THE IDITAROD PIONEER
Published Every Saturday Morning at Iditarod, Alaska
Vol. 8 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 34
ARBUCKLE & DERRY, Publishers
Subscription Rates
One Year . $10.00
Six Month* . 6.00
One Month . $1.00
Single Copy . .25
WHAT IS THE I. W. W.?
A general inquiry is noticeable as to the aims and objects of the
Industrial Workers of the World, and we reprint from the Chi
cago Herald an article by E. J. Costello which essays an analysis
of the activities of the organization which has taken advantage of
the country’s stress to put forth its peculiar and anarchistic doc
trines and methods. Mr. Costello states the situation clearly, but
his conclusions are not altogether correct. He says that the I.
W. W. must not be regarded as “an inconsequential aggregation
of irresponsible vagabonds and ne’er-do-wells.” But to a large
extent that is the very class that constitutes its membership. If
the I. IV. W. were composed entirely of such men as the late
Daniel De Leon and the demagogic W. D. Haywood, then, indeed,
it would suggest a serious menace to the republic itself. But as
at present constituted it merely endangers the peace and welfare
of the communities in which it operates. Five hundred thousand
men imbued with the contempt of law and American institutions
enunciated by men of the Haywood stripe could come near to
wrecking the government.
But the truth is that the rank and file of the organization is
made up of that class of men who constitute the nomadic popu
lation of the United States—men who through shiftlessness, drink
and other vices have become discouraged and desperate. They
are the itinerant workers of the country, who heretofore have fol
lowed the harvests, sometimes working and sometimes living off
their fellows, with no thought of responsibility, and endeavoring
to exist with as little effort as possible. Few among its members
are of the class which found families and assume the real duties
and obligations of citizenship. Lured by the oratory of the agi
tators to believe that the world's work end rewards can be ac
complished and shared by two hours’ work daily on the part of
all. they have come to believe they are being “robbed” when com
pelled to do more than this. So, while few of them in the aggre
gate are attracted by promise of continuous employment, they
swoop down in hordes wherever labor troubles exist, take change
of the strike and commit their acts of depredation. In their fan
tastic philosophy, "they have nothing to lose but their chains;
they have a world to gain."
The real workers of the organization are misled into the belief
that they are members of a labor organization, whereas they are
pert of a so-called revolutionary movement, having nothing in
common with organized labor. These generally learn the truth
only when, after a strike has been settled, another is inaugurated,
for no other purpose than to create industrial strife.
Employers of labor long ago realized that this organization was
in no sense a labor union. As they will not enter into contracts
with employers, the latter are always at their mercy, as strikes are
apt to be called at any time and on any or no pretext.
It is hardly likely that the I. W. W. evil can be overcome by'
legislation, as suggested in Washington dispatches. Its leaders are
of the class that thrive on notoriety, and the desire to pose as
martyrs’ of a cause is alluring. The real remedy would seem
to be to furnish to the real workers sufficient inducement to pre
vent their becoming members of the itinerant class.
-A.__
LAWLESSNESS BEGETS LAWLESSNESS
Frank M. Little, the I. W. W. agitator who was the victim of
a Butte mob, which took him from his bed in the early morning
hours of August 2 and hanged him to a railroad trestle, was the
author of the following telegram to the governor of Arizona, dis
patched two weeks before his untimely end:
I understand that the mine owners’ mob will take same
action at Globe and Miami as was taken at Bisbee. The mem
bership of the I. W. W. is getting tired of the lawlessness of
the capitalist class and will no longer stand for such action.
If you, as governor, cannot uphold the law, we will take same
into our own hands. Will vou act or must we’
I
All right-thinking citizens of this republic will regret the fre- I
fluency with which unlawful and cowardly acts'are committed by i
mobs. Such acts constitute an excuse for further acts of vio- j
lenee, and are in fact breeders of anarchy. Free institutions and ;
liberty
when such acts are committed in the way of reprisals for previous j
outrages there is absolutely nothing in the way of extenuation I
that can be said for them.
But in the case of Little, and especially of the organization ,
which he represented, there will be a tendency to urge that noth- 1
ing but retributive justice has been meted out. The open defiance j
of the law that has characterized the demonstrations of this un
American organization wss bound to call for strong reaction; and
the work of the mine-owners and citizens of Arizona and the
Butte mob in taking the law into their own hands, regrettable 2s
it was, was what might naturally have been expected under the
circumstances.
While little sympathy will be expressed for I. W. W. victims of
mob violence, 2nd while it is regrettable that American citizens
should feel called upon to use the methods advocated by this or
ganization, the hope may be expressed that the occurrences in
Arizona and Montana may have a salutary effect upon unreasoning
men who believe that they have a grievance against the govern
ment and its institutions. The law and the ballot provide reme
dies for all abuses, and American citizens are not doing their full
duty to their country when they go outside of these remedies to
secure redress for alleged wrongs.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
“Room for Five Toes"
EDUCATOR SHOES
The human foot should be allowed to grow naturally. To shape it to the changing fashion
is to force the soft, pliable, growing bones, cords and muscles into unnatural, deformed
shapes.
The foot, thus pinched from its natural shape, is often a source of suffering in later life.
To make a nation of men and women to whom walking will be a pleasure, and with whom
perfect feet will be the rule rather than the exception, is the mission of the EDUCATOR
SH°E. <<W£ HAVE THEM IN YOUTHS’ AND MEN’S SIZES”
We also have Daniel Green
Children’s Red Felt Slippers
Women’s Fancy Felt Slippers
Men’s Comfy Felt Slippers
Women’s, Men’s and Children's Plain Felt Shoes
^ Chas. Case
Kid Covered Felt Shoes
for Men, Women and Chil
dren
RUGS RUGS RUGS RUGS RUGS
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
03
►
t
r
03
>
32
O
SO
G
03
CO
m
so
co
o
o
■H
to
>
Z
o
-o
>
£
VlLE SLANDER REFUTED
No small part of the work of the German propagandists in
this country has been devoted to creating dissension between the
entente allies, and in the British colonies it has been directed to
ward breeding discontent with the mother country. And probably
no more foolish and unjust accusation has been made against Great
Britain by these agents than that which has ascribed to her a
purpose to save her own troops at the expense of her al.ies, and
especially of the colonial troops. So persistent has been this vile
insinuation that manf unthinking people in this country have been
led to believe it. Of course it does nothing more than excite ridi
cule from those who have followed the progress of the war. The
history of the present war, as of all wars in which England has en
gaged, refutes emphatically any such suggestion, and official de
nial of the slander, made recently by General Frederick B. Maurice,
chief director of military operations at the British war office, in
the following language, was scarcely necessary :
I am told that in the United States the ordinary man has
got an impression that when any really stiff lighting job is to
be done the Englishman cells on the Australian, Canadian or
Scotsman to take the van. The idea is being carefully fostered
by the Germans, with the foolish idea of spreading some dis
sension between the branches of the Anglo-Saxon race. As a
matter of fact the great part of the fighting since the war
began has usually fallen on English troops—they are the
largest part of the army and have borne the brunt of the
work. The casualty lists show that the English regiments
have fought just as gallantly and bravely and have lost as
heavily ps any regiments in the imperial army.
It will also be noted that with characteristic British modesty
the official claims nothing more than equal gallantry and bravery
for the English as compared with their brothers in arms.
Publications and individuals w'ho give currency to such stories
are, intentionally or otherwise, doing injury to the American cause
as well as to that of the allies.
O - —
GERMAN PROPAGANDA WHICH FAILED
(Henry J. Allen in Collier’s Weekly)
Proud as the German-Americans may be of the record Germany
has made, they are prouder of the record they have made in
America, and as you went about among them you realized that
the German propaganda to Germanize the Germans in the United
States hits failed. The studied, organized program, financed in
recent years in the fatherland, to keep Germans in America “Ger
man to the core” has been as futile as the recent effort to harness
Japan and Mexico in hostile array, and almost as foolish.
The kaiser has never understood the Germans in America. He
was very young when the hone and sinew of our best German
population came to this country. In a speech at Potsdam in
June, 1908, quoted in the New York Times, the kaiser said:
“Even now I rule supreme in the United States, where almost
jne-half of the population L? either of German birth or German
descent, and where 3,000,000 voters do my bidding at presidential
elections. No American administration could remain in power
against the will of the German voters, who, through that admir
able organization, the German-American League of the United
States, control the destinies of the vast republic beyond the sea.”
A German by the name of Sweitzer was nominated for mayor
jf Chicago. It was heralded as a victory for German Americans.
Circulars were issued containing a reproduction of the German flag
and the imperial seal, and circulated broadcast among the German
Amerieans of Chicago. The most persistent use possible was made
of the racial issue, and Mr. Sweitzer was the worst-beaten candi
date for mayor Chicago has known for a half century.
The dream of a trail?] hinted Germany in America has hern
impossible from the beginning. Even the Germans who came to
this country in '48 and ’56 forgot Bi-marck and rallied to Abra
ham Lincoln when the civil war threatened our national life. Many
who came to escape Prussian militarism joined the Union army
Before they had learned to speak our language, and they fought
nobly for the land of their dreams. All of ihe media for the propa
ganda to Prussianize the German-American population—ihe lec
ture platform, the German nrc;s, the German Alliance, and in
numerable other organizations—have failed. The Germans in
America have gone on becoming assimilated in the second genera
tion. Democratic ideals and the giant monopoly of English speech
have claimed them all and their children.
-♦
A dispatch from Seattle dated July 21. printed under di-ilay
headlines in the Juneau Empire, says: “The eas- Sine schooner
Bender Brothers arrived this morning from the Kuskokwim river,
and brings the report that a serious shortage of food suppl es pre
vailed ilong the river last winter, but no deaths from starvation
wore reported.” It also states that the Indians subsisted almost
entirely on game during the winter. The impression gained from
reading the dispatch would be that while “no deaths from starva
tion were reported,” there must have been much privation. It is
true that there was a shortage of some commodities in the Kusko
kwim region, but there wrs absolutely no distress, and the diet of
the natives probably was about the same as usual.
❖
A copy of the general eight-hour law passed hy the lad tern
tori al legi slature in response to the referendum vote of last No
vember is printed elsewhere. It applies to “all wage earners and
salary earners” in the territory, and also to partners and stock
holders. The act is effective January 1, 1918. It is only neces
sary to say with reference to this piece of legislation that it is on
a par with other acts, of the territorial Solons. However, it has
the merit of being brief and simple, thus minimizing the work of
the courts in holding it invalid.
--♦
King George of Great Britain, at a meeting of the privy coun
cil cn July 17, announced that the new name of the royal house
and family would hereafter be “the house of Windsor.” The
family name of British royalty, “Guelph," and the German titles
borne by several of them, recently have become unpopular in
the tight little isle, and these are being dropped as a concession to
popular clamor.
-«
The subscribers to the German war loans are being told that
they will be paid back out of the indemnities the government ex
pects to collect at the end of the war This sounds like one of
those bets that is to be paid when Mr. Bryan is elected president.—
Kansas City Times.
ANARCHY IS THE KEYSTONE
OF I. W. W. STRUCTURE
(Edward J. Costello, in Chicago Herald)
Constant industrial upheaval and social
unrest. This is the all-consuming purpose
which is more and more disclosing itself to
the general public in the activities, particu
larly in the West, of the organization known
as the Industrial Workers of the World.
And what is the ultima thule of this pur
pose ?
Listen! It is Daniel De Leon, one of the
founders of the I. W. W., speaking in Min
neapolis on July 10, 1905, before a large
audience of radicals on the plans of himself
3nd associates for the “one big union.” He
says:
“Where the general executive board of
the Industrial Workers of the World will
sit, there will be the nation's capital.”
The official report of the speech says
there was long and continued applause at
this juncture. And in this applause may
be discerned the real menace which now
confronts the nation, more widespread than
appears on the surface, anil so insidious in
its very nature that it will require far more
energetic measures than to date have been
resorted to if it is to be overcome.
Just now there is considerable talk of
pro-German influence and money in connec
tion with I. W. W. strikes. Possibly there
is some ground for such a theory, in iso
lated instances, at least. But the sooner
the inner meaning of the movement is
generally understood and appreciated the
better will be the chance of eliminating it—
if. indeed, it can he eliminated. To begin
with, the I. W. W. is really the manifesta
tion in this country of European syndical
ism. And there never has been much syn
dicalism in Germany. Rather, France and
Italy have furnished its chief exponents,
including M. Georges Sorel, Arturo Labriola
and Emile Puurget; in fact, the former na
tion was the cradle of the movement.
I. W. W.-ism is aimed at the very struc
tore of modern society.
It proposes to undermine the foundations
of government as we know it; to set up
in its - tend a so-called industrial democracy
which shall kno wno president, no congress,
no state organizations, and which shall own
and operate collectively all of the industrial
machinery of the nation.
These utopian ideals it has taken from
j Socialism, but there its resemblance to the
j Marxist body ceases.
Its Inception in Chicago
| It was in a little back room somewhere
on the West Side of Chicago that a group
of radicals one day met, back in 1904, and
j laid the plans for the organization, which
j is said by its sponsors now to number nearly
I 500,000 unskilled workingmen of a'l trades
j and conditions in life.
In the group were W. D. Haywood, pres
ent national secretary of the I. W. W., and
j one or two others who formerly had been
I identified with the Socialists. But they
I were at a point where, as they said, they
j despaired of ever reaching the utopian state
j through the slow methods of the Socialists.
[ The latter organization believed then, and
I stilt believes, that evolution and the ballot
box will bring about the end it seeks in
| due time.
"The world will be dead before economic
i justice comes through the ballot box,” said
| one cf the party.
And then came the idea to Haywood that
1 -ome more effective we: pen might be de
: \ised.
It is not recorded who delivered him-cl?
i of the suggestion, but the party just natur
j ally found itself looking with favor upon
this philosophy called anarchy, and, having
j ready purloined a few ideals from Socialism,
it was a simple matter to abstract, from
the creed of anarchy the direct action club
which has been used so freely since the
founding of the organized; n in Chicago in
January. 19CG.
Menace of ths I. W. W
The positive menace to present organized
society cf the I. W. W. probably may be
best appreciated through a ccvn'e of para
graphs cf the I. W. W. preamble adopted
at the second convents n, in September.
1908.
“The working class and the employing
class have nothing in common. There can
be no peace so l r.g as hunger and want
are found among millions of working peo
ple, and the few who make up the employ
ing class have all the good things of fife.
Between these two classes a struggle must
go on until the workers of the world or
ganize as a class, take possession of the
earth and the machinery of production, and
abolish the w’age system.”
The final paragraph of this preamble
says:
‘‘It is the historic mission of the working j
class to do away with capitalism. The j
army of production must be organized not ;
only for the every-day struggle with the j
capitalist, but also to carry on production !
when capitalism sha'l have been overthrown.
By organizing industrially we are worming j
the structure of the new society within the i
shell of the old.”
Contempt for Law
And so when Haywood once said, as re
ported in the New York Cali, “I despise
the law,” he really was epitomizing the
fanatical contempt of himself and his asso
ciates toward all that the law of this nation
connotes—civilization, the result of organ
ized society with its economic prosperity
and Christianity.
For it must be remembered that, despite
what may be said in the heat of anger or
in prejudice, the real Industrial Worker is
not necessarily a mercenary. Neither is he
a work shirker.
He is something far more dangerous—a
fanatic.
He will submit to being hauled around
the country in cattle cars, he will go to
jail, starve, be executed—almost anything—
for his belief that he is working for the
betterment of the race.
And above all, he will keep constantly
before him the one object of his movement,
what he calls the emancipation of the work
ing class, and he will use the weapons of
the strike and boycott; he will sabote until
he is suppressed, and then break out in an
other place.
That is why a strike settlement with the
I. W. W. doesn’t remain settled for any
length of time.
That is why there are constantly recur
ring industrial troubles in Colorado, in Ari
zona, in Michigan, in Washington and in
the silk mills of the East.
Strike Their Bludgeon
Your real I. W. W. uses the strike as a
bludgeon, and he isn’t worried much about
settlement. The watchword with him is
“Strike! Strike! Strike!” As against what
he terms the “futility of political methods”
in attaining his goal, he cries out: “Sa
bote! Destroy! Hit the capitalist where
he’ll feel it the most!”
And so, if the American public would
combat this menace to the nation’s institu
tions, it must cease to regard the I. W. W.
as an inconsequential aggregation of irre
sponsible vagabonds and ne’er-do-wells, ac
quaint itself with the underlying purposes
of the movement and seek to apply the
proper remedy.
HOW GERMANY WAS FED
WITH PRODUCTS OF AMERICA
WASHINGTON, July 18.-The United
States unwittingly has been furnishing Ger
many with the most valued of food prod
ucts. According to a report issued by H.
C. Hoover, food administrator, fats in suffi
cient quantity to ration all of Germany’s
7,700,000 men under arms are entering the
Teutonic empires from Holland and Scan
dinavia. Holland and Scandinavia get these I
products, directly or indirectly, from the j
United States. Hence the desire for speed
on the part of the administration in making
effective the embargo authorized by con
gress.
I he iollowing ngirres show the amount oi
food sent from America to Germany in
<916:
Butter, 82,000 tons; meat, 115.800 tons;
perk products, 68,800 tons; condensed milk,
70.000 tons; fish, 407,000 tons; cheese, 80,
500 tons; eggs, 46,400 tons; potato meal,
179,500 tons; coffee, 58,500 ton ; fruit,
74.000 tons; sugar, 12,000 tons; vegetables,
215.000 ton-.
These imports, continues the report, fur
nish about 10 per cent of Germany’s pro
tein; they contain five pounds of fat per
year per person, one quarter of an ounce
per day, or about a quarter of the total
drily fat ration for each Gentian at the
present time.
Supposedly neutral merchants have
amassed vast fortunes out of this illicit
trade with Germany. So extensive has their
business become that scores of men in Hol
land, Norway and Sweden are known
through all the cafes and places of resort
as the “goulash millionaires,”
Congress already has provided for the
experts council, consisting of Secretary Lan
sing, Secretary Houston and Secretary Red
field. Secretary Redfield is the executive
officer of the council. Its orders, requiring
all exporters of food from the United States
to secure a license under which their busi
ness with the Teuton feeding ports can be
absolutely controlled, has been made effec
tive through proclamation of the President.
Indicative of the importance of this trade
to Germany, experts here have figured that
the calories are the equal of the calories in
the entire ration of 2,500,000 German sol
diers. This is about the number cf men j
Germany now has on the western front.
One reason why the vital character of this
situation was not realized here is the Brit
ish censor hip. London knew' a'l last fall
and winter that the blockade was ineffec
tive, Criticism of the government was
frequent, and figures were printed in Lon
don to show the amounts of foodstuffs get
ting to Germany. Little of this news
reached America.
The publication of the figures by Mr.
Hr over assures prompt action. This action
will not deprive the people of neutral coun- j
trie.: cf a food supply to which they are]
entitled. Their supply will bf so restricted j
that they will have none to pass on to Ger
many.
Germany has used her trade relation'
with the Northern neutral- to coerce them.
They have needed German coal. Germany
has released to them certain amounts of
cotl in return for the fats.
Exemplifying the way the United States
has hut itself to the trade, attention has
been caked to the huge imports of oil cake
into Denmark, Holland, Norway and |
Sweden. The oil cake was fed to cattle
and the rich mill: turned into butter and
cheese end sent to Germany.
MAGAZINE MAY BE ISSUED
BY PIONEERS OF ALASKA
(Anchorage Democrat, July 7)
The Alaska Pioneers, Igloo No. 15, held
an extremely interesting meeting on Friday ,
evening at their hall room in the Labor
Temp’e. The grand historian, Father A. P.
Kashevaroff, was there, and enthused the
members present with an interesting talk on |
what the Pioneers of Alaska have accorn- j
pitched. Their work had been one of long !
years of toil and deprivation during the j
time they had trail blazed in Alaska, he
paid. He urged that the members do all
in their power to preserve the names and |
deeds of the pioneers, as they are in fact i
the history makers of this great country,
now fast forging to the front in many lines
of industry.
In line with this work of recording the
history of early days in Alaska, the local
Igloo, at the suggestion of President J. W.
Frame, assured its hearty moral support to
the establishment of a monthly magazine in
Anchorage, the purpose of which will be
to gather from all the Igloos of Alaska
the incidents of the early day life and trav
els of the men and women who have put
Alaska on the map.
About four thousand men and women
have enrolled their names in the organiza
tion of Alaska Pioneers since its establish
ment in 1907, and the local Igloo is in com
munication with the other fifteen Igloos
in the territory, urging the co-operation of
each and gathering the history of the early
days of Alaska, that it may be printed and
preserved until such time as future his
torians can compile and publish it. The
grand historian, 1 ather Kashevareff, is
greatly interested in this work, anti his schol
arly attainments and long residence in the
territory prompt all true pioneers to render
him every assistance in his laudable work.
Professional
Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 191#
Kentucky, 1891
GEORGE WOODRUFF ALBRECHT
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAFtOO, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Idltarod
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
DR. MOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DR. H. E. AURINGER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Flat City Hospital, Flat City
Consultation Hours in Forenoons and by
Appointment
FLAT DRUG STORE
DR.H.BEHLA
Physician
Surgeon
Will open his office in Flat City
about Aug. 21 for the practice
of medicine and surgery
PENT?STE.Y IN CONNECTION
Flat Oity Bakery
AMD COFFEE HOUSE
Front St., Opp. Flat City Hotel
Our Coffee Is Unsurpassed
Our Bakory Products Always Fresh and
Wholesome
Pies, Cakes, Bread, etc.
KEENAN & MICHELS, Props.
Big Stocks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SIIVSEL TRADER
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Tolstoi
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CITY
Ooen Dav and Night
I Front Street, Flat City Formerly the Bagoy Premises
Flat City Hotel
lyins. j. E. Gunning, Prop._Special Rate? by the Week and Month
Open at All Hours The Old Reliable Place
Discovery Cafe
HENRY DURAND, PROP.Front Street, Flat
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonograph* and Records
TOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AND BILLIARDS
C. R. Cameron Jas. F. Finnegan
thos. McMahon
DEALER IN
General Merchandise
FLAT, ALASKA