Hellraisers Journal: From the Social Democratic Herald: Eugene Debs on Current Events: So-Called Miners’ Victories & Patriotism at $13 per Month

5th September 20192nd September 2019 Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs

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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 5, 1899
Eugene V. Debs on Current Events: Miners of Girard, Illinois, Appeal for Aid

From the Social Democratic Herald of September 2, 1899:

CURRENT EVENTS PASSED IN REVIEW
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MINERS’ “VICTORIES” SO-CALLED
—–
Thirteen-Dollars-a-Month Patriotism
-“Bull Pens” and Socialism-Justice in France
in Spite of Hell and the French Army
-Cleveland Boycott
—–

By Eugene V. Debs, Terre Haute, Ind.

[Part I of II.]

We have heard a great deal about the “glorious victories” won for miners during the last two yeas. It is a ghastly lie. The only victory I know of is the $3,600.00 job snatched from the enemy by Ratchford [Michael D. Ratchford, former President of the United Mine Workers’ Union], the understudy of [U. S. Senator] Mark Hanna.

Here in Indiana hundreds of them are idle and suffering. In Illinois, according to the official report of [U. M. W. District 12] State Secretary Ryan, they are on strike at 14 different points. At Girard [Illinois] the other day they issued an appeal for charity, declaring that they were homeless and hungry. The “glorious victories” have reduced them to common beggars—and they belong to the union to a man.

Oh, miners, will you not open your eyes and will you not use your brains and see and think for yourselves?

You have won no victories worthy the name. You are slaves, every last one of you, the victims of the wage system, and as long as the mines you work in are privately owned you will be robbed while at work and clubbed and shot like dogs when you quit.

Arouse from your slavery, join the Social Democratic Party and vote with us to take possession of the mines of the country and operate them in the interest of the people, as well as the railroads, factories, and all the means of production and distribution, and then, and only then, will “glorious victories” have been achieved and you and your comrades be free and our families happy.

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Hellraisers Journal: “Free America!” – Reign of Terror Continues Against Miners of Shoshone County, Part II

21st August 20192nd December 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege, Ab Chp III ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday August 21, 1899
Wardner, Idaho – Hundreds of miners have been in bullpen for over two months.

From the Appeal to Reason of August 19, 1899:

Free America!

Washington Times, [July 18, 1899].
(Part II)

General Merriam had been instructed to go to Wardner to quell disturbances and to keep order, but according to the affidavits these were the last of the duties he imposed upon himself. It is sworn that immediately upon his arrival he began a wholesale carnival of arrests, which continued for several weeks. Every man who was known to have been connected in any way with a labor union was arrested without any charge being made, and as the county jail was considered too soft a place, the prisoners were placed in a large barn known as the “bull pen,” and were strongly guarded.

THROWN INTO A BULL PEN.

In a short time over 700 men were packed into this pen and forced to sleep on a filthy floor, and were given no attention. Nearly all of these men were charged with no crime, and were arrested by order of Governor Steunenburg because they had at some time belonged to labor unions. The sheriff of the county and two members of the board of county commissioners were arrested among others, because, as the governor said, they were “sympathizers.” The county attorney attempted to secure the release of the sheriff and was threatened with arrest if he dared offer a protest. The prisoners were cut off from all communication with the outside world and were allowed to see nobody. Their wives and children were allowed to starve and were subjected to the most revolting outrages by the colored troops and the lawless hangers-on who had sworn that they believed that labor unions to be criminal organizations.

The conditions inside the pen were sickening, according to the statements of those who have been imprisoned there. Scurvy and slime were everywhere, and several cases of insanity were developed among the prisoners. Every able-bodied man in the town of Wardner had some experience in this place and every miner who refused to sign an application for a permit to work was arrested as a “sympathizer.”

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Hellraisers Journal: “Free America!” – Reign of Terror Continues Against Miners of Shoshone County, Part I

20th August 201912th August 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege, Ab Chp III ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday August 20, 1899
Wardner, Idaho – 300 Miners and Sympathizers Remain in Bullpen

From the Appeal to Reason of August 19, 1899:

Free America!

Washington Times, [July 18, 1899].
(Part I)

ACCORDING to the affidavits and sworn statements presented to the president [William McKinley] yesterday by Senator Heitfeld, [Populist] of Idaho, a reign of terror and brutality has been established in Shoshone county in that state and an American Siberia has been inaugurated by the Standard Oil Trust, aided and abetted by Brig. Gen. H. O. Merriam and a regiment of colored regulars. The testimony now in the possession of the president contains the sworn statements of representative business men who describe such a round of brutal torture and barbarity as makes the rule of Spanish tyranny in Cuba seems merciful and humane in comparison.

The testimony shows that the Coeur d’Alene district has been under martial law for nearly three months, and the county has been absolutely cut off from the rest of the world. More than 300 innocent men, the testimony shows, have been imprisoned in a filthy “bull pen” during the three months, and have been subjected to such outrageous treatment that twenty-four deaths have occurred and the living are physical wrecks. Every sympathizer has been imprisoned or driven out of the county, and even now eight men are being tried for their lives without counsel. The county attorney is guarded and threatened with arrest should he dare to enter a protest, and over 100 witnesses for the defense have been driven out and warned not to return.

PAYING ALL EXPENSES.

The Standard Oil Trust is paying all expenses of prosecution to insure conviction. A rigid press censorship has been established and no man’s life is worth a word of sympathy. Men have been murdered and woman outraged by the colored troops and no heed has been given these things by the military rulers. The governor of the state is charged with being in the employ of the Standard Oil Trust, and the accusations are backed up by his own defy, in which he states that “the large mine owners will run the state in the future and that he (the governor) will keep the country under martial law during the balance of his term.”

All this, and more, it is claimed, has been proven, and President McKinley has promised to begin an investigation at once.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for July 1909, Part I: Found in New Castle, Pennsylvania

8th August 20199th August 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Old Devil, UMWC Jan 27, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday August 8, 1909
Mother Jones News Round-Up for July 1909, Part I:
-Found Speaking to Tin Workers in New Castle, Pennsylvania

From the Pittsburg National Labor Tribune of July 1, 1909:

VOTE AT NEW CASTLE.
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[…]

Pride of New Castle lodge, composed of members of the Amalgamated [Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers] employed at the Greer tin mills, decided at a meeting Saturday night to strike against the “open shop” policy the vote was 153 for and 104 against….

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Mother Jones Speaks Out.

Many of the tin workers who had voted to strike went to hear Mother Jones speak at the Airdome Sunday night but were not as well pleased with her remarks as they thought they would be as she held out no hope for them winning their strike. Mrs. Jones stated that the men had no hope at all unless they were solidly organized and that they could accomplish nothing in the condition that they were. She did suggest that they all get into the Socialist party and by all uniting under that banner that they would win in the end. That was the gist of her remarks pertaining to the New Castle situation.-News

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[Photograph added from The Muncie Evening Press of July 17, 1909.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for June 1909: “The President Gave Me an Audience.”

13th July 201911th July 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Friend of Friendless, St L Labor, June 26, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday July 13, 1909
Mother Jones News Round-Up for June 1909, Part II:
-Hard at Work for Release of the Mexican Political Refugees

From St. Louis Labor of June 26, 1909:

Washington, D. C.,
June 17, 1909.

Editor [G. A.] Hoehn,
St. Louis, Mo.
Dear Comrade:

I have been hard at work for a week, working for the release of the Mexican Political Refugees. Yesterday the President gave me an audience. I presented a sworn statement from Gue[r]ra, who has been sentenced to the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas. Warden McCloughery was extremely courteous and sympathetic in every way.

T. V. Powderly, one of the early fighters for Labors’ rights in the stormy days of the past, arranged a meeting with the attorney of the Board of Pardons; he gave me a very respectful hearing, and promised to send the papers to the President as soon as possible.

When the President and I met, his salutation was: “Mother Jones, it seems to me that you are always working in behalf of the friendless?” I replied:

Well Mr. President, those who got many friends do not need my assistance.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for June 1909: Found Meeting with President Taft

12th July 201917th June 2020 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Women Socialism, AtR p3, June 12, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday July 12, 1909
Mother Jones News Round-Up for June 1909, Part I:
-Meets with President Taft on Behalf of Mexican Refugees

From Oakland Tribune of June 24, 1909:

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Miners Magazine of the Western Federation of Miners: “Race Hatred Must Be Strangled”

8th July 20198th July 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote WFM, re Race Hatred n Unions, Miners Mag p5, July 8, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday July 8, 1909
Editorial on Disgraceful “Race Strike” by Georgia’s White Locomotive Firemen

From the Miners Magazine (W. F. of M.) of July 8, 1909:

Race Hatred Must be Strangled.

[by John M. O’Neill, Editor]

THE ARBITRATION BOARD has practically settled the strike of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in Georgia, and it is needless to say that the railroad company got the best of the settlement. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen made a serious mistake when the organization raised the barriers against the black man, thereby bringing about a race war which could only end in an advantage to the exploiter. The black man filled the position of ﬁreman for one dollar less per day than the white man, and the Brotherhood permitted this injustice to be meted out to a race that is struggling against all the prejudices born of the centuries.

The smaller parasite in commercial circles in Georgia was in sympathy with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen in the fight against the negro, not because the parasite was in sympathy with the labor movement, but because of a race hatred and because the dollar less per day paid to the negro trainmen forced him to economize on the necessaries of life. The parasite of the South realized that the white man with a salary of $30 per month above that of his black brother was a more valuable customer and his patronage was more to be desired than the patronage of the miserable wretch who on account of his color and the hatred against him, was forced to accept in silence one dollar per day less than the white ﬁreman, regardless of the fact that this colored slave of the Georgia Railway company performed the same service.

Had the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen of Georgia been permeated with a spirit of justice and had the membership of the organization a broad grasp of the industrial problem, a battle would have been waged against the Georgia Railway company until that arrogant corporation recognized the same pay for the same service, whether the service was performed by the Caucasian or the African.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Appeal to Reason: Monster Mass Meeting Held in Tombstone on Behalf of Mexican Patriots

14th June 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones Save Our Mexican Comrades, AtR p3, Feb 20, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday June 14, 1909
Tombstone, Arizona – Citizens Protest Conviction of Mexican Revolutionaries

From the Appeal to Reason of June 12, 1909:

CITIZENS’ PROTEST.
—–
Monster Mass Meeting in Tombstone, Ariz.,
Petitions Taft for Pardon for Mexican Patriots.

Had it not been for the corporation influences in Arizona it is very unlikely that Magon, Villarreal and Rivera would have been convicted of the charge of conspiring to violate the neutrality laws of the United States. The organized miners and the unprejudiced farmers and stockmen were quite certain that the neutrality laws had not been violated by anybody-not even by Mexican peons who occasionally crossed the line into the United States for the purpose of buying arms and ammunition with which to prosecute the revolution against Dictator Diaz-and clearly not by the leaders of the junta of the Mexican liberal party, who admittedly were in Canada when the conspiracy was alleged to have been made. With the exception of mine managers, superintendents, shift bosses and corporation hirelings, including Pinkerton and Furlong detectives, virtually every persons in Arizona was in sympathy more or less pronounced with the cause for which Magon and his associates stood.

In Tombstone at the beginning of the trial there was some division of public sentiment, though the majority of those who expressed themselves were convinced of the innocence of the prisoners. As the trial progressed and the weakness of the prosecution became manifest expressions of sympathy for the Mexican prisoners were more frequent. The last day of the trial virtually every person in Tombstone declared the Magon, Villarreal and Rivera were innocent and that the jury ought not to have to leave the box to make up a verdict of acquittal. There were no bets made the last day, as there were no takers. The detectives, Mexican consuls, spies, thugs and gunmen employed by the United States government in its prosecution of the defendants kept together and stayed close around their headquarters; these were the only fellows who desired the conviction of the Mexicans.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for May 1909: Found in Peoria, Illinois & Girard, Kansas

13th June 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Mother Jones, Ladies Women, NYT p3, May 23, 1914 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday June 13, 1909
Mother Jones News Round-Up for May 1909:
-Found Arriving in Girard, Kansas, at End of May

Mother Jones w edit crpd ag, Dnv Rck Mt Ns p2, Feb 28, 1909

Throughout the month of May, we found Mother Jones within the pages of the Appeal to Reason where she was announced as a featured speaker, along with Eugene Debs, at the Kansas Socialist Women’s Conference scheduled for June 4th and 5th. The May 29th edition of the Appeal reported that:

Mother Jones reached Girard yesterday and says that unless she is obliged to return to Washington before the day set for our conference she will gladly assist.

Mother was also found May 19th speaking at the Switchmen’s convention held in Peoria, Illinois.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Appeal to Reason: Ricardo Flores Magón, from Prison: “Mexico-the Workers’ Hell”

31st May 2019 Janet RayeHellraisers Journal

Quote Ricardo Flores Magon, Nothing But Death, AtR p2, May 29, 1909 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday May 31, 1909
From Tombstone, Arizona – Ricardo Flores Magón on Plight of Mexican Workers

From the Appeal to Reason of May 29, 1909:

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—–

Written for the Appeal to Reason.

F MORE crimes are necessary to perpetuate slavery in the United States and Mexico, capitalism will perpetrate them. But capitalism holds a two edged sword, and even though it wound the working class it will mortally wound itself also. Our case exemplifies this. Before the Mexican revolutionists were the objects of persecution many American patriots beheld with rejoicing the power American capitalism was accumulating in Mexico. It was a matter of national pride for those sincere citizens that American plutocrats were acquiring the best mines, the richest lands and the most powerful industries in Mexico. The capitalist press has stimulated and nourished this sentiment in a masterly way and points with price to the fact that the capitalists of the great country of George Washington are aggrandizing themselves. They even feel great pride that ht creatures of wealth have eaten everything up. But this famous sword in hurting us has also wounded those who used it.

A spontaneous movement of protest is agitating the American people. It grows stronger day by day, extending from ocean to ocean, demanding the emancipation of the slaves of Mexico. Through our persecution the outrages existing in the southern republic have become known. Mexicans are miners in political matters, because they cannot vote. There, any one who dares to exercise his constitutional right of suffrage pays for it with his life.

A Land Without Freedom.

The right of freedom of speech, press and assemblage was buried thirty-three years ago, and each year the tyrant waters its grave with fresh blood. Porfirio Diaz appoints all officials, though the constitution provides for their election by the people, who are maltreated, exploited and assassinated. While surrounded by officials, rangers and soldiers one fears danger more than in a dense forest where wild beasts may be hidden behind any tree ready to spring on him any moment.

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CURRENT EVENTS PASSED IN REVIEW —–

Free America!

Free America!

Race Hatred Must be Strangled.

CURRENT EVENTS PASSED IN REVIEW
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