the field by the " spruce division " of the War Department, effected the organization of the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen made up of both employers and employees and with the aim of improving conditions by mutual agreement. Members signed a pledge of loyalty to the U.S. Government. On March i 1918 the employers introduced the 8-hour day without reduc- tion of wages. A sanitary survey of the camps was instituted, and other improvements in living conditions were made. Labour turnover decreased and output increased considerably. Although at first it had aroused suspicion, the organization won support of most of the employers and men, but both A. F. of L. unions and I.W.W. continued to oppose it.
In many places the public, in sympathy with the employing interest and angered by the philosophy of the I.W.W., attempted to prevent strikes by arresting labour organizers as these came into a locality. Some were thrown into jail and sometimes kept there for long periods without trial. Among the strikes in con- nexion with which violence occurred were those of the miners in Arizona, in 1917, who struck near Jerome (May) and Bisbee {June) and also in two other districts. The chief demands were for higher wages and grievance committees. Mine owners charged the I.W.W. as responsible, although an A. F. of L. inter- national union was actually in charge of the strike. About 100 miners were deported from Jerome by the employing interests, in cattle-cars. The train was turned back at the California state line, and the men were kept in jail for three months. On July 12 1917 in Bisbee, 1,200 strikers were dragged from their beds by armed citizens, compelled to march, and then confined in a ball- field and loaded on cattle-cars. The train was sent through the desert until taken over by soldiers camped at Columbus, N.M. Here they lived on army rations for three months, and then scattered. One-third of these men were members of the I.W.W. In July 1919 county officials arrested 107 men, prominent citi- zens of Bisbee, charged with kidnapping and assault, in connexion with the deportations of two years before. Civil suits for damages were filed against mining companies and the railways by the men who had been deported; these were settled out of court.
In the six months following America's entrance into the war 3,000 strikes were reported; in the first six months of 1918 the number was 1,771. When the Armistice was signed, the War Labor Board had on hand several hundred cases awaiting hear- ings. Now that the national emergency had passed, many em- ployers and employees ceased to cooperate. Strikes began again. As in 1916 and 1917, the greatest number of strikes in 1918 and 1919 were in the metal trades, building, clothing, textile, trans- portation and mining. The largest number of workers in any one strike in 1916 was 60,000, in the men's clothing strike in New York; in 1917 no strike involved as many as 40,000; in 1918, 60,000 machinists were on strike in northern New Jersey. The strikes of 1919 were remarkable for the number of workers in- cluded; the total number was reported to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as 4,112,507. Not many strikebreakers were employed; the labour reserve was still depleted owing to business prosperity of the war period. Many of the larger strikes occurred in New York City and its vicinity; 176,000 struck in the clothing trades; 150,000 textile workers in New Jersey and New England; 16,000 marine workers struck in New York harbour in Jan.; 17,000 in March; and 20,000 longshoremen in March. In July 40,000 ma- rine workers of the Atlantic coast struck; 100,000 were out some- time during the year. In 1919, also, 65,000 struck in the stock- yards in Chicago; 100,000 in the shipjferds of New York and vicinity; 151,000 in the New York building trades; 43,000 anthracite miners in Pennsylvania.
After the Armistice, war labour adjustment boards, one after another, were disso'ved. Workers who had been prevented from striking by the promise of peaceful settlement of grievances, felt that the Government and employers had broken faith. The re- sult was widespread unrest, and a number of spontaneous strikes by the rank and file of-union membership, not authorized by the union officials. Demands both for the closed shop, and for the open shop were pushed without thought of compromise. Employers discriminated against union men, and recourse was
had to force. In accordance with a resolution of the convention of the A. F. of L. in June 1918, the 24 international unions which ', claimed jurisdiction over the trades in the steel industry co- operated to organize all the workers in that industry. Mass meetings were held in Sept. in mill towns. The companies re- , plied by discharging union members; the U.S. Steel Corp. ig- i nored the request of President Gompers of the A. F. of L. for a conference. On July 20 1919 the committee of the 24 unions de- | cided to submit a strike vote to their membership. Twelve de- ] mands were made. The real issue was recognition of the union. Wages in the industry were high, but the hours long. In 1911 the stockholders of the Steel Corp. had ordered an investigation of conditions of work. The report showed that 50% to 60% of the employees in rolling-mills, open hearth and blast furnaces worked a 1 2-hour day. The committee recommended a reduction in hours, but the recommendation was quashed by the finance committee. In Sept. 1918 the basic 8-hour day was granted, which resulted in increased pay, not shorter hours. The com- munities in which steel workers lived were ruled politically by company influence. In W. Pennsylvania organizers were denied free speech and assemblage by local authorities. The unions voted to strike. The call to strike on Sept. 22 1919 was pub- lished in seven languages, to all workers in iron and steel mills and blast furnaces not bound by trade agreements. The com-r panics prepared for battle. At McKeesport alone 3,000 citizens were sworn in as special police subject to instant call. The mills of the Pittsburgh district were fortified and provisioned. On. Sept. 21 rioting and arrests began. The next day 365,000 men stayed away from work. The state constabulary were sent in. Gradually the men went back to work. On Jan. 8 1920 the national committee for organizing the workers permitted the 100,000 men still out to return to the mills. Those who were taken back were required to give up their union cards. The national committee reported that 156,702 union members paid initiation fees between Aug. i 1918 and June 31 1920, and es- timated at 250,000 the total number organized.
February 6 to n 1919 there was a general strike in. Seattle Wash., involving 60,000 persons, in sympathy with shipyard employees who were striking for an increase in pay. The general strike was carried out by craft unions of the A. F. of L., although I.W.W. propaganda in the interest of industrial solidarity may have helped to put the workers into the spirit for such a mass demonstration. On the first day no unions stayed out; some workers had permits from the strike committee to work in the interests of public health and safety; garbage was collected and milk was delivered to distributing stations. A Labour guard patrolled the streets to preserve order. The business men viewed the strike as a "revolution." The mayor announced that unless the strike were called off on the morning of Feb. 8, he would de- clare the city under martial law. This threat was not carried out, although citizens armed themselves, and the governor sent troops and machine-guns. On Feb. 1 1 the strike was called off. Work- ers had been returning, indeed, since the second day and a month later all were back, without wages increases.
The New York harbour strike of Jan. 1919 arose spontaneously as the result of local initiative and comprised practically all the 16,000 or 17,000 men employed on harbour craft. As a result 50,000 longshoremen also were idle. The harbour had been the scene of industrial dispute since 1917. The immediate cause of the 1919 strike was the refusal of the employers to appear for arbitration before the War Labor Board to which the men had appealed for the 8-hour day and increased pay. The employers were persuaded by President Wilson to accept arbitration, and the men returned to work. The award did not provide for the 8-hour day, and the men struck again. The Railroad Administra- tion then made concessions to the men on boats, and they returned to work. Other Government employees followed, and by April the private employers settled for the original lo-hour day but with wages increases. On Oct. 7 the railway men struck again. The longshoremen joined them, against the orders of their national officials. They wanted increased pay; the strike dwin- dled away and was over by November.
