West Virginia Coalfield Wars

Quote Mother Jones, UMW Strong, Speech Charleston WV Levee, Aug 1, 1912 —————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday September 17, 1912
Mother Jones News Round-Up for August 1912, Part I
Found Speaking to West Virginia Miners in Charleston and Montgomery

Thursday, August 1, 1912, Charleston Levee
-Mother Jones speaks to striking miners from the back of a dray wagon.

Now, you have gathered here today for a purpose. Every movement made in civilization has had an underlying purpose. You have reached the century in human civilization when the charge of human slavery must forever disappear. (Applause.)

You, my friends, in my estimation, have stood this insult too long. You have borne the master’s venom, his oppression, you have allowed him to oppress you. When we said, “a little more bread” he set out to get the human blood-hounds to murder you. Your Governor [Glasscock] has stood for it. He went off to Chicago [Republican convention] and left two Gatling guns with the blood-hounds to blow your brains out…..

This industrial warfare is on. It can’t be stopped, it can’t be put back, it is breaking out over all the nation from the city of Mexico clean through to the border of Canada, from the Atlantic Ocean clean across the oceans of the world; it is the throbbing of the human heart in the industrial ﬁeld for relief. They are preaching appeal to the Legislature, they appeal to Congress—and I must give this Congress credit—I always want to give credit where credit is due—you have had more labor bills passed in the last session than in all the days of your Congress.

I was in Washington not many weeks ago. I sat up in the gallery watching the voters. I was watching the fellows who would vote against your bill. One fellow, when they asked for roll call, he got up among those who didn’t want it, but when the vote came he had to be registered on the Congressional Record, he took mighty good care that his vote was in your favor Why? Because the whole machine of capitalism realize for the ﬁrst time in history that there is an intellectual awakening of the dog below, and he is barking. Have you been barking on Paint Creek?…..

You have inscribed on the steps of your Capitol, “MOUNTAINEERS ARE FREE.” God Almighty, men, go down through this nation and see the damnable, infamous condition that is there. In no nation of the world will you ﬁnd such a condition. I look with horror when I see these conditions…..

I know the Baldwin guards are here, maybe Baldwin is here, but I want to say, you take back water, or by the Eternal God we will make you do it. (Loud applause.) We won’t down further. There will be no guards to shoot us down. We will watch the property, it is ours, and in a few years we will take it over. And we will say to Taft and Teddy, “You have had a devil of a good time, go in and dig coal.”…..

I see the babies, the children with their hands taken off for proﬁt; I see the proﬁt mongers with their ﬂashing diamonds bought by the blood of children they have wrecked. Then you ask us to be quiet! Men, if you have a bit of human blood, revolutionary blood in your veins and a heart in your breasts, you will rise and protest against it……

Today we are four hundred thousand strong, marching on to liberty, marching on to freedom. We are the United Mine Workers of America today numbering four hundred thousand……

Now wait until I read this:

The miners and workmen in mass-meeting assembled, believing in law and order and peace should reign in every civilized community, call the attention of honest citizens of the State of West Virginia to the fact that a force of armed guards of men belonging to the reckless class, the criminal and lawless class, have no respect for the rights of their fellow man, who have been employed in the coal ﬁelds of Kanawha and the New River valley. These lawless men and criminals beat up her citizens on the public highways, a menace to the traveling public.

If you are molested you have a right to sue the railroad.

They insult our wives, our daughters, arrest honest citizens in lawful discharge of their duties, without process of law; they carry on a course of conduct which is calculated to bring about warfare and disturb the peace. We earnestly insist that the recent trouble on Paint Creek Valley was brought about by the armed criminals against whose depredations we could get no relief from the courts.

I will explain the courts to you directly, and I hope the judge is here. He belongs to the corporations if he is here.

(From the audience: “You bet your life he does.”)

We earnestly and sincerely call upon the State administration, men in public life throughout the State, all good citizens, to cooperate with us, to use their inﬂuence by enforcing the law, by forcing such guards to disarm themselves and leave the territory where they are now stationed. We believe their presence there will lead to further riot and bloodshed and murder and general disturbing of the peace, a condition to be deplored by all law-abiding citizens.

We hereby promise and pledge our support and cooperation with Major C. D. Elliott, who is in charge of the State militia, in the interest of law and order, at the same time insist that law and order cannot be restored until the armed guards are discharged.

We pledge ourselves to abide by the law, doing everything within our power to cause our sympathizers to do likewise, upon the condition that said guards and bloodhounds are disarmed and removed from the State.

We condemn the action of the Circuit Judge of this county for leaving the bench at the time of the threatened impending danger, at a time when there existed a condition that brought fear and unrest to the members of our families, to our neighbors and friends. We submitted our cause to said court in which the action of said armed guards was clearly set forth, through and by our attorneys, and an injunction and restraining order was asked for, and said restraining order was denied by the judge. We hold that the recent outbreak and riot was due to the fact that said judge refused to grant a proper restraining order against said guards under the condition set forth in the bill and proof ﬁled in support thereof.

Resolved that a copy of this resolution be forwarded and transmitted to the Honorable William E. Glasscock.

[…..]

[Photograph added.]

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts and Doings of Mother Jones for August 1912, Part I: Found Speaking to West Virginia Miners in Charleston and Montgomery” →

Quote Mother Jones Robbers Tremble, Montgomery WV, Aug 4, 1912 ———-

Hellraisers Journal – Monday August 2, 1920
Robert Minor Travels to West Virginia to Report on Coalfield Wars

From the New York Liberator of August 1920:

I of IV

As the train from Charlottesville ran through the Blue Ridge Mountains, a Negro looked out of the window, arose and walked from the stuffy compartment “for colored people” into a more comfortable car marked “for whites.” From that I knew the train had passed into West Virginia. The Negro sat down facing a weatherbeaten man with a white mustache and a broad-brimmed hat. The white man’s face did not change expression at the Negro’s entrance, and from that I knew that the white man was a mountaineer of the West and not an inhabitant of Old Virginia.

From Chesapeake Bay, across the Blue Ridge Mountains and away up around the southwest corner o£ Pennsylvania, used to extend the domain of Old Virginia. But the rich planters of the eastern valleys went to war against the Union, and the “po’ white” men hoeing their corn alone on the mountains and not owning any n——, refused to follow. The new State of West Virginia was made of these soft green mountains and lonely cabins and corn patches.

For another generation the people of the mountains hoed their corn. Then somebody discovered that the green-covered mountains were made of coal. The railroads began to scratch their way through the green, and to nose out the great black insides that were worth more than the cabins and corn patches. Men from Northern cities took part in West Virginia affairs and soon could prove with legal papers that they owned the black contents of the mountains and the green surface, too.

Many mountain families quit hoeing corn. They settled near the coal pits where regular wages and store clothes seemed to offer more of a living. The population passed from the outside of the mountains to the inside of them, and the grip of the men with the title deeds dosed down hard upon all.

Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: From the New York Liberator: “The Wars of West Virginia” by Robert Minor, Part I of IV” →