There were several attempts to organize casual labor after the
decline of the Knights of Labor. But it is difficult to arouse
any sustained interest in industrial organizations among
workingmen of this class. They lack the motive of members of a
trade union, and the migratory character of such workers deprives
their organization of stability. One industrial organization,
however, has been of the greatest encouragement to the I.W.W. The
Western Federation of Miners, which was organized at Butte,
Montana, on May 15, 1893, has enjoyed a more turbulent history
than any other American labor union. It was conceived in that
spirit of rough resistance which local unions of miners, for some
years before the amalgamation of the unions, had opposed to the
ruthless and firm determination of the mine owners. In 1897, the
president of the miners, after quoting the words of the
Constitution of the United States giving citizens the right to
bear arms, said: "This you should comply with immediately. Every
union should have a rifle club. I strongly advise you to provide
every member with the latest improved rifle which can be obtained
from the factory at a nominal price. I entreat you to take action
on this important question, so that in two years we can hear the
inspiring music of the martial tread of 25,000 armed men in the
ranks of labor."
This militant vision was fortunately never quite fulfilled. But
armed strikers there were, by the thousands, and the gruesome
details of their fight with mine owners in Colorado are set forth
in a special report of the United States Commissioner of Labor in
1905.
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