Industrial Workers of the World

No Parliament

I know from the actual experience of trying to live the life of a wage earner, that there are many workers who believe in and accept the idea of One Big Union; yet how to do without Parliament is a puzzle and a mystery to them. This stumbling block, this question must be met and explained to our fellow workers in clear and true language of almost biblical simplicity.

All reasoning is based upon self evident truths.

It is self-evident that noboddy can fulfil two contradictory functions at the same time and place.

A man cannot be both a black man and a white man at the same time and place; he is either a black man or a white man.

Noboddy can be both a wage earner and a capitalist at the same time and place; he is either a wage earner or a capitalist.

Parliament cannot both administrate and destroy capitalism at the same time and place; it must either perpetuate or overthrow capitalism.

Now it is the easiest thing in the world to prove that every Labor Government has never done anything but administrate capitalism.
There is no need to take examples from the Tory or Liberal Governments.

Every LAbor Government in Australia adheres to arbitration and, not only that, they have enforced arbitration awards with injunctions, fines and gaoling of strikers.

Is not the principle of arbitration not the very root of capitalism ?
The legislation of the exploitation of the many by the few.

Then the Labor Governments have enforced the very essence of capitalism.

Can these arguements be denied ? If they can - then what aabout the penal clauses in every arbitration act ?

How can we do without Parliament ? I might ask "What are we doing with it?" Now I know that many workers have got a vague idea that parliament might get better. Ha Ha !

Fellow Workers your labor politicians are now capitalists.

Think of the men who have grown rich on the labor movement, Messrs Fisher, Hughes, and Mahon, etc.

Nearly every senator in this state is a farmer, and farmers are interested in exploiting the workers.

Whilst these "honourable members" are in Parliament squandering golden eloquence, who ploughs the feilds and reaps the crops for our political farmers ?

Our friends the International and revolutionary socialists will object and say: "But the Labor Party is not a Socialist Party." - granted. But the very moment there was a socialist majority in Parliament, to be ttrue to their principles they would have to disolve parliament forever. If not they would have to administer capitalism.

What a satire. Socialists administering Capitalism. PErpetuating the very evil they set out to destroy.

This is just what the labor Party is doing. Parliament is doomed. We as intelligent workers want none of it. We are going to destroy Parliament with industrial management.

It makes no difference to the wprker whether they vote for Snodgrass the Liberal candidate or Gobshite the Labor candidate, they both administer capitalism. A genious and a dunce go to the polling booth. The result is the same - a cross on a piece of paper.

But not so with the I.W.W. programme.

Say, for instance, there are a hundred intelligent men in the community, but, with industrial management, all the hundred men can function, in the industry or sub-division of industry that they happen to be in.

A genius and a fool would not be equal in industrial management. A genius would have great and noble and useful ideas, as to how to run the industry. A fool would have none - like our clowns the politicians.
Under industrial management, say, if there was unemployment in any locality, the workers in that industry would meet at their union meeting, and all would discuss the question.

Probably they would arrive at the decision to work shorter hours and absorb the unemployment. But now when they are unemployed, Labor Minister Underwood of W.A. tells the starving unemployed to "get work."

Yet some of the slaves cannot see "how we can do without Parliament".

Let us take another instance. The dust in the mines kills the miners like flies.

A child knows that water will keep down dust.

The miners petition to their own politicians. The Mining Act is amended, after months, or even years, of talk.

Mining Inspectors and engineers are assumed to be very busy. They issue long lying reports saying that the "dust" evil is being dealt with and that conditions are greatly improved underground.

Yet every man underground knows these reports to be nothing but lies.

Suppose the workers determined to deal with the trouble directly themselves. They would meet at their union-halls and discuss the question.

Then, at a time agreed upon, the miners, with the aid of the plumbers and carpenters on the surface, would start to lay their own pipes and water sprays to every part of every mine on the belt.

If the effort was properly organised, the underground workers could accomplish, in a few days , what Parliament will never do.

The raising of ore would have to wait until we had made the conditions better to work under.

The humblest worker, if he sticks to the fundamental and logical proposition that Parliament cannot fulfill two contradictory functions, he will always understand his position as an industrial unit.

A further division is the law of progress.

The industrial unionist wants a further division in the management of industries.

We want to use all the intelligence of all the workers.

This is the programme of the I.W.W. with its six industrial departments, and its numberous sub-divisions.

Read it fellow workers - there is a place for you in it.

M. Sawtell Direct Action 15/7/1915