510 THE CLASS STRUGGLE EDITORIALS 511 The anti Socialists were united into the Militia of Christ, an organization of catholic trade unionists, that was founded in connection with an American catholic conference. With the active support of Archbishop Farley and the blessing of Cardinal Gibbons this union of the reactionary elements within the of was perfected. In this connection it should be remembered that it was the German Centrist (the Catholic Party of Germany)
Reichstag deputy Giesberts, at that time the leader of the Christliche Gewerkschaften (Catholic Trade Unions) who first suggested this inner circle of the Catholics in the of In his interviews and in his speeches during his American lecture tour, this gentleman persistently expressed the opinion that the time would come in the when the Christian workingman would be forced into separate organizations. The growing influence of the Socialists in the of would soon make united action impossible. He urged that the present was the time to prepare and suggested the organization of social political study classes and the inauguration of a systematic anti socialist campaign.
tia paragraph has been removed from the constitution. The International Association of Machinists is fattening on munition jobs and has forgotten every last remnant of opposition. The Brewery workers have been made tractable out of fear of prohibition. The Bakery workers have become subservient in order to obtain favorable executive board decisions in pending jurisdiction squabbles. The needle industries have made all other considerations subservient to a series of interunion jurisdiction fights that were regularly turned over to the Executive Council for final settlement. In fact these miserable competitive fights, the inevitable accompaniment of a craft union movement were a godsend to the ruling spirits in the of The power to decide these disputes has given them the whiphand over the quarreling, dickering international unions.
The pitiful collapse of the socialist opposition and the complete fiasco of the policy of boring from within, seemed to rob the Militia of Christ of every reason for existence. But the gentle men found a way out of the difficulty. Where the fight against the Reds had hitherto been their chief aim and the fight against Gompers only an incidental issue, the former was now relegated to the rear. The struggle for supremacy against the Gompers Camarilla, now began in all earnest. The crafty Jesuits knew that the time had not yet come for an open attack upon Gompers.
His position must be undermined, his control hollowed out from within; and they know this still. The Militia of Christ, therefore, became the Indianapolis Movement. The headquarters of the most important of the of Internationals, it must be remembered, are located in Indianapolis, among them the United Mine Workers, the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the International Typographical Union, the Teamsters and others whose leaders have become affiliated with the Militia of Christ. reorientation became necessary, for it was essential, for practical purposes, that adherents be won in non catholic, not absolutely reactionary, circles. Your devout Catholic will take even the Devil vote, if he can get it, and here votes count. New Men has become their slogan, because the old incumbents are dried up from the stagnation and political corruption in the naAt first no particular importance was attributed to the Militia of Christ. Very little of its activity became public. Only now and again a circular would reach the hands of an outsider, telling of the quiet undermining work of these devout Christians. It was only in 1917 that the existence of this organization made itself more generally felt. At that time it carried out a well prepared attack upon the Gompers machine by springing the candidacy of the teamster Tobin in an executive council election. Lennon, the staunch Gompersite, who held the position of Treasurer for many years, was defeated; the machine met its first great defeat.
But these ten years have brought great changes in the of The socialist flood of 1908 has ebbed away, the United Mine Workers of America have sworn off every radical tendency, Duncan McDonald and Germer have lost their former influence, the radicalism of Frank Hays, the socialist Vice President, has long since ceased to merit serious consideration, the anti mili