Tag: Charles Moyer

Hellraisers Journal: Montana News: Pettibone Trial Begins; Adams Trial Ends; The “Big Stick” & the Goldfield Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday December 6, 1907
Idaho and Nevada – Western Federation of Miners on the Firing Line

Through their ownership of state and federal government power, the Mine Owners carry on their battle against the Western Federation of Miners. The Socialist Montana News of December 5th reports:

PETTIBONE TRIAL BEGINS

George A Pettibone, Darrow Collection

Boise, Idaho, Dec. 1.—Sheriff Shad Hodgins and force of deputies yesterday completed the serving of summons on the talesmen for the special venire of 100, to respond for service when the Pettibone trial is resumed Monday morning at 10 o’clock.

During the day yesterday the eleven talesmen now in the custody of the bailiffs awaiting the opening of court Monday, informally reported at the court house and to the court. They were given magazines, papers and reading matter, all of which had been censored relative to anything concerning the trial, after which they returned to the quarters at 612 Bannock street where they enjoyed a session of news, fiction and romantic. In the afternoon they took a long walk out beyond the Boise barracks returning just before the supper hour.

Attorney W. E. Stone of counsel for the state was appointed by the court to censor the reading matter that is to go to the jury during the trial and Leon Whitsell for the defense.

The defendant’s health is still very poor and he is barely able to climb the two flights of stairs to the court room. He continues to give assurances however, that he will be able to sit through the trial.

The elimination of testimony in regard to the Colorado labor war, which was stricken out by Judge Wood in the Haywood trial, will mean the saving of much time, and it is believed that the taking of testimony will not require over four weeks.

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Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Montana News: Pettibone Trial Begins; Adams Trial Ends; The “Big Stick” & the Goldfield Miners” →

Hellraisers Journal: From the Montana News: Report from Ida Crouch-Hazlett on the Adams Trial at Rathdrum, Idaho

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday November 15, 1907
Rathdrum, Idaho – Clarence Darrow Fights for Life of Steve Adams

Three long articles cover most all of the front page of this weeks edition of the Montana News, the subject of all three being the ongoing trial of Steve Adams. Clarence Darrow is on the scene taking the lead in the fight to save the life of Adams, former member of the Western Federation of Miners

From the Socialist Montana News of November 14, 1907:

HMP, Adams Trial, Montana News, Nov 14, 1907

—–

Of the three front-page articles, we found this description of the the uncle of Steve Adams to be of particular interest. Unfortunately, the name of the uncle needs correcting from Mr. Millard to Mr. Lillard.

LATEST FROM SCENE OF BATTLE

Rathdrum, Nov. 10.

Mr. Millard [James W. Lillard], the uncle of Steve Adams, is an interesting figure at the trial. Steve was arrested on his ranch at Haines, Oregon, a short distance out from Baker City. The kind-hearted old gentleman is a fine specimen of the old soldier, having served through the civil war on the confederate side. He is 71 years of age but straight and vigorous with hair and beard yet dark. His mind has been so agitated by the shocking injustices he has perceived in connection with the arrest of his nephew that he has lost all faith in any justice or rectitude under this government. He has become entirely devoted to the progress of this case, and says he means to see it through no matter what it costs. He says his wife is equally determined to stay with the sad and tragic situation till its final issue.

As an instance of the kind heart of the old gentleman he not only has reared eight children of his own but besides these has provided and cared for ten orphan children till they were grown. He raised Steve and his two brothers, although they were fairly well grown when their mother died.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the Montana News: Report from Ida Crouch-Hazlett on the Adams Trial at Rathdrum, Idaho” →

Hellraisers Journal: J. A. Wayland of Girard, Kansas, Publishes “Darrow’s Speech in the Haywood Case”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Darrow Peroration Haywood Trial, Waylands Monthly, Oct 1907


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Hellraisers Journal, Thursday October 3, 1907
Girard, Kansas – J. A. Wayland Publishes Darrow’s Greatest Speech

From Girard, Kansas, home of the Appeal to Reason, Socialist weekly, comes the publication of the entire speech made by Clarence Darrow on July 24th and 25th. This speech resulted in the famous “Not Guilty” verdict which was cheered by working men and women the world over.

From Wayland’s Monthly of October 1907:

Darrow Speech Haywood Case, Waylands Monthly, Oct 1907

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Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: J. A. Wayland of Girard, Kansas, Publishes “Darrow’s Speech in the Haywood Case”” →

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Comes to Duluth to Support Striking Mesabi Iron Miners

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Plea for Justice, Not Charity, Quote Mother Jones

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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday August 27, 1907
From The Labor World: “Labor’s Little Angel” Speaks in Duluth

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

Mother Jones spoke at the Duluth Armory on Sunday August 18th. With her on the platform where William E. McEwen, editor and publisher of The Labor World, and C. E. Mahoney who served as acting president of the Western Federation of Miners until the recent release of Charles Moyer from jail in Boise.

The striking iron miners of the Mesabi Range were supported by the speakers, and the steel trust and their gunthugs were condemned.

During her speech Mother Jones declared:

When they bring in the guns and the military, they think they have conquered; they rejoice at the thought they have conquered labor. You can conquer the steel trust, you can conquer the paper trust—every other trust in the world, but put it down for the editor in the morning that you can’t conquer the labor trust. If you wipe out the working class, what are the rich people going to do; they can’t even cook a meal of victuals for themselves.

From The Labor World of August 24, 1907:

ARMORY MASS MEETING WAS
MOST SUCCESSFUL
—–
Mother Jones Tells Working People of
Duluth Something About
Labor Conditions.
—–
Large Crowd Turned Out in Spite
of Inclement Weather—
Interest Was Great.
—–

The mass meeting at the armory last Sunday evening [August 18th] brought out 300 of the faithful. The weather was most unfavorable. The worst storm of the season was at its height, and even those on the program as speakers didn’t expect to see more than the committee on hand. However, the attendance was good, and spirit was high.

The meeting was called lo order by W. E. McEwen. On the platform with him were Alderman Jos. Shartell, Mother Jones, C. E. Mahoney, acting president of the Western Federation of Miners, and M. Kaplin. The Finnish band opened the meeting with the playing of the Marseilles.

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for July 1917, Part II: Found in West Virginia & Washington, DC

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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You ought to be out raising hell.
This is the fighting age.
Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday August 18, 1917
Mother Jones News for July, Part II: Organizing West Virginia

From the United Mine Workers Journal of July 12, 1917:

The following was published as an advertisement in the The Beckley (West Virginia) Messenger of July 10, 1917, but without the final paragraph.

“Mother” Jones’ Refreshing Experience

Mother Mary Harris Jones, Decatur Herald IL, May 14, 1916

“Mother” Jones had a most refreshing experience at a great meeting of the miners at Quinnimont, West Virginia, on the 14th day of June. The Layland mines, where the meeting was held, is owned by the Berwin-White Coal Company, and a large number of men are employed at this place. It is in the very heart of the mountainous New River coal fields. In the years gone by this section has been a veritable Gibraltar of the foes of unionism, and armed guards have patrolled the works of the companies looking for those who were trying to carry the message of unionism to the miners of this section. Happily, this condition has passed away in many parts of this field, and the private gunman is being driven farther and farther back into the remote mountain fastnesses.

The refreshing part of the Layland meeting was the manner and spirit in which Mr. O. A. Kneer, the superintendent of the Berwin-White Coal Company received the visit of “Mother” Jones. Instead of following the tactics of some of the less enlightened companies and forbidding “Mother” holding a meeting at the mines, he told the miners to go to the meeting, and was present himself. After the meeting was over he said it was one of the best addresses he had ever heard. Having an open mind and the spirit of fair play, he was ready to meet the miners half way and deal with them as men with rights.

If all the coal companies were enlightened enough to show the same spirit, the coal fields of the country would not so often be the scene of bitter industrial struggles. Mr. O. A. Kneer, by his fairness and good will, has done much to bring peace between the miners and operators in that section. His attitude is commended to the companies who think to crush the miners by private armies of gunmen. There is nothing that appeals to the average miner so much as fair play.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for July 1917, Part II: Found in West Virginia & Washington, DC” →

Hellraisers Journal: Debs Reflects on Haywood Verdict: Thinks Roosevelt Should Tender an Apology

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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A thousand times rather would I be
one of those men in Ada county jail
than Theodore Roosevelt in
the White House at Washington.
-Eugene Victor Debs

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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday August 10, 1907
From the Montana News: Debs Reflects on Haywood Verdict

Readers of Hellraisers will remember the controversy begun by Roosevelt when it was revealed, last April, that the President had declared Haywood, Moyer, Pettibone and Debs to be “Undesirable Citizens.”

In the Appeal to Reason of May 18th, Comrade Debs confronted Roosevelt:

Henry Maki WFM Telluride, Chained to Pole Mar 2, 1907

Were a mob of workingmen to seize Theodore Roosevelt and chain him to a post on a public street in Washington in broad daylight, as a mob of his capitalist friends seized and chained a workingman [Henry Maki] in Colorado, or throw him into a foul bullpen, without cause or provocation, prod him with bayonets and outrage his defenseless family while he was a prisoner, as was done in scores of well-authenticated cases in both Colorado and Idaho, would he then be in the mood to listen complacently to hypocritical homilies upon the “temperate” use of language, the sanctity of “law and order” and the beauty of “exact justice to all”?

And if he heard of some man who had sufficient decency to denounce the outrages he and his family had suffered, would he then “conceive it to be his duty,” as he tells us, to condemn the language of such a man as “treasonable and murderous” and the man himself as “inciting bloodshed,” and therefore an “undesirable citizen”?

[Photograph added.]

If fighting for the rights of working people makes one an undesirable citizen, then let us hope that millions more would be proud and happy to be classed with the likes of Comrades Haywood and Debs.

In this weeks edition of the Montana News, Eugene Debs suggests that President Roosevelt should tender an apology to the man he declared guilty in advance of the trial. Comrade Debs declares the acquittal of Big Bill Haywood to be a great victory for the American labor movement and a rebuke to the prosecution and to their masters, the Mine Owners’ Association, whose interest the prosecution endeavored to serve. Comrade Debs expresses his great respect for Comrade Haywood and proposes that Haywood should be nominated as the Socialist Party’s candidate for president.

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Hellraisers Journal: Clarence Darrow: “Haywood can die, if die he must, but..others..will come to take his place.”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I plead for the poor
and the weak and the weary.
-Clarence Darrow

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday July 27, 1907
Boise, Idaho – Darrow Pleads for Life of Big Bill Haywood

HMP, Clarence Darrow, Cresco IA Pln Dlr, July 2, 1907

The defense placed the life of Big Bill Haywood in the hands of the jury as Clarence Darrow sat down next to the defendant at 4:20 p. m. on the afternoon of July 25th.

Having begun his closing argument on the evening of July 24th, Clarence Darrow continued the next day, speaking throughout the morning and afternoon sessions of the court. He concluded his address to the jury with an eloquent appeal for the life of William D. Haywood, Secretary-Treasurer of the Western Federation of Miners:

Mr. Hawley says that he believes in this case. I believe in it as I believe in my life. I’ve given 30 years of my life to the poor. I have pleaded cases for them, but never before have I pleaded a cause in which I felt such an interest, and never did I hope for a verdict in favor of my client as I hope for this….

But it is not for Bill Haywood I plead or for his widow or his orphans. If he dies 10,000 men who work in the mines will send their mite to support the widow and the little ones and a million people send their message of sympathy. I dont plead for Haywood. Don’t think for a moment that, if you kill Haywood, you will kill the labor movement of the world, or the hopes and aspirations of the poor. Haywood can die, if die he must, but there are others who will live if he dies, and they will come to take his place and carry the banner which he lets fall. I plead for the poor and the weak and the weary. The eyes of the world are on you 12 men of Idaho tonight, and wherever the English tongue is spoken and throughout the civilized world they are wondering about your verdict. If you decree his death the spiders and the vultures of Wall street will send up peans of praise and wherever men live who hate Haywood because he works for the poor you will receive your meed of praise.

But if you acquit this man there are millions of men-out on the broad prairies, on the wide ocean, in the factories and mills and down deep in the earth-there are-women and children who will pray for you. These men and women and children stand here with me tonight stretching out their hands and imploring God to guide your judgment and imploring you to save Haywood.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Clarence Darrow: “Haywood can die, if die he must, but..others..will come to take his place.”” →

Hellraisers Journal: Darrow for the Defense, Praises Western Federation, Denounces Orchard and McParland

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Hawley says the Western Federation of Miners
has made trouble. It has, and I am glad of it,
for when we cease to cause trouble
we become slaves.
-Clarence Darrow

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Hellraisers Journal, Friday July 26, 1907
Boise, Idaho – Clarence Darrow for the Defense

HMP, Clarence Darrow, CdA Prs, July 25, 1907

In the course of his closing speech in the sweltering Boise courtroom on Wednesday July 24, Clarence Darrow reminded the jury that the State’s attorneys had allowed William Dewey to return to Colorado unhindered after confessing to murder on the witness stand. Dewey had testified for the prosecution and had admitted that he took part in the mob attack upon the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mill.

He then turned to face the prosecuting attorneys and demanded to know:

Were you asleep? or was your witness lying? Are you honestly in this prosecution, or is there here some damnable conspiracy to pick up the president of the Western Federation of Miners, and the secretary and treasure of the Western Federation of Miners and hang them by the neck for the pleasure and benefit of the Mine Owner’s association?

He then addressed the jury:

There, gentlemen of the jury, you have the real, strong, iron hand behind this prosecution. The mine owners of Colorado are pulling the wires to make you dance like puppets. They gathered these officers of the Western federation of Miners up and sent them here to be tried and hanged with Idaho to hold the bag. Idaho has a fine privilege in this trial-to pay for it. And you men of this jury will have the pleasure of working to pay up the deficiency warrants which have been issued by the State to meet the expenses of the prosecution.

Darrow praised the men of the Western Federation of Miners and spoke of the beauty of self-sacrifice typical of the “struggle for humanity when only the working man is found.”

Orchard and McParland were roundly denounced as liars of the worst sort, the kind that will conspire to hang innocent men.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Darrow for the Defense, Praises Western Federation, Denounces Orchard and McParland” →

Hellraisers Journal: In Boise, “Tide Turning” in Favor of Defense Due to Fearless Testimony of Morris Friedman

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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There are no limits to which
powers of privilege will not go
to keep the workers in slavery.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday July 13, 1907
Boise, Idaho – Ida Crouch-Hazlett Reports from Haywood Trial

From the Montana News of July 11, 1907:

Reporting on the amazing testimony of Morris Friedman, author of The Pinkerton Labor Spy, Ida Crouch-Hazlett states that the testimony of this intrepid former employee of the Pinkerton Detective Agency has “crystalized [the] gathering sentiment” in favor of the defense. The article, “The Tide Turning,” states in part:

Pinkerton Labor Spy by Friedman, BBH, Moyer, 1907

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[Friedman] reached the climax of the effect he created when Borah accused him of stealing the copies of the detective correspondence. With his voice thrilling with the sense of the justice that had impelled him to the sacrifices he had undergone to give his knowledge of the work of these inhuman fiends to the world, he indignantly repelled the charge:

When I discovered the crimes they were committing, and the wicked plots they were attempting to fasten on the machinists, the United Mine Workers, and the Western Federation, I considered these matters the property of the various unions, and that I was restoring it the rightful owners.

The ringing words electrified the court-room, and the ranks of the Federation broke into cheers, which the guards forgot to silence.

[Photograph added.  See full article below.]

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Socialist Montana News: Clarence Darrow Opens for the Defense in the Haywood Trial

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Who comes to speak for
the skin and the bone?
-Billy Bragg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Friday June 28, 1907
Boise, Idaho – Clarence Darrow Opens for the Defense

From the Montana News of June 27, 1907:

Darrow’s Statement
—–

Address to the Jury Outlining
Plans of Defense
—Orchard Spends Sunday Auto
Riding in Boise

Special to the Montana News—

Boise, June 24.

HMP, Darrow Opens June 24th, LA Herald, June 25, 1907

At the call of the defense attorneys the Federation men who are to appear as witnesses have come pouring into Boise the last few days. It seems good to see them here—all the old stand-bys that have so valiantly fought the struggles of the western labor for the last ten years. D. C Copely, formerly of the executive board, now a mine owner in Nevada; A. H. Floaten, candidate for governor of Colorado on the socialist ticket; Deportee from Telluride, a merchant who has been through the fiercest of the fight for his convictions; J. C. Barnes, who was up in a tree in Telluride, while the militia were hunting him underneath; John M . O’Neill, W. F. Davis, M. E. White, one after another. The very backbone of the Federation, fine, able, brainy men, more than a match for any capitalist prostitute that can be marshalled against them.

And they are here with the goods, the truth, the eternal fight against the injustice of employers, and the reasons for that fight. As one of them said:

We are here to go to the river, our cause is right and we’ll stay with it.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the Socialist Montana News: Clarence Darrow Opens for the Defense in the Haywood Trial” →