Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal – Thursday October 3, 1918
Sacramento, California – Fellow Workers in Jail, Hungry and Cold
The federal trial of Sacramento members of the Industrial Workers of the World is set to begin in November (see article below.) Meanwhile, most of those arrested remain in jail under wretched conditions which has greatly undermined their health. Jail conditions are described:
They must sleep in relays due to crowded conditions with one cotton blanket given to each man to ward off the winter chill. Food consists of “two ounces of mush in the morning, less than two ounces of bread, and at night three fetid little smelts and less than two ounces of potatoes, with ‘coffee’ twice a day.” They are allowed to send out for food, bought and paid for with their own money, but when the meal arrives, it is placed before their cells, just out of reach, where they can watch it rot.
From the San Francisco Examiner of October 1, 1918:
I.W.W. TRIALS START NOV. 8
—–
All Cases in State to Be Consolidated for
Sacramento Hearing in U.S. Cases.
—–John W. Preston, special assistant to the United States Attorney General, yesterday announced that the numerous I. W. W. cases, including the ones which are before the court in Los Angeles, have been consolidated for trial in Sacramento. There will be seventy-five defendants, charged with violation of the espionage law and obstructing the draft.
The case will not go to trial next week as was scheduled, but will be continued until November 8 by Federal Judge Wm. C. Van Fleet.
G. N. Murdock, special agent of the Department of Justice who prepared the evidence in the Chicago I. W. W. trials, has been assigned to take charge of the investigation in the present case, Deputy United States Marshal Thomas Mulhall, who has been conducting the collection of evidence, will be assigned other duties.
———-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCES
The Silent Defense
A story of the remarkable trial of members of the Industrial Workers of the World held at Sacramento, California.
by Industrial Workers of the World
(See page 5.)
Chicago, 1920?
https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/publicationsviewer/?title=Silent%20Defense&ID=248
San Francisco Examiner
(San Francisco, California)
-Oct 1, 1918
https://www.newspapers.com/image/457360383/
IMAGES
In Here For You, Ralph Chaplin, Sol Aug 4, Sept 1, 1917, p323
https://libcom.org/files/rebel-voices-2_0.pdf
See also:
Frank Little and the IWW:
The Blood That Stained an American Family
-by Jane Little Botkin
University of Oklahoma Press, May 25, 2017
Note: This is the definitive biography of Fellow Worker Frank Little. Jane Little Botkin is the great grand niece of Frank and Fred Little. Book is thoroughly and diligently sourced.
(search: “at 1:30 p.m. on October 1”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=gBskDwAAQBAJ
At 1:30 P.M. on October 1, after living in jail for more than a year, forty-three prisoners were divided into groups of about twenty in the basement of the Old Sacramento County Prison and marched in chains to the federal courthouse for a preliminary hearing. They filed down a brick street with detectives guarding them on each side and on street corners. Many wore prison-blue woolen shirts, a sharp contrast to their pale faces….
Rather than use any lawyer, the Wobblies, with the exception of three prisoners who were out on bond, declared they would use no legal representation, as “in our experience in Capitalist courts there does not exist what we call Justice. When Judge Rudkin responded with a lecture about justice and democracy, the prisoners broke out in laughter….
In a packed courtroom of reporters, detectives, and lawyers, the prisoners were granted a public IWW business meeting to discuss their nondefense. After prisoners elected a chairman to represent them, they collectively pled not guilty. Each prisoner’s name was called, including Fred Little’s. However, Fred was not present to make a plea [he had been released on bond in Feb 1918, see pages 325-6]….
American Political Prisoners:
Prosecutions Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts
by Stephen Martin Kohn
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
(search: sacramento, and choose page 17)
https://books.google.com/books?id=-_xHbn9dtaAC
Between September 1917 and June 1918, fifty-three IWW leaders and activists, all active members on the West Coast, were arrested. Among those incarcerated was the secretary of the committee set up to defend those indicted; the secretaries of the Stockton, Los Angeles, Oakland and Sacramento IWW locals; and officials of the Construction Workers, the Agricultural Workers and the Marine Transport Workers Industrial Unions. Like the IWW unionists in Chicago and Wichita, they were charged with conspiracy to obstruct the war effort and military draft.
The allegations against the IWW members indicted in Sacramento were more frenzied than those in other cities where arrests of IWW members took place. These included accusations that the IWW was responsible for an alleged assassination attempt against California’s governor-Elect William D. Stephens, based in part on the arrest of two members, employed as miners, who were carrying dynamite (a routinely and legitimately use material in mining). The Sacramento Bee called for shooting the IWW prisoners, “the sooner the better!” No evidence linking the IWW to alleged assassination attempt was ever produced, however. In fact according to Melvyn Dubofsky….”federal officials learned that the entire assassination affair had been arranged by a corrupt San Francisco district attorney.”…..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Prison Song, 1917 by Ralph Chaplin
