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Hellraisers Journal – Monday December 12, 1921
Los Angeles, California – Fellow Workers Found Guilty of Criminal Syndicalism
From The Los Angeles Times of December 8, 1921:
Nine defendants in the I.W.W. criminal syndicalism, case in Judge Willis’s court were found guilty last night. The Jury found Manuel Engdal not guilty since he not only denied membership in the organization, but a membership card in his name was not produced. The eleventh defendant, Thomas Bailey, was dismissed several days ago.
The defendants acted as their own attorneys. Most of them were charged with two counts, membership in the I.W.W. and treasonable propaganda. They will be sentenced tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. The convicted men are William Baker, Ben Whittling, R. Bendig, Abraham Shocker, Henry Matlln, James Olson, W. I. Fruit, Louis Allen and Edward Peters. The case has been under way since November 10. Dep. Dist.-Attys. Turney and McCartney conducted the prosecution.
“I regard this conviction as one of the most important ever secured in the courts of this country,” said Dist.-Atty. Woolwine last evening. “It serves notice upon the Reds of the world that they cannot with impunity enter America and here hatch plots and schemes for the overthrow of our government and institutions.”
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From The Los Angeles Times of December 11, 1921:
TAKE EIGHT I.W.W. TO SAN QUENTIN.
——-Eight out of nine I.W.W. convicted of criminal syndicalism after a trial of more than two weeks in Judge Willis’s court were taken to San Quentin last night to begin terms of from one to fourteen years. They were in charge of Deputy Sheriffs Nolan, Denison, McNulty and Aguirre. The eight are: H. Matlin, James Olson, R. Bendig, Louis Allen, W. I. Fruit, E. R. Peters, William Peters and Ben Wittling.
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SOURCES & IMAGES
Quote Frank Little re Guts, Wobbly by RC p208, Chg July 1917
https://books.google.com/books?id=n-ygPQAACAAJ
The Los Angeles Times
(Los Angeles, California)
-Dec 8, 1921
https://www.newspapers.com/image/156458012/
-Dec 11, 1921
https://www.newspapers.com/image/156760832/
See also:
American Political Prisoners
-by Stephen M. Kohn
Greenwood Publishing, 1994
(search separately: california syndicalism ; fred thompson)
https://books.google.com/books?id=-_xHbn9dtaAC
Note: See Chapter 13, pages157-169, for:
“State Anti-Sedition and Criminal Syndicalism Prisoners”
“California Criminal Syndicalism Act Prisoners”
Page 157:
William Baker, released Mar 11, 1925
Louis Allen, released Sept 11, 1925
Page 158:
Richard Bendig, released June 9, 1923
Page 161:
W. I. Fruit, released Mar 11, 1925
Page 164:
Henry Matlin, no release date given
Page 165:
James Olson, release date Feb 11, 1925
Edward R Peters, release date Jan 10, 1924
Page 169:
Ben Wittling, release date Dec 11, 1924
& not listed: Abraham Shocker
(see article above, he was not transferred to
San Quentin with the others)
Note: Fred W. Thompson was also incarcerated at San Quentin from Nov 7, 1923, to Mar 7, 1927, and describes conditions there on pages 167-168.
Criminal Syndicalism
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_syndicalism
“The Crime of Economic Radicalism: Criminal Syndicalism Laws and the Industrial Workers of the World, 1917-1921”
-by Ahmed A. White
U of CO Law School, 2006
https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1382&context=articles
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Prison Song by Ralph Chaplin
Cell 28, Cook County Jail, March 5, 1918
