Month: January 2018

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for December 1907, Found Attacking Roosevelt in Chicago

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I long ago quit praying and took to swearing.
If I pray I will have to wait
Until I am dead to get anything
But when I swear I get things here.
-Mother Jones

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother Jones, Tacoma Times, Sept 19, 1904Hellraisers Journal, Saturday January 11, 1908
Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1907:
-Found Speaking before Chicago Federation of Labor

During the month of December 1907, Mother Jones was first found in the pages of the Appeal to Reason regarding a planned tour of the state of Texas as an organizer for the Socialist Party of America. She was next found speaking at a meeting of Chicago Federation of Labor where, according to The Inter Ocean, she used “a choice selection of profanity” and attacked Roosevelt for sending troops to quell the Goldfield miners’ strike. We also found a trip planned to the city Milwaukee on behalf of George Pettibone who was then facing trial in Boise, Idaho. And lastly, we found the city of Dallas, Texas, looking forward to visit from Mother Jones sometime in the January.

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Hellraisers Journal: With Band Playing “The Marseillaise,” Bolsheviki Steamer Shilka Leaves Seattle, Sets Sail for Russia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I have no country to fight for
My country is the earth
And I am a citizen of the world.
-Eugene Victor Debs

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Hellraisers Journal: Thursday January 10, 1918
Seattle, Washington – The Shilka Sets Sail to Cheers of Supporters

From The Tacoma Times of January 9, 1918:

Rss Rev, Shilka lvs Stt, Tacoma Tx p5, Jan 9, 1918

—–

(Special to the times.)

SEATTLE, Jan. 9.-Serenaded by a volunteer brass band playing “The Marseillaise” and “The Star Spangled Banner,” cheered by more than a hundred admirers and friends, the Russian steamship Shilka, which had return from Tacoma on Monday morning with her bunkers full of coal, bade farewell to Seattle at Pier 5 at 2 o’clock Tuesday afternoon when she sailed for Kobe via Yokohama.

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Hellraisers Journal: An Editorial From The Messenger: “The Hanging of the Negro Soldiers” on December 11, 1917

Janet RayeA. Philip Randolph
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How can America hold up its hands
in hypocritical horror at foreign barbarism
while the red blood of the Negro
is clinging to those hands?
-Hubert H. Harrison

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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday January 9, 1918
“One law for the white man…and another for the black man.”

From The Messenger of January 1918:

THE HANGING OF THE NEGRO SOLDIERS
—–

Court Martial of 64 Members of 24th Infantry, Fort Sam Houston, ab Nov 1, 1917
Court Martial of 64 members of 24th Infantry at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio

The hanging of thirteen Negro soldiers for the shooting up in Houston, Texas, a few months ago marks the acme of national indiscretion, on the one hand, and the triumph of Southern race prejudice, on the other. THE MESSENGER is not prepared to pass upon the guilt or innocence of the colored men, but, for the sake of argument, we shall assume their guilt. We shall next proceed to compare the punishment of the Negro soldiers with other soldiers guilty of similar or greater offenses. And if we find that the punishment of the black soldiers has been harsher, sterner and more merciless than that meted out to the other races, we shall seek to find out what the cause of the difference was.

Briefly to compare. On the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of July in East St. Louis, white troops from Illinois in broad daylight, under the eyes of tens of thousands of people, shot, wounded and killed over one hundred Negroes without any reasonable or apparent provocation from the Negroes of East St. Louis. It was the most disgraceful and unabashed exhibition of mob violence ever known in the United States. Evidence against the soldiers was not circumstantial, but direct. It was also overwhelming and abundant. Yet in spite of the brazen, unmitigated contempt for the law, no white soldier was even apprehended or tried.

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Hellraisers Journal: George Pettibone Found “Not Guilty” & Case Against WFM President, Charles Moyer, Discharged

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday January 8, 1908
Boise, Idaho – George Pettibone Finally Freed from Behind Bars

After almost two years of confinement George Pettibone is finally a free man. He was found “not guilty” of the murder of ex-Governor Steunenberg on Saturday, January 4th. Following the acquittal of Pettibone, the case against Charles Moyer was dismissed. The rejoicing over this welcomed news, however, is muted by the realization that Mr. Pettibone leaves his prison cell seriously ill and may not live long enough to enjoy his newfound freedom.

From the Globe Daily Arizona Silver Belt of January 5, 1908:

HMP, Pt Acquitted My Discharged, Dly AZ Slv, Jan 8, 1908

—–

HMP, Pettibone day of acquittal, crpd, Colliers Jan 25, 1908

BOISE, Idaho, January 4.-The end of the prosecution of the men charged with the murder of ex-Governor Frank Steunenberg, except the cases of Harry Orchard and Jack Simpkins, came today with the acquittal of George A. Pettibone.

Charles H. Moyer, president of the Western Federation, was formally released this afternoon and will return with Pettibone in a few days to Denver.

The case of Orchard is in the hands of Prosecuting Attorney Van Duyin of Canyon county. No statement of further procedure in the case has been made, but it will be called during the next session of the court at Caldwell, when it will probably be finally disposed of.

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Hellraisers Journal: Eugene V. Debs on Roosevelt’s Quandary: What to do with Troops in Goldfield, Part II

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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The people are as capable of achieving
their industrial freedom as they were
to secure their political liberty,
and both are necessary to a free nation.
-Eugene Victor Debs

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday January 7, 1908
Goldfield, Nevada – What to do with Roosevelt’s Troops, Part II

From the Appeal to Reason of January 4, 1908:

CAUGHT IN THEIR OWN NET
—–
Federal and State Authorities in a Quandary
as to What to Do With the
Soldiers at Goldfield.
—–

Instantaneous and Widespread Effect of the
“Goldfield Extra” Issued by the
Appeal to Reason Protesting
Against Troops.
—–
BY EUGENE V. DEBS.
[Part II]

Goldfield Strike, Scrip, AtR p4, Dec 28, 1907

The history of strikes shows beyond question what soldiers are used for. Honest union men who dare assert their rights are not protected, but scabs who are imported from slums and reek with crime, “gun-men” and professional strike-breakers, and other degenerates hired to undermine labor and defeat its aspirations, are saints and saviors, and must have the soldiers of the republic to see that no harm comes to them in their holy mission, and that nothing occurs to prevent them from consummating the munificent work to which their energies are so unselfishly consecrated.

In the eyes of soldiers in the employ of this capitalistic government of ours, honest workingmen who seek to defend their rights, and stand up for their homes, their wives and babes, are traitors to be shot and rioters to be bayoneted, while scabs are patriots to be protected in the name of law and order.

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Hellraisers Journal: Eugene V. Debs on Roosevelt’s Quandary: What to do with Troops in Goldfield, Part I

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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The people are as capable of achieving
their industrial freedom as they were
to secure their political liberty,
and both are necessary to a free nation.
-Eugene Victor Debs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday January 6, 1908
Goldfield, Nevada – What to do with Roosevelt’s Troops, Part I

From the Appeal to Reason of January 4, 1908:

CAUGHT IN THEIR OWN NET
—–
Federal and State Authorities in a Quandary
as to What to Do With the
Soldiers at Goldfield.
—–

Instantaneous and Widespread Effect of the
“Goldfield Extra” Issued by the
Appeal to Reason Protesting
Against Troops.
—–
BY EUGENE V. DEBS.
[Part I]

Pres T Roosevelt, SF Call p37, Dec 29, 1907

When President Roosevelt issued his order, based upon the requisition of Governor Sparks and the Mine Owners of Nevada, converting the mining town of Goldfield into a military camp, the whole country was more or less surprised. It was the suddenness of the action of the president rather than the action itself which created such intense interest and elicited approval of provoked condemnation, according to the point of view.

The telegraphic dispatch containing this military order struck the APPEAL almost as if it had been a blow in the face.

There was absolutely nothing in the Goldfield situation to warrant such an arbitrary act of interference in a purely local situation. The president knew it, and so did every one else at all familiar with the situation. The act could have but one meaning and one purpose. The APPEAL instinctively understood it. The blow had been struck without warning; it must be returned without delay. The facts of the case must be given to the working class as promptly and as fully as the means and facilities at the command of the APPEAL would allow.

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Hellraisers Journal: “The Truth About the I. W. W.” by Harold Callender, Part II from the International Socialist Review

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little

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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday January 5, 1918
Reprinted from The Masses: Part II-Harold Callender on the I. W. W.

From the International Socialist Review of January 1918:

The Truth About the I. W. W.

By HAROLD CALLENDER

EDITOR’S NOTE: Harold Callender investigated the Bisbee deportations for the National Labor Defense Council. He did it in so judicial and poised and truth-telling a manner that we engaged him to go and find out for us the truth about the I. W. W., and all the other things that are called “I. W. W.” by those who wish to destroy them in the northwest.-The Masses.

[Part II]
—–

WWIR, IWW WNF Truth, ISR Jan 1918

—–

Perhaps the funeral tribute to Little by the working people of Butte may be considered the reply to the warning which the lynching constituted. About 7,000 marched to the cemetery, representing most of the labor unions of the city. As the casket was lowered into the ground the last thing seen was a pennant of the Industrial Workers, bearing the words, “One big union,” lying across the coffin. At the headquarters of the mine union there hangs a photograph of Little, and under it, “Frank Little, victim of the copper trust, whom we shall never forget.” When I saw James Rowan, secretary of the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Union, in the county jail at Spokane, Wash., he wore on a lapel of his coat a button bearing a picture of Little and the motto: “Solidarity.” Behind him sat a youth in khaki, fingering a rifle and watching him as he talked.

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Hellraisers Journal: “The Truth About the I. W. W.” by Harold Callender, Part I from the International Socialist Review

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday January 4, 1918
Reprinted from The Masses: Part I-Harold Callender on the I. W. W.

From the International Socialist Review of January 1918:

The Truth About the I. W. W.

By HAROLD CALLENDER

EDITOR’S NOTE: Harold Callender investigated the Bisbee deportations for the National Labor Defense Council. He did it in so judicial and poised and truth-telling a manner that we engaged him to go and find out for us the truth about the I. W. W., and all the other things that are called “I. W. W.” by those who wish to destroy them in the northwest.-The Masses.

[Part I]
—–

WWIR, IWW Thompson, Hardy, Foss, W Smith, McDonald, Lloyd, Doran, ISR Jan 1918

—–

ACCORDING to the newspapers, the I. W. W. is engaged in treason and terrorism. The organization is supposed to have caused every forest fire in the West—where, by the way, there have been fewer forest fires this season than ever before. Driving spikes in lumber before it is sent to the sawmill, pinching the fruit in orchards so that it will spoil, crippling the copper, lumber and shipbuilding industries out of spite against the government, are commonly repeated charges against them. It is supposed to be for this reason that the states are being urged to pass stringent laws making their activities and propaganda impossible; or, in the absence of such laws, to encourage the police, soldiers and citizens to raid, lynch and drive them out of the community.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “The Truth About the I. W. W.” by Harold Callender, Part I from the International Socialist Review” →

Hellraisers Journal: Appeal for Defense of Our Imprisoned Fellow Workers: “They belong to the working class…”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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If you are a red-blooded worker
you will see that
this fight is your fight.
–International Socialist Review

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Hellraisers Journal, Thursday January 3, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – General Defense Committee Appeals for Funds

From the International Socialist Review of January 1918:

“WHERE LIBERTY IS THERE IS MY COUNTRY”

WWIR, IWW Johanson Ahlteen Lossieff Graber, ISR Jan 1918

—–

WWIR, IWW Chaplin, H George, ISR Jan 1918

—–

Six of the one hundred and sixty-six socialists and members of the I. W. W. who are indicted on a charge of seditious conspiracy.

Most of the boys are in Cook County or near-by jails as it would take a cash bail of over a million and one-half dollars to secure their liberty.

They belong to the working class and are in jail because they organized and educated the workers to fight for Industrial Democracy.

It will be a class trial. Capitalist interests will demand that these men be convicted and their union legally destroyed. They want the U. S. government to do what their gunmen and governors have failed to do by brute force.

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Hellraisers Journal: 50,000 Copies of “Sabotage” by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Reported Seized by Feds in Chicago

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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EGF Quote, I fell in love with my country, RG 96

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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday January 2, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – I. W. W. Books Seized by Federal Agents

50,000 “SABOTAGE” BOOKS SEIZED
IN I. W. W. RAID

Sabotage by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

CHICAGO, Dec. 28.-Some of the results of the recent raid on headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World here were made known by Federal officials today. Among the tons of literature seized were 50,000 copies of “Sabotage,” a book by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, of New York, now under indictment for conspiracy against the government. Thousands of copies of another book called “Sabotage” by Emil Pouget, were seized.

Vast quantities of stickers inscribed “Don’t be a soldier-be a man,” new I. W. W. song books and plates from which they were printed also were taken.

The Michigan Central Railroad to-day sent warnings to all points on its lines giving notice of an alleged I. W. W. plot to destroy grain elevators during the holidays. As a result special police have been detailed to guard every grain elevator in Chicago.

——–

[Photograph added.]

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