"If the class to which I belong could be set free from exploitation by violation of laws made by the master class, by open rebellion, by seizing the property of the rich, by setting the torch to a few buildings, or by the summary execution of a few members of the possessing class, I hope that the courage to share in the work would be mine."
Spargo, in "Syndicalism, Industrial Unionism and Socialism," admits that the Socialists have continually and consistently given aid to the Industrial Workers of the World in their strikes. Yet notwithstanding this active support, many persons have been led to believe that the Socialists have repudiated the I. W. W. This incorrect opinion may be due to the fact that the Socialist Party did not endorse the I. W. W. at its 1912 National Convention, or else to the fact that William D. Haywood was subsequently removed by a referendum from the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party. But the 1912 Indianapolis Convention of the Socialist Party did not repudiate the Industrial Workers of the World. The representatives of the party only declared for a neutrality between this organization and the American Federation of Labor, and would in all probability have endorsed the I. W. W. and repudiated the American Federation of Labor if the Socialists had not nursed a hope of getting control of the latter organization and turning it into an industrial union similar to that of the Industrial Workers of the World.
That the Socialist Party by no means repudiated the I. W. W., but on the contrary was still on the most friendly terms with it after the 1912 Convention, is evident from several facts. "The Call," May 17, 1912, affirms that the Convention decided for neutrality in affairs of unions.