Author: Janet Raye

Hellraisers Journal: Even in Death, Not Allowed to Rest in Peace: FW Frank Little at Issue in Chicago IWW Trial

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Even in death they did not let him rest in peace.
-Elizabeth Gurley Flynn

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 28, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – Copper-Collared Reporters Testify for Prosecution

The copper collar upon the neck of Montana’s so-called “free” press was on full display this past week during the federal trial of officers and members of the Industrial Workers of the World. The following article presents the prosecution’s case, while giving short shrift to Vanderveer’s cross-examination for the defense. Tomorrow, Hellraisers will make up for that deficiency.

From the Phoenix Arizona Republican of May 24, 1918:

WWIR IWW Chg Trial, re Frank Little, Arz Rpb -1, May 24, 1918

DEPORTATIONS AT BISBEE ARE TRIAL FEATURE
—–
Reporter Tells of Threat Made to Arizona Governor
by I. W. W. Leader Who Afterwards Was Lynched
—–

(Republican A. P. Leased Wire)

Frank Little Martyr, Truth About Butte Tompkins, 1917

CHICAGO, May 23.-Activities of the I. W. W. in attempting to organize the miners at Butte, Mont., and the strike and violence which followed culminating in the lynching of Frank H. Little August 1, 1917, were graphically described today at the trial of 112 I. W. W. leaders before Federal Judge Landis by Charles L. Stevens, A. W. Walliser and Harold W. Creary [Crary], who were employed in Butte as reporters when the trouble occurred. Creary now is a student at the officers’ training field at Camp Johnson, Jacksonville, Fla., and appeared in uniform.

Little Seditious Talk

Walliser told of an open air mass meeting of miners in Butte July 19 at which Frank H. Little, member of the general executive board of the I. W. W. and others delivered seditious addresses. The witness said Little attacked the national and state governments, the capitalistic class and referred to soldiers as “Uncle Sam’s uniformed scabs,” “Pershing’s yellow legs,” and “Thugs.”

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Appeal to Reason: Good Will For Debs in Girard & Socialist Declaration of Principle

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote EVD Nature's Bounty, Girard, May 16, 1908
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 26, 1908
Girard, Kansas – Town Throws Surprise Party for ‘Gene Debs

From the Appeal to Reason of May 23, 1908:

EVD, Girard Good Will for Debs, HdLn AtR p1, May 23, 1908Quote EVD, this fine sweet day, re Girard, May 16, AtR p1, May 23, 1908

All of Girard and half of the county assembled in the court house park last Saturday afternoon [May 16th]. A hastily improvised platform had been erected, and, to the music of bands and lusty cheering of the citizens of this little town, irrespective of party affiliation, ‘Gene Debs was escorted forward and introduced to the enthusiastic crowd by Mayor Ryan. The mayor was preceded by E. N. Richardson, who, in a few moments’ speech, voiced the sentiment of every man and woman and child in Girard when he said:

Ladies and Gentlemen-My Friends and My Comrades:-Here is a man whom you all know-many of you may not yet agree with him in his political beliefs; many of you will not vote for hem, but you all love him-you love him because you can’t help yourself; you love him because he is the most lovable man America has ever produced…

Comrade Debs had been kept in complete ignorance of the little surprise party. For a few moments he seemed overwhelmed at the expressions of good will and the smiling faces on every hand. But he quickly recovered from the slight embarrassment, and began to talk. And such a talk! As a father talks to his children, Debs talked to those gathered under the shade of the spreading elms in the court house yard. It wasn’t a wildly enthusiastic gathering, such as one would expect to see on an occasion like this. It was rather a gathering of men and women in dead earnest who realized the deep significance of the occasion and were determined to let no single word which fell from the speaker’s lips escape them. One could almost feel the spirit of the revolution-it impressed me as a counterpart of those meetings of colonial patriots just prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. “Momentous and significant.” These words sum up the Girard meeting at which the citizens of this village, without a dissenting voice expressed their congratulations to their fellow townsman, nominated for the presidency by the Socialist national convention.

At the close of the address a group of little children, bearing baskets of flowers and wreaths, and their little faces suffused with smiles, marched to the platform and literally smothered their friend with roses. Tears came to the big brother’s eyes as he gathered the little ones to him. An hour later, I passed ‘Gene sitting on the curb with a dozen bright haired lassies clinging to his arms and shoulders! Mark my words: “You can pin your faith to the man loved by children.”

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Hellraisers Journal: Town of Girard Honors Eugene Debs, Socialist Party Nominee for President of United States

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Friends, you need never be afraid
to put your confidence in a man
whom the children and the dogs love.
-E. N. Richardson
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Hellraisers Journal, Monday May 25, 1908
Town Square, Girard, Kansas – Most Famous Citizen Celebrated

Upon learning that Eugene Debs had received the presidential nomination of the Socialist Party of America, the citizens of Girard, Kansas, arranged a celebratory meeting in the town square as a surprise for their most famous and most beloved resident. Mr. Debs did not attend the convention in Chicago and was, therefore, on hand to enjoy the festivities.

From The Girard Press of May 21, 1908:

Eugene V Debs, EVD, Girard Prs p8, May 21, 1908

DEBS JOLLIFICATION MEETING.
—–
Band, Flowers, and Hand Shaking.

Saturday afternoon [May 16th] the citizens of Girard, regardless of political affiliations, held a meeting in honor of Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist nominee for President of the United States. It is not often that a town or community has the honor of being the residence of a nominee for the Presidency, and Girard comes to the front in having this honor, as Mr. Debs has been a citizen of our city for the past year.

The Frontenac band was engaged for this occasion and furnished music in the public square, where a speaker’s platform had been erected. The meeting was at 3 o’clock, and up to this time Mr. Debs had been kept in ignorance of what was going to happen, and was not apprised of the same until a committee waited upon him and escorted him to the park.

E. N. Richardson made the opening talk, in which he paid a glowing tribute to the nominee. He then introduced Mayor W. H. Ryan, who is a candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket, and who, after a few remarks, introduced Mr. Debs.

In Mr. Debs’s introduction he said that his residence in our city had been the most pleasant, and that he felt as much at home in Girard as he did in the town of his birth. He complimented the Girard people upon their hospitality and the good fellowship that existed toward him. He talked at length, and was heard to the end by a large audience.

At the close of his speech a bevy of little girls bearing baskets of flowers went to the platform and presented their floral offerings, after which there was handshaking and congratulations.

———-

[Paragraph breaks added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Socialist Party Nominates Debs for President, Happy Gathering at Girard Follows Convention

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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And there’s Gene Debs—a man ’at stands
And jest holds out in his two hands
As warm a heart as ever beat
Betwixt here and the Jedgment Seat!
-James Whitcomb Riley
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Hellraisers Journal, Sunday May 24, 1908
Girard, Kansas – Socialists Celebrate with Comrade Debs

From The Fort Scott Tribune and Monitor of May 15, 1908:

Eugene V Debs, EVD, Girard Prs p8, May 21, 1908

Chicago, May 15-The socialist convention [Socialist Party of America] at 2 o’clock this morning named Eugene V. Debs as candidate for president; Benjamin Hanford of New York, vice president. Caleb Lipscomb of Sedalia, Mo., was placed in nomination for vice president and received one vote.

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[Photograph added.]

—————

A Pleasant Evening in Girard with Comrade Debs,
Thursday May 21, 1908

“A Living Exemplification of Gentleness and Kindness”

Following the Socialist National Convention at Chicago, numerous home-bound delegates made their way to Girard to visit the Temple of the Revolution, the home of The Appeal to Reason, and to meet the comrades who serve the Cause of Socialism through that aggressive disturber of plutocracy, among whom is our gallant standard-bearer, Eugene V. Debs.

On Thursday (May 21, 1908) several of the old war horses happened in together. As they were to remain until the midnight trains, the word was passed along for the assembling of the clan. The body of Girard Socialists, as a whole, breathe the spirit of brotherhood, and since it has been their exceeding good fortune to have Comrade Debs in their midst there has been a living exemplification of gentleness and kindness by one whose soul has enlarged to embrace all humanity. Whenever it is known that Debs is to be present there is a turn-out of old and young. Hence, on this occasion, when they came to meet the comrades from other states the greeting to the gallant and gracious Debs was full of fervor on all sides.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Chicago Social Democrat: Eugene V. Debs Opposes Fusion of SDA with Populists

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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The Social Democracy is a socialist party
and is pledged to the principles of socialism.
It can not and will not fuse with any capitalist party,
by whatever name it may be called.
-Eugene Victor Debs
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Hellraisers Journal, Monday May 23, 1898
From Spring Valley, Illinois – Debs Address Issue of Fusion

From the Chicago Social Democrat of May 19, 1898:

Against Fusion

[by Eugene V. Debs]

Spring Valley, Ill., May 14, 1898

Notwithstanding our repeated declarations as to the attitude of the Social Democracy in respect to fusion with other political parties, there are still those who persist in misunderstanding our position.

The Social Democracy is a socialist party and is pledged to the principles of socialism. It can not and will not fuse with any capitalist party, by whatever name it may be called. As special allusion to the Populist party is made by our inquirers, let it be said that the Populist party is a capitalist party and the Social Democracy will not fuse with it any more than it will with the Republican or Democratic party.

EVD of Social Democracy, Tpk St Jr KS p6, Feb 4, 1898

It is urged by some that we should encourage alliance with the Populist party because it inclines in our direction. Their advice, if followed, would wreck our party. If socialism is right, Populists should become socialists and join the Social Democracy. If they are not ready to do this they are not socialists, and hence opposed to socialism, and fusion with their party would result in inevitable disaster.

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Hellraisers Journal: President Wilson Signs Sedition Bill; “The bill declared frankly to be aimed against the I. W. W.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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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, Wednesday May 22, 1918
Washington, D. C. – I. W. W. to be Target of Sedition Bill

From this morning’s New York Times:

President Signs Sedition Bill

WASHINGTON. May 21, President Wilson today signed the Sedition bill giving the Government wide powers to punish disloyal acts and utterances.

From The Labor World of May 11, 1918:

Senate Passes Sedition Bill, IWW, Labor World p1, May 11, 1918

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OUTLAWS THE USE AND ADVOCACY OF VIOLENCE
———-
To Bring About Governmental, Social, Industrial or
Economic Reforms-Destruction of “Wabblies” Opens
Opportunities for Labor Unions.
———-

WWIR, In Here For You, Ralph Chaplin, Sol Aug 4, Sept 1, 1917

WASHINGTON, May 9.-The bill declared frankly to be aimed against the I. W. W., outlawing organizations which use or advocate violence to bring about “any governmental, social, industrial or economic change,” during the war, was passed Monday by the senate after brief debate and went to the house.

The bill provides that

any association, organization, society or corporation, one of whose purposes or professed purposes is to bring about any governmental, social, industrial or economic change within the United States by the use, without the authority of law, of force, violence, or physical injury to person or property, or by threats of such injury, or which teaches, advocates, defends or advises the use, without authority of law, of force, violence, or physical injury to person or property, or threats of such injury, to accomplish such change or for any other purpose, and which, during any war in which the United States is engaged, shall by any means prosecute or pursue such purpose or professed purpose, or shall so teach, advocate, advise, or defend, is hereby declared to be an “unlawful association.”

It also makes it a felony, punishable by 10 years’ imprisonment and $5,000 fine, for anyone to continue to be a member or agent of such and “unlawful association,” or who shall defend its acts.

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Hellraisers Journal: Charles G. Bowers Writing “Life of Senator Kern” with Assistance of Mother Jones

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones fr Military Bastile to Sen Kern, May 4, [1913]
Mother Jones – 1913
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 21, 1918
“Heroine of Paint Creek” Recalls the Miners’ Friend, Senator Kern

From The United Mine Workers Journal of May 16, 1918:

NOTICE TO LOCAL UNIONS

John W Kern 1913, Life by Bowers, 1918

When Senator John W. Kern introduced his resolution in the United States Senate calling for an investigation into the conditions of the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek regions of West Virginia all the special interests in the country became active in an effort to defeat it.

A Wall street representative who had known Senator Kern in other days called him on the phone and begged him to drop the resolutions. “I’ll see you in hell first,” replied Kern, hanging up the receiver.

A more bitter battle has seldom been waged in the Senate, and for the first time in history in a straight fight between the powerful and the workers the workers won—through Kern’s gallant fight.

And that was in keeping with Kern’s battles for labor all his life.

The story of the ten-year battle for the unionization of miners in West Virginia is told fully and graphically in the

Life of Senator Kern,

which is being written by Claude G. Bowers, who was intimately associated with him.

Mother Jones, the “heroine of Paint Creek,” has furnished much data to the author for this chapter—the longest in the book.

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Hellraisers Journal: Memorial Monument to Be Unveiled This Decoration Day on the Hollowed Ground at Ludlow, Colorado

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I can’t have my babies back.
But perhaps when everybody knows about them,
something will be done to make the world
a better place for all babies.
At least, I like to think so.
It is the only thing which gives me any comfort.
-Mary Petrucci

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Hellraisers Journal, Monday May 20, 1918
Ludlow, Colorado – Monument to be Unveiled on Hollowed Ground

Let it be recorded in the annals of organized labor that those who perished on Ludlow field on the 20th day of April, 1914, died for a great cause, and let us who now do honor to their memory, so live and act that they may not have died in vain.

From the United Mine Workers Journal of May 16, 1918:

IN REMEMBRANCE

Ludlow Monument, UMWJ -p6, May 16, 1918

On the 20th day of April, 1914, the darkest chapter in the industrial life of America was written.

On the field of Ludlow, Colo., a tented city had been erected by the United Mine Workers of America to house the striking miners and their families after they had been evicted from their homes by the coal company gunmen at the commencement of the great strike in the southern coal fields.

Under the leadership of one E. K. Linderfeldt, a detachment of the Colorado state militia that had been recruited from gunmen imported into Colorado by the Rockefeller and other large coal corporations, deliberately planned the dastardly deed of shooting up and exterminating the peaceful tent colony at Ludlow. On Monday, April 20, 1914, the unspeakable crime was committed, and 33 men, women and children were brutally slain and their poor tented homes were burned to the ground.

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Hellraisers Journal: Industrial Union Bulletin: “The Value of Music in IWW Meetings” – a Spokane Fellow Worker

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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It is really surprising how soon a crowd
will form on the street to hear
a song in the interest of the working class.
-Fellow Worker James Wilson, Spokane

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday May 19, 1908
Spokane, Washington – Music fans “the holy flame of discontent.”

CORRESPONDENCE.
—–
The Value of Music in I. W. W. Meetings.

Hallelujah I'm a Bum!, IUB, Apr 4, 1908

The use and value of music is one of the oldest and best known factors in influencing the human mind and moving men to action.

What tribe or nation of men, from the original savage to the “civilized” man of today, has not been swayed and stirred by the almost all-compelling power of harmony, rude or cultivated?

The cradle-song of the mother lulls the baby of the barbarian and soothed us ourselves when still infants. The wild war drum roused the hordes who overthrew Rome; the martial band and the fiery bugle incite the brother-murdering armies of the modern capitalist state. The indescribable powers of music are thus effectual alike for good and evil.

Can we, as Industrial Unionists, afford entirely to ignore the scientific study of this mighty auxiliary in our task of stimulating and rousing the lethargy and indifference of the downtrodden and well nigh hopeless mass of the working class?

It is said that the Marseillaise Hymn won all the battles of the French Revolution, from the epoch-making battle of Valmy to the last one of the brilliant military successes of Napoleon.

To avail ourselves of the weapons and arms of the enemy has always been part of successful generalship, even as the very form of our organization is adapted to meet the organized enemy, the capitalist class.

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