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Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 10, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1901, Part II
Scranton Silk Strikers-Little Tots Worked by Master Class
From St. Louis Labor of April 13, 1901:
The Strike in Scranton
Mother Jones makes the following statement concerning the strike of the 5,000 silk mill hands in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Most of them are little tots ranging from 8 to 14 years of age. The poverty of the parents compels them to swear that these babies are of the age when they can be legally worked by the master class. In one mill I found children who toiled twenty-four long, weary days of ten hours each; and at the end of that time received $2 apiece. The vampire who runs the plant felt deeply aggrieved because his little slaves went on strike. He complained that he had built and paid for a new mill and cleared $10,000 in two years, and just as he was getting his head above water, the ungrateful little wretches run away! And then some people say there is no hell! And others that there is no wage slavery! Why, I have got a trunk full of evidence showing that miners were plucked of all their earnings, and didn’t have a dollar from one end of the year to the other. This is capitalism with a vengeance, the robber system that is upheld by those who vote Republican and Democratic tickets.
Boss Davis, the ringleader of the plute cannibals, has offered this compromise: If the strikers allow him to measure their work and take his word for it, he will pay them 25 cents a week more. If they won’t allow him to measure, they must go back at the old rate. It’s a scheme with robbery on its face , and little ones won’t yield.
From the Baltimore Sun of April 18, 1901:
APPEALS FOR SILK WEAVERS
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“Mother” Jones Tells Federation of Their Hardships.“Mother” Jones, the famous labor leader, whose work in several of the great coal strikes in Pennsylvania did so much toward making them successful, appeared before the Federation of Labor at its meeting last night in behalf of the striking silk weavers of Scranton, Pa. She painted the hardships of the girls in the silk mills, some of them not more than 9 years old, in pathetic language, and said that all they claimed was an 8 per cent, raise in wages, and they would not ask that if the silk they wove could be measured where they could see that the measurement was correct. She said that the girls were cheated in the measurement of the silk. The Federation appropriated $25, and there were many private contributions among the delegates and promises of contributions from individual unions. “Mother” Jones said afterward that she thought another coal strike would be averted at this time.
From the Philadelphia Times of April 20, 1901:
“Mother” Mary Jones and Mrs. O’Malley have been in Philadelphia for the past two days securing aid for the Scranton silk workers who are still on strike. She reports good success. Mrs. O’Malley is one of the strikers and is deeply interested in the winning of the fight.
From The Scranton Republican of April 22, 1901:
CARBONDALE.
“MOTHER.”‘ JONES HERE.
“Mother” Jones was the guest of the Central Labor union yesterday afternoon and she addressed the body at a meeting held in McTighe’s hall at 2 o’clock. The noted labor leader is always a welcome visitor, and there was a very large attendance at the meeting. There were a number of the Silk Mill Workers’ union in attendance and a portion of the speech was devoted entirely to that industry. In the course of her remarks “Mother” Jones called attention to the silk mill strike in Scranton and appealed for aid for the strikers. She gave her view of the situation and prophesied success for the strikers in case they get assistance from the other labor unions in the valley.
From the Scranton Tribune of April 23, 1901:
STRIKE OVER AT MINOOKA
———-OFFER OF SUPERINTENDENT BUTLER ACCEPTED.
———-Hands at the Simpson Silk Mill Will Return to Work Thursday Morning
as a Result of Vote Taken at Yesterday Afternoon’s Meeting.
Superintendent Butler’s Proposal a Generous One-Outlook for a
Settlement at the Sauquoit Mill Is Bright at This Time.
———-As was exclusively predicted in yesterday morning’s Tribune, the strike at the Simpson silk mill, at Minooka, was settled yesterday afternoon, when the, girls by an almost unanimous vote decided to accept the offer made by Superintendent Butler. They will return to work Thursday morning.
A meeting of the union was held yesterday afternoon in St. Joseph’s hall. A large percentage of the three hundred girls employed were present, as were also “Mother” Jones and representatives of the Textile Workers’ union. The committee which waited on Superintendent Butler Friday afternoon reported the result of their conference and stated the terms of his offer. “Mother” Jones addressed the meeting and in strong terms urged the acceptance of the proposal.
The full wage scale asked by the girls was granted and a number of minor concessions yielded. During the four summer months a half holiday will be given each Saturday, for which full pay will be allowed. The strikers’ requests for seats in the rooms where, they eat their lunch has also been granted, and a number of benches will be provided for this purpose.
WILL BE RECOGNIZED.
The union will be recognized and none but union help employed. The girls after accepting the offer notified Superintendent Butler of their action and decided to return Thursday, by which time the mill will be in readiness for a resumption of work.
Note: emphasis added throughout.
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SOURCES
The Speeches and Writings of Mother Jones
-ed by Edward M. Steel
University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988
-Page268 (290 of 361)
“The Strike in Scranton”
-from St. Louis Labor of Apr 13, 1901
https://books.google.com/books?id=vI-xAAAAIAAJ
https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735035254105/viewer#page/290/mode/2up
The Sun
(Baltimore, Maryland)
-Apr 18, 1901
https://www.newspapers.com/image/365326403/
The Times
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
-Apr 20, 1901
https://www.newspapers.com/image/52581834
The Scranton Republican
(Scranton, Pennsylvania)
-Apr 22, 1901
https://www.newspapers.com/image/48312554/
Scranton Tribune
(Scranton, Pennsylvania)
-Apr 23, 1901
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026355/1901-04-23/ed-1/seq-5/
IMAGE
Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/social-democratic-herald-us/010309-socdemherald-v03n38w140.pdf
See also:
Tag: Pennsylvania Silk Mill Workers Strikes of 1901
https://weneverforget.org/tag/pennsylvania-silk-mill-workers-strikes-of-1901/
Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for April 1901,
Part I: Found Threatening Mill Owners with Arrest for Crime of Child Labor
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Cotton Mill Girls – The Pennywhistlers