Category: Hellraisers Journal

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones and William B. Wilson Will Brave Injunction at Clarksburg and Fairmont, West Virginia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote John Mitchell to Mother Jones re WV Fairmont Field, May 10, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday July 8, 1902
U. M. W. Secretary Wilson and Mother Jones to Brave Injunction in West Virginia

From the Indianapolis Sunday Journal of July 6, 1902:

WILL VIOLATE INJUNCTION.
———-
Secretary Wilson, of the Mine Workers,
Will Go to West Virginia.

Mother Jones of UMW, NY Tb p6, Image 20, July 6, 1902

W. B. Wilson, secretary of the United Mine Workers, will leave, this evening at 6 o’clock, for Clarksburg, W. Va., where, with “Mother” Jones, he will speak to-morrow night to a public meeting of miners. In taking part in the meeting Secretary Wilson puts his head in the lion’s mouth; that is to say, he will violate the injunction granted by the federal judge of the Southern district of West Virginia, which declared that he must not hold meetings with the miners within that jurisdiction.

[Mr. Wilson said yesterday:]

I realize that I am liable to be arrested, but I am not permitting that to worry me. I have made arrangements so that the financial affairs of the organization will run along smoothly in other hands should I be placed in jail. You can depend upon it that the affairs of the order will not suffer.

“Mother” Jones and I are billed to speak to the miners to-morrow evening at Clarksburg. Tuesday evening we will address another big meeting at Fairmount. As both of these towns are in the jurisdiction of Judge Keller, they may try to enforce the injunction, but, as I say, I am not troubling myself about that. We will address a public meeting of orderly men, and it would be a high-handed proceeding to attempt to interfere with it.

Secretary Wilson believes that the injunction order cannot be sustained by a fair construction of constitutional law and that Judge Keller went beyond his powers in issuing the injunction in Philadelphia, which is not within his jurisdiction.

—————

[Photograph and emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Wheeling Majority: “Hot Times in West Virginia”-Mother Jones Working Night and Day

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Life Work Mission, WV Cton Gz, June 11, 1912, per ISR p648, Mar 1913—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday July 7, 1912
Charleston, West Virginia – Cossacks Rule Paint Creek, Mother Jones at Work

From The Wheeling Majority of July 4, 1912:

Hot Times In West Virginia
———-

[Mother Jones Working Night and Day]

(By G. H. Edmunds.)

Mother Jones WV , Cnc Pst p1, June 11, 1912

Charleston, W. Va., July 3.—(Special.)—You talk about the cossacks of Russia and the state police of Pennsylvania, but the guard system of West Virginia has all these backed off the boards. The guards along Paint Creek have taken the law in their hands, and are openly defying the law in all its phases. They are evicting the miners in open violation of the law up to date, we have been unable to check them. The law firm of Littlepage, Matheney and Littlepage sought to enjoin the coal companies, and here is what happened.

District Judge Burdette did the “fade-away” act’ to perfection. When our attorney went to his court (after having a time set to hear the injunction), and there and then found that the judge had left the community and no one could say where he had gone or when he would return. So the coal companies are still evicting our people. If Kellar, the great magician, wants to learn a few new tricks along the “fade-away” line, he might do well to consult his honor, Judge Burdette.

Assaulting Children.

Assault after assault has been committed upon defenseless men, women and children. But the sheriff of Kanawha county has done absolutely nothing about it at all. We hope that the miners will not forget Judge Burdette when election day comes. If he is afraid to perform the duties of his office, then he is not competent to fill that high office. I know it is pretty hard to go up against such a proposition as issuing or refusing an injunction as the one prayed for, yet it was the plain duty of Judge Burdette to have stood his ground and decided this case on its merits. Judge Burdette stands indicted for rank cowardice before all the people of this county. Will they forget or condone this act? Lots could be said about Kanawha county justice, but we will save it for campaign dope. Board Member Watkins Reports a good meeting at McClannahan, just across the mountain from Raymond City. We are glad to see these men coming out of the kinks at last. There are scores of good men over there and now that they have started again we bid them God speed.

Boys, don’t stop until every man in your locality is a union man and a Socialist. The “man catchers” from Burnwell “caught” two colored brothers in their net of deception, but upon their arrival at Burnwell, they found out about the strike and they left, walking 17 miles, and they informed the guards they would spend a year in the penitentiary before they would work as strike breakers. Pretty good union men, these.

Mother Jones There.

Mother Jones is still here and well and working night and day. She bears her 80 years as if they were 50. We expect big things next week. At this time we have 21 guards on trial for entering the homes of the miners without leave or warrant.

The miners are still firm and there will be no break away from our ranks. Organizers Batley and Davis left for their homes to spend the 4th of July. Organizer G. H. Edmunds and Vice President Frank J. Hayes will speak at Buxton, Ia., on the Fourth. Great credit is due the Majority for the gallant advocacy of the miners’ cause during this strike. All miners should subscribe to this paper, because he is our friend, and we should stand by our friends. Editor Hilton, has been fearless in his defense of our cause.

All mine workers are requested to stay away from West Virginia until notified officially that the strike is ended. 

[Photograph, emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: UMW Organizer Mike Livoda Warned to Leave Colorado, Beaten and Terrorized at Huerfano County

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday July 4, 1912
Mike Livoda, Organizer for U. M. W. A., Beaten in Huerfano County, Colorado

Affidavit of Mike Livoda
-Sworn to on June 20, 1912, at Las Animas County: 

Affidavit Las Animas Co CO, Mike Livoda Beaten on 13th at Huerfano Co, Sworn to on June 20, 1912

From the Denver Post of June 27, 1912:

ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKED TO
ASSUME PROSECUTOR
———-
Other Authorities Fail to File in
Assault and Robbery Case.
———-

Governor Shafroth has been reminded that when a county prosecuting officer fails to do his duty when facts are presented sufficient to make a prima facie case the attorney general of the state can step in and personally take charge of the prosecution. When Attorney General Benjamin Griffith returns Friday he will be instructed by the governor to proceed against the five men who dragged Michael Livoda, organizer for the United Mine Workers of America, from his bed, robbed him of his union papers and ordered him to leave Walsenburg and Colorado.

John McLennan and John R. Lawson, in charge of the organization of miners, made the request that the state executive take action after District Attorney McHenry of Las Animas county failed to act. Deputy District Attorney Undershot, at Walsenburg, also refused to cause the arrest of the accused men.

McLennan and Lawson gave the names of these men to Governor Shafroth to turn over to the attorney general for prosecution: Charles A Kaiser, assistant superintendent of the Walsen mine; Deputy Sheriff Carr, stationed at the Walsen mine; James Farr, deputy sheriff, stationed at the Ravenwood mine, where Livoda was beaten, and a nephew of Sheriff Jefferson Farr; John Neish, superintendent of the Ravenwood mine, and Joseph Watson, guard at the Ravenwood mine. They claim to have witnesses to prove the five men guilty of the assault and robbery

Livoda was asleep in the house of a friend on the night of June 13 when five men entered the place, went through his clothes, took all union documents, marched him through the camp with mouth bound so he could not cry out, and when he reached the open country turned him loose after firing four shots and threatening to kill him if he came back.

—————

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From The Comrade: “Child Labor in Free America” by John Spargo, Illustrated by Ryan Walker

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Mother Jones Quote, Child Labor Man of Six Snuff Sniffer—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday July 3, 1902
“Child Labor in Free America” by John Spargo, Illustrated by Ryan Walker

From The Comrade of July 1902:

HdLn Child Labor by John Spargo, Comrade p221, July 1902

Poem EB Browning, Hear the Children, Comrade p221, July 1902

———-

Child Must Toil by Ryan Walker, Comrade p222, July 1902

Mocking the stately phrases of the Declaration of Independence and the proud boast enshrined in our national songs, is the terrible reality of child-slavery. From the far South comes a cry from children that know no childhood and upon whose degradation the great edifice of our commercial supremacy is being raised. Not since the early years of the last century when the great and good Robert Owen, Michael Sadler and the seventh Earl of Shaftsbury (then Lord Ashley) gave voice to the terrible condition of the mere babes who languished and toiled in British mills and factories, has such a terrible story of shame been told as that which is told of Alabama, Georgia, and the two Carolinas to-day. Little boys and girls of five, six, seven, and eight years, toiling in factories ten, and even twelve, hours a day, all unconsciously mock our “civilization” and imperil the very life of the nation.

But it is not alone in these States that child labor prevails. From almost every State in the Union the cry of the child toiler for rest, for childhood, for life, is heard. In the North no less than the South; East no less than the West, the same great problem exists-the problem of child labor co-existing side by side with a permanent army of unemployed adults. In the textile mills of the South it is estimated that there are at least 20,000 children at work under fourteen years of age. In Alabama alone there are some twelve hundred children employed, being a proportion of between six and seven per cent of all the operatives. In Georgia the proportion of children under twelve to grown persons employed in the mills is stated to be not less than 14 per cent, and in South Carolina it is at least nine per cent. The ages of these children thus classified as “under twelve” run all the way down to six and even five years!

Let those who prate of our “glorious progress,” and boast of our ascendant commercial power, reflect upon the terrible fact that little children, scarcely more than babies, can be found by the thousand in these southern mills working 12 and 12½ hours every day at the spinning frames for wages that range from ten to twenty cents a day. Here is a terrible account of this child slavery, written by a special correspondent of Cincinnati Post, which should be sufficient of itself to shame the people of this country, and to rouse them to vigorous action. He says:

I secured entrance to the People’s mills of Montgomery, (Alabama) which manufacture sheeting for the China trade. In the spinning room, where most of the children are employed, there were 125 persons of all ages at work. Of that number between 40 and 50 were children less than 12 years old. Those who had ever been in a school house were rare exceptions. In this room I saw boys and girls so small that their efforts to perform their work were absolutely pitiful. In reaching up to join the ends of the broken threads they were obliged to strain and stretch every muscle and sinew of their frail bodies and some were so small that they were compelled to stand on their tiptoes. This was repeated every five minutes or oftener for twelve long hours. I called the foreman’s attention to several little ones who I was sure could not be over six years old and was told “they are not working,” which meant that they were not on the pay-roll, but were helping the parent or older brother or sister, or learning the machines, so as to be able to take their place in that mill.

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Hellraisers Journal: “Ettor and Giovannitti Must Be Saved” -a Message from National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party

Janet RayeBread and Roses Strike of 1912
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Quote Giovannitti, The Walker, Rest My Brother—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday July 2, 1912
Message to Workers from N. E. C. of Socialist Party of America

From the International Socialist Review of July 1912:

Save Ettor n Giovannitti, SPA NEC, ISR p19, July 1912

—–

Message from Ettor, ISR p20, July 1912

—–

Poem Giovannitti, Republic, ISR p21, July 1912

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Hellraisers Journal: “Knight of the Round Belly” by Robert Minor: U. S. Supreme Court Rules Against Nation’s Child Workers

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Mother Jones Quote ed, Suffer Little Children, CIR p10641, May 14, 1915

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday July 1, 1922
“The Knight of the Round Belly” by Robert Minor
-United State Supreme Court Rules Against Nation’s Child Workers

From The Liberator of July 1922:

US Supreme Court re Child Labor Laws, Drawing by Robert Minor, Lbtr p18, July 1922

January 1911, South Pittston Pennsylvania
-Breaker Boys of Pennsylvania Coal Company by Lewis Hine

 The dust was so dense at times as to obscure the view. This dust penetrates the utmost recesses of the boy’s lungs. A kind of slave driver sometimes stands over the boys, prodding or kicking them into obedience.

Breaker Boys, Jan 1911, Lewis Hine

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Hellraisers Journal: From Regeneración: Nuestros Hermanos Condenados a Un Ano, Once Meses de Prision en McNeil Island

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote R Magon Viva Tierra y Libertad, Regen p2, May 13, 1911

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday June 30, 1912
Los Angeles, California – Mexican Comrades Sentence to Nearly Two Years
-Ricardo and Enrique Flores Magón, Librado Rivera, and Anselmo L. Figueroa

From Regeneración of June 29, 1912:

RnE Magon Rivera Figueroa Sentenced to Two Years, Regeneracion p1n4, June 29, 1912

—–

A Todos Nuestros Companeros Vamos Tranquilos, Regeneracion p1, June 29,1912

—–

English Section re Mexican Comrades Magon etc to McNeil Prison, Regeneracion p4, June 29, 1912

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Hellraisers Journal: From Butte Labor World: Eugene Debs Gives Rousing Speech on Class Struggle to Enthusiastic Audience

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote EVD, Socialist Ripe Trade Unionist, WLUC p45, May 31, 1902—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday June 29, 1902
Debs Speaks at Butte, Montana: “We Must Gain Possession of the Tools of Trade”

From the Social Democratic Herald of June 28, 1902
-Letter from Eugene V. Debs at Butte, Montana, June 17th:

Letter EVD from Butte June 17, SDH p4, June 28, 1902

From the Butte Labor World of June 20, 1902:

HdLn EVD Butte June 16 Speech, Lbr Wld p1, June 20, 1902

 Eugene V. Debs was given a rousing reception at the Auditorium Monday evening [June 16th]. It was an enthusiastic audience that heard him speak, and as he stood upon the platform for two solid hours and hurled rugged truths at them he was greeted with applause which at times was in the nature of an ovation.

Few public speakers of today could have filled the spacious Auditorium upon so short notice. Stopping off for a day in Butte, it had not been Mr. Debs’ purpose to speak at that time, but he was prevailed upon by a number of the most earnest workers for the cause of Socialism, and he consented. Hardly three hours was given in which to spread the news, but somehow it went the rounds and the Auditorium was filled from gallery to rostrum. Many who had come late were compelled to stand.

A Keen, Forceful Talker.

Upon the platform, as well as off, Eugene V. Debs is a wonderfully magnetic man. His flashes of humor, his clear, strong way of putting the questions before the minds of his auditors, and his cutting sarcasm directed at things and conditions he believes to be wrong, are such as to hold his audience spellbound.

“We Must Gain Possession of the Tools of Trade,” was the tenor of his remarks. “Human life will then be sacred. The badge of labor will be the badge of nobility.”

Charles Whitely, of the Butte Mill and Smeltermen’s union, was the chairman of the meeting and introduced the distinguished speaker.

Mr. Whitely referred to him as the “ablest labor leader the United States has ever produced,” and the audience cheered loudly. Mr. Debs appeared to be pleased with the cordial and earnest feeling with which he was received. It inspired him to extra effort, and the effect was truly notable.

Debs’ Speech.

It seems but a little while-yet four years have passed and many changes have taken place since I had the pleasure of speaking to you.

Never was there a greater demand for intelligent, thorough, and progressive action on the part of the laboring class than now. That such a large attendance could be secured upon so short notice proves that the workers of Butte are alive and determined to wage a struggle with increasing vigor until the working class is free. Not until the capitalist system of exploitation is overthrown and the wage system is abolished and the workers control the means of production and receive the full product of their toil, not until then will the struggle cease and they will stand as the rulers of the world.

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