“Of this entire labor force at the ——­ ranch, it appears that some 100 had been I.W.W. ‘card men,’ or had had affiliations with that organization.  There is evidence that there was in this camp a loosely caught together camp local of the I.W.W., with about 30 active members.  It is suggestive that these 30 men, through a spasmodic action, and with the aid of the deplorable camp conditions, dominated a heterogeneous mass of 2800 unskilled laborers in 3 days.  Some 700 or 800 of the force were of the ‘hobo’ class, in every sense potential I.W.W. strikers.  At least 400 knew in a rough way the—­for them curiously attractive—­philosophy of the I.W.W., and could also sing some of its songs.

“Of the 100-odd ‘card men’ of the I.W.W., some had been through the San Diego affair, some had been soap-boxers in Fresno, a dozen had been in the Free Speech fight in Spokane.  They sized up the hop-field as a ripe opportunity, as the principal defendant, ‘Blackie’ Ford, puts it, ’to start something.’  On Friday, two days after picking began, the practical agitators began working through the camp.  Whether or not Ford came to the ——­ ranch to foment trouble seems immaterial.  There are five Fords in every camp of seasonal laborers in California.  We have devoted ourselves in these weeks to such questions as this:  ’How big a per cent of California’s migratory seasonal labor force know the technique of an I.W.W. strike?’ ’How many of the migratory laborers know when conditions are ripe to “start something"?’ We are convinced that among the individuals of every fruit-farm labor group are many potential strikers.  Where a group of hoboes sit around a fire under a railroad bridge, many of the group can sing I.W.W. songs without the book.  This was not so three years ago.  The I.W.W. in California is not a closely organized body, with a steady membership.  The rank and file know little of the technical organization of industrial life which their written constitution demands.  They listen eagerly to the appeal for the ‘solidarity’ of their class.  In the dignifying of vagabondage through their crude but virile song and verse, in the bitter vilification of the jail turnkey and county sheriff, in their condemnation of the church and its formal social work, they find the vindication of their hobo status which they desire.  They cannot sustain a live organization unless they have a strike or free-speech fight to stimulate their spirit.  It is in their methods of warfare, not in their abstract philosophy or even hatred of law and judges, that danger lies for organized society.  Since every one of the 5000 laborers in California who have been at some time connected with the I.W.W. considers himself a ‘camp delegate’ with walking papers to organize a camp local, this small army is watching, as Ford did, for an unsanitary camp or low wage-scale, to start the strike which will not only create a new I.W.W. local, but bring fame to the organizer.  This common acceptance of direct action and sabotage as the rule of operation, the songs and the common vocabulary are, we feel convinced, the first stirring of a class expression.