The bandage will remain
on the eyes of Justice
as long as the Capitalist
has the cut, shuffle, and deal.
-Big Bill Haywood
Hellraisers Journal, Friday November 2, 1917
Cook County Jail, Chicago – A View from the Inside
From the International Socialist Review:
Big Bill Haywood Reports from the Cook County Jail.
—–
INSIDE
AFTER twenty-three days of arduous work on the part of the Grand Jury, indictments were returned containing five counts. Upon these indictments, one hundred and sixty-six members of the I. W. W. have been or will be arrested. At headquarters, every man in the general office, hall, editorial rooms and publishing bureau were arrested without warrant, be it understood, hustled into waiting autos and rushed to the federal bldg., where, after some delay and a perfunctory introduction to U. S. Marshall Bradley, the warrants were then read.
We were handcuffed together two by two and marched down to a waiting patrol wagon; nine of us started for Cook county jail.
Clang, clang, a bell rang out, big iron doors slid back, the auto patrol wheeled up to the rear entrance of the Cook county jail, nine of us, federal prisoners, piled out thru a barred gate past the fumigator where clothes and mattresses are cleaned of vermin and disease.
Thru another iron door which was noisily locked behind, we stood in the receiving room of the prison, where thousands of culprits that enter this institution of capitalism are examined and decorated.
The guard removed the handcuffs from our wrists; we were placed in small detention cells. From a runner we ordered and paid for our first meal in this jail; sandwiches, pie and coffee were the menu which were later, with the evening papers, slipped thru the bars of the cells which were assigned to us.
Before we had the opportunity of eating our delayed supper we filed out one at a time, seated before the clerk who took our names, were recorded atheists, agnostics; these replies have been a protection from the Sunday invasion of preachers and Salvation army scouts.
After being carefully searched, receipts were made out for personal property taken, to be held until our release, then, to the shower baths with skimpy towels and brown soap furnished. We put on our clothes without the process of fumigation.
This is the old jail; a room about 60 by 60 with a double row of cells four tiers high; our cells face the alley to the west. Cells are 6 by 8, about 8 feet high with ceilings slightly sloping to the rear.
This cell is parlor, bedroom, dining room and lavatory all in one. Decorations black and white. That is—the interior is painted solid black on two walls, black half way on the other two walls, the rest is white. Wash bowl, toilet, water pipe, small bench, a narrow double decked iron bunk, flat springs, straw mattresses, sheet and pillow case of rough material, blanket, two spoons and two tin cups constitute the furniture of our temporary homes, where we spend twenty hours out of every twenty-four in involuntary idleness-parasites—doing no more service for ourselves or society than the swell guys who loll around clubs or attend the functions at fashionable resorts. Our needs, limited to be sure, are attended by the “runner,” a prisoner ordered to do this task, and his only recompense is small tips.
* * *
“See our numbers still increasing;
Hear the bugle blow.
By our union we shall triumph
Over every foe.”And triumph we will, while victims at present of the most infamous outrage ever perpetrated in America n history. Charged with having printed the Preamble of the I. W. W., our prosecutors have made that document as historic as the declaration of Independence. The Preamble is still nailed to our masthead.
Yours for Industrial Freedom,
WM. D. HAYWOOD.———-
The United States of America vs. William D. Haywood et al.
From the I. W. W. Indictments
THE grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that before said period of time there existed, and throughout said period there has existed, a certain organization of persons under the name of Industrial Workers of the World, commonly called “I. W. W.’s,” the “One Big Union,” and “O. B. U.;” that said organization, during said period, has been composed of a large number of persons, to wit, two hundred thousand persons, distributed in all parts of the United States, being almost exclusively laborers in the many branches of industry necessary to the existence and welfare of the people of the United States and of their government, among others the transportation, mining, meat-packing, canning, lumbering and farming industries, and the livestock, fruit, vegetable and cotton raising industries; that said defend-ants, during said period have been members of said organization and among those known in said organization as “militant members of the working class” and “rebels,” holding various offices, employments and agencies therein; and that, in their said membership, offices, employments and agencies, said defendants, during said period of time, with the special purpose of preventing, hindering and delaying the execution of said laws, severally have been actively engaged in managing and conducting the affairs of said association, propagating its principles by written, printed, and verbal exhortations, and accomplishing its objects, which are now here explained, and thereby and in so doing, during said period, throughout the United States and in said division and district, have engaged in, and have attempted to accomplish, and in part have accomplished, the objects of the unlawful and felonious conspiracy aforesaid.
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that said organization, before and during said period of time, has been one for supposedly advancing the interests of laborers as a class (by members of said organization called “the workers” and “the proletariat”), and giving them complete control and ownership of all property, and of the means of producing and distributing property through the abolition of all other classes of society (by the members of said organization designated as “capitalists”, “the capitalistic class”, “the master class”, “the ruling class”, “exploiters of the workers”, “bourgeois”, and “parasites”); such abolition to be accomplished not by political action or with any regard for right or wrong but by the continual and persistent use and employment of unlawful, tortious and forcible means and methods, involving threats, assaults, injuries, intimidations and murders upon the persons, and the injury and destruction (known in said organization as “sabotage”, “direct action”, “working on the job”, “wearing the wooden shoes”, “working the sab-cat”, and “slowing-down tactics”), of the property of such other classes, the forcible resistance to the execution of all laws and finally the forcible revolutionary overthrow of all existing governmental authority, in the United States; use of which said first-mentioned means and methods was principally to accompany local strikes, industrial strikes, and general strikes of such laborers, and use of all of which said means and methods was to be made in reckless and utter disregard of the rights of all persons not members of said organization, and especially of the right of the United States to execute its above-enumerated laws, and with especial and particular design, on the part of said defendants of seizing the opportunity presented by the desire and necessity of the United States expeditiously and successfully to carry on its said war, and by the consequent necessity for all laborers throughout the United States in said branches of industry to continue at and faithfully to perform their work, for putting said unlawful, tortious and forcible methods for accomplishing said object of said organization into practice, said defendants well knowing, as they have, during said period, well known and intended, that the necessary effect of their so doing would be, as it in fact has been, to hinder and delay and in part to prevent the execution of said laws above enumerated, through interference with the production and manufacture of divers articles, to wit, munitions, ships, fuel, subsistence supplies, clothing, shelter and equipment, required and necesary for the military and naval forces of the United States in carrying on said war, and of the materials necessary for such manufacture, and through interference with the procurement of such articles and materials, by the United States, through purchases, and through orders and contracts for immediate and future delivery thereof, between the United States and persons, firms and corporations too numerous to be here named (if their names were known to said grand jurors), and through interference with and the prevention of the transportation of such articles and of said military and naval forces; and that said organization, as said defendants during said period of time have well known and intended, has also been one for discouraging, obstructing and preventing the prosecution by the United States of said war between the United States and the Imperial German Government, and preventing, hindering and delaying the execution of said laws above enumerated, by requiring the members of said organization available for duty in said military and naval forces to fail to register, and to refuse to submit to registration and draft, for service in said military and naval forces, and to fail and refuse to enlist for service therein, and by inciting others so to do, notwithstanding the requirements of said laws in that behalf and notwithstanding the patriotic duty of such members and others so to register and submit to registration and draft, and so to enlist, for service in said military and naval forces, and notwithstanding the cowardice involved in such failure and refusal; which last-mentioned object of said organization was also to be accomplished by the use of all the means and methods aforesaid as a protest against, and as a forcible means of preventing, hindering and delaying, the execution of said laws of the United States, as well as by the forcible rescue and concealment of such of said members as should be proceeded against under those laws for such failure and refusal on their part, or sought for service or for enlistment and service in said military and naval forces.
Overt Acts
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that in and for executing said unlawful and felonious conspiracy, combination, confederation and agreement, certain of said defendants, at the several times and places in that behalf hereinafter mentioned in connection with their names, have done certain acts; that is to say:
1. Said William D. Haywood, Ralph H. Chaplin, Francis Miller, Charles L. Lambert, Richard Brazier and William Wiertola, on April 7, 1917, at Chicago aforesaid, in said division and district, caused to be printed, in the issue of the newspaper Solidarity of that date the following:
Preamble
Industrial Workers of the WorldThe working class and the employing class have nothing in common. There can be no peace so long as hunger and want are found among the millions of working people and the few, who make up the employing class have all the good things of life.
Between these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production, and abolish the wage system.
We find that the centering of management of industries into fewer and fewer hands makes the trade unions unable to cope with the ever growing power of the employing class. The trade unions foster a state of affairs which allows one set of workers to be pitted against another set of workers in the same industry, thereby helping defeat one another in wage wars. Moreover, the trade unions aid the employing class to mislead the workers into the belief that the workers have interests in common with their employers.
These conditions can be changed and the interest of the working class upheld only by an organization formed in such a way that all its members in any one industry, or in all industries, if necessary, cease work whenever a strike or lockout is on in any department thereof, thus making an injury to one an injury to all.
Instead of the conservative motto, “A fair’s day’s wage for a fair day’s work,” we must inscribe on our banner the revolutionary watchword, “Abolition of the wage system.”
It is the historic mission of the working class to do away with capitalism. The army of production must be organized, not only for the every day struggle with capitalists, but to carry on production when capitalism shall have been overthrown. By organizing industrially we are forming the structure of the new society within the shell of the old.
4. Said William D. Haywood, Ralph H. Chaplin, Francis Miller, Charles L. Lambert, Richard Brazier and William Wiertola, on August 11, 1917, at Chicago aforesaid, in said division and district, caused to be printed, in the issue of the newspaper Solidarity, of that date, among other things, the following matters, to wit:
Page 5, column 1. “But the I. W. W. is more than a labor organization. It is a revolutionary union and the very word revolutionary presupposes something radically different from former concepts of what constitutes labor unions.
We Are Dissatisfied
A revolutionary body testifies to complete dissatisfaction with the existing order of things. And this is the first reason and main reason for the existence of the I. W. W. We are absolutely and irrevocably dissatisfied with the present system of society. We consider it a useless system and we mean to destroy it.”
Conclusion
And so the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say, that time, at the place, and in manner and form, aforesaid, unlawfully and feloniously have conspired by force to prevent, hinder and delay the execution of laws of the United States; against the peace and dignity of the United States, and contrary to the form of the statute of the same in such case made and provided.
Second Count
(Section 19 of the Criminal Code.)And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that said defendants named in the first count of this indictment, thruout the period of time from April 6, 1917, to the day of the finding and presentation of this indictment, at said City of Chicago, in said Eastern Division of said Northern District of Illinois, unlawfully and feloniously have conspired together, and with one Frank H. Little, now deceased, and with divers other persons to said grand jurors unknown, to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate a great number of citizens of the United States in the free exercise and enjoyment by them respectively of a certain right and privilege secured to them by the Constitution and laws of the United States, the names and the number of which said citizens are to said grand jurors unknown, but which said citizens can only be and are by said grand jurors generally described as being the class of persons, mentioned in the first count of this indictment, who during said period of time have been furnishing and endeavoring to furnish, to the United States, in pursuance of sales, orders and contracts between them and the United States, munitions, ships, fuel, subsistence supplies, clothing, shelter and equipment, necessary for the military and naval forces of the United States in carrying on its war with the Imperial German Government in said first count referred to, materials necessary for the manufacture of those articles, and transportation of said articles and materials and of said military and naval forces, all required and authorized to be procured by the United States from such persons and citizens under the several laws of the United States specifically mentioned in said first count as being the laws of which said defendants are charged in said count with conspiring to prevent, hinder and delay the execution; that is to say, the right and privilege of furnishing, to said United States, without interference, hinderance or obstruction by others, said articles, materials and transportation; which said conspiracy in this count mentioned has been one for injuring, oppressing, threatening and intimidating said citizens by interfering with, hindering and obstructing them in the free exercise and enjoyment of said right and privilege by and thru the continued and persistent use and employment, by said defendants, under the circumstances and conditions in said first count described, of the unlawful and tortious means and methods in that count set forth as the means and methods of accomplishing the objects of the unlawful and felonious conspiracy in that count charged against said defendants; the allegations of which said count in that behalf and concerning the existence, character and objects of the organization, called “Industrial Workers of the World” and “I. W. W.’s,” in said count mentioned, concerning the membership, offices, employment and agencies of said defendants in that organization, and concerning said unlawful and tortious means and methods, are incorporated in this count of this indictment by reference to said first count as fully as if they were here repeated.
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that in and for executing said unlawful and felonious conspiracy in this count charged, certain of said defendants have done the several acts described in said first count under the heading of “Overt Acts,” at the several times and places there stated.
Against the peace and dignity of the United States, and contrary to the form of the statute of the same in such case made and provided.
Third Count
(Section 37 of the Criminal Code in connection with Section 332 of the Criminal Code, Section 5 of the Act of May 18, 1917, and Article 58 of the Articles of War in the Act of August 29, 1916.)
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that thruout the period of time from May 18, 1917, to the day of the finding and presentation of this indictment, the United States has been at war with the Imperial German Government; and that continuously thruout said period of time said defendants named in the first count of this indictment, at said City of Chicago, in said Eastern Division of said Northern District of Illinois, then being members of the organization described in said first count, and called “Industrial Workers of the World,” “I. W. W.’s,” the “One Big Union” and “O. B. U.’s,” unlawfully and feloniously have conspired, combined, confederated and agreed together, and with one Frank H. Little, now deceased, and with divers other persons to said grand jurors unknown, to commit divers, to wit, ten thousand, offenses against the United States; that is to say, ten thousand offenses each to consist in unlawfully aiding, abetting, counseling, commanding, inducing and procuring one of the ten thousand male persons, other members of said organization, who on June 5, 1917, respectively attained their twenty-first birthday and who did not on that day attain their thirty-first birthday, and who have been required by the Proclamation of the President of the United States dated May 18, 1917, to present themselves for and submit to registration, under the Act of Congress approved May 18, 1917, and entitled “An Act to authorize the President to increase temporaily the Military Establishment of the United States,” at the divers registration places in the divers precincts in said Eastern Division of the Northern District of Illinois, and in the divers other precincts in other states of the United States, wherein said persons have by law respectively been required to present themselves for and submit to such registration, whose names, and the designation, of which said precincts, are to said grand jurors unknown, unlawfully and willfully to fail and refuse so to present himself for registration and so to submit thereto; none of such persons being an officer or an enlisted man of the Regular Army, of the Navy, of the Marine Corps or of the National Guard or Naval Militia in the Service of the United States, or an officer in the Reserve Corps or an enlisted man in the Enlisted Reserve Corps in active service; and divers, to wit, five thousand, other offenses against the United States, that is to say, five thousand offenses each to consist in unlawfully and feloniously aiding, abetting, counseling, commanding, inducing and procuring one of the five thousand persons, still other members of said organization, who should become subject to the military law of the United States under and thru the enforcement of the provisions of the Act of Congress in this count of this indictment above mentioned, and The Proclamations, Rules and Regulations of the President of the United States made in pursuance of said Act of Congress, and whose names are also unknown to said grand jurors, unlawfully and feloniously to desert the service of the United States in time of war; said defendants not then being themselves subject to military law of the United States.
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that in and for executing said unlawful and felonious conspiracy, combination, confederation and agreement in this count of this indictment charged, certain of said defendants, at the several times and places in that behalf mentioned in connection with their names under the heading “Overt Acts” in the first count of this indictment, have done certain acts; that is to say, the several acts mentioned in said first count under said heading: Against the peace and dignity of the United States, and contrary to the form of the statute of the same in such case made and provided.
Fourth Count
(Section 4 of the “Espionage Act” of June 15, 1917, in connection with Section 3 of that Act.)
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that thruout the period of time from June 15, 1917, to the day of the finding and presentation of this indictment, the United States has been at war with the Imperial German Government; and that continuously thruout said period of time said defendants named in the first count of this indictment, at said City of Chicago, in said Eastern Division of said Northern District of Illinois, then being members of the organization described in said first count and called “Industrial Workers of the World,” “I. W. W.’s,” the “One Big Union,” and “O. B. U.’s,” unlawfully and feloniously have conspired, combined, confederated and agreed together, and with one Frank H. Little, now deceased, and with divers other persons to said grand jurors unknown, to commit a certain offense against the United States, to wit, the offense of unlawfully, feloniously and wilfully causing and attempting to cause insubordination, disloyalty, and refusal of duty in the military and naval forces of the United States, when the United States was at war; and this thru and by means of personal solicitation, of public speeches, of articles printed in certain newspapers called Solidarity, Industrial Worker, A Bermunkas, Ddrbininku Balsas, Il Proletario, Industrial Unionist, Rabochy, El Rebelde, A Luz, Alarm, Solidarnosc and Australian Administration, circulating thruout the United States, and of the public distribution of certain pamphlets entitled “War and the Workers,” “Patriotism and the Workers,” and “Preamble and Constitution of the Industrial Workers of the World,” the same being solicitations, speeches, articles and pamphlets persistently urging insubordination, disloyalty and refusal of duty in said military and naval forces and failure and refusal on the part of available persons to enlist therein; and another offense against the United States, to wit, the offense of unlawfully, feloniously and willfully, by and thru the means last aforesaid, obstructing the recruiting and enlistment service of the United States, when the United States was at war, to the injury of that service and of the United States.
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present, that in and for executing said unlawful and felonious conspiracy, combination, confederation and agreement in this count of this indictment charged, certain of said defendants, at the several times and places in that behalf mentioned in connection with their names under the heading “Overt Acts” in the first count of this indictment, have done certain acts; that is to say, the several acts mentioned in said first count under said heading: Against the peace and dignity of the United States, and contrary to the form of the statute of the same in such case made and provided.
Fifth Count
(Section 37 of the Criminal Code in connection with Section 215 of the Criminal Code.)
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present, that the defendants in the first count of this indictment named, thruout the period of time from April 6, 1917, to the day of the finding and presentation of this indictment, at said City of Chicago, in said Eastern Division of said Northern District of Illinois, unlawfully and feloniously have conspired, combined, confederated and agreed together, and with one Frank H. Little, now deceased, and with divers other persons to said grand jurors unknown, to commit divers, to wit, twenty, offenses against the United States, that is to say twenty offenses each to consist in placing, and causing to be placed on Saturday of each week, in the postoffice of the United States at Chicago aforesaid, to be sent and delivered by the postoffice establishment of the United States, a large number, to wit, fifteen thousand, copies of a certain newspaper called Solidarity, and one thousand other offenses each to consist in placing, and causing to be placed, in said postoffice to be sent and delivered by said postoffice establishment, a large number, to wit, one hundred and fifty, “stickerettes” and one thousand other offenses each to consist in placing, and ,causing to be placed, in said postoffice, to be sent and delivered by said postoffice establishment, a copy of some one of the following books, to wit, “Sabotage” by Emile Pouget, and “Sabotage” by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, all of which publications contained information and advice advocating the commission of the fraudulent practices hereinafter set forth and all of which were for the purpose of executing a certain scheme and artifice to defraud the employers of labor hereinafter mentioned but whose names are to the grand jurors unknown; which was theretofore devised by said defendants:
That said defendants would cheat and defraud out of money, employers of labor thruout the United States, and particularly those employers of labor engaged in the manufacture of munitions and supplies for the United States “Army and Navy, and those engaged in furnishing the raw materials out of which said munitions and supplies are made, and those engaged in the transportation of said munitions and supplies and raw materials, by entering or staying in the employ of said employers and receiving and accepting money from said employers for working for them and by procuring other members of the Industrial Workers of the World so to do, when, in fact, said defendants while accepting and receiving said money would secretly and covertly work against said employers and to their injury and detriment and would induce and persuade said other members so to do; that said defendants would demand stated wages under agreements binding them respectively to give their services to their employers in good faith, and would pretend to said employers that they would render efficient services, assist said employers in producing good products and render their services free from intentional injury to their employers, and would induce and persuade said other members so to do; that they would hold said employments and accept said employments with the secret purpose and intention not to render efficient service to said employers and not to produce good products but secretly and covertly to render inefficient service, and to purposely assist in producing bad and unmarketable products and intentionally to retard, slacken and reduce production wherever employed, and intentionally to restrict and decrease the profits of said employers and interfere with and injure their trade and business, and secretly and covertly to injure, break up and destroy the property of said employers; and that they would teach, incite, induce, aid and abet said other members so to do. That as a part of said scheme and artifice, said defendants were to send and deliver by the postoffice establishment of the United States the newspapers, stickerettes and books aforesaid.
And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present, that in and for executing said unlawful and felonious conspiracy, combination, confederation and agreement, said defendants at the several times and places hereinafter mentioned in their behalf, have done certain acts, that is to say:
(1) Said defendants, on Saturday of each week during said period of time, caused to be printed, at Chicago aforesaid, in said division and district, fifteen thousand copies of said newspaper called Solidarity.
(2) Said William D. Haywood, on May 25, 1917, at Chicago aforesaid, in said division and district, gave an order to Cahill-Carberry & Company, of Chicago, to print and deliver to said William D. Haywood one million of said stickerettes.
(3) Said defendants, on July 25, 1917 caused to be printed, at Chicago aforesaid, in said division and district, one thousand copies of said book called “Sabotage,” by said Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.
Against the peace and dignity of the United States, and contrary to the form of the statute of the same in such case made and provided.
Charles F. Clyne,
United States Attorney.William C. Fitts,
Assistant Attorney General.Frank K. Nebeker,
Special Assistant to the Attorney General.Frank C. Dailey,
Special Assistant to the Attorney General.Oliver E. Pagan, Attorney,
Department of Justice.(Endorsed): No. 6125 United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The United States of America vs. William D. Haywood et al. Indictment on Sections 6, 19 and 37 of the Criminal Code of the United States, and Section 4 of the “Espionage Act” of June 15, 1917. A true bill. William H. Rose, Foreman. Filed in open court this 28th day of Sept., A. D. 1917.
T. C. MacMillan,
Clerk———-
[Emphasis added.]
SOURCES & IMAGES
International Socialist Review Volume 18
(Chicago, Illinois)
Charles H. Kerr and Company
July 1917-June 1918
https://archive.org/details/ISR-volume18
ISR Nov-Dec 1917
https://archive.org/stream/ISR-volume18#page/n132/mode/1up
“Inside” by Big Bill Haywood & Image of Big Bill
https://archive.org/stream/ISR-volume18#page/n138/mode/1up
“From The I. W. W. Indictments” & Names of Arrested
https://archive.org/stream/ISR-volume18#page/n139/mode/1up
See also:
“Famous American Labor Trials
The United States vs. William D. Haywood et al.”
-by Lydia Beidel
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/beidel/1941/09/iww.htm
Note: Writing for The Militant of Sept 1941, Lydia Beidel summarized the indictment:
The indictment contained five counts, charging the defendants with having:
1. “unlawfully and feloniously conspired, combined, confederated and agreed together … by force to prevent, hinder and delay the execution” of laws covering the the Selective Service Act, the Espionage Act, the act declaring a state of war against Germany, certain war-time appropriation bills and sections of the Penal Code;
2. conspired to “injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate a great number of citizens of the U.S.” (employers of labor) in the free exercise of their right to profiteer on sales of war supplies to the government;
3. attempted to induce 10,000 draft eligibles (not one was ever named or brought into court to testify!) not to register and to persuade 5,000 draftees (nobody ever saw one of these either) to desert;
4. conspired to “cause insubordination, disloyalty and refusal of duty” in the armed forces of the U.S. in a time of war;
5. conspired to execute a “certain scheme and artifice to defraud the employers of labor” by mailing propaganda materials (2,020 crimes – one for each piece mailed!).
17,020 crimes were charged against each one of the 166 defendants!