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