Tag: Washington DC

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for July 1921: Found Attending Senate Hearings on Conditions in the Coal Fields of West Virginia

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Doomed, Wmsn WV, June 20, 1920, Speeches Steel, p213—————

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 22, 1921
Mother Jones News Round-Up for July 1921
Found in Washington, D. C., at Senate Hearings on Conditions in W. V. Coal Fields

From The Cincinnati Enquirer of July 15, 1921:

Unionization Back of Strife,
Senate Mingo Inquiry Shows
—————

Mother Jones, ed WDC Tx p2, Aug 29, 1920

SPECIAL DISPATCH TO THE ENQUIRER.

Washington, July 14.-In the opening hour of its investigation to-day the select Senate committee investigating conditions in the West Virginia coal fields, elicited from spokesmen for operators and for the miners the admission that the virtual warfare there centers about unionization of the fields.

At the prompting of Senator William S. Kenyon, of Iowa, the committee Chairman, both agreed that unionization is “the issue.” 

[…..]

A distinctly West Virginia atmosphere permeated the committee room.

Attorneys for both factions were powerful man, husky voiced and tanned. Others present were: Sid Hatfield, former Chief of Police of Matewan, who participated in the gun battle there; Frank Keeney, President of the district organization; Samuel B. Montgomery, state labor leader; Sheriff Jim Kirkpatrick and Mother Jones, silvery haired matriarch of labor welfare.

Secretary Mooney described general conditions in the mining region and paralleled them with the situation there in 1913 when a Senate Committee investigated.

[…..]

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[Photograph added.]

From The Scranton Times of July 16, 1921:

Sid Hatfield Describes Pistol Battle In Mingo
—————

Takes Stand In Senate Committee’s Probe of Strike Trouble
-Denies He Took Credit For Killing Detectives.

Washington, July 16.-“Sid” Hatfield, ex-chief of police of Matewan, W. Va., today took the stand in the senate labor committee’s investigation of the Mingo mine war.

Word that the member of the famous West Virginia family was testifying spread through the capitol and the room soon was soon crowded.

“Mother” Jones pitched her chair closer to the witness table to catch what the man who is under indictment on charge of shooting Baldwin Felts detectives would say.

Without the slightest sign of nervousness the lanky, blonde mountain youth described the pistol battle in which he was the central figure. His suit was neatly pressed and a Masonic charm dangle from his watch chain. His quick gray eyes watched the members of the committee intently and he frequently gave a sneering laugh at questions from counsel for the operators…..

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Hellraisers Journal: Mrs. Sid Hatfield and Mrs. Ed Chambers Testify Before Senate Committe in Washington, D. C.

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Sallie Chambers re Murder of Sid Hatfield n Ed, Blt Sun p2, Aug 5, 1921—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday October 28, 1921
Washington, D. C. – Wives Charge Mine Guards with Cold-Blooded Murder

From the New York Daily News of October 26, 1921:

Jessie Hatfield Sallie Chambers, in WDC, NY Dly Ns p1, Oct 26, 1921

From the Baltimore Sun of October 26, 1921:

HdLn Jessie Hatfield n Sallie Chambers Testify WVCF Sen Com, WDC Oct 25, Blt Sun p1, Oct 26, 1921

(From The Sun Bureau.)

Washington, Oct. 25. -Mrs. Sid Hatfield and Mrs. Ed. Chambers today charged mine guards of the West Virginia operators with cold-blooded murder of their husbands both of whom were conspicuous in the Mingo county mine war and were among the acquitted defendants in the Matewan murder case. Hatfield and Chambers were killed recently at Welch, W. Va.

The two black-garbed widows testified before the Kenyon committee, which is investigating the mine war. Their testimony that their husbands were shot down while walking with them up the Courthouse steps in Welch followed immediately testimony from Attorney-General E. T. England, of West Virginia, that mine guards in Logan county beat and shot men down, drove out of the county visitors regarded as undesirable, including union organizers; practiced intimidation at the polls, interfered with the processes of justice and generally ran roughshod over the community…..

[Emphases added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: C. E. Lively Testifies Before Senate Committee, Joined United Mine Workers as Baldwin-Felts Spy

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Mother Jones Princeton WV Speech Aug 15, 1920, Steel Speeches, p230—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday July 22, 1921
Washington, D. C. – C. E. Lively Testifies Before Senate Investigating Committee

From the Baltimore Sun of July 21, 1921:

WVCF Sen Com, Testimony C. E. Lively, Blt Sun p3, July 21, 1921

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Hellraisers Journal: Sid Hatfield Testifies Before Senate Investigating Committee, Relates Details of Battle of Matewan

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Sid Hatfield, re Evictions per R Minor, Lbtr p11 , Aug 1920—————-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday July 18, 1921
Washington, D. C. – Sid Hatfield Tells of Battle with Baldwin-Felts Gunthugs 

From the Washington Evening Star of July 17, 1921:

WVCF Sen Com, Testimony Sid Hatfield, WDC Eve Str p7, July 17, 1921

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Hellraisers Journal: Frank Keneey, U. M. W. District 17 President, Testifies Before Senate Investigating Committee

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Mother Jones, Doomed, Wmsn WV, June 20, 1920, Speeches Steel, p213—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday July 17, 1921
Washington, D. C. – Frank Keneey Testifies on Behalf of  Mingo Miners 

From the Washington Evening Star of July 16, 1921:

WVCF Sen Com, Testimony Frank Keneey, WDC Eve Str p2, July 16, 1921

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Hellraisers Journal: Frank Ingham, Union Miner, Charges He Was Beaten by McDowell County Sheriff’s Deputies

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Mother Jones, Powers of Privilege ed, Ab Chp III—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday July 16, 1921
Washington, D. C. – Frank Ingham Before Senate Investigating Committee

From the Washington Evening Star of July 15, 1921:

WVCF Sen Com, Testimony Frank Ingham, WDC Eve Str p2, July 15, 1921

 

From Hearings before Senate Committe
-Now Investigating West Virginia Coal Fields
-July 14, 1921, excerpt from testimony of Frank Ingham:

Mr. INGHAM. Then they [McDowell County sheriff’s deputies] drove the car down there between Welch and Hemphill, and there they stopped and they dragged me out of the car, and they took me about 100 yards away from the car and then they began to beat me over the head and back with these iron clubs, and then when they decided that I was dead, when they decided that there was not any life in me, they drew off of me and stood and talked, and Ed Johnson, the sheriff’s deputy , he came back to me and kicked me in the face…He holds the position of deputy sheriff under Sheriff Daniels, and he come back and he kicked me in the face and he robbed my pocket…Well, I had prayed earnestly to God, and I believe that God heard me and that he answered my prayer, and I was conscious all the way. I had $25.07 in my pocketbook, and I also had a receipt from Mr. R. H. Campbell; I had borrowed $100 from him and I had a receipt from him and one from Dr. Hamburger, and my railroad ticket…Ed Johnson [took those things]….I never got anything [back].

And then they went off and they left me lying in the woods, and they went out to the road and they got in their machine and drove back toward Welch, and the automobiles ran out of my hearing. I raised my head up from off of the ground, and I stayed there until I collected strength enough to get out of the road, and then I went out to a little coaling station, I believe they call it the Farm coaling station, I believe they call it that, and an engineer was there and a fireman was there coaling up an engine, and they asked me what was the matter with me and I told them that I had been in the hands of the mob. They asked me what I had been in the hands of the mob for and I told them because I belonged to the union.

[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Fred Mooney, U. M. W. District 17 Secretary-Treasurer, Testifies Before Senate Investigating Committee

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Fred Mooney, Mingo Co Gunthugs, UMWJ p15, Dec 1, 1920—————

Hellraisers Journal – Friday July 15, 1921
Washington, D. C. – Fred Mooney Testifies on Behalf of  Mingo Miners 

From the Washington Evening Star of July 14, 1921:

WVCF Sen Com, Probe Begins, WDC Eve Str p2, July 14, 1921

Peace may be near in Mingo county, W. Va., where several hundred coal miners have been on strike for more than a year, it was developed today before hearing begun before a sub-committee of the Senate committee on education and labor to determine the causes of the industrial situation in Mingo county.

Members of the committee, headed by Senator Kenyon, sought to ascertain whether the Governor of West Virginia had acted upon the suggestion submitted three days ago by the miners. Questions asked by members of the committee carried a suggestion that the committee might attempt to bring the sides to the coal controversy together if it were found that a real basis had been suggested for a compromise.

Fred Mooney, secretary-treasurer of District 17, the miners’ union, representing the Mingo field, told the committee that the strikers were ready to go back to work if the operators would receive them without prejudice and would not insist upon employing only non-union labor…..

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[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: “Probe in Mingo by Senate Now Certain” -Sam Montgomery in Washington, D. C. Insists on Inquiry

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Fred Mooney, Mingo Co Gunthugs, UMWJ p15, Dec 1, 1920—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday June 28, 1921
Washington, District of Columbia – Senate Committee to Investigate Mingo

From the Martinsburg Journal of June 25, 1921:

Senate Investigation of Mingo Now Certain, Martinsburg Jr p1, June 25, 1921

Washington, June 24.—Tho Senate is to investigate the situation in the coal fields of Mingo county, and to probe the causes leading up to the shooting which broke out in that community several weeks ago. The senate resolution directing the investigation to be made by a special committee of the senate was adopted by the senate Wednesday afternoon by a viva voce vote, and without opposition. Senator King immediately moved a reconsideration of the vote and the motion to reconsider went over. But the resolution was adopted by such a substantial vote that there would seem to be no more chance for its defeat on reconsideration.

Sam B. Montgomery, former state labor commissioner of West Virginia has been here for several days insisting upon the investigation being made by the senate. Senator Hiram W. Johnson, of California, was the author of the resolution which was adopted, and he also insisted upon its passage.

Thinks It Will Help.

Mr. Montgomery, in the last two days, has called upon the president, the attorney general and George Christian, secretary to the president and impressed on each of them the views of organized labor in West Virginia, to the effect that the investigation should be made.

In the opinion of Mr. Montgomery, the investigation by the senate will end all the trouble and prevent farther shooting in Mingo county. He pointed to the good results which followed the senate’s investigation of conditions on Cabin creek, and predicted that good will follow this investigation also, both for the operators and the miners.

While the motion for reconsideration is pending, the final adoption of the resolution will be delayed, and until its adoption the personnel of the investigating committee will not be announced. But it is the intention of the senate to have the committee appointed and the investigation started at the earliest possible moment.

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[Emphasis added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for April 1921: Found in Washington DC with Gompers, Protesting West Virginia’s Jury Bill

Janet RayeBattle of Blair Mountain of 1921
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Quote Mother Jones, Doomed, Wmsn WV, June 20, 1920, Speeches Steel, p213—————

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday May 25, 1921
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1921
-Found in Washington, D. C., Protesting West Virginia’s Jury Bill

From the Washington Evening Star of April 1, 1921:

PROTEST WEST VIRGINIA JURY LEGISLATION
———-
Samuel Gompers and ”Mother” Jones Speak
at Central Labor Meeting.

Mother Jones IN Dly Tx p1 crpd, July 15, 1920

President Samuel Gompers of the American Federation of Labor and “Mother” Jones of the United Mine Workers led the local protest against enactment of the proposed jury legislation for West Virginia at a special mass meeting of Central Labor Union, in Musicians’ Hall, last night.

President Gompers denounced the proposed law as an abrogation of the right guaranteed to a defendant under the Constitution of the United States providing trial by jury and change of venue. He said that a premeditated conspiracy for the destruction of trades unionism was at the basis of the move for the law which will allow a judge to select a jury from any county in the state no matter in which county the trial was being held. He charged that the judiciary, consciously or unconsciously, were aiding in the fight against organized labor.

Mother Jones was vehement in her expressions against the proposed legislation. She flayed local labor for its seemingly supine attitude.

[She said:]

You haven’t any fire in you at all, sitting here with your comfortable air, while tyranny is being wrought in West Virginia, where babes of murdered fathers are starving for their very bread.

At the conclusion of the meeting a resolution was adopted unanimously denouncing the proposed legislation.

The resolution declared that “the legislature of West Virginia has passed a bill which would place the power in the hands of a trial judge in that state to select a jury from counties outside of that in which the trial is being held,” and that if enacted the proposal would mean “the abrogation of the intent of the jury system.”

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[Photograph added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: U. S. Supreme Court Rules Against William D. Haywood and 79 Fellow Workers Convicted at Chicago

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote BBH IWW w Drops of Blood, Sept Oct 1919———-

Hellraisers Journal – Wednesday April 13, 1921
Washington, District of Columbia – U. S. Supreme Court Rules Against Haywood

From The Leavenworth Post of April 11, 1921:

DECISION IS AGAINST WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD
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Supreme Court Refuses to Review
Conviction of Industrial Leader.
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79 OTHERS TO COME BACK.
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(By the Associated Press.)

BBH William Haywood 13106, Leavenworth Pen, Sept 1918

Washington Apr. 11.-The supreme court today refused to review the conviction of William D. Haywood and seventy-nine more members of the I. W. W. on charge of having conspired to obstruct war activities of the government.

Then refusal of the supreme court to interfere closed the long fight to save Haywood and his associates from prison only a presidential pardon can now prevent their sentences from being imposed.

Evidence Was Questioned 

The petition for the review was based on the contention that the federal agents conducting the raids on houses and offices of the official of the I. W. W. on September 5, 1917 acted without search warrants and evidence obtained was illegal under the recent ruling of the supreme court.

The cases were tried before federal Judge Landis and the sentence ranging from one to twenty hears were imposed.

Most of the men were given their liberty on bail bonds aggregating $500,000 pending the outcome of the appeals.

BBH at Detroit IWW Book Store, OBU p16, Jan 1921

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[Emphasis and photographs added.]

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