Simons, the leader of the Socialist party and
the editor of the Coming Nation, was at swords' points with
DeLeon. William E. Trautmann was the fluent spokesman of the
anti-political faction. These men dominated the convention.
After some twelve days of discussion, they agreed upon a
constitution which established six departments,* provided for a
general executive board with centralized powers, and at the same
time left to the local and department organizations complete
industrial autonomy. The I.W.W. in "the first constitution, crude
and provisional as it was, made room for all the world's
workers."** This was, indeed, the great object of the
organization.
* 1. Agriculture, Land, Fisheries, and Water Products. 2. Mining.
3. Transportation and Communication. 4. Manufacturing and General
Production. 5. Construction. 6. Public Service.
** J. G. Brissenden, "The Launching of the Industrial Workers of
the World," page 41.
Whatever visions of world conquest the militants may at first
have fostered were soon shattered by internal strife. There were
unreconcilable elements in the body: those who regarded the
political aspect as paramount and industrial unions as allies of
socialism; those who regarded the forming of unions as paramount
and politics as secondary; and those who regarded all forms of
political activity as mere waste of energy. The first two groups
were tucked under the wings of the Socialist party and the
Socialist Labor party.
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