and
locals and as an agency for representing the interests of all the unions
in international relations.

This is in brief the meaning of syndicalism. It differs from socialism
in both aim and methods. The aim of the latter is the control by the
community of the means of production. The aim of syndicalism is the
control by autonomous trade unions of that production carried on by
those trades. It does not seek to refashion the State or to aid in its
evolution toward social democracy. It will have nothing to do with
political action or with any attempt to improve the machinery of
democracy. The masses must arise, take possession of the mines,
factories, railroads, fields, and all industrial processes and natural
resources, and then, through trade unions or industrial unions,
administer the new economic system. Furthermore, the syndicalists differ
from the socialists in their conception of the class struggle. To the
socialist the capitalist is as much the product of our economic system
as the worker. No socialist believes that the capitalist is individually
to blame for our economic ills. The syndicalist dissents from this view.
To him the capitalist is an individual enemy. He must be fought and
destroyed. There is no form of mediation or conciliation possible
between the worker and his employer. Conditions must, therefore, be made
intolerable for the capitalist. Work must be done badly. Machines must
be destroyed. Industrial processes must be subjected to chaos. Every
worker must be inspired with the one end and aim of destruction. Without
the cooeperation of the worker, capitalist production must break down.
Therefore, the revolutionary syndicalist will fight, if possible, openly
through his union, or, if that is impossible, by stealth, as an
individual, to ruin his employer. The world of to-day is to be turned
into incessant civil war between capital and labor. Not only the two
classes, but the individuals of the two classes, must be constantly
engaged in a deadly conflict. There is to be no truce until the fight is
ended. The loyal workman is to be considered a traitor. The union that
makes contracts or participates in collective bargaining is to be
ostracized. And even those who are disinclined to battle will be forced
into the ranks by compulsion. "Those who continue to work will be
compelled to quit," says Guerard. The strike is not to be merely a
peaceable abstention from work. The very machines are to be made to