The plan was finally broached [by them] to consolidate the I. W. W. local—cooks, waiters, teamsters, bartenders, and clerks—with the W. F. of M. This was looked upon with favor by the Mine Owners, as they looked upon the I. W. W. local ... as the radical organization of the district, and the miners ... were in their opinion more conservative, and they reasoned that if the 1,500 miners had a voice and vote on any demands made by the 400 radicals—the conservativeness of the 1,500 miners could blanket the efforts of the 400 radicals. The miners, on the other hand, thought they saw an easy, quick and satisfactory solution of what promised to be a serious struggle.
It was voted on and carried.[349]
At first the project was apparently favored by the employing interests of the district, but they faced about when they saw that the miners' union (No. 220) "practiced solidarity" and apparently used the carpenters' union as their tool. At any rate the miners' union "passed a motion that all men working in and around the mines as carpenters must become members of the Miners' Union." This demand was ignored.[350] The Mine Owners now issued a statement setting forth that because of the "unreasonable agitation" by the I. W. W. "... we hereby pledge ourselves to absolutely refuse to employ any man in any capacity who is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, ..." and "that the Mine Owners will recognize any miners' union, that is independent of the Industrial Workers of the World...."[351]
Pressure from the Mine Owners' Association finally brought about a referendum on the question of unscrambling. A canvass taken on March 20, 1907, showed a large majority in favor of the miners and the town workers meeting separately but continuing in other respects as one union.[352] Nevertheless, the situation continued to grow more acute, and during the spring the I. W. W. and the W. F. M. were involved in a desperate struggle for their existence in Goldfield.[353] From March 10, 1907, according to St. John's account of it,
until April 22, the W. F. M. and the I. W. W. at Goldfield, Nevada, fought for their existence (and the conditions they had established at that place) against the combined forces of the mine owners, business men, and the A. F. of L. This open fight was compromised as a result of the treachery of the W. F. M. general officers. The fight was waged intermittently from April 22 till September, 1907, and resulted in regaining all ground lost through the compromise, and in destroying the scab charters issued by the A. F. of L. during the fight. The fight cost the employers over $100,000.[354]
The American Federation of Labor locals in Goldfield during this period were more or less at the mercy of the I. W. W. and the Western Federation. It is admitted that A. F. of L. men who were obnoxious to the I. W. W.s were handled without gloves. Some A. F. of L. members were forced out of town by the more radical unionists who confessed that "they were probably not provided with all the luxuries of modern civilization."[355] This I. W. W. account of the situation continues:
The I. W. W. and the W. F. of M. were on strike for a considerable time in Goldfield and had the town thoroughly unionized. The bosses, realizing that they were up against a rebel class of workers, conferred with their good friends and tools, the A. F. of L., and the result was that the A. F. of L. sent their own members into Goldfield to scab on the strikers. This did not happen once, but continuously, and the strikers ... did use a little direct action by giving the "union" scabs orders to the effect that their room was preferable to their company.[356]
In April it was reported that "seventy-five per cent of the business men of Goldfield have locked out the members of No. 220. They shut down their places of business and told their help they had to join the A. F. of L. or there would be no work...."[357] The situation steadily grew worse, and finally, in December, Governor Sparks telegraphed to Washington for Federal troops and they were finally sent.[358] The Governor's second telegram to the President (dated Dec. 5. 1907) read in part:
At Goldfield ... there does now exist domestic violence and unlawful combinations and conspiracies, ... unlawful dynamiting of property, commission of felonies, threats against the lives of law-abiding citizens, the unlawful possession of arms and ammunition, and the confiscation of dynamite with threats of the unlawful use of the same by preconcerted action.[359]
Soon after the troops were sent President Roosevelt dispatched a special commission[360] to investigate the trouble at Goldfield. The salient facts of the situation are set forth by this commission as follows: