Don’t Mourn, Organize!
-Joe Hill
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday November 28, 1916
Seattle, Washington – Labor Mourns Martyrs and Gathers in Protest
The Seattle Union Record, voice of the Central Labor Council, in its November 25th edition, carried an account of the grand funeral which was held on November 18th to honor Hugo Gerlot, John Looney and Felix Baran, three of the Everett Free Speech Martyrs, who were murdered at Everett Harbor on November 5, 1916. The same edition reported on the mass public meeting, held at Dreamland on November 19th, attended by thousands, and held to protest the murderous suppression of Free Speech on the day now known as Everett’s Bloody Sunday.
Free Speech Heroes Get Grand I. W. W. Send-Off:
EVERETT-KILLED WORKERS BURIED
—–Simple but Impressive Ceremonies at Graves
of Victims of Battle of November 5
—–
Thousands of Seattle citizens viewed the impressive funeral cortege of three of the Everett free speech martyrs on Saturday afternoon.
Leading the funeral procession was an automobile loaded with floral tributes the most elaborate of which was a massive set piece of white carnations with the motto, “Workers of the World Unite,” in red. Another portrayed the spirit of the great crowd in one pregnant word “Solidarity.”
As the three automobile hearses, bearing the bodies of Fellow workers Hugo Gerlot, John Looney and Felix Baran, left the undertaking parlors, the band played the sad, stern, revolutionary strains of “The Marsellaise,” and the great crowd with one accord removed their hats to do honor to their dead class-comrades.
Then came several automobiles with the mourners and the volunteer lady pall-bearers, followed by over 1,000 marching men, four abreast, swinging in regular time, each man wearing a red rose.
On they marched through the business section of Seattle out towards the Mount Pleasant cemetery keeping step to the “Red Flag,” the “Marsellaise” and other revolutionary airs played by the band.
Marchers Silent
The marchers were silent and reserved: there was a sort of stern determination shown in their steady and unflinching advance.
Crowds gathered thickly upon the sidewalk to watch the imposing, thought-compelling, sad procession pass. Many in the crowds wore a red flower or in some way showed their sympathy with the cause of labor and liberty. At length the cemetery was reached and the marchers were met at the side of the three graves by many who had come by street car to witness the last tribute paid to the dead.
The service opened with the singing of “Workers of the World, Awaken,” and the voices rang out in the clear air of the hills strong and defiant, and yet with an undertone of grief. The graves are upon the crest of a mighty hill, from the eminence of which one can survey the city of Seattle, laid out below in all its complex ramifications and over-brooded by a great pall of smoke.
After the singing of the first song, Charles Ashleigh gave the address, which was forceful, eloquent and unanswerable. there was no note of discouragement, no trace of bitterness, no hint of hysteria, no idea of lawlessness, but throughout the whole oration an inspiring spirit of genuine manliness and constructive faith.
Eloquent and Thoughtful
The writer has witnessed many funerals but never heard a more eloquent, thoughtful mortuary address. True there was no minister taking part in the ceremony as one Seattle paper sneeringly reported, but who would undertake to deny that He was not present who said, “Go to; learn what this meaneth; I will have mercy and not sacrifice.”
Ashleigh pointed out to the assembly the industrial city lying at their feet, over-shadowed by the murk, and said that these men had died in an effort to spread the great light of working-class freedom which would one day conquer the black fogs of oppression and ignorance and make clear the way for the workers’ commonwealth. He reminded everyone that they also might any time be called upon to render the same offering as had these fellow workers,-the offering of their lives; and that there was no better way of dying than that of dying in the cause of the workers. He called upon those present to renew their resolution to never give up the fight until the enemy-capitalism-had been vanquished.
[He said:]
Today we pay tribute to the dead. Tomorrow we turn, with spirit unquellable, to give battle to the foe!
After the address, the workers sang the “Red Flag,” and during this song everyone present took their flowers from their coats and threw them upon the coffins. There was a shower of red roses and carnations flying through the air, and presently the black outlines of the coffins were lost in the soft covering of blooms.
———-
[Photographs and emphasis added.]
Labor Unionists and Seattle Citizens Meet at Dreamland:
GREAT FREE SPEECH MEETING
SEATTLE TURNS OUT LARGEST CROWD
EVER TO HEAR THE TRUTH
—–Daily Newspapers Fail to Print News With Exception of Star-Congressional Investigation Demanded of the Everett Tragedy-Every Class of Citizens Take Exception to Violation of Rights of Individuals Under Supposedly Free Government-Organize for Defense
—–
Whereas, For some months last past industrial troubles have prevailed at Everett, Washington, and vicinity, arising chiefly from the strike of the longshoremen and shingle weavers in that community, and
Whereas, On Sunday, November 5, 1916, a deplorable and bloody conflict occurred in which seven men were killed and about fifty wounded; and
Whereas, Such intense local feeling has been engendered as readers it difficult to ascertain the facts and determine the causes responsible for the tragedy; that the matter is of such importance and the situation so grave that the welfare of this section, as well as the cause of justice, demands that all the material facts be ascertained.
That on the one hand it is contended by the employers and their sympathizers that an armed and lawless body of Industrial Workers of the World went from Seattle to Everett on board the steamer Verona for the purpose of committing various offenses against the public; that, on the other hand, it is contended that the said passengers on the Verona were not armed and that they were going to Everett for the purpose of asserting the right of free speech, which has been illegally denied them, and lawfully to protest against the strikers and their sympathizers by the officials, special agents and deputies hired by the employers; therefore be it
Resolved, By the citizens of Seattle, assembled in mass convention at Dreamland Rink this 19th day of November, 1916, that we earnestly request the Congress of the United States and the President to investigate all the facts connected with, AND THE CAUSES LEADING TO, the said tragedy, and to report thereon, to the end that ways and means may be devised to prevent the recurrence of such deplorable events.
Dreamland never held a larger crowd than assembled there last Sunday to learn the truth about the Everett tragedy of November 5. All classes were represented in the great audience and on the platform, and the enthusiasm at moments was intense. The precious liberties that have been gained through countless years of struggle were endangered and the people turned out to defend them again. The resolutions appearing above were adopted by a rising vote that was unanimous amidst tremendous cheering after Robert Bridges, chairman of the Seattle port commission, had made a masterful speech.
Declaring himself to be an exponent of free speech at any cost, and announcing that he was not ashamed to appear on the same platform with J. T. Doran, an organizer of the Industrial Workers of the World, “who looked just like any other respectable citizen.”
Mr. Bridges was the final of a number of speakers, those preceding him taking up various phases of the troubles leading to and the possible results of the industrial strife existing in Everett, which culminated in the bloody struggle between a boatload of I. W. W. and a deputized body of Everett citizens.
Collection Is Taken
Judge Richard Winsor, a member of the school board, presided at the meeting, and introduced the various speakers. During the program a collection to aid in the defense of the men accused of murder was taken, and $261.93 contributed.
The first speaker was J. Michel, secretary of the Everett Building Trades Council, who gave a straight-forward story of the events leading up to the tragedy, telling of the terrible brutalities practiced by the “citizens’ committee” on any workingman who happened to visit that town wearing overalls.
Hulet M. Wells, former president of the Central Labor Council, was then introduced and told why organized labor approved of and fostered the meeting. In part he said:
This meeting was called for the purpose of expressing our disapproval of the high-handed methods resorted to by the capitalistic slaves of Everett and Snohomish County who are vested with the enforcement of the laws of the community, and to give voice to a demand for free speech, which constitutional right we most emphatically demand be preserved to us.
I am not here to applaud or to censure the I. W. W., the direct action methods sometimes resorted to by that organization not always being approved by me, but their method at direct action is not more obnoxious or anarchistic than was the sentiment of anarchy which was given voice at a meeting held at the Seattle Press Club recently.
Speaking of that meeting, a reference to some of its members was made in a labor union meeting in which certain persons were referred to as “poor stiffs.” I am not here to apologize for that characterization, for I am not familiar with the intent of the speaker who uttered that phrase. I believe, however, that he referred to a collective body rather than any individual.
Mr. Wells then strongly advocated a campaign to enlist a congressional investigation of the Everett affair. He was followed by Rev. Sydney Strong, who suggested that a solution of the whole affair might be had if the authorities of Snohomish County would throw open the jails and free the members of the I. W. W. incarcerated on murder charges growing out of that fatal Sundays’s episode.
Following Mr. Strong, C. J. France, attorney for the port commission, and one of the best lawyers in Seattle, made a masterful address on the law regarding free speech-the substance of which is given in another part of this issue.
J. T. Doran, an organizer for the I. W. W., was the next speaker, and his remarks were frequently interrupted with cheers, as well as the chanting of I. W. W. hymns by a chorus of members of that organization. Doran accused big business of being much more anarchistic in tendency than any labor organization and even more energetic in the application of direct action than any I. W. W. who was ever affiliated with the organization.
Mr. Bridges then spoke, and the immense crowd rose as one man to his plea for the rights and liberties of the people.
In its report of the meeting the Post-Intelligencer left out all mention of the speeches of Michel and France, the two most telling indictments of the lawandorderites, and the Times entirely ignored the entire affair. The Star contained a fair and, for them, complete story.
———-
[Photograph and emphasis added.]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SOURCE
Seattle Union Record
“Owned by the Central Labor Council of Seattle”-AFL
(Seattle, Washington)
-Nov 25, 1916
(015 & 016-Article begins on page 1.)
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/pnwlabor/page/1
IMAGES
Everett Massacre, Funeral Gerlot, Looney, Baran, Nov 18, 1916, WCS
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015002672635;page=root;view=image;size=100;seq=125;num=119
Everett Massacre, Funeral Baran Gerlot Looney, Nov 18, 1916, UW
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/pnwlabor/page/1
Everett Massacre, Funeral Felix Baran, Nov 18, 1916, UW
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/pnwlabor/page/2
Everett Massacre, Ad Dreamland Mtg, Stt Str, Nov 18, 1916
https://www.newspapers.com/image/145517289/
See also:
“Seattle Union Record” by Natalia Salinas-Aguila
“Owned by the Central Labor Council of Seattle” -AFL
http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/laborpress/Union_Record_1900-1928.htm
Tag: Seattle Union Record
https://weneverforget.org/tag/seattle-union-record/
Tag: Everett Massacre
https://weneverforget.org/tag/everett-massacre/
The Everett Massacre
-by Walker C. Smith
IWW, 1918
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001106557
Workers of the World Awaken
Lyrics by Joe Hill
http://www.folkarchive.de/workers.html