was a scathing indictment of the criminal alliance between the A. F. of L. fakirs and the self-styled revolutionary socialist politicians, who, as the report shows, time and again have acted in full concert in defeating strikes rather than to allow the workers to win with I. W. W. methods—methods whose success spells ruination for the political and craft union movements which are sucking the life blood of the working class.[522]

Mr. Trautmann later transfered his allegiance to the Socialist Labor party faction. The Weekly People (the official S. L. P. organ) of July 26, 1913, published (on page 2) a letter from Trautmann to Eugene V. Debs in which he says:

In the convention of 1911 of the Industrial Workers of the World my report contained a scathing attack on the anti-political politicians and the never-will-I-work scavengers who pose as organizers and spokesmen of the organization. The convention ordered that report to be printed ... [but] Vincent St. John and his clique put away the report and it never appeared.

Official reports of the convention claimed that there had been "a gradual increase in the moral, financial and numerical strength of the I. W. W." This claim is not entirely justified by available figures. The number of locals in the organization was but slightly, if any, greater. Fewer charters were issued and more locals disbanded in 1911 than in 1910. The membership figures are conflicting, those furnished by the Secretary-Treasurer making a less favorable showing than those of Professor Barnett.[523] Mr. St. John says that the membership of the organization in good standing in October, 1911, was about 10,000.

We do not claim anything [he said] except membership in good standing; as a matter of fact, however, the General Office has issued 60,000 due books in the past eighteen months and of this number only about one in ten keeps in good standing, due to the kind of work the membership of the most part follow. They are engaged in construction, harvesting and working in the woods, etc. This means that they are out of touch with the organization the greater part of the year either on the job or moving about the country looking for work, and of course they cannot and do not keep in good standing, but as they drift into town they pay up. In passing, it may be stated that the above number is the largest membership the I. W. W. has had since its inception, except when the W. F. of M. was supposed to be a part of the organization. I know that the second annual convention reports claim 60,000 members, but the books of the organization did not justify any such claim; in fact, the average paid-up membership with the W. F. of M. for the first year of the organization was 14,000 members in round numbers.[524]

There was at this time a very considerable gain in particular industries, such as metal working and railroad and building construction. This development is indicated in Table 1, which shows the average membership of the I. W. W. in the specified industries during the period 1910-1913:

TABLE 1[525]

Average Membership (Chicago) I. W. W.—1910-1913, by Industries

Industry.Average Membership.
1910191119121913
Textile4300439796371550
Lumber12008001227650
Marine transport.........2100
Metal2002000144300
Automobile30050083150
Hotel and Restaurant15010015150
Building Construction1506002041200
Railroad Construction1000180023661755
Tobacco100400200450
Packing House100756950
Public Service.........1700
Coal Mining200200207250
Railroad Transportation.........100
Street Railways.........50
Farm Workers.........100
Oil...506150
Rubber.........150
Furniture.........100
Electric Power.........150
Reed and Rattan.........100
Amusement...2513050
Musical Instruments (Piano, etc.)100200226450
Leather......150...
Mixed Locals1300153735322800
9100128341838714305