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Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 9, 1902
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1902
Found Speaking in Streator, Illinois, at Celebration of Eight-Hour Day
From the Streator Daily Free Press of April 2, 1902:
EIGHT-HOUR WORK DAY.
———-
Various Labor Unions Are Celebrating
Its Fifth Anniversary.
The fifth anniversary of the establishment of the eight-hour work day in Streator is being celebrated here today, and an excellent program has been prepared for the occasion by the committee having the affair in charge. Owing to the very disagreeable weather the attendance from the surrounding towns is not as large as was hoped for, although there is a goodly sprinkling of visitors in the city, many of them coming in on the noon trains to hear the addresses in the opera house this afternoon by a number of distinguished speakers.
Among these are “Mother” Jones, of Pennsylvania, and she entertained a constant stream of callers at the Plumb House this morning…..
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[Photograph added]
From the Streator Daily Free Press of April 3, 1902:
CELEBRATION A SUCCESS.
———-
Large Audience Hear Addresses
by Good Speakers.
———-Mr. Chipperfield Talks Against Convict Labor-“Mother” Jones Tells of Conditions in West Virginia, and What Must Be Done There-Secretary Ryan Says Illinois Miners Can Expect No Increase in Scale Until West Virginia is Brought Into Line.
———-
When our report of the celebration of the eight-hour day anniversary closed yesterday Mr. Chipperfield, of Canton Ill., was speaking. He said that great problems confronted the United Mine Workers organization. Among those were the Chinese and convict labor questions. The Chinese exclusion bills should receive the hearty support of the organization. and it should see that the congressmen from this state voted for them. Convict contract labor is also a menace to free labor, and the constitution is violated when such contracts are entered into…..
The speaker closed with a eulogy of the organization, and when the applause ceased the chairman introduced “Mother Jones, who was given a most cordial welcome. She is a gray-haired woman of probably fifty years of age, and is possessed of a fire and spirit which makes her a power among the men in whose cause she is a timeless worker.
“Mother” Jones said that there was one great problem to be settled today, and that was the labor problem. It was an old one, and efforts had been made in olden times to settle it. Labor had always made the advancing step to better conditions. It had lined up its army time and again, and although the arm of the government had been against it in many ways, labor had marched on and upward until the time had come to settle the question forever.
The declaration of independence was the opening wedge to labor. If any class is entitled to enjoy the luxuries of life, it is the laboring class, for it makes them all. If it was not for labor there would be no luxuries. She told of the awful condition prevailing in the mining districts in West Virginia. where men and children work ten, twelve and fourteen hours in the mines, and the scale was a low one. It was that field which made it impossible for the miners of other states to get the scale increased, as the operators there can sell coal so much cheaper than the operators of Illinois. Now, said the speaker, if you will furnish ammunition we will make the fight and bring the miners up with you.
She said the miners could not use the school houses in which to hold meetings for the purpose of organizing locals, and the churches were also closed to them, the officials, instead of serving God, serve the corporations, because the latter make liberal contributions for saving the heathen. But the miners there are awakening, and the day of salvation is near.
[She continued:]
You don’t have to go to China to find men who work for 50 cents a day or less. We have them right here in free America, and they can be found in the Virginia mines. This is the only nation in the face of the earth which allows the murder of children for human greed. Then we hire Sunday school teachers to tell them how good God is to them, and put a nickel in the box for the heathen Chinese baby.
Capital can have no compromise with labor. The fight is on, and must be to the finish. Corporations have their hands on the throats of the officials, and the latter don’t dare to pass bills opposed to them. Elect men who will represent the laborer and see that he gets justice. The liberties of the laboring men are voted away, and they make no move to save themselves. Have we no Patrick Henrys among us? You have the balance of power in your hands. If you let the politicians hoodwink you, then go home and let the women do the voting.
The speaker said she was sorry there were not more wives present. Their children are the future wage earners, and she should be educated as to their needs so that she could instruct her sons along economic lines, and thus bring about a better condition of affairs.
You haven’t police enough in all the world to stop making criminals under present conditions. What is responsible for this condition of affairs? It is the competitive system we are under which makes criminals.
She told of working in a cotton mill at Columbus, Ga., when the owners decided to reduce wages. But first they established a savings bank to see how much of a reduction the employes were able to stand. At the end of six months a reduction of 10 per cent was ordered. The employes want out on a strike at her instigation, organized and won a victory. Organization is the only way to settle these matters.
The speaker read a document [yellow dog contract] the miners had to swear to before going to work in the West Virginia mines, which prohibited them from joining any organization of miners or attending the meetings. She said the black man who escaped to the swamps in his effort to gain his liberty in the days of slavery were not hunted down any more than the white slaves of the West Virginia mines of today.
Join with us in bettering the conditions of these men and children, and help lift humanity up to a grander sphere. Organization has done more to advance civilization than all the churches, clubs and other organizations.
The speaker paid a high tribute to John Mitchell, and called him “the Young Napoleon.” She wanted him sent to West Virginia, and was confident he could end the fight. The miners of Illinois had helped to break the chains in other parts of the country, and there was only this link left. Don’t waver now, but stand fast. She asked all who would assist to stand up, and the entire audience arose. She said she would carry the news back to the men and it would gladden their hearts.
Speaking of strikes, she said Washington and Lincoln believed in them.
Your Grand Army men went on a strike in 1861 to free the black slave. What are you doing for the white slaves? The battle must be fought over again. We want more justice for the laboring man. No king can point to such an army as that commanded by John Mitchell, and there is no general like him. If you are true to the principles of the organization you and your families will surely be benefited.
When she concluded the audience applauded for several minutes. Secretary W. D. Ryan was then introduced…..
[H]e said the Illinois miner had $50,000 to assist the miners in West Virginia when they went on a strike. But they should do what the Illinois miners did when they struck-go barefooted and hungry in order to win their fight if necessary.
If the miners there would join the organization there was no question but they would win the fight. Until the conditions changed in West Virginia the miners in Illinois cannot expect an increase in wages. That was the condition of affairs at present, and he wanted to make it plain to the miners.
The meeting then adjourned. The celebration closed with a grand ball in Armory hall last night, which was largely attended.
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From The Washington Times of April 30, 1902:
LABOR MAY DECLARE UNIVERSAL HOLIDAY.
———-
“Mother Jones” Says Every Trade
Will Stop Work for One Day.
———-CHARLESTON, W. Va., April 29-“Mother” Jones, who has been in the Kanawha and New River Valleys for some time, in the interest of the mine workers, is authority for the statement that on May 17 every union man in the country will lay down his tools and take a holiday, to show what the result would be if labor asserted itself for only a day.
She says the matter has been presented to every labor organization in the country, and as far as heard from, they have sent affirmative replies.
—————
Note: Emphasis added throughout.
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SOURCES
Streator Daily Free Press
(Streator, Illinois)
-April 2, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/543075197/
-April 3, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/543075231
The Washington Times
(Washington, District of Columbia)
-April 30, 1902
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062245/1902-04-30/ed-1/seq-1/
IMAGE
Mother Jones, Ipl Ns p11, Jan 21, 1902
https://www.newspapers.com/image/37784565/
See also:
Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for March 1902
Part I: Praised for Her Work on Behalf of the Socialists of Erie, Pennsylvania
Part II: Found Speaking in Huntington, West Virginia, and Terre Haute, Indiana
Tag: UMW West Virginia Organizing Campaign of 1900-1902
https://weneverforget.org/tag/umw-west-virginia-organizing-campaign-of-1900-1902/
Note: Sadly, in 1902, both the United Mine Workers of America and the American Federation of Labor demonstrated a profound lack of solidarity by supporting the permanent extension of the Geary Act (Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892), see:
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/chinese-exclusion-act-1882
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States….
The Geary Act went into effect on May 5, 1892. It reinforced and extended the Chinese Exclusion Act’s ban on Chinese immigration for an additional ten years…..
The Supreme Court upheld the Geary Act [Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892] in Fong Yue Ting v. United States in 1893, and in 1902 Chinese immigration was made permanently illegal. The legislation proved very effective, and the Chinese population in the United States sharply declined…..
[Emphasis added.]
Geary Act (Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_Act
The Chinese Exclusion Law of 1902
https://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/LawsAndActs/TheImmigrationProblem/10-TheChineseExclusionLawOf1902.html
UMWA Convention of 1902 re Chinese Exclusion:
-Minutes of the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the United Mine Workers of America, January 20-29, 1902, Indianapolis, Indiana
UMWA, 1902
(search: “chinese exclusion”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=O2HyAAAAMAAJ
AFL position on Chinese Exclusion during 1902:
-American Federationist, Volume 9
American Federation of Labor, 1902
(search: “chinese exclusion”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=IgE4AQAAMAAJ
Correspondence for April 1902:
The Correspondence of Mother Jones
-ed by Edward M. Steel
U of Pittsburgh Press, 1985
https://books.google.com/books?id=EZ2xAAAAIAAJ
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735057897435
-pages 27-29 (78 of 415) for Correspondence of March 1902:
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735057897435/viewer#page/78/mode/1up
Note: Letters as written, except for periods added, where necessary for clarity.
Note: Mother’s dates on her letters are incorrect; she was already in Streator by April 2nd. Both letters were written after her meeting at Terre Haute IN (March 22) and before she left for the April 2nd celebration at Streator IL.
From Mother Jones at Montgomery, West Virginia to John Mitchell, President of United Mine Workers of America:
Montgomary West Virginia
4-2-02My dear Comrade Mitchell
I have received both your letters. Will comply with your instructions.
There are three mass meetings billed for next Sunday at all of which I have to speak. It will be a hard day for the reason that I have to go to Bufflo on Saturday night and on Sunday morning have to count the rails for five miles in order to get the Train for those meetings. If the meeting at Streeter was on Tues. I would have to miss one of the others. I think there are good officers at the head for the next year. There had to be some good engineering to get them there.
This fellow Duncomb of Rend has got work in another place. I agree I with you that it was a mistake at first to undertake to look after any of them. It takes away from their manhood and opens the avenue for imposition To me the quicker that is shut off the better for all. I have them every day. I tell them where they can get work. They dont bother me any more.
I may stop off on Tues at office [National UMWA office at Indianapolis] and give you a little information that you ought to have. I hope the anthacite will come out all right alright. So that you can have a little peace for a while.
Prest. Vanhorn [W. D. Van Horn of Terre Haute, President of District 11] sent for me to go before the Scole [Scale?] Com. of Ind. I gave them a good straight talk and think it will have its effects. I went down from Huntington to Terre Haute to talk to the Street Car Men held three big mass meetings on the same day and left for here. The next morning went over to Rend on the same night that I got here untangled some difficulty they had. Got everything straightened out, and left them all happy. This Local is between 4-500 strong. Now that quite move of the Mulligan Brigade stoped P. R from Importing any more Black Legs. it worked well.
I hope to have a few minutes talk with you while in Streeter [Streator IN].
Always yours
Mother[Emphasis added.]
From Mother Jones at Montgomery WV to William B. Wilson, Secretary-Treasurer UMWA:
Montgomary W Virginia
4-5-1902Comrade Wilson
Good news. The Board of Education gave orders that all School Houses shall be thrown open to the miners and if the Trustees refuse they shall be called on to resign their office. Thats what going after what belongs to you brings. That speech I made in the Court House in Huntington last fall though I was misquoted by the Assoicated Press has had its effect on the Public Officials.
I had three fine meetings in Terre Haute Sat [March 22nd]—I talked 2 hours at the Armery in the afternoon had two overflow meetings at night at which I talked for two hours. When I went to the Hotel at twelve oclock, I was worn out. I did not have you or Comrade Debs to get me any Medicine. he was out of town did not get home untill midnight. I lost all my tired feeling when I saw him. he spoke so kindly of you and Mr Mitchell. holds you both in high esteem. its well the world has such men they are the lights of the Race. I found things tangled up a little when I got back. I had to go to Armbucle on Monday and get things straightened out there. I put things in running order. They are four hundred strong there and are good men. Their Prest. was drawing on their Tres. for a Sal every week I put a stop to it then and there. Made the fellow go to work. I appealed to the fellows manhood how degrading it was to live off his fellow. he trembled went and got work the next morning. I do not believe it is a wise policy to put any of those fellows on the force before the State is organized. it creates a jealouscy among them. I think if they want to get on and build up they organization. Make district offices and Sub. district and Pay them out of their own funds. They would burst ten national banks. I have not got rested yet my flesh seems so sore. I have so much to tell you that you both should know. I will stop off at Indianapolis on my way to Streeter.
Good bye
Mother[Emphasis added.]
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Eight Hours – Cincinnati’s University Singers
I. G. Blanchard, Jesse H. Jones, Earl Rivers, Philip Yutzy