Month: April 2019

Hellraisers Journal: From Appeal to Reason: Book Review and History of “The Unbroken Tradition” by Nora Connolly

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Nora Connolly, We saw him no more. UnBroken Tradition p186, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 30, 1919
From Appeal Book Department: “The Unbroken Tradition” by Nora Connolly

In the April 26th edition of the Appeal to Reason, we find Miss Nora Connolly’s book, “The Irish Rebellion of 1916 or The Unbroken Tradition,” on sale for $1.25 (see below). In the April 12th edition of the Appeal we find a review of Miss Connolly’s book along with a short history of the Easter Uprising of 1916.

From the Appeal to Reason of April 12, 1919:

Daughter of Rebel Leader Tells Story of Irish Revolt

Irish Rebellion Fighting Song, AtR p4, Apr 12, 1919
—–

Thus goes one of the fighting songs of the Irish patriots who rose in armes against British authority in Ireland, the week of Easter, 1916. The physical failure of the brief, spirited upflare of independence is now a part of Ireland’s tragic history; yet today no one who sees clearly can doubt that the cause of a free Ireland is stronger than ever.

Nora Connolly, Irish Rebillion of 1916 or Unbroken Tradition p88, BnL, 1919

Nora Connolly-a young girl possessed of the fortitude and vision that is the unending marvel of character displayed by all true revolutionists-was an intimate participant in the rebellion of 1916. Her father, James Connolly, was the leader of the rebel forces and was executed for his “treason” to what most Irishmen have always regarded as an alien and hostile government. Nora Connolly escaped after the rebellion and made her way, through caution and subterfuge, to America. Here she set down the story of this ill-fated uprising with a direct candid simplicity that reveals events in their bold, epic outlines. This story, whose unaffected realism is so intense that the reader vividly visualizes and emotionally seems to move in the very midst of the scenes described is called “The Unbroken Tradition,” because, says Nora Connolly:

In Ireland we have the unbroken tradition of struggle for our freedom. Every generation has seen blood spilt, and sacrifice cheerfully made that the tradition might live. Our songs call us to battle or mourn the lost struggle; our stories are of glorious victory and glorious defeat. And it is through them the tradition has been handed down till an Irish man or woman has no greater dream of gory than of dying “A soldier’s death so Ireland’s free.”

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Liberator: “Reflections on the Seattle General Strike by a Woman Who Was There”-Revolution?

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Anna Louise Strong, NO ONE KNOWS WHERE, SUR p1, Feb 4, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 29, 1919
Seattle General Strike: Revolution? -60,000 Striking Workers Run the City

From the New York Liberator of April 1919:

When Is a Revolution Not a Revolution

Reflections on the Seattle General Strike
by a Woman Who Was There

Seattle General Strike, Metal Trades Council, SUR p3, Feb 4, 1919

“A GENERAL STRIKE, called by regular unions of the American Federation of Labor, cutting across contracts, across international union constitutions, across the charter from the American Federation of Labor,”-this was what the chairman of the strike committee declared it to be. A General Strike in which the strikers served 30,000 meals a day, in which the Milk Wagon Drivers established milk stations all over town to care for the babies, in which city garbage wagons went to and fro marked “Exempt by Strike Committee”; a General Strike in which 300 Labor Guards without arms or authority went to and fro preserving order; in which the Strike Committee, sitting in almost continuous session, decided what activities should and should not be exempted. from strike in the interests of public safety and health, and even forced the Mayor to come to the Labor Temple to make arrangements for lighting the city.

Yet almost any member of the Strike Committee will tell you, in hot anger, that “this was no revolution, except in the Capitalist papers; it was only a show of sympathy and solidarity for our brothers in the shipyards.” And so in truth it was, in intention. It would seem that the beginnings of all new things take place, not through conscious intention, but through the inevitable action of economic forces.

Hardly yet do the workers of Seattle realize all the things they did.

The shipyard workers of Seattle struck, 35,000 strong, on [Tuesday] January 21st. On January 22, a request was brought to the Central Labor Council for a general strike in sympathy with the Metal Trades. This was referred to the various unions for referendum. By the following Wednesday, January 29, the returns were pouring in.

“Newsboys vote to strike and await instructions of Joint Strike Committee.” “Hotel maids vote 8 to 1 for strike.” “Waitresses expect to go strong for general strike.” Foundry employees, butchers, structural iron workers, milk wagon drivers, garment workers, carpenters, barbers, building laborers, longshoremen, painters, glaziers, plasterers, cooks and assistants, these were among the votes to come in the first week.
Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From The Liberator: “Reflections on the Seattle General Strike by a Woman Who Was There”-Revolution?” →

Hellraisers Journal: National Civil Liberties Bureau Corrects Attorney General on Number of Political Prisoners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Ralph Chaplin, Prison Reveille, Lv New Era p2, Apr 4, 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 28, 1919
New York, New York – National Civil Liberties Bureau on Political Prisoners

From the Appeal to Reason of April 26, 1919:

Deny Attorney General’s Statement Regarding
Number of War Prisoners

Remember Political Prisoners by Bingo, OH Sc, Mar 10, 1918

(The National Civil Liberties Bureau of New York City makes public the following statement in reply to the assertion of the Attorney General that the number of political prisoners in the United States has been greatly exaggerated:)

—–

In a published statement the Attorney General intimates that the current estimate that there are 1,500 political prisoners in the United States is the result of either frenzied imagination or deliberate intent to deceive the public.

We accept full responsibility for the estimate in question and wish to reassert our belief in its moderation and accuracy. The Attorney General evidently does not regard a person who is under indictment or is out on bail pending appeal as a political prisoner. His view is that liberty on bail is the same thing as liberty without the threat of prison. Such an assertion needs no comment. Nor does the Attorney General include conscientious objectors. The following table shows how our estimate has been derived and we challenge the Attorney General to show that it is inaccurate in any substantial particular. The figures for prosecution under the Espionage Act are taken from the report of the Attorney General for the year ending June 30,1918, and are the most recent published officially. We have repeatedly requested more recent figures but our requests have been refused.

Clas War n Political Prisoner Numbers per NCLB, AtR p3, Apr 26, 1919
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Hellraisers Journal: From Ohio Socialist: Prison Poems from FW Charles Ashleigh and from CO H. Austin Simons

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Frank Little re Guts, Wobbly by RC p208, Chg July 1917———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday April 27, 1919
From Leavenworth Prison – Poetry of Charles Ashleigh and H. Austin Simons

The following three poems appeared in the Ohio Socialist of April 23, 1919. The first is by Fellow Worker Charles Ashleigh and the second is by H. Austin Simons, Conscientious Objector. The third is by Mary O’Reilly, Socialist of Chicago.

Prison Poems, IWW, C Ashleigh, Visions, OH Sc p2, Apr 23, 1919
Prison Poems, CO, HA Simons, Rose, OH Sc p2, Apr 23, 1919
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Hellraisers Journal: Southern Child Labor Conference, Held in New Orleans, to be Maintained as Permanent Organization

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Quote Mother Jones, Alabama Child Labor, AtR p2, Oct 24, 1908————————-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 26, 1909
New Orleans, Louisiana – Southern Child Labor Conference Deemed a Success

From Louisiana’s Reserve Le Meschacébé of April 17, 1909:

A PERMANENT ORGANIZATION
—–

CHILD LABOR CONFERENCE WILL BE
MAINTAINED AS A FIXTURE.
—–
Successful Opening Meeting Renders Members
Enthusiastic For Future.
—–

Child Labor, Lewis Hine, Doffer Boys 10 n 12, Gastonia NC, Nov 1908
Doffer boys, ages 12 and 10.
Gastonia, North Carolina
—–

New Orleans.-The child labor conference of the Southern states, called by Governor J. Y. Sanders of Louisiana, came to a close after a three-days’ session, in which great things were accomplished, resolutions being adopted fixing age limit, working hours, etc., and permanent organization effected.

The convention was the second of its kind in the history of the new commercial South, but it will not be the last for already Memphis has been tacitly agreed upon as the next place of meeting, and in the twelve months which must elapse before that meeting the delegates are pledged to work mightily to create sentiment and mold opinion, so that even greater reforms than those suggested during the past few days may be gained for the “Child of the Man With the Hoe,” as Senator Colville so strikingly describes the work children. Eleven states were represented.

The chief work of the conference was the adoption of a resolution containing important provisions, to be embodied in a uniform child labor law to be proposed in the legislatures of all the states in the South…..

———-

[Photograph added is by Lewis Hine.]

From The Survey (formerly Charities and Commons) of April 17, 1909:

SOUTHERN CHILD LABOR CONFERENCE
—–

Child Labor, Lewis Hine, Smallest girl ab 10, Whitnel NC, Dec 1908
Smallest girl about 10 years old, has been in mill 2 years, 6 months at night.
—–

In the contest over a better child labor law in the Louisiana Legislature last summer, the issue most warmly debated was whether a working day of nine hours or ten should be adopted for children under eighteen years of age, and for women. The Legislature decided upon the ten-hour day and Governor Sanders promised Miss Jean Gordon, who had led the fight for child labor reform, to call a conference in New Orleans to recommend a uniform child labor law for the southern states.

Governor Sanders wrote to all the southern governors asking them to attend the conference personally if possible and to send interested delegates: manufacturers, representatives of labor unions, and of different associations pledged to child labor reform. Delegates to the conference were appointed by all the southern governors except Governor Comer of Alabama, and Governor Campbell of Texas. Governor Comer’s reason for not appointing delegates—that Alabama had already the best child labor law in the country with the possible exception of Massachusetts, was so ridiculous that his action focused attention upon the deficiencies of the Alabama law, it being generally believed that these rather than the excellence of the law furnished the reason why the governor, himself a cotton manufacturer, deplored any further discussion or agitation of the subject in Alabama.

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Hellraisers Journal: Helen Keller: “Workingmen…cannot be truly free unless they own themselves and their labor.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Helen Keller, an IWW, interview NY Tb jan 15, 1916———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday April 24, 1919
Helen Keller on Workers, Labor Exploitation and Freedom

Helen Keller, NY Ithaca Jr p7, Nov 5, 1917

From the New York Rebel Worker of April 15, 1919:

[From Helen Keller.]

Workingmen everywhere are becoming aware that they are being exploited for the benefit of others, and that they cannot be truly free unless they own themselves and their labor. The achievement of such economic freedom stands in prospect— at no distant date—as the revolutionary climax of the age. (Helen Keller.)

——————–

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Helen Keller: “Workingmen…cannot be truly free unless they own themselves and their labor.”” →

Hellraisers Journal: From N. Y. Rebel Worker: “The Spirit of Our Class War Prisoners” & “Discipline” at Leavenworth

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Frank Little re Guts, Wobbly by RC p208, Chg July 1917———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 23, 1919
Leavenworth Penitentiary – Rebels Behind Bars Remain Strong

From the New York Rebel Worker of April 15, 1919:

THE SPIRIT OF OUR CLASS WAR PRISONERS.

The Portland Fellow Workers send $285.75 to be equally divided among the boys in the Leavenworth Penitentiary, but the rebels confined therein decided unanimously to send same to the general office as the organization is in need of ready cash at present.

This is the spirit of the men who fought for us, and for whom we are now fighting, and their message is organize, organize some more.

———-

[Emphasis added.]

——————–

Disciplinary Reports from Leavenworth Penitentiary

J. A. MacDonald, No. 13133

IWW, J. A. MacDonald, 13133 Leavenworth, Sept 7 or 8, 1918

January 24, 1919
Became sarcastic and ridiculed the laws and system of Government of the United States. Isolation on restricted diet and removed as school teacher.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From N. Y. Rebel Worker: “The Spirit of Our Class War Prisoners” & “Discipline” at Leavenworth” →

Hellraisers Journal: Rousseau: “You are undone if you forget that the earth belongs to no one, and that its fruits are for all.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Rousseau, Earth Fruits, Origin of Inequality, 1754———–

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday April 22, 1919
Poetry and Philosophy from the New York Rebel Worker

From The Rebel Worker of April 15, 1919:

I FEEL SO GOOD.

I have to sing
I feel so good.
Because some grand
Duke’s sawing wood.

And pretty soon
A big bunch more,
Will have to work
Until they’re sore.

And then we stiffs.
Will run this earth.
And all their pains
Will cause us mirth.

And if some guy
Tells us that’s wrong,
We’ve got a story
Good and long.

Of things they’ve done
While we were slaves;
Grand Dukes and such
Are common Knaves.

                                                                                    -A. SIGISMUND.

———-

[From Jean-Jacques Rousseau]

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778

The first man who, having inclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying “This is mine,” and found people simple enough to believe he was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not anyone have saved mankind by pulling up the stakes or filling up the ditch and crying to his fellows:

Beware of listening to this imposter; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to all of us, and the earth itself to nobody.

(Jean Jacques Rosseau.)

———-

[Photograph added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Rousseau: “You are undone if you forget that the earth belongs to no one, and that its fruits are for all.”” →

Hellraisers Journal: From The Rebel Worker: “Can the Capitalists Run the World?” (without ruin, waste and war?)

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones Raising Hell, NYT p1, Oct 6, 1916———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday April 21, 1919
Can the Capitalists Run the World without Ruin, Waste, and War?

From the New York Rebel Worker of April 15, 1919:

CAN THE CAPITALISTS RUN THE WORLD?

Art Young, Capitalism All right so far, Liberator p19, Apr 1919

The March [April] Liberator wants to know, “Can the workers run the world?” This question tickles our risibilities and causes us to submit to an attack of the merry ha ha! It unconsciously re-echoes the capitalists’ claim that they run the world and that they are the only ones that can run the world. For a radical socialist magazine to re-echo capitalist misstatements is bad Marxian-ism-the sin of sins against the holy of holies. And then the question is preposterous in the light of contemporaneous events. What we behold, if our eye sight is not falling us, is not a world run by capitalists, but a world that is running the capitalists—running them out of existence, p. d. q. (By the way, we suggest that Art Young draw a cartoon for his new satirical weekly, “Good morning,” showing the capitalists “running” the world according to modern history.)

Then look at the way the capitalists run the world when the world is not running them. H. L. Gantt, one of New York’s foremost production engineers, says the present system is only 15 per cent efficient. There’s some running for you-running to waste-85 per cent. Will the Liberator please repeat its question again? We enjoy anything that suggests a collosal joke, such as the capitalists’ assumption that they are the efficient world runners par excellence. Ask Gantt; he knows.

Now, for a change, let us take seriously this question of running the world. Let us state frankly that if the workers ever run the world the way the capitalists are running it, we’ll start a bloodly counter-revolution against them! And we’ll inflict an antiproltetarian mismanagement dictatorship on them; by God, so we will. We want the world to be run, not ruined or wasted.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From The Rebel Worker: “Can the Capitalists Run the World?” (without ruin, waste and war?)” →