Hellraisers Journal – Thursday November 10, 1910 Fresno, California – I. W. W. Free Speech Fight Has Been Postponed
From the Spokane Industrial Worker of November 9, 1910:
FRESNO FIGHT POSTPONED —————
Industrial Worker October 19, 1910
Fellow Workers: The fight for free speech has been postponed. On the 2d. of November the boys all came out of jail. Their excuse was that there were not enough men. It is true, the men were coming in awful slow, but they were coming. Public sentiment was changing in our favor, and if the men had stuck we would have won out.This fight is important and we must win or the I. W. W. will feel the painful consequences all over the west. Until we erase this blot from our crimson banner we must hang our heads in shame. If they can suppress our street meetings, they can also suppress our hall meetings and will hound us at every step.
We are not going to try to coax or persuade anyone to take part in this fight. If this fight is won it will be won by Industrial Unionists. The Industrial Unionist is the man who practices a large part of what he preaches. He does not walk around with a chip on his shoulder, telling the timid and modest members what he knows and what he would do in each and every case and what a splendid fighter he is. No, he is sadly lacking in these eminent virtues. Somehow he can never spare the time for it. Some few have a faint suspicion that he is too busy practicing or trying to practice Industrial Unionism. About half the men who went to jail here are pretty fair Industrial Unionists.
How can we tell? Oh, that’s very simple. When this quiet sort of man comes into camp he gets busy cleaning himself up. Next he looks around to see if he can make himself useful in anyway and goes about it. He invariable does his little stunt and ofttime more. At meetings he does not say very much; he is waiting until the more militant and progressive members have unburdened themselves of their great wisdom of little things and little wisdom of great things . Very often he has to sit through an entire meeting and then not get chance to say his few words. When he does speak he is so insignificant and says such common things that he is merely tolerated.
The more advanced members are always kind enough to let him see this, because they realize that he means well, even if his observations are hopelessly practical. The Industrial Unionist is not flattered with much attention. His views are not much hankered after. Hence, he has time for further practice and observation and for developing his stunted intellect, for he is very keenly conscious of his shortcomings. Perhaps this accounts for his reticence and unobtrusiveness. He is patient as the stars and as constant. When a call for action is sent out he does not jump on his feet, pound his chest and say, “Here I am.” He quietly takes the matter under advisement and also listens to what the more intellectual members have to say. He is a good listener. He is always slow about getting into any fight. He is busy figuring out the cost (he is fair at figures), and taking stock of the materials on hand to fight with.
If a minority must rule, let the Industrial Unionists take the reins.If the majority rules, let them also do the fighting. This would be justice to all and hardship to none. Thus organized we could storm hell-by preparing for it.
JUNGLES PRESS COM.
[Photograph, emphasis and paragraph breaks adde.]
Diary of a Fresno Free Speech Fighter-October 16th to November 2nd:
October 16th–Arrest thirteen men. They have to sleep on the stone floor without blankets.
October 17th-Brought up for hearing; trial set for the 15th of November, 1910, and bonds are $250.00. Put in cells four men in one cell and cell is like a steel cage. Cells are 7 feet 2 inches by 6 feet 9 inches and 8 feet 4 inches high.
October 19th-We are not allowed to wash ourselves or to use the toilet and we decided in the future not to eat if we didn’t get a chance to wash ourselves. We got the watercure for demanding a wash.
October 20th-Hunger strike don’t go through and we got the watercure again for demanding a wash. In our cell was an old miner eighty years old and he was game through the fight [possibly John L. Sullivan]. Got bread diet,-two fifths of a five cent loaf of bread and two cups of brown beverage was all that we got.
Oct 21st-Got one minute to wash ourselves and we got bread diet again.
October 22nd-Only bread and at 8;00 o’clock our clothes were dry. 10:00 o’clock A. M. move to the bull-pen. Bull-pen is eight feet high and 40 feet by 20 feet six inches and had eight little windows, bath tub, closet and watersink. We have a view of the street and the park. Seventeen beds for thirty-four men. At four o’clock P.M. we got for meal, beans and punk [putrid meat]. In the evening we have a propaganda meeting and everyone is permitted to speak five minutes. Majority decided to obey the jail rules and to be good prisoners in order that we get the good will of the sheriff. The reason that our hunger strike did not go through in the beginning was that we were in jail not to eat, but to win free speech.
October 23rd-Salvation Army in jail.
October 25th-Propaganda meetings cause trouble. Cause the few to cry out and the men are hungry; that makes them cranky. Kicking against the jailor or sheriff is against the rules and so we kick one another.
Decided to cut our propaganda meetings and we find that we get twice a week, raisins in place of meat.
October 26th–Kicking one against another. Decided to make two crews to sleep.
October 27th– Nineteen beds for forty-seven men. Last night some of the men got back their fighting spirit and kicked against the jailor. In the day time we sent a committee to the sheriff to ask him that we shall be treated the same as the other prisoners. Answer was because we did not obey the rules of the jail. (We had obeyed them all the time we were in the bull-pen)-he can’t do this. A little later on he promised us a bed for everyone, provided we were good boys. We decided to be good and about every one was a jailor over the other I count my beans today,-(146) five-cent loaf of bread, one half cubic inch of meat , sometimes bone and two cups of brown beverage, and twice in the week some raisins instead of meat,. In the evening we got thirty mattresses, thus a bed for everyone. We send [W. F.] Little out on bonds to communicate with the outside. Bull-pen inspected and repaired.
October 28th-They put three lamps on the outside of the bull-pen and they put a guard there to watch us. Three of the men who did not come to jail to eat but to fight for free speech, plead guilty and left us.
October 29th-Three more of the fighters leave us and we remain with forty-four.
October 30-Chew the rag over the Salvation Army.
October 31st-Three men plead guilty and eight more come in making forty-nine.
November 1st-Motion for hunger strike lost, eleven for with twenty against. Doree organized fourteen men to plead guilty at once and refuse to stay in jail one day longer. We got them as far so they would stay if we sent a committee to the sheriff that we shall all be liberated if we quit this fight and if the sheriff or chief refuse this they will stay until Hell freezes over. We elect a committee.
November 2nd–All brought to police court and have to plead guilty. Committee had told us nothing about this. Three men refuse to plead guilty and were put into jail again. The rest get three month floaters and had to leave town and county within three hours. We all got to our camp and postponed the fight and intended to come back if the rank and file of the I. W. W. is willing to fight.
“The Fresno Free-Speech Fight” -by H. Minderman “One of the boys who went through the whole fight.” -from Fellow Workers and Friends I.W.W. Free Speech Fights as Told by Participants by Philip S Foner Greenwood Press, Jan 1, 1981 (search: minderman) https://books.google.com/books?id=y4yxAAAAIAAJ
Frank Little and the IWW: The Blood That Stained an American Family -by Jane Little Botkin University of Oklahoma Press, May 25, 2017 Note: This is the definitive biography of Fellow Worker Frank Little. Jane Little Botkin is the great grand niece of Frank and Fred Little. Book is thoroughly and diligently sourced. (search: “november 9 1910”) (search: “while fred was negotiating”) https://books.google.com/books?id=gBskDwAAQBAJ
Note: re above article, Botkin asserts on page 149:
A November 9, 1910, Industrial Worker article looks suspiciously like Emma’s work [Emma Little, wife of Fred (W. F.) Little, sister-in-law of Frank (F.H.) Little]. The anonymous author eloquently shames the workers whose defections led to the halt of the free speech fight while heartening humble Wobblies who were the core of the movement. The article sharply contrasts the true “Industrial Unionist,” modest and keenly conscious of his short-comings but fair at figures and at taking stock of materials with which to fight, with the man who walks “around with a chip on his shoulder, telling the timid and modest members what he knows and what he would do in each and every case and what a splendid fighter he is.” Could the latter be an oblique description of Fred (W. F.) Little? The author points out that somehow this individual can never spare time for the IWW. He or she describes the faithful IWW as one who acts quietly, stays clean, and is a good listener, an industrial unionist who is “patient as the stars and constant.” If the dedicated IWWs all prepared together in Fresno, the author argued then they “could storm hell” itself The article was simply signed “The Jungles Press Committee.”
[Emphasis added.]
Note re Diary: “We sent [W. F.] Little out…” This is a generous interpretation. Fred Little was seen as a defector to the cause by most Free Speech Fighters, see Botkin pages 146-7.
Note: Foner gives source for Minderman’s diary: “United States Commission on Industrial Relations National Archives, Washington, D. C., C.M.E., Dec 7, 1914, Serial No. 819” See: U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations, 1912-1915 Unpublished Records of the Division of Research and Investigation: Reports, Staff Studies, and Background Research Materials. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001077052 (search: minderman) https://books.google.com/books?id=2J0WAQAAMAAJ -Re publication of “Unpublished Records” of CIR, see: Choice: Publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a Division of the American Library Association, Volume 23, Issues 1-6 Association of College and Research Libraries., 1985 (search: “unpublished records”) https://books.google.com/books?id=IP48AQAAIAAJ
A Dream – Willard Losinger Lyrics by Richard Brazier from First LRSB of 1909 -Thank you to Willard Losinger for performing songs from LRSB that are rarely found performed online. Richard Brazier’s songs were prominent in early editions of Little Red Songbook. See Big Red Songbook; search with song title: https://books.google.com/books?id=QaXECwAAQBAJ
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