Tag: Hunger

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Arrives in Chicago, Served with Injunction, Declares, “What a lot of rot!”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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All strikes are alike;
They are protest against charity,
ignorance, misery, hunger,
industrial slavery, and jails.
-Mother Jones

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

Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday February 27, 1917
Chicago, Illinois – Mother Jones Arrives to Aid Garment Strikers

Mother Jones states she will aid the garment workers now on strike in this city, court injunction notwithstanding. Most of the strikers are women. Many of them have been brought before Judge Baldwin, the old injunction judge, forced to listen to his endless lectures and sentenced for up to six months in jail.

From The Pittsburgh Press:

PREPARE TO DEAL WITH “MOTHER” JONES
—–

By United Press.

Mother Mary Harris Jones, Logansport, IN, Sept 27, 1916

Chicago, Feb. 26.-Officials anticipated activities of “Mother” Jones, aged 83, labor leader. When she arrived here from New York to participate in the garment workers’ strike, she was served with a copy of the injunction prohibiting picketing.

[She declared:]

What a lot of rot. Imagine an old judge issuing a thing like that in the twentieth century.

I shall speak in Chicago if I am asked and attend meetings too. All strikes are alike; they are a protest against charity, ignorance, misery, hunger, industrial slavery, and jails.

Miss Gertrude Barnum, who with Theodore Roosevelt, helped settle the kimona workers’ strike in 1913, has also arrived to help the strikers.

[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: East Side Women of New York City to Mayor Mitchell: “Give us food! Our Children Are Starving!”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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When half a million mothers
in the richest city
in the richest country in the world
feel the pinch of hunger
as they are feeling it here now
nothing can prevent trouble.
-Mother Jones

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

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday February 24, 1917
New York, New York – Mothers Demand Food as Children Starve

New York Food Riots, Lt Digest, Mar 3, 1917

While the nation’s kept press continues to report on the food rioting taking place in New York City and Philadelphia, they continuously emphasis the foreign birth of many of the demonstrators, some of which have indeed rioted. Seems they believe that those of foreign birth should be willing to starve and perish in a quiet and orderly manner once they come to America.

The kept press mostly ignores the deep suffering of those who have been driven to such desperate measure in order to find relief. In fact, within just the past two months of January and February, the price of staples has risen dramatically. The cost of potatoes has risen 100 percent, onions are up by 366 percent and cabbage by 212 percent. Without being able to afford meat, mothers rely on beans to nourish their growing children and that staple has increased by 100 percent.

The Day Book of Chicago is an exception to this callous coverage of human suffering, pointing out that people are actually starving in New York City. The Day Book reports on attempts at relief:

STARVING CONTINUE TO RIOT
IN NEW YORK-ACTION

New York, Feb. 23.-Food riots continued sporadically in city today as heighth of Sabbath food buying among Jewish people was reached.

Mass meeting tonight, Rutgers sq., following which women will march to meeting of Board Estimate, where Mayor Mitchell is expected to make move to relieve conditions.

Demands will be made on city authorities for appropriation of $1,000,000 to open municipal stores and another $1,000,000 for school lunches. Strong demand that steps be taken to have government take over railway systems for food transportation.

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Hellraisers Journal: Food Riots in New York & Philly as Mothers Refuse to Maintain Good Public Order While Children Starve

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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When half a million mothers
in the richest city
in the richest country in the world
feel the pinch of hunger
as they are feeling it here now
nothing can prevent trouble.
-Mother Jones

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

Hellraisers Journal, Friday February 23, 1917
New York, New York – Mother Jones to Aid in Demand for Food

Food riots have broken out in New York City and in Philadelphia as the working-class women of those cities refuse to maintain proper civic order while they watch their children starve. In Philadelphia, police opened fire, killing one man and seriously wounding another. The police, as usual, claim that the workers fired first, and the word of the police has been printed as fact by the kept press of the nation.

Mother Jones is now in New York City to support the working-class women in their demand for food at prices that they can afford. She was interviewed by a reporter in her room at the Union Square Hotel.

From the New York Tribune of February 22, 1917:

“Mother” Jones To Head
Parade of 10,000
—–

Will Take Delegation to President
if Mayor Fails, She Declares
—–

Mother Jones, UMWJ, Feb 10, 1916

“Mother” Jones, aged strike leader of Colorado fame, will lead an army of 10,000 East Side woman to the city Hall next Saturday afternoon, she declares. She will ask Mayor Mitchel “just what he proposes to do” about the food shortage in New York. If his proposals are unsatisfactory she will take a delegation of “starving women” to Washington on Sunday and lay the case of New York’s poor before the President.

“Mother” Jones arrived in this city yesterday to “help the food strike along.” In her room at the Union Square Hotel last night the aged labor leader made her plans known somewhat reluctantly. Publicity, she said, might result in them being “blocked”

[She said:]

But they can’t hold this movement back. When half a million mothers in the richest city in the richest country in the world feel the pinch of hunger as they are feeling it here now nothing can prevent trouble. I came here to try to prevent it, though, and I shall do everything possible.

On Saturday I’ll lead all the women who’ll follow me down to the Mayor. More than ten thousand will go. We’ll put the matter up to him and ask for action. If he won’t give us action, some of us will go to Washington and ask the President.

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones on Rich at Horse Show & Children on Breadline, One Block Away

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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I want justice, no more, no less.
If you’ll give us justice we won’t need charity.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Saturday December 9, 1905
From the Albuquerque Evening Citizen:
Rich of Gotham Frolic While Children Stand in Breadline One Block Away

Mother Jones, Mar 11, 1905, AtR

In an article which appeared yesterday in the Albuquerque Evening Citizen, Mother Jones describes the ostentatious display of wealth at a Madison Square Garden horse show while the children of the poor queued up for stale bread one block away.

Mother describes the Rich Spectators:

Hundreds of men and women, dressed in the height of what they called fashion, were seated in boxes, facing a circle, where well-bred horses, beautifully kept, beautifully fed, beautifully groomed and carefully sheltered from the cold blast of a November evening, were prancing about on the tan bark.

The horse show was in progress. The great garden was hung with gay bunting, the air was oppressive with the perfume of cologne and flowers. Pecks of diamonds glistened at the ears and breasts of the women. Orchids, which I am told cost $5 apiece, were as common at the corsages of the society dames as are daisies in an uncultivated meadow in July.

Mother describes the Hungry Children of the Slums:

I walked a hundred paces east, toward the corner of 27th street, and Fourth avenue. A little army of children from the slums was drawn up before Cushman’s bakery. Those children are there every night at 6 o’clock, drawn up in a line of misery. They came for free bread-stale bread, something to hold together the bodies and souls of brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers.

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