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Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday February 20, 1912
Lawrence, Massachusetts – Big Bill Haywood Replies to Order of Col. Sweetser
From The Boston Daily Glob of February 19, 1912:
HAYWOOD IN DEFIANCE
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Hurls His Shafts at Col Sweetser.
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Defends Lawrence Strikers
Who Sent Children Away.
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Criticizes Militia for Its Severity.
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LAWRENCE, Feb. 19.-William D. Haywood issued a statement today in reply to the criticism relative to sending strikers’ children to distant cities and to the notice given by Col E. Leroy Sweetser, in charge of the troops here, that he would prevent more leaving the city unless it was’shown the parents had given their consent. The statement follows:
The fact that some of the striking textile workers of Lawrence, Mass., have seen fit to send their children away to be taken care of in New York and elsewhere has raised a mighty howl among the “plutes” of cultured Back Bay.
No language has been too strong to condemn the action of the strikers who have accepted the invitation of the working people to care for their dependent children until the conclusion of the industrial war in Lawrence.
It was not until the first consignment of children had been sent away that the aristocrats of Boston, many of whom roll in wealth at the expense of the luckless parents of these little ones, found their voice. Back Bay’s polite society and the daily papers that cater to their ilk have been deaf, dumb and blind as to the conditions under which children are brought into the world, and drag out their miserable existence in the textile towns of Massachusetts.
Afraid of losing their little slaves, in whom they have only a material interest, our smug Boston exploiters and their ladies now sound the alarm.
The yellow journals are busy. Representative Hayes of the Massachusetts Assembly has introduced a bill intending to prevent children being transported from their homes, making certain such actions as felony, punishable by fine and imprisonment. Then, in boots and spurs, comes Brig Col E. Leroy Sweetser, a vest pocket edition of the now forgotten Gen Sherman Bell of Colorado fame. Sweetser is the commanding officer in the war zone of the Bay State.
With mighty proclamation, a most formidable document, the said Brig Col E. Leroy Sweetser announces to the wide world that he will permit no further shipments of children from Lawrence.
And he lets himself down with the significant words, “without the consent of their parents.” The colonel, in maudlin mockery, says that it is inhuman to take the children from their happy homes, but well not discuss the question of inhumanity with the colonel, as he really doesn’t know the definition of the word, or he would apply it to the militiamen under him, who, with wheel spokes and loaded rifles, with fixed saber bayonets, are prepared to carry out all orders.
This omnipotent officer has already issued orders to shoot to kill, and the militia have killed innocent workers and committed many grievous wrongs against the strikers in their firm desire to serve the mighty textile trust. The armed forces of the State, furnished by a Democratic administration to break the spirit and subdue the strikers, are not the only support of the kings of wool and cotton. They also enjoy the comfort of the sheltering wing of the Republican party at Washington, where they bask in the benign influence of schedule K.
With the Democratic administration ready to shoot down the slaves of the mill at Lawrence and a Republican administration holding up the tariff at Washington. The trusts have reason to feel secure, and would if it were not for the fact that their “hand” had found their heads and organized in “one big union,” and nothing but empty stomachs can drive them back into the mills.
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[Photograph and emphasis added.]
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