———-
Hellraisers Journal – Monday January 10, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1909, Part II:
-Found in Philadelphia Speaking to Shirtwaist Makers
On Sunday evening, December 19th, Mother Jones spoke to shirtwaist makers of Philadelphia at meetings held at the Labor Lyceum and Mercantile Hall. By unanimous vote and to deafening cheers, a strike was declared and set to begin at 9 a. m. on December 20th.
From The New York Call of December 21, 1909:
[Mother Jones Speaks.]
The action of Director Clay in forbidding the holding of a meeting in the Arch Street Theater, last night, to declare the strike was severely criticised by Mother Jones, in her speeches. She denounced the city administration as roundly as she denounced the bosses, who, she declared, had become wealthy through the toil of the girls before her.
[She said:]
They have an Independence Hall down here on Chestnut street; I wonder what it means to those who, for some deep political purpose, prevented you from having independence in the way of having a meeting to assert your rights? Tomorrow morning I hope every girl in this hall will walk out of the shops and let the employers make the waists themselves. Walk out at 9 o’clock, and don’t wear your Sunday-go-to-meetings clothes.
Let the people see you. Let them see that you are going to strike the shackles of slavery off your body. Get the spirit of revolt and be a woman. It’s not a Mrs. Belmont or an Anne Morgan that we want, but independent workers who will assert their rights.
In reviewing the condition with which the girls had to contend, Mother Jones said that they were obliged to pay 25 cents a week to their employers for keys to the lavatories. After dwelling at length upon the worker’s hardships, she exclaimed:
I want to say to the police and the secret service men here that you better go and tell the men and women of this city that we don’t want charity brigades or temperance lecturers or any of that sort of thing. If they will leave us alone we will come out all right without these institutions.
She told the men cutters who were present to drop their scissors and walk out with the girls.
[She shouted:]
Walk out with them tomorrow! and I’ll meet you and march with you. If we go hungry and cold let us go hungry and cold together.
By all of the speakers last night the workers were exhorted to abstain from any violence in shops or in their picketing duties, and to make every effort to preserve peace, unless actually attacked by the police, as, it was said, many of the women in a similar strike now going on in New York city were attacked…..
[Photograph added.]
MOTHER JONES NEWS FOR DECEMBER 1909
———-
From the Appeal to Reason of December 11, 1909:
Lone Star Scintillations.
[…..]
Mother Jones has written from New York that she would return to Texas in ten days and that she would write to the comrades at points of engagement and tell them when to expect her…..
Speakers’ Dates.
…Mother Jones-Northwest Texas….
———-
From The New York Call of December 13, 1909:
DIAZ DENOUNCED BY MOTHER JONES
—–
Audience of 350 Signs Petition
to Governor Hughes
in Behalf of Fornaro.
—–Mother Jones spoke at the People’s Forum, in Hart’s Hall, Gates avenue and Broadway, Brooklyn, yesterday afternoon to an audience which jammed the hall. Her theme was “The Tyranny of Mexico,” and she aroused the indignation of all who heard her arraignment of “Perfidio” Diaz, the autocrat of Mexico, to a very high pitch. At the conclusion of the speech a collection was taken, which netted more than thirty-two dollars, for the fight against Diaz.
A petition was also circulated in behalf of Carlo De Fornaro, the artist, who was sentenced by Judge Malone to serve one year at hard labor in the workhouse on the charge of libeling Rafael Espindola, one of Diaz’s tools, and about 350 persons signed it. The petition will be sent to Governor Hughes, with a set of resolutions demanding that Fornaro be given a new trial.
Judge Malone was mercilessly flayed by Mother Jones for his treatment of Fornaro, and she also severely criticised the judiciary as a whole. She said:
Over half the judges in this country don’t understand, or knew anything about law. They’re not supposed to, any way. They are only supposed to do what their capitalist matters want.
If Jesus Christ were to go before Judge Malone and tell him that he was breaking the Ten Commandments by his action, Malone would tell Jesus that the Ten Commandments are unconstitutional in this country!
Mother Jones also made a strong appeal to the women to assist in the fight against Diaz, who seeks to make the United States a watchdog to capture such of his subjects as dare to disagree with him. She declared:
Women win all strikes! Women support all strikes! They keep their husbands in good standing in the union; they give them the courage to fight We need the women in this fight against the tyranny of Mexico.
The conservative labor leaders also came in for some sharp criticisms from Mother Jones. She declared vehemently:
Most of them have paunches as big as Taft from sitting down at Civic Federation banquets, Harriman and Belmont dinners, where they have been settling the labor problem to the satisfaction of the master class. They are not fighting the class struggle! But the workers are going ahead in spite of them!
After the meeting Mother Jones left for Trenton, N. J., where she spoke on the same subject last night. She will speak in Philadelphia tonight, and after that she will start West, where she will continue her work of agitation against the imprisonment of men for criticizing the tyranny of Mexico.
———-
From the Trenton Evening Times of December 13, 1909:
“MOTHER”JONES LECTURES
—–“Mother” Jones, famous throughout the United States for her work in the interest of labor and labor strikes, spoke in Arcade Hall last night, under the auspices of the local Socialists.
Leonard Abbott, a New York journalist, who is conducting a tour of the East with the woman, presided at the meeting. “Mother” Jones spoke on “Barbarous Mexico,” and during her remarks she condemned the capitalists and the trusts, and said both robbed the American man of his liberty and freedom. She declared that labor conditions in Mexico are worse than slavery.
———-
From the Washington (D. C.) Evening Star of December 20, 1909:
QUAKER CITY GIRLS WANT HIGHER WAGES
—–
Follow Example of Their New York
Sisters and Go on Strike.
—–PHILADELPHIA, December 20.-Following the example of their sister workers in New York, several thousand shirt waist makers of this city went on strike here today for increased wages and better working conditions.
In accordance with the program laid out for them at three largely attended mass meetings, held last night, the members of the Ladies’ Garment Workers Union and a large number of non-union sympathizers reported at their places of employment at the usual hour this morning. Excited by the enthusiastic meetings of the previous evening, they had difficulty in applying themselves to their work until the time agreed upon to strike had arrived, when they left their work benches and machines and reported at strike headquarters.
Decided by Committee.
The strike, which has been agitated for some time, was determined upon at a meeting of the strike committee of the union last Saturday night. Their action was ratified at three big mass meetings held last night in various halls. Addresses were made by John T. Murphy, president of the Central Labor Union; Clarence O. Pratt, national organizer of the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employes of America; Mother Jones, [Abraham] Rosenberg of New York, international president of the Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, and the officers of the local union. Recognition of the union and increases in wages amounting to 20 per cent are demanded.
———-
From The Lancaster Morning Journal of December 21, 1909:
WAIST MAKERS STRIKE
—–HUNDRED FACTORIES IN PHILADELPHIA
AFFECTED-DEMAND HIGER WAGES.Philadelphia, Dec. 20.-Following the example of their sister workers in New York, several thousand shirt waist makers of this city went on strike here to-day for increased wages and better working conditions…..
[Abraham] Rosenberg, of New York, president of the International Ladies Garment Workers union, said at noon that between 2,000 and 3,000 shirt waist operators had gone on strike and that their number was constantly being augmented. He said there are about 12,000 operators employed here and that he expected at least 80 per cent, of them to join the strikers. The manufacturers, he added, would be badly crippled by the strike, as it takes seven girls to make one waist. If one of the seven girls quit the others would he forced into idleness. The Central Labor Union, of Philadelphia, has pledged its support to the strikers.
About 100 factories in this city, it is said, are affected by the strike. The manufacturers say will not grant the demands of the union. They announced that the girls who are on strike will he re-employed, if they ask to come back, as individuals and not as members of the union. They declare that only 8,000 shirt waist operators are employed in this city.
———-
From The New York Call of December 21, 1909:
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 20.-More than 10,000 of the 12,000 shirtwaist makers in this city responded to the call for a general strike this morning at 9 o’clock. All of the workers reported at the shops as usual, but as the clocks struck 9 they dropped their work, turned the power off the machines and marched out of the shops. The waist making industry is practically tied up.
The Shirtwaist Makers’ Union here is very strong, as it has been growing like wildfire since the strike spirit began developing. Besides their own grievances, which are many and great, the shirtwaist makers here are actuated by the desire not to scab on their fellow workers in New York. Union officials say that since the strike in New York started some of the bosses in this city have been making orders for firms in New York, against which the union workers are now waging a bitter fight for recognition of their union.
[…..]
The following demands were read at the meetings in the Labor Lyceum and Mercantile Hall last night [December 19th] at which the strike was declared by unanimous vote, which were addressed by Mother Jones, C. O. Pratt and Max Kazimirsky, of New York, and others:
[Demands listed included closed shop, wages paid each week, 50-hour week, etc.]
After the adoption of the foregoing demands the following resolutions were unanimously passed:
Whereas the employers of shirtwaist makers of the city of Philadelphia, taking advantage of the recent financial crisis, have succeeded in reducing our earnings, lengthening our hours of work and otherwise lowering our standard of living; therefore, be it
Resolved, That we, the Shirtwaist Makers’ Union No. 15, determine this 20th day of December, 1909, to go out on a strike against the shirtwaist maker bosses and strike so long as our rights are refused and fight until the bosses accede to our demands.
In voting upon the resolutions the members got up and cheered. The cheering was deafening when the result of the voting was announced.
[Mother Jones Speaks.]
The action of Director Clay in forbidding the holding of a meeting in the Arch Street Theater, last night, to declare the strike was severely criticised by Mother Jones, in her speeches. She denounced the city administration as roundly as she denounced the bosses, who, she declared, had become wealthy through the toil of the girls before her.
[She said:]
They have an Independence Hall down here on Chestnut street; I wonder what it means to those who, for some deep political purpose, prevented you from having independence in the way of having a meeting to assert your rights? Tomorrow morning I hope every girl in this hall will walk out of the shops and let the employers make the waists themselves. Walk out at 9 o’clock, and don’t wear your Sunday-go-to-meetings clothes.Let the people see you. Let them see that you are going to strike the shackles of slavery off your body. Get the spirit of revolt and be a woman. It’s not a Mrs. Belmont or an Anne Morgan that we want, but independent workers who will assert their rights.
In reviewing the condition with which the girls had to contend, Mother Jones said that they were obliged to pay 25 cents a week to their employers for keys to the lavatories. After dwelling at length upon the worker’s hardships, she exclaimed:
I want to say to the police and the secret service men here that you better go and tell the men and women of this city that we don’t want charity brigades or temperance lecturers or any of that sort of thing. If they will leave us alone we will come out all right without these institutions.
She told the men cutters who were present to drop their scissors and walk out with the girls.
[She shouted:]
Walk out with them tomorrow! and I’ll meet you and march with you. If we go hungry and cold let us go hungry and cold together.
By all of the speakers last night the workers were exhorted to abstain from any violence in shops or in their picketing duties, and to make every effort to preserve peace, unless actually attacked by the police, as, it was said, many of the women in a similar strike now going on in New York city were attacked…..
Note: emphasis added throughout.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Call
“Devoted to the Interests of the Working People.”
(New York, New York)
-Dec 21, 1909, pages 1-2
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-new-york-call/1909/091221-newyorkcall-v02n315-DAMAGED.pdf
-Dec 13, 1909, page 3
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-new-york-call/1909/091213-newyorkcall-v02n307.pdf
Mother Jones Speaks
Collected Writings and Speeches
by Philip S Foner
Monad Press, 1983
– re Dec 12th speech, see page 138 (search: “tyranny of mexico”)
https://books.google.com/books?id=T_m5AAAAIAAJ
Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-Dec 11, 1909
https://www.newspapers.com/image/66982332/
Trenton Evening Times
(Trenton, New Jersey)
-Dec 13, 1909, page 7
https://www.genealogybank.com/
The Evening Star
(Washington, District of Columbia)
-Dec 20, 1909
https://www.newspapers.com/image/330932836/
The Lancaster Morning Journal
(Lancaster, Pennsylvania)
Dec 21, 1909
https://www.newspapers.com/image/559756649/
IMAGE
Mother Jones, Elkhart IN Dly Rv p2, July 19, 1909
The Elkhart Daily Review
(Elkhart, Indiana)
-July 19, 1909, page 2
https://www.genealogybank.com/
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday January 9, 1910
Mother Jones News Round-Up for December 1909, Part I:
-Found in New York City Speaking to Shirtwaist Strikers
“The ‘Girl Army’: Philadelphia Shirtwaist Strike of 1909-1910”
-by Daniel Sidorick
(-takes some time to load)
https://journals.psu.edu/phj/article/view/25884/25653
“Solidarity and Sisterhood in Philadelphia, 1909-1910”
by Jana Knezovic
Mother Jones Museum dot org
Category: New York Waistmakers Uprising of 1909-1910
https://weneverforget.org/category/new-york-waistmakers-uprising-of-1909-1910/
Abraham Rosenberg
https://ilgwu.ilr.cornell.edu/presidents/AbrahamRosenberg.html
Tag: Mexican Revolutionaries
https://weneverforget.org/tag/mexican-revolutionaries/
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The Rebel Girl – Hazel Dickens
Lyrics Joe Hill & Hazel Dickens
She’s the working class, the strength of this world.