The struggle for industrial democracy: Croly, Lippmann, and Weyl--1912-1917
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1974
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Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the issues and the leaders in the struggle for industrial democracy prior to World War I. Primary emphasis is on the ideas developed by Herbert Croly, Walter Lippmann, and Walter Weyl, who, in 1914; became editors of the New Republic. Three major labor organizations, the American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party, and the Industrial Workers of the World, suggested conflicting views on industrial democracy. Their disunity blunted labor advances and allowed the business community to maintain control of employer-employee relationships. By 1914, both the Socialist Party and the IWW declined in effectiveness, leaving only the craft-oriented AFL which offered no hope to the millions of unskilled workers. Leadership in the struggle for industrial democracy shifted to the New Republic. Croly, Lippmann, and Weyl wrote significant books which made original contributions to the idea of industrial democracy. After 1914 they collaborated to offer a comprehensive program that would assure workers rights within industry which would compare favorably with the rights they held as American citizens. Their proposals encompassed collective bargaining, reforms to protect children and women in industry, immigration restriction, and aid to the unemployed and unemployable. The editors of the New Republic made a distinctive contribution by understanding the importance of politics in generating progressive reforms. Their major purpose, therefore, was to present essentially radical proposals in a form acceptable to middle class progressives. They correctly perceived that progressives would hold the decisive edge in the presidential election of 1916. When President Woodrow Wilson moved to enact child labor and workmen's compensation laws and to support the railroad workers' appeal for an eight-hour day, the New Republic urged progressives to endorse his re-election. Wilson's victory in 1916 was a victory for labor, but it was only a beginning in the struggle for industrial democracy. The election clearly illustrated that persuasively argued ideas could influence progressive citizens and open the way for political reforms.
Contents
Subject
Subject(s)
Croly, Herbert David, 1869-1930
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974
Weyl, Walter E. (Walter Edward), 1873-1919
Lippmann, Walter, 1889-1974
Weyl, Walter E. (Walter Edward), 1873-1919
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Dissertation
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iv, 167 leaves, bound
Department
History