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Hellraisers Journal – Monday June 13, 1910
Fresno, California – Fellow Worker Little Reports on Fight to Organize Local 66
From the Industrial Worker of June 11, 1910:
LIBERTY VS. THE LAW.
Fresno, Cal., May 29, 1910.
Editor Industrial Worker: The meeting of the I. W. W. in the public park today was suppressed by the county officials, backed by the uniformed thugs of the city. The constitution of the nation and state was stolen by the chief of police. The Industrial Worker was taken from one of the members. This park is supposed to belong to the people of Fresno county.
So you can see we are up against a big fight here in the near future. All fighters must prepare to come to Fresno when the call is sent out.
The chief of police says he will call on the G. A. R. and the Spanish War Veterans to wipe out the i. W. W.
Yours for Industrial Freedom,
F. H. LITTLE,
Organizer of the I. W. W.———-
We are taking in new members every day, and the sentiment is strong for Industrial Unionism. We expect to do something here this summer, as this is one of the best places in the west for agitation. There are lots of Germans and Russians here and they are ripe for organization. The Mexicans, Japanese and Chinese are lining up.
We have a bunch of agitators here-English, Mexican, German and Japanese-and are stirring things up. The masters see that we are jarring the workers loose from their conservative ideas.
The papers have announced that the A. F. of L. will organize the laborers-that is, the white slaves. They are going to run the Japanese out of the country.
They are also going to organize the farmers and the farm employes into one union. Ye gods and little fishes! Just think. The man who sweats and toils out in the hot sun, the man who produces all things good and has nothing, to belong to the same union as his master, who does nothing and has all. But I think they will fail, for the blanket stiff who is forced to hike over the road and carry his home on his back is too wise for the A. F. of L. labor faker.
All Fellow Workers who are looking for a master and who want to do good work for the I. W. W. would do well to stop at this place. We need as many agitators in this part of the country as we can get, for we expect to tie up this whole country this fall. We have the silent strike on. It is on a job for the Southern Pacific. The slave drivers are wild-the slaves won’t work as hard as they want them to. We have a bunch of I. W. W. men on the job and we swill get control soon. Then we expect to give them a dose of I. W. W. direct action. So keep your eye on Fresno and watch Local No. 66 grow. Will send you a line from time to time and let you know what is doing. Yours for Freedom.
F. H. LITTLE
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From the Industrial Worker of June 4, 1910:
STRUGGLE FOR FREE SPEECH IN NORTH AND WEST
—–There seems to be an epidemic of free speech fights on the part of the workers, due to the activity of the police in denying the workers the privilege of airing their views.
In at least three places have the workers had trouble with the mercenaries during the past week. In Seattle, Wenatchee and in Fresno, Cal., I. W. W. men have been jailed and otherwise mistreated for exercising the “right” of free speech.
The workers are quietly drifting into these centers of persecution, going to work and waiting until the opportunity present it self for direct action, either in the way of a general strike or a direct fight for free speech…..
In Fresno the chief of police has revoked all street-speaking permits and declares that anyone speaking in the street or refusing to accept work when offered will be jailed. Truly a return to the feudal system.
Telegrams and letters received from Fresno as follows:
Fresno, Cal.
Editor Industrial Worker, Spokane, Wash:
Permit revoked. Mexican agitator arrested. Prepare for fight. Await notice.F. H. LITTLE.
[More from Fellow Worker Frank Little:]
Fresno, Cal., May 27, 1910
Editor Industrial Worker: A few lines to let you know what is doing in this part of the country. Local No. 66 is doing some good work. We have got the master class up in arms. The chief of police has declared himself an autocrat and has, as is customary, set aside the Constitution and revoked our permit to speak on the street. Two of our members have been arrested, charged with vagrancy. One of them was working at the time. The other, who was a Mexican agitator and was doing good work for the Local, had been sick for some time. He will be tried next Wednesday. Fellow Worker Shane went up today for trial, but the judge refused to try him. The chief of police has notified us that to talk against the business interests is treason. He says that the big corporations are the government, and that we must obey their dictations. And that if a man doesn’t take any job that is offered him, regardless of wages or conditions, he will vag him. It makes no difference whether he has money or not.
But we will build up a good Local here this summer. The Russians, Mexicans, Japanese and Chinese are coming in, so you can look for something to happen here this fall.
Will go ahead and organize, and this fall after the harvest is over, and we can get the men to make the fight, we will take the streets in spite of the police. This is a fine winter climate and will be a fine place for the rebels to come. And I don’t think it will be as hard to make this place surrender as it was in Spokane. Then we will try and control the light and power, so if we can leave the city in darkness we will have a clinch on them. We will hold a mass meeting in the court house park next Sunday if the county officials don’t stop us.
If there are any Fellow Workers in this part of the country who want to do some good work for the I. W.W., stop at Fresno and get a job. We need some good job agitators. Wages are not the best, but a fellow can make enough to exist. A few of us went to work for the S. P. R. R. and started the silent strike. We made them double their forces. But the most of the agitators got fired and we are looking for another master. But we that have been on the soap box are having a hard time to locate one. We want to tie up the vineyards and packing houses this fall. So
all of you hobo agitators head this way and get ready to come to Fresno this fall and help us whip the city of Fresno. Yours for the I. W. W.
F. H. LITTLE
Note: Emphasis added.
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SOURCE & IMAGES
Industrial Worker
(Spokane, Washington)
-June 11, 1910, page 2
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n12-w64-jun-11-1910-IW.pdf
-June 4, 1910, page 1
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n11-w63-jun-04-1910-IW.pdf
See also:
Tag: Frank Little
https://weneverforget.org/tag/frank-little/
Frank Little and the IWW
The Blood That Stained an American Family
-by Jane Little Botkin
University of Oklahoma Press, May 25, 2017
(search: “fresno free speech fight”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=ghskDwAAQBAJ
Fellow Workers and Friends
I.W.W. Free Speech Fights as Told by Participants
-by Philip S Foner
Greenwood Press, Jan 1, 1981
-see Chapter 3, pages 76-123
https://books.google.com/books?id=y4yxAAAAIAAJ
Site of the Fresno Free Speech Fight
https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/wm3M9W_873_Site_of_the_Fresno_Free_Speech_Fight
At the corner of Mariposa and I Streets, from
October 1910 to March 1911, the Industrial Workers of the World fought for the right of free speech in their efforts to organize Fresno’s unskilled labor force. This was the first free speech fight in California and the first attempt at organizing the valley’s unskilled workers.California Registered
Historical Landmark #873
Plaque Placed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation In Cooperation with Fresno Parlor #25 N.S.G.W. October 18 1974
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One Big Industrial Union/Paint ‘er Red – May Day Chorus
Lyrics by Ralph Chaplin