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Hellraisers Journal – Friday February 10, 1911
New York City – Longshoreman’s Local Protests Torture of Fresno I. W. W.
From the Spokane Industrial Worker of February 9, 1911:
FIRE ENGINES NOT FOR TORTURE
———-NEW YORK LONGSHOREMEN PROTEST AGAINST BRUTALITY OF POLICE AND OTHER LEGALIZED THUGS IN FRESNO-FIRE DEPARTMENTS ARE NOT KEPT FOR EXECUTIONERS.
To the “Industrial Worker.”
We, the members of Local No. 791, International Longshoremen’s Association of New York, hereby enter our protest against the inhuman, un-American and non-constitutional treatment meted out to the members of the I. W. W. by the city government of Fresno, California.
We protest against the curtailment of free speech to one body of men, when the constitutional right is accorded to others freely, especially when the members of the I. W. W. desire simply to discuss industrial matters or make known their views on industrial conditions.
We protest against the methods used to suppress such meetings and discussions and insist that the right of free assemblage be granted to all lawful meetings, whether of an industrial social or religious character.
We protest against the treatment meted out to the I. W. W. men as brutal and unchristian and by such treatment the municipal government of Fresno forfeited the right of public respect or public obedience and to such a degree were faithless to their oaths of duty, and in incentive to lawlessness and anarchy that they use as an excuse for brutality on their own part.
We further protest that the treatment of any man regardless of what offense has been committed, by the use of the municipal fire department (public servant and not a public executioner) drenching and battering men under a water pressure of 150 pounds to the square inch, was not only lawless, but a type of callous brutality that almost discredits belief.
We finally protest against all these acts and concomitants involved as tending to rob the citizens of the nation of their rights, casing a blight on the city of Fresno and the state of California, and make the citizens of other states blush for the disgrace of their fallen sister.
Resolution Committe, I. L. A., New York City, Jan. 17th, 1911.
JOHN REILLY,
JOHN WALSH,
E.J.MORVIN.P. S.-Fellow Worker E. G. Flynn appeared before three locals of the I. L. A. in the past week for the shoe workers, who were on strike, and was well received. MORVIN.
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[Emphasis added.]
Cartoon Details:
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SOURCE & IMAGES
Industrial Worker
(Spokane, Washington)
-Feb 9, 1911
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n47-w99-feb-09-1911-IW.pdf
See also:
Tag: Fresno Free Speech Fight of 1910-1911
https://weneverforget.org/tag/fresno-free-speech-fight-of-1910-1911/
For more from this issue of Industrial Worker, see:
-page 1: “An I.W.W. Strike Won’t Quit Union-Shoe Bosses Ask Strikers to Leave Labor Union.[re New York Shoe Workers Strike]”
-page 1: Detroit I. W. W. Denounces Police Brutality in Fresno”
-page 3: “The Free Speech Fight in Fresno”
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n47-w99-feb-09-1911-IW.pdf
Spokane Industrial Worker of January 26, 1911:
-page 1: “Imprisoned without Trial [by Chief Shaw]”
-page 1: “Do Your Duty”
-page 1: “Boycott Fresno Products”
-page 2: “Free Speech Fight in Fresno”
-page 2: “Fresno Rock Pile”
-page 2: “Sympathy for Chief of Police Shaw of Fresno”
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/industrialworker/iw/v2n45-w97-jan-26-1911-IW.pdf
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There is Power in a Union – Monsieur Jack
Lyrics by Joe Hill