ENEMIES OF SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3161, 13 August 1917, Page 8

ENEMIES OF SOCIETY

THE I.W.W. IN AUSTRALIA BY A FORMER MEMBER Melbourne, July 2). To what extent' the I.W.AY. menace has grown and is growing (says Iho "Sunday- Times") was indicated in an interview during'tho week by a young man who hud been a member for yem-. He gave his reasons for joining, and liis reasons for "pulling out." as he expired it, and Ihe.v arc illuminating, lie is a smart, observant young i'eliow, aud every assertion he make.? tail be proved. He spoke without bitterness or reproach, his altitudo being that of one who had lost confidence in a movement which he had formerly (supported, ami in "comrades" with whom he had formerly vorVed. ■. .

"There is nothing partWtilarly wrong in the platform uf the 1.W'.W.," he said, "if-ihe original intention of the founders had been adhered to. They had in mind the organisation of, the whole <;f the workers into one bit? union and t'lie consequent regulation of the conditions of all labour. But. it warfjMbsequently decided that sabotage and slowing down should be adopted as weapons of defence, and litis was where the trouble began. No doubt when the original founders decided to adopt these iniquitous methods as 'measures of defence' they meant what thev said; but they 'lit the heather.' There is a section of the community so w'hom 'slowing down", makes the strongest appeal, and another section to whom sabotage or any other form ol lawlessness is a delight. These have joined Ihe organisation in hundreds, and you can lake it from me that it is spreading in a way that few neoplc oiitsidc the I.W.'tt. anpreciate. Their prola.uc songs and some of them aro brutally nrofane—may be lieiird in the shearing sheds all over Australia, and in the navvy camps wherever far back flnvernmcnt worksaro in pi-ogres*. The .i'hyiuns' were seized bv the" police; but a bigger book was published, anil tlie demand "tor it comes from wherever the Australian mail goes. ' . . .. "We know of course that in every big town their numbers are increasing, and Ihe sal»s of (heir .literature goes un by leaps and bound*. recently the Postal Tl»nartmenf refused to carry thn WP-;' 'Direct Action' in the mails, but .0 Hn7.cn are sold in Melbourne every week. Thk of " n!v what is sold in Synoy, where tlio paper is tailed. , - . , " \i|-' ? i iwi 'i.-* • wbile lack or« of the organisers wns sent to gaol. He wrote to his rummies i,i Melbourne siivimr that his tee'h wanted filling, and the letter was read at a meetimr of the T.W.Ti. A sum of was raised on ihe spot. liree of the organisers' ar? now in K«toI. and 1-ncii wives arc receiving £2 a week each From the organisation as a separation allowance. The wives of our, soldiers are certainly not looked after more comnletcly than' are. those three women. Then n little while back a man leame to one of the ori;ani=eis and said iiiet if necessary lie would lend -fil'-fi to hs devoted to the printing of literature. lie diu 'lot -av where this money, which was to be lent on ,sueh security, \yas to come from. The remarkable Ihing was that the money was not required. The sinews of war for the production of so much mischievous blasphemy were already available. "Olio of the chief dangers of I'.ie organisation is the manner in which it corrupts otherwise hononre.ble young men. If you ask a hard-working youmr navvy to come with you and rob his emp!pvpi- 11n will scout the idea as wrong and immoral; but' if you say to liini th'at the industrial conditions rercuire that in the interests of him-e'f and his fellow wage-earners he should do less work and leave more for others, tie will generally fall in. Tho robbery is there iu.sl: the same; lm[, of course, the man does not see it at once. Gradually be is comuletely roped in: and from being a good navvy he becomes a Imid-nmutlied. dangerous 'retornier. can take it from me that the I.W.W. is reducing the production of the Commonwealth substantially, and it will reduce it further if it is not stopped. "•But it was the position on the wharf that decided me. You know, of course, that nilferiug on the wduirl has been a trouble for years. Well, formerly a man stole in fear and trembling IW some of his males wpuld see him. Today he picks a thing lip, remarks that he"has decided to sabotage, it. and oil' he crocs. Undoubtedly on the wharves the T.W.W. is at its worst; but it is to bo found now in every walk and every □ venue liere.**