In his testimony before this Committee James P. Holland, president of the State Federation of Labor, in answer to the question: "Has it ever come to your attention what the principles of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers are with reference to government and the control of industry?" Mr. Holland said, "A. They do not believe in the government. They preach it today even behind closed doors, and some of them even have preached it outside of the doors. There is not a place where one of the speakers goes that he does not ridicule the form of government of the United States. Only a few weeks ago one of their speakers was in Buffalo, and at McKinley square spoke - I think his name was Walden, I would not be positive of his namewhen he ridiculed the government and the method of doing busi" (Page 694, stenographer's minutes, Committee

ness.

Hearings.)

The means employed by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America to gain control of industry is perhaps best illustrated by their participation in the textile strikes of Lawrence, Mass., and Utica, N. Y. Although the latter strike was technically the strike of the textile workers, the textile workers union was, at that time, a new organization ill-equipped to carry on such a strike. The direction of the strike, therefore, devolved in large measure upon the experienced leaders of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers. For some time an attempt had been made to organize the textile industries of Utica into locals of the Amalgamated Textile Workers' Organization.

A strike was called in the latter part of August. A description of the methods employed by the strike organizers to effect their purpose was given to this Committee by Captain John R. Wright, of the Utica police. Captain Wright testified that organizers of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, and the newly created Amalgamated Textile Workers had been working in Utica some time prior to the strike, holding secret meetings, and that the principal agent sent there for that purpose was one Paul Blanchard. The working men and women who joined the new union were largely Poles, Italians and some Syrians. Meetings were held in different parts of the city, and in West and East Utica. The strike was called on the 28th of August. In describing what followed Captain Wright said:

"They paraded around in mass form. There would be as many as two or three or four hundred in their picket lines. They would go in front of the mill and they would picket

back and forth on the sidewalk single file. During the time that the people were going to work they would picket; when they would come back at noon or night time, and intimidate the people as they went by where we could not keep close watch on them."

In answer to the question whether there was any threatened violence, Captain Wright said threats were made to the workmen who still worked at the mills "that they would burn up their houses and kill them, or kill some member of their family if they continued to work. The intimidation was in the night time mostly. They would go out in groups from house to house and intimidate the workers in that manner by threatening them with bodily harm, or burning their buildings, or something of that kind. We found by questioning different people that they were out on strike more through fear than through dissatisfaction. There were a great many, especially among the women, who were entirely satisfied with their wages, because they were getting from $20 to $30 a week, and as high as $35. In

one place, in East Utica, they carried out their threats by setting fire to a building in the night time. We were never able to get the ones that did that." (See stenographer's minutes, Committee Hearings.)

Several riots occurred after which the merchants along Bleecker street, for a mile and a half, were compelled to close their shops through intimidation, and to post in their windows a placard stating, "Closed in protest to police cossacks." In reference to this matter Captain Wright said, "They went to the merchants along Bleecker street and Tilden avenue, probably a mile and a half, a body of twenty to fifty men, and invited them to close their places, and place one of these placards in their window. If they refused to do it, they would smash their windows in. The Police Department, with our limited number of men, were all located at the mills, so that I could not possibly take them up into Bleecker street to stop this thing."

The nature of the propaganda which fired the hatred of the workmen not only against their employers, but also the government, may be gathered from reading the speeches made by the agitators who represented this union. A typical example of the speeches made is one by an agitator named Ouderkirk, from which we quote the following:

"The time has come when you should use your brains and your hands to keep the scabs out of the mills. If it is necessary for some to go to the electric chair, the gallows, we will go, but where we leave off there will be many more to carry on our banner. The Amalgamated will open co-operative stores and we will not deal with the profiteers. We will be free from Democraticized, Catholicized scab, whether he is an American or just a plain gink. It is you that produce the nice automobile, the fine steam yacht, the Parlor and Pullman cars and all the wealth for the capitalists and instead of you using them you get the second-hand bicycle, a dusty, dirty old coach and have your sons sent to France to fight for these damn profiteers. Go out to the mills and keep the scabs from work. Keep them out any way. There is no use of disguising it any longer. It is a battle, go out and fight it. They tell you that they will not deal with the outside agitators or with the Amalgamated, but they will deal with John D. Strain, that $5,000 per year agitator, to keep you in poverty. They are all organized. The Chamber of Commerce; the Employers' Association is nothing more than a union of the bosses and a criminal union at that. It is up to the workers of this city to break up this criminal union. They are digging graves for themselves and we will see that they are ducked into them. They try to do all in their power to crush and disorganize you but we can stand and overpower the whole damned bunch." (See stenographer's minutes, pp. 1765-6, Com

mittee Hearings.)

In another speech he said: "Strike and strike hard, and we will receive better wages and better conditions, and when the time comes that they tell us they cannot afford to pay us, then we will say, 'All right, we'll take it over and run it ourselves,' and if this is Bolshevism, I say, as Patrick Henry did, 'Make the best of it.'"

This strike was carried on by the combined Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers, who publish a paper entitled, "The Clarion," in which Paul D. Blanchard is named as editor, with offices at 670 Bleecker street, Utica, N. Y.

The propaganda of this organization reaches its members through the publication of the following periodicals: "The

Advance," the official English organ, which is published at 31 Union square, New York City, and which circulates largely in New York State; the "Fortschritt," a weekly printed in Yiddish; the "Industrial Democracy," in Polish, and "Industrial Democracy," in Bohemian; "Rabochy Golos," in Russian, and "Il Lavoro," in Italian.

For the circulation and character of the propaganda carried on in these periodicals see the section of this report dealing with newspapers.

CHAPTER VII

The Amalgamated Textile Workers of America*

An industrial union under the domination of the Socialist Party, and having a revolutionary objective is the Amalgamated Textile Workers of America. This organization is an outgrowth of the Lawrence, Mass., strike in 1919, which was promoted and assisted by the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. The relationship, therefore, between the organization which we now describe and that of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America is extremely close. The new organization took shape at a meeting held at Labor Temple, 14th street and Second avenue, New York City, on April 12, 1919, by a group of tex tile workers representing textile employees of Lawrence, Paterson, Passaic, Hudson County, N. J., and the New York Knit Goods Workers.

In explaining the success of the new organization A. J. Muste, general secretary of the Amalgamated Textile Workers, says: They were being advised and encouraged by the great Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America." (March 27, 1920, issue "The New Textile Worker.")

The object of the organization is revealed in the article from which we have just quoted. Mr. Muste says:

"And let us remember that the most fitting way to cele brate our anniversary is to dedicate ourselves anew to the glorious task of building One Big Union for the textile workers of America; a class conscious, honest, democratic, responsible and fighting organization; the Amalgamated Textile Workers of America. Everywhere a new day is dawning for the workers. We must do our share."

The statement of principles contained in the preamble of the constitution adopted by this organization is practically identical with those of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. It shows that the organization is based upon the class struggle; that it repudiates the conservative organizations of trade unions, and that the purpose of the organization is to bring about the seizure of the industry by the workers. It is in full harmony and accord with the principles advocated by the Socialist Party of America, as well as the more radical groups.

*See Addendum, Part I.