Tag: Industrial Workers of the World

Hellraisers Journal: From the Socialist Montana News: “Free Speech War Rages At Spokane” -to Speak Until All Are Arrested

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Quote EGF, Compliment IWW, IW p1, Nov 17, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 12, 1909
Spokane, Washington – Fellow Workers to Speak Until All Are Arrested

From the Socialist Montana News of December 2, 1909:

IWW Spk FSF, Free Speech War Rages, MTNs p1, Dec 2, 1909

[Part II of II.]

Justice Orders Ordinance Made to Order.

Justice Mann who is holding up the judicial end of the government persecution detected the flaw in the first ordinance, as class legislation, and dismissed the prisoners under it. Another ordinance was then framed on the judge’s advice, designating any speaking on the street where a crowd gathers as disorderly. Thus the judge makes the laws, and decides on it, and passes sentence on it.

The second day 133 were arrested and 33 sentenced to 30-day terms in jail.

Attorney Moore for the I. W. W. gave notice of appeal to the superior court.

Foote, the editor of the Industrial paper published at Portland, was arrested as soon as he reached town.

A bulletin posted at headquarters of the Industrial Workers of the World was as follows:

Fellow workers, tomorrow this fight will be carried on with greater determination than ever. We have only begun to fight; 200 men will go to jail tomorrow.

Immediately below was posted another, which read:

Every man who is appointed captain to select five or more men and proceed to hold meetings.

Every captain and squad go to the places designated and speak until all are arrested.

Remember, the authorities claim to have broken the backbone of the organization. Show them that they are just as ignorant as bulls usually are…..

The socialist of Spokane have actively taken up the I. W. W. fight.

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Hellraisers Journal: From the Socialist Montana News: “Free Speech War Rages At Spokane” -IWW Causing a Little Stir

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Quote EGF, Compliment IWW, IW p1, Nov 17, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday December 11, 1909
Spokane, Washington – I. W. W. Causing a “Little Stir”

From the Socialist Montana News of December 2, 1909:

IWW Spk FSF, Free Speech War Rages, MTNs p1, Dec 2, 1909

[Part I of II.]

The Industrial Workers of the World are making a little stir in this western section of the country in its valiant maintenance of the right of free speech. A battle royal was commenced with the authorities of Spokane. The authorities show an unusual malignancy against these I. W. W. because they so openly denounce capitalism, its laws, its government and its authorities; they call on the workingmen of all grades and stations to unite on these principles, and to openly, radically and emphatically fight the capitalists and their government.

Now this attitude is not particularly soothing to officials of a class government, even though the insurgents are backed by a constitutional guarantee. With officials it is “To Hell with the constitution”, whenever its enforcement jeopardizes their graft.

Dirty Chicanery.

The Spokane authorities have played a dirty trick with the I. W. W. A year ago the Industrial entered upon a desperate fight for free speech. They filled the jail and nonplussed the city administration. The city thought fit to call a truce and asked that hostilities be suspended pending a court decision. The I. W. W. agreed to these terms, but no action has ever been taken on the part of the city to get a settlement of the case. Tired of being buffaloed in this shape the I. W. W. prepared for a march on Spokane, the authorities prepared to resist them, and the Workers are now fighting capitalist domination, and unjust abridgment of legal personal rights with all the forces at their command. The capitalist papers of Spokane have announced in staring headlines that 8,000 revolutionists from all over the northwest were gathering for the fray.

The “Industrial Workers”, the Spokane organ of the I. W. W., issued the call for this gathering of the clans. Different unions were notified by wire how many men to send to Spokane. One capitalist paper stated that 500 recruits for the battle boarded trains out of Portland, Oregon, without the formality of purchasing tickets.

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WE NEVER FORGET-James Kelly Cole Who Lost Life on November 17, 1909, En Route to the Spokane Free Speech Fight

Janet RayeWe Never Forget
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Quote Mother Jones, Pray for dead, Ab Chp 6, 1925———-

WNF, James Kelly Cole, IWW Spk FSF, Nov 17, 1909, Rev Writings Poems p12, 1910 ———-

WE NEVER FORGET
James Kelly Cole Who Lost His Life in Freedom’s Cause,
November 17, 1909, at Tomah, Wisconsin
———-

James Kelly Cole, Poems Cover, 1910
“It was on a pilgrimage to help others
who believed in the rights of men
that James Kelly Cole was halted suddenly by death.
A railroad accident at Tomah, Wis., November 17th, 1909,
ended only too untimely his brief, young, hopeful life.
He lived well and bravely and thus did he die.”

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: James Kelly Cole Killed While Riding the Rods from Chicago to Spokane Free Speech Fight

Janet RayeFree Speech Fights
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Quote re James Cole, Spk FSF Martyr, ISR p557, Dec 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday December 5, 1909
Fellow Worker James Kelly Cole Killed on the Road to Spokane

From the International Socialist Review of December 1909:

IWW Spk FSF, Chg HQ Signs, ISR p557, Dec 1909

KILLED ON WAY TO SPOKANE.

James K. Cole, one of the members of Chicago Local 85, I. W. W., who left here in company with many comrades Monday evening, November 15th, to join the men and women engaged in the fight for free speech at Spokane, was killed on Tuesday [Wednesday November 17th] while jumping a train, en route, in Wisconsin. James Cole was only 23 years of age and for a long time had been known as one of the most uncompromising members of the I. W. W. Always ready to lend his aid to any struggle of the wage-working class, Cole was one of the first to volunteer to go to Spokane. The following photograph of the men who left this city on the 15th was taken Sunday the 14th. Comrade Cole is the fourth man from the right of the picture, in the front row. Cole said:

It’s a long trip and it’s a cold trip out to Spokane at this time of year. But don’t talk about that. We’re going and we are going to WIN.

Men like Cole are the fighting timber of the revolutionary movement of the working class. They do not weigh consequences, they scoff at dangers threatening themselves; silently, without any demonstration, or brass bands, or RAILROAD TICKETS they pick up [their] hats and are on the way whenever their class sends out a call for help. James Cole and his fellow-workers are the BACK-BONE of the revolutionary army. Cole never looked back. He was never afraid. He never gave up. He was the best that can be said of any man or woman of our class—he was a revolutionist. He fought living and died on the way to help in a great fight.

—–

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Hellraisers Journal: “We can keep up the fight all winter.” -Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Reports from Spokane Free Speech Fight

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Quote EGF, Compliment IWW, IW p1, Nov 17, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday December 3, 1909
Spokane, Washington – Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Reports from Scene of Battle

From the International Socialist Review of December 1909:

ISR IWW FSF, p483, Dec 1909

[Part I-Report from Spokane by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn]

Letter T, ISR p483, Dec 1909HE working class of Spokane are engaged in a terrific conflict, one of the most vital of the local class struggles. It is a fight for more than free speech. It is to prevent the free press and labor’s right to organize from being throttled. The writers of the associated press newspapers have lied about us systematically and unscrupulously. It is only through the medium of the Socialist and labor press that we can hope to reach the ear of the public.

The struggle was precipitated by the I. W. W. and it is still doing the active fighting, namely, going to jail. But the principles for which we are fighting have been endorsed by the Socialist Party and the Central Labor Council of the A. F. of L.

IWW Spk FSF JP Thompson, ISR p483, Dec 1909

The I. W. W. in Spokane is composed of “floaters,” men who drift from harvest fields to lumber camps from east to west. They are men without families and are fearless in defense of their rights but as they are not the “home guard” with permanent jobs, they are the type upon whom the employment agents prey. With alluring signs detailing what short hours and high wages men can get in various sections, usually far away, these leeches induce the floater to buy a job, paying exorbitant rates, after which they are shipped out a thousand miles from nowhere. The working man finds no such job as he expected but one of a few days’ duration until he is fired to make way for the next “easy mark.”

The I. W. W. since its inception in the northwest has carried on a determined, relentless fight on the employment sharks and as a result the business of the latter has been seriously impaired. Judge Mann in the court a few days ago remarked: “I believe all this trouble is due to the employment agencies,” and he certainly struck the nail on the head. “The I. W. W. must go,” the sharks decreed last winter and a willing city council passed an ordinance forbidding all street meetings within the fire limits. This was practically a suppression of free speech because it stopped the I. W. W. from holding street meetings in the only districts where working men congregate. In August the Council modified their decision to allow religious bodies to speak on the streets, thus frankly admitting their discrimination against the I. W. W.

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Hellraisers Journal: Spokane Free Speech Fighters Celebrate Thanksgiving with Bread and Water, In and Out of Jail

Janet RayeFree Speech Fights
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Quote Spokane IWW re Bread n Water, Spk Prs p1, Nov 25, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday November 28, 1909
Spokane, Washington – Bread and Water Thanksgiving for I. W. W.

From The Spokane Press of November 25, 1909:

IWW SpkFSF Bread n Water Thanksgiving, Spk Prs p1, Nov 25, 1909

———-

PROCLAMATION BY THE I. W. W.

The following Thanksgiving proclamation was issued this morning by a committee of the I. W. W.:

We feel that we have reason to be thankful that we have an organization in which are enlisted men with moral courage to go to prison and fast and suffer hunger for the principle of free speech, on this day when the American people are feasting and offering thanks for the blessings they enjoy.

We feel that we have reasons to be thankful that there are men outside of jail willing to forego the pleasures of feasting today in sympathy with their fellows who have offered themselves as a sacrifice in a just cause.

We further see reasons for offering thanks because the movement of protest has grown and that progress has been made in the past year in the work of enlightening the wage earners as to the conditions confronting them in this republic, in which the people have long since ceased to rule.

All of these things make us thankful and give occasion to rejoice that through the gloom and shadows that now surround us a ray of light and hope begins to appear.

W. H. Douglas, C. M. Conner, J. Burns, Committee.

———-

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Big Bill Haywood for The New Solidarity on the Lynching of Wesley Everest at Centralia, Washington

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Wesley Everest, Died for my class. Chaplin Part 15———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday November 27, 1919
William D. Haywood on Lynching of Wesley Everest at Centralia, Washington

From The New Solidarity of November 25, 1919:

HdLn Tragedy in Centralia, New Sol Extra p1, Nov 25, 1919

Hanging W. Everest, Nw Sol p1, Nov 25, 1919
[Lynching of Wesley Everest by Maurice Becker]

———-

WILL YOU HELP NOW?
[-by William D. Haywood]

Hanging W. Everest, crpd, Nw Sol p1, Nov 25, 1919

Another member of the Industrial Workers of the World has been murdered. Wesley Everest was lynched at Centralia, Washington [Armistice Day, November 11th]. He was hung to a bridge, the body riddle with bullets. The corpse was afterwards cut down and by the murderers dragged back to the jail and thrown in among the many fellow workers who had been imprisoned after the [illegal] raid on the I. W. W. hall. Four of them under an armed guard were escorted with the body of their dead fellow worker out into a yard where they were compelled to dig a grave and bury the dead.

Fellow Worker Everest, the murdered man, was an overseas veteran. He fought for the United States of America against the Imperial German government. When he returned from the war he took up his membership in the Industrial Workers of the World, beginning again the battle against the lumber trusts of the Northwest.

When the I. W. W. hall was raided several of the aggressors were killed, but this in no way justified the un-American, unlawful, inhuman murder of their comrade who had fought with them in the trenches of Flanders.

The Centralia outrage was followed by many others all over the country. Halls were raided, furniture destroyed, literature confiscated, and it is reported that over a thousand men have been arrested,-that is, thrown into prison without warrant, and denied the privilege of seeing friends or lawyers.

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Hellraisers Journal: William Z. Foster Reports from Spokane Free Speech Fight for Seattle Workingman’s Paper

Janet RayeElizabeth Gurley Flynn
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Quote EGF, Compliment IWW, IW p1, Nov 17, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday November 24, 1909
Spokane, Washington – Fellow Workers Jailed Under Horrible Conditions

From Seattle Workingman’s Paper of November 20, 1909:

IWW Spk FSF, HdLn, ed, Stt Socialist Workingmans Paper p1, Nov 20, 1909

SPECIAL SPOKANE DESPATCHES
———-

Discipline Excellent
—–
[-by William Z. Foster]

Spokane, Sunday, Nov. 14.-The one distinctive feature of this fight, which impresses me at first glance is the calm, business like determination of the men and the excellent discipline pervading throughout their ranks.

Things are quiet today. No street speaking is the order for Sunday. Tomorrow street speaking will be resumed. The plan is to send out a sacrifice squad daily. Many men are arriving. Two hundred and eighty are in jail, living on bread and water. Eighty of these are in Fort Wright, seventy-five in the abandoned Franklin school house and one hundred and twenty-five in the city jail. Two meetings will be held tonight , one in the city court room and one at I. W. W. headquarters. Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and John M. Work are speakers for both meetings, relieving each other.

WM. Z. FOSTER

———-

Horrible Conditions
—–

SPOKANE, Monday, Nov. 15.-Ten speakers arrested today. Police handled them roughly and were jeered by the bystanders.

Conditions in jails are horrible. In the [Franklin] school house bucket is used for toilet. The place is alive with vermin. The prisoners are refused water to boil their clothes. Windows are broken. No visitors are allowed. No place to sleep except floor. No blankets. Half loaf bread daily. All are suffering with cramps in stomach. Doctor gives them castor oil. Many are very sick, but they are ordered to work on rock pile. Only two so far have accepted this means of release.

Today a six day striker was released, afflicted with bleeding piles. Blood was running down his legs. At first they ordered him to rock pile, then told him to go. He could hardly walk and was refused admission to hospital. He was penniless, but authorities refused to return thirty cents taken from his person when he was arrested, on the plea that he owed for costs.

Socialists have declared boycott on Apple show.

Public sentiment is strong for strikers.

W. Z. FOSTER.

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Agnes Thecla Fair, Dangerous Character, Jailed and Assaulted in Spokane Free Speech Fight

Janet RayeFree Speech Fights
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Quote Agnes Thecla Fair, Revolutionary Women, Stt Sc Wkgmn p4, Nov 20, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday November 23, 1909
Spokane, Washington – Letter from Agnes Thecla Fair Describes Jail Horrors

From Seattle Workingman’s Paper of November 20, 1909:

IWW Spk FSF, HdLn, ed, Stt Socialist Workingmans Paper p1, Nov 20, 1909

THE SHAME OF SPOKANE
—–

We publish the following letter without the consent of its author. We believe the interests of truth demand its publication. When we first read it we could not believe it. Even now it seems impossible that such cowardly and brutal treatment could be accorded a helpless woman, even among savages. Yet we know the capitalist system has developed far lower moral types than savagery or barbarism ever knew. We know, too that daily revelations are made of jail horrors almost as bad as this. Read what Mrs. [Bessy] Fiset tells in her department, “The Woman,” in this paper [page 4].

Those who know Agnes Thecla Fair will not hesitate to credit what she testifies to. She is a quiet, frail, unassuming little woman, some 25 years old, who is publishing a book called “The Sourdoughs’ Bible.” She was drawn into the Spokane Free Speech Fight because she happened to be in that city soliciting for her book, and wherever she is she cannot refrain from taking the side of the under dog….

———-

MISS FAIR’S LETTER
—–

Spokane, Wash., Nov. 11, ’09

Dr. Hermon Titus and Mrs. Titus.
Dear Comrades and Friends:

Well, to put it mildly, Mrs. Titus came very near getting that copyright. I am now labeled by police as a DANGEROUS CHARACTER. My offense was mixing in free speech fight and behaving so different from other women arrested.

I made four jumps, as the box filled with dry goods, standing at Howard and Riverside in front of the White House was a high one. I talked for ten minutes and had a large crowd, when a detective came up and took me down from my high pedestal. He wanted me to walk to the station, but as I had never rode in a hurry-up wagon I asked to ride.

While waiting for a private automobile the crowd grew to thousands. Taking out a red handkerchief as I entered the wagon, I stood up and waved it at the crowd. Cheers went up for Free Speech.

Little did I dream of what was coming after in this enlightened age. You will pardon language used to get at facts, as I never heard anything so vile. They put me in a cell with a fallen woman and left. They were gone but a few minutes when two officers returned and (although the other woman was not to go until Monday, she told me), they told her to get ready in two minutes and get out.

When she was gone they put me in a dark cell, and about ten big burly brutes came in and began to question me about our union. I was so scared I could not talk. One said, “We’ll make her talk” Another said, “She’ll talk before we get through with her.”

Another said,”F–k her and she’ll talk.” Just then one started to unbutton my waist, and I went into spasms which I never recovered from until evening.

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Hellraisers Journal: W. F. Little Learns His Brother Is Doing 30 Days in Spokane for Reading Declaration of Independence

Janet RayeFrank Little
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Quote re Frank Little Ready for IWW Spk FSF, Wenatchee Dly Wld p2, Nov 2, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday November 22, 1909
Fresno, California – Telegram from Spokane Tells of Free Speech Fight

From The Fresno Morning Republican of November 16, 1909:

TELLS OF SPOKANE INDUSTRIAL FIGHT
—–
W. F. Little Learns That His Brother Is
Doing 30 Days for Reading
Declaration of Independence.

Spk FSF, IWW Notices, Spk Prs p2, Nov 3, 1909

W. F. [“Fred”] Little, of the local union of Industrial Workers of the World, received an official communication from the Spokane local yesterday reciting the treatment of members of the order in Spokane in their fight with the city authorities. The letter gives this bit of personal news.

I understand that you are a brother of F. H. [“Frank”] Little, the hobo agitator, in jail in Spokane with 200 more as a result of the free speech fight. He was reading the Declaration of Independence on the street corner. He was sentenced to thirty days for this terrible crime.

The letter describes some of the Third Degree methods pursued by the police and jailors. It is related that the men are crowded into stuffy cells, without creature conveniences and the steam temperature was kept on one occasion at 100 degrees for a period of thirty-six hours in an effort to “break” the men.

Mr. Little yesterday took up a private collection among the local “Industrial Workers” to aid their brothers in their Spokane fight.

———-

[Insert added from Spokane Press of November 3, 1909.]

Fellow Worker Frank Little was also jailed during the Missoula Free Speech Fight, and described that experience for Industrial Worker of October 27th:

THE BEATING OF JONES BY
THE MISSOULA SHERIFF.

[-by F. H. Little]

On September 30th Fellow Workers Jones, Appleby [George Applebee], Tuchs [Herman Tucker] and myself were sentenced to 15 days each in the county jail. That night five more of the boys were arrested. The morning of October 1st, after breakfast, the prisoners called for a speech. We moved the table to the southwest corner of the jail. Jones got up and made a talk on Industrial Union. The sheriff sent in word not to talk so loud. So Jones lowered his voice. He talked for about five minutes, then we started to sing the “Red Flag.”

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