WHAT IS SABOTAGE?

New Zealand Tablet, 19 June 1913, Page 45

WHAT IS SABOTAGE?

Sabots are wooden shoes. During the silk-weavers’ strike in Lyons the workmen, before leaving their shops, are said to have hurled their wooden shoes into the delicately fashioned machinery of the looms. The results need not be described. In labor warfare the sabot may often have proved no less effective than it was convenient for use, not only in destroying property, but likewise in bringing to terms the unfortunate nonstrikers (writes Rev. Joseph Husslein, S.J., in America).- We have recently heard of an English sufragette hurling her shoe at the head of the judge who had condemned her for acts of militancy. The missile, however, was only a toy in comparison, with the large and clumsy sabot in the hands of an angry striker. From this, therefore, the term Sabotage was first derived. It may be applied to any practice by which loss can be inflicted upon an employer, whether in shirking work, in neglecting precautions that may lead to serious consequences, in reducing the quantity or deteriorating the quality of the industrial output, in confusing the : management and routine of labor, commerce, and traffic, or in directly causing the destruction of machinery and property of whatever kind. It is, therefore, both active and passive, and is meant to be practised by the workman without risk to himself. The same directions, we should notice, were likewise given by their leaders to the English, militant suffragettes. They were to do all the harm they could without exposing themselves to the danger of detection. Sabotage, however, in 8 The True Sense of the Word implies far more than this. It is only incidentally an act of revenge or spite. Essentially it is a means to an end, and never an end in itself. As practised by the revolutionary worker it may be intended to gain immediate demands refused by his employer. Considered, however, in a larger sense and as a recognised syndicalist weapon of organised warfare, it is meant to lead ultimately to the great social revolution. Unless this supreme object is always kept in view it does not answer to the syndicalist conception. It is not only to be used in connection with the strike, but is in great measure to supplant the strike itself, as a more convenient and expeditious method of class conflict, implying no suffering for the laborer and yet causing the; keenest distress to the employer.

9 We may quote as an instance the methods practised according to Walter V. Woehlke, by the Industrial Workers of the World, in the pine forests of the South; The Brotherhood of Timber Workers had just been formed by their organisers; but the employers at once locked out its members, and made their men promise" not to join the organisation. ‘Nevertheless the log-cutters demanded higher wages. The demand was refused, but the men did not strike. They stayed at the' work, but the logs cut by them were full of deeply driven spikes that ruined the teeth of a dozen band-saws a day. Orders for lumber of special sizes always fell a few inches short of the required dimensions, necessitating a new cut. Nuts. were continually dropping off the spindles of the log carts; on the logging roads one train after another was derailed through defective flanges; in the mills wabbly fly-wheels forced frequent shut-downs; manufacturing cost showed a steady increase. That was the Industrial Workers’ reply to the lock-out, to the denial of more pay’ (Outlook, July 6, 1912). Strange to say, Sabotage may at times be practised by no other means than the exact observance of certain Government regulations, which perhaps have fallen, into desuetude, whether unobnoxious or not. An entire railway or industrial system may have accommodated itself to such conditions. The instant and unexpected observance of the laws in their strictest interpretation is, therefore, sufficient to throw traffic.' and production into endless confusion, leading even to wreckage and general destruction. ' At times it is merely the exact observance' of the company’s own rules, not meant to be taken literally, which brings about these same effects. The object of the workman in every case is to cause the greatest damage to the employer with the least harm to himself. It is evident, therefore, that we may almost accept the statement of Courtenay Lemon, made in the Call, that: ‘The definition of Sabotage by the working class is as comprehensive as the definition of crime is by the ruling class. Sabotage means anything from dynamite to asafoetida ' (June 3, 1912). In Promulgating the Teaching of Sabotage the same care is observed not to expose the agitators to unnecessary legal prosecution. The means of destruction and violence are, therefore, suggested by way of cautions, or in covered language which can easily be comprehended by those to whom it is addressed, yet when the desired results have been produced, ‘it is the ~‘i n»n < l

simplest, . easiest, ~ most natural thing in ? the = world to show and to prove that the idea of Sabotage was not understood.' Thus entire handbooks can : be published giving detailed directions for crippling the various industries, extending even to dropping mercury into coffee, or kneading powdered glass into the bread. - 'So well acquainted, wrote the New York Sun, in reference to certain hints thrown out by Ettor during the New York waiters' strike in January, 1913, are men of intelligence with the policy of denial practised by this organisation (the 1.W.W.) and its leaders that the reporters who heard Ettor's incitement to poison took the precaution to obtain from him confirmation of their understanding of his speech after he had relinquished the platform. Because of their foresight, his denials uttered after the event fall completely to the ground. Nor can the advice of this Industrial Worker of the World to make food unsafe be twisted into the less harmful suggestion that it be too highly seasoned. Had Ettor meant unpalatable he would have said it. He and his fellows know the difference between unpalatable food and unsafe food as well as anybody else.' (Jan. 14, 1913.) To illustrate more fully not only the method of propaganda, but likewise the meaning of Sabotage, it will be instructive to quote here a few of the suggestive items printed by the Chicago Syndicalist, February 15, 1913. They were written by J. A. Jones, and published in a column headed, .'Society Notes.' They require no comment, since their purpose is perfectly clear. A few drops of sulphuric acid,' he writes, 'placed on top of a pile of woollen or cotton goods never stop going down. * ' Two decks of cards in a grain separator cover the screen and cause the grain to vanish out the blower. ' A piece of iron dropped in a crucible full of glass will eat through it. Crucibles are made of graphite and cost 40 dollars. ' A handful of salt in paint will allow a goodlooking job for a day or two, but when dry will fall off in sheets.

' Maclay Hoyne, Chicago's district attorney, is analysing a spontaneous fire powder that allows the user to be miles away when it breaks forth. ' Castor oil capsules dissolved in varnish destroy the ability of the latter to dry. The job must be washed down and started all over again.

_ Similar information is usually , given, by the syndicalist orator or publicist, with some such sarcastic comment as, ‘ Don’t do it, . boys!’ It is often conveyed at a time when its significance . and application cannot be doubtful. Nor is such teaching confined to the I.W.W; since we-frequently meet with it in Socialist publications which are not in sympathy with them. It is only fair to mention, however, that . the Detroit I.W.W. is not to be confused with the Haywood faction, to whose methods it is opposed. *. But it is the latter which is absorbing all the public attention, and which has gained a strong foothold in the Socialist Party itself. Its adherents are confident that The Future of Socialism is in Their Hands. We have hitherto spoken of the practice of Sabotage, as applied-to private property. It is not, however,' restricted to this, but likewise is directed against public possession where the Government can be considered as an employer of labor. Especially is it concerned with the army and navy, since soldiers and sailors are considered to be only working men in uniform, Sabotage in the army is defined as a defiance of one’s own country in favor of one’s own class, as a demonstration against the power of capitalism, represented in the Government, in favor of the proletariat, represented in the rank and me. This, in the eyes of its admirers, at once invests the practice with the dignity of a great movement. It is especially in the army that French radicals have endeavored to popularise this method, and have met with considerable success, leading to frequent destruction of weapons and army utensils. Haywood tells with great satisfaction in the International Socialist Review for March, 1911, how one company trampled the national flag into the mire, and another marched with guns reversed to show their contempt of discipline. ?, h , ‘ fright red spots’ have appeared even in the British Navy, and we are well aware of the propaganda that is being carried on among our own American soldiers and sailors. Sabotage has become a serious menace. It is practiced in a systematised and organised manner. It is publicly taught and promoted by its own syndicalist press, as well as by frequent allusions to it in letters and articles communicated to Socialist papers. It supposes the most complete disregard for all principles of morality, and the utter repudiation of religion. It is the last stage of Socialistic and anarchist degeneracy.