has been missing for the last four days and so is $250 which was to be used for the relief of strikers and their families in Duluth, Minn." In another instance, according to Vincent St. John, "the National Secretary [of the National Industrial Union of Forest and Lumber Workers' of the I. W. W.] left with all the funds in his charge six or eight months ago and the organization had to start all over again.

The European war had broken out less than two months before this convention met and the delegates did not fail to adopt a resolution against war. It was worded in part as follows:

The ignorance of the working class is the reason for the continuation of the war. . . . The [German] Social Democracy was a movement that engendered a spirit of patriotism within political boundary lines. The industrial movement will wipe out all boundaries and will establish an international relationship between all races engaged in industry. . . . We, as members of the industrial army, will refuse to fight for any purpose except for the realization of industrial freedom.2

Only two constitutional amendments of importance were passed at the ninth convention. One was a further development of the machinery of the referendum and constituted a victory for the decentralist boosters of the "rank and file." The first three clauses read as follows:

(a) Any local union in good standing with the General Office may institute or initiate a call for a referendum to be submitted to the General Office at once, with reasons and arguments for

same.

1 Letter dated July 16, 1913, to W. Beech, Proceedings, 8th Convention, I. W. W., p. 24, col. 1.

Solidarity, Oct. 3, 1914, p. 4, col. 4.

(b) Upon receipt of the initiative call for a referendum the General Office shall publish same with arguments for and against, and must submit it to all Local Unions, National Industrial Unions and Industrial Departments for seconds within 30 days.

(c) Before any referendum shall be submitted, the call for the same must be seconded by at least ten [local] unions in good standing in at least three different industries.1

The other amendment expressed in more specific terms than ever before the attitude of the organization toward agreements between employers and employees. It replaced the former blanket prohibition with a clause which specifically defines the kinds of agreement which must be avoided, and, inferentially, permits the making of agreements which are free from the objectionable features specified. The amendment is to Article III. and is as follows:

No Local Union affiliated with the General Organization, Industrial department, or National Industrial Union of the I. W. W. shall enter into any contract with an individual, or corporation of employers, binding the members to any of the following conditions:

1. Any agreement wherein any specified length of time is mentioned for the continuance of the said agreement.

2. Any agreement wherein the membership is bound to give notice before making demands affecting hours, wages or shop conditions.

3. Any agreement wherein it is specified that the members will work only for employers who belong to an Association of the employers.

4. Any agreement that proposes to regulate the selling price of the product they are employed in making."

2

These two years of unprecedented field activity were nat

Preamble and Constitution of the I. W. W., 1916, art. vii, sec. 5. Ibid., art. iii, pp. 11-12.

urally years of growth in membership. This is more especially true of 1912 than of 1913, during the latter part of which a decline set in. The membership was at its high tide in 1912 after the Lawrence strike. The I. W. W. then boasted more than 18,000 members.1

Never since that time has it reached that point nor had it previously, unless we include the W. F. M. in the membership for 1905. There was also during both years a net increase in the number of locals in the organization. During the year ending August 31, 1913, two hundred and thirtysix new locals were organized, and during the same period one hundred were disbanded. The new locals were organized in largest numbers in the lumber, textile, and metal and machinery industries. Thirty were "mixed" locals.3

In the following table is a complete list of these new and defunct locals classified to show the number gained and lost in each industry:

TABLE 4

Number of local unions organized and disbanded during the year ending August 31, 1913, classified by industries as reported.

"Proceedings, Eighth I. W. W. Convention, p. 30.

Adapted from data in Proceedings, Eighth I. W. W. Convention,

The membership declined considerably in 1913 and 1914, since which time it appears to have increased slightly. Conservative estimates fix it at about 15,000 in 1913, 11,000 in 1914, and 15,000 in 1915. The author has not yet been able to get a reliable estimate of the membership for 1916. The reports of the tenth convention (November, 1916) as published in Solidarity give no clue. A dispatch to the Weekly People (December 9, 1916, p. 1) reports that the delegates claimed to represent a constituency of 35,000 to 40,000. As to 1912, Professor Hoxie said the average paid-up membership was 14,300 and that "local and national bodies have an additional dues-paying membership of 25,000 on which no per-capita tax has been paid to the General Organization," and credits the organization (for 1913) with a "nominal non-dues-paying enrolment of from 50,000 to 60,000." He came to the conclusion" that 100,000 or more men have had I. W. W. dues cards in their possession during the past five years. The figures in Appendix IV indicate that more than 191,000 persons have at one time or another during the last ten years been members of the I. W. W. This table also shows that the I. W. W. often gives very exaggerated membership estimates. This was true in 1913 when unofficial I. W. W. estimates ran into the hundreds of thousands. At this time, it is reported that, "Hoxie walked into the office of St. John, the General Secretary, and said, ' Look here, St. John, I've got the goods on you. You have only 14,300 members.' 'You're a liar, Hoxie," replied St. John, we have

1Cf. appendix iv, table A. For the status of the I. W. W. in California in 1914, see the writer's report to the U. S. Commission on Industrial Relations on "The I. W. W. in California."

"The Truth about the I. W. W.," Journal of Political Economy, Nov., 1913, vol. xxi, p. 786.