle of laboring class solidarity, for, as one of their spokesmen
said, "The industrial union, in contradistinction to the craft union, is
that organization through which all its members in one industry, or in
all industries if necessary, can act as a unit." While this convention
was united in denouncing the trade unions, it was not so unanimous in
other matters, for the leaders were all veterans in those factional
quarrels which characterize Socialists the world over. Eugene V. Debs,
for example, was the hero of the Knights of Labor and had achieved wide
notoriety during the Pullman strike by being imprisoned for contempt
of court. William D. Haywood, popularly known as "Big Bill," received
a rigorous training in the Western Federation of Miners. Daniel DeLeon,
whose right name, the American Federationist alleged, was Daniel Loeb,
was a university graduate and a vehement revolutionary, the leader of
the Socialistic Labor party, and the editor of the Daily People. A. M.
Simons, the leader of the Socialist party and the editor of the Coming
Nation, was at swords' points with DeLeon. William E. Trautmann was the
fluent spokesman of the anti-political faction. These men dominated the
convention.

After some twelve days of discussion, they agreed upon a constitution
which established six departments, * provided for a general executive
board with centralized powers, and at the same time left to the local
and department organizations complete industrial autonomy. The I.W.W. in
"the first constitution, crude and provisional as it was, made room for
all the world's workers." * * This was, indeed, the great object