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THE OLDEST ANARCHISM 319
is through the prolongation and success of the strike.
If the workers can be discredited and the strike broken
through the aid of violence, the ordinary employer is
not likely to make too rigid an investigation into whether
or not his "detectives" had a hand in it.
Curiously enough, the general public never dreams that
special officers are responsible for most of the violence
at times of strike, and, while the men loudly accuse the
employers, the employers loudly accuse the men. The
employers are, of course, informed by the detectives that
the outrages have been committed by the strikers, and
the detectives have seen to it that the employers are
prepared to believe that the strikers are capable of anything.
On the other hand, the men are convinced that
the employers are personally responsible. They see hundreds
and sometimes thousands of special officers swarming
throughout the district. They know that these men
are paid by somebody, and they are convinced that their
bullying, insulting talk and actions represent the personal
wishes of the employers. When they knock down strikers,
beat them up, arrest them, or even shoot them, the
the em-
men believe that all these acts are dictated by
ployers.
that is
It is utterly impossible to describe the bitterness
of these
aroused among the men by the presence
And the testimony taken by various commissions
thugs.
regarding strikes proves clearly enough that strikes are
not only embittered but prolonged by the presence of
detectives. Again and again,
mediators have declared
that, as soon as thugs are brought into the conflict, the
settlement of a strike is made impossible until either the
employers or the men are exhausted by the struggle.
number of reputable detectives have testified that
the chief object of those who engage in "strike-breaking"
is to prolong strikes in order to keep themselves employed
A