Tag: William Mailly

Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for April 1901, Part IV: Scranton Silk Strike Called Off; Smallest of Mill Girls Parade in City

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, St L Lbr, Apr 13, 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday May 12, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1901, Part IV
Scranton Silk Strike Called Off; Smallest Girls Celebrate with Parade 

From the Scranton Tribune of April 29, 1901:

PA Silk Strike Called Off, Scranton Tb p5, Apr 29, 1901

Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901At a general  meeting of the employes of the silk mills of this city, held yesterday afternoon in St. Thomas College hall, the strike which has been on during the last three months was formally declared off and the announcement made that work will be resumed Tuesday morning.

This afternoon the younger girls will celebrate the end of the strike by holding a parade, and tonight a mass meeting will be conducted in College hall, at which Editor William Mailly, of the New York Worker; National Committeeman Frederick Dilcher, of the United Mine Workers of America, and “Mother” Mary Jones will make addresses…..

AN OPEN SESSION.

[Yesterday’s meeting] was open, and of very short duration. The announcement was briefly made that the strike was over, and all hands were ordered back to work Tuesday morning. “Mother” Jones then made a short address, in which she briefly mentioned the successful culmination of the long struggle, and then urged all of the younger girls to participate in today’s parade…

“Mother” Jones spent Saturday in Paterson. Trouble seems brewing there, and a general strike is threatened on account of difficulties with the ribbon workers.

—————

[Drawing added.]

THE YOUNG UNIONISTS.
———-
Bootblacks and Newsboys’ Union
Yesterday Were Dined at College Hall
-Several Speeches Made.
———-

A unique, but pleasing, spectacle was presented yesterday afternoon, when between three and four hundred boys representing the youngest and newest union in this city filed into St. Thomas’ College hall and there listened to a number of addresses, ate and were merry.

It was the initial appearance of the Bootblacks’ and Newsboys’ union in the city streets and everywhere the youngsters were greeted with friendly and good natured smiles…

“Mother” Jones gave a hearty, cheerful address to the boys, in which she spoke of the necessity of organization and assured the lads of the benefits which would arise to them from their union. Reading rooms will be established for them, those of their number who are musically inclined formed into a band, instructors provided and other advantages secured.

William Mailly, editor of the New York Worker, also addressed the boys. He spoke along the same lines as “Mother” Jones, and, among other things, told of the recent strike of the New York newsboys…..

———-

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Hellraisers Journal: Whereabouts & Doings of Mother Jones for April 1901, Part III: On Child Labor, Christian Sunday School Teachers and Civilization

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Child Labor Sleep on factory floor, Ab Chp 14 p120—————

Hellraisers Journal – Saturday May 11, 1901
Mother Jones News Round-Up for April 1901, Part III
The Sunday School Teacher and the Little Wage Slaves

From the Illinois State Register of April 23, 1901:

Christian Zeal Off the Track.

Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901

Chicago American: When human beings make idiots of themselves the most extraordinary things are sometimes done by those who think they are doing good.

“Mother Jones,” who interests herself in working people and their condition, declares that she attended Sunday school at Birmingham, Ala., and heard a teacher address the following remarks to a class of little millhands ten or twelve years old:

“God put it in the heart of Mr. B— to build a factory so that you little children can have work and earn money, so that you can put a nickel in the box for the poor little heathen Chinese children.”

That kind of thing is apt to make the devil suffer from the effects of too violent laughter.

“Mr. B—” spoken of by the foolish Sunday school teacher is, of course, one of the most dangerous elements in civilization. He exploits child life in his money-making process. In the midst of a poor community he establishes a factory, knowing that want will induce parents, when the opportunity offers, to force their little children to work long hours in crowded rooms.

“Mr. B—” gets his money by killing just so many children a year and stunting the growth of all of them.

It would be far better for the world if, instead of building a factory and employing a thousand children, he would erect a gallows and hang five hundred. That would a least give the remaining five hundred children some kind of chance for normal development.

As long as there are persons like “Mr. B—” to build factories in which children shall be worked to death, and foolish, ignorant teachers to talk like the one quoted here, this world cannot call itself civilized.

———-

[Drawing added.]

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Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones and the Victory of the Striking Silk Mill Girls of Scranton, Pennsylvania, by William Mailly

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Mother Jones, Stt Dly Tx p3or5, Feb 23, 1901—————

Hellraisers Journal – Tuesday May 7, 1901
Scranton, Pennsylvania – Silk Mill Strikers Secure Victory

From the New York Worker of May 5, 1901:

Mother Jones, Victory Scranton Silk Strike, NY Worker p1, May 5, 1901

Mother Jones, Drawing, SDH p4, Mar 9, 1901

After a strike extending over three months the 5,000 silk workers of Scranton have secured a favorable settlement of their grievances, winning a complete victory, and returning to work under better conditions than they have ever experienced before. This has come about after a most stubborn fight, and only the solidarity of the strikers, under the leadership of Mother Jones gained the victory.

The strike began on January 23, when the girls at one of the mills were compelled to strike because of the treatment received from one of the forewomen. The girls had formed a union the Saturday previous and efforts were being made to disrupt it. The other mills followed the example, and within two weeks all the twelve mills in the city were closed down.

The smaller children led the way, and were the first ones to rebel. And they rebelled none too soon.The writer had the opportunity to see some of them during the past week, and he can say truthfully that anything heretofore said about their age or appearance has not been overdrawn. It is a sickening sight to see the pinched, colorless faces of these children. Their bodies are dwarfed and misshapen through the drudgery of the mill and their legs show startlingly frail and thin below the short dresses.

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Hellraisers Journal: “How Girls Can Strike” -William Mailly on Uprising of the 20,000 for The Progressive Woman

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Esther of NYC Uprising Beaten by Father n Brother, Prog Wmn p6, Feb 1910———-

Hellraisers Journal – Friday February 4, 1910
New York, New York – Girls Persist Despite Hunger, Cold and Beatings

From The Progressive Woman of February 1910:

How Girls Can Strike

BY WILLIAM MAILLY

“A whole lot has been published about what the rich women have done in this shirtwaist strike,” said a woman friend, “but I haven’t seen very much about what the girls themselves have done. Why isn’t something said about them?”

I had been going the rounds of the halls where the shop meetings of the strikers were held, collecting the proceeds from the Special Strike Edition of the Call. It was a dull, wet day, the East Side streets were slippery and dirty with a nasty mush consisting of a week-old snow mixed with the regular refuse that the rich metropolis is too poor to remove promptly from its working class districts. One did not walk through such streets; one slid, splashed and floundered and felt lucky to be able to do that without falling. And the cold rain soaked one through to the skin in short order.

Uprising Scab Scared of Girl Strikers, New York Call p4, Dec 29, 1909

I was leaving Astoria hall on East Fourth street when Gottlieb, the chairman of Casino hall, across the street, accosted me. He was accompanied by a young girl. She was thinly clad, her clothes were shabby, her shoes were torn and sodden, and her face and hands blue with cold.

“Mr. Mailly,” said Gottlieb, “look at this girl. I want to tell you about her. This is the worst case I have in our hall. It’s the worst case I’ve heard of. This girl is only sixteen years old—she has no father or mother living; she has no relatives or friends; she has only been in this country about six months; she can hardly talk English.

“Listen, Mr. Mailly.” Gottlieb was getting more excited as he went on.

This girl hasn’t had anything to eat all day—she is hungry-she must have something—and we can’t give it to her. Also she can not pay the rent of the room she lives in—she must get out if she cannot pay. We can do nothing; we have nothing.

And listen. Think of it. This girl, she got from a man a five-dollar bill for one copy of the Call in the Cafe Monopole on Second avenue today and she brought it in and gave it over to me. And she so hungry and with not a cent, and we needn’t have known she got that five dollars. Think of it! And she says she won’t scab-she doesn’t care what happens to her. But oh, Mr. Mailly, we must help her. You must give her something now. I have brought her to show you.

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Hellraisers Journal: New York Call Extra: “Shirtwaist Strikers Present Facts of Great Struggle to the Public of New York City”

Janet RayeHellraisers Journal
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Quote Clara Lemlich, Cooper Un Nov 22 re Uprising, NY Call p2, Nov 23, 1909———-

Hellraisers Journal – Thursday December 30, 1909
New York, New York – The Call Supports Uprising of Shirtwaist Makers

From The New York Call of December 29, 1909:

New York Call Extra Uprising Edition, p1, Dec 29, 1909

SHIRTWAIST STRIKERS PRESENT FACTS OF GREAT
STRUGGLE TO THE PUBLIC OF NEW YORK CITY

—–

WORKING GIRLS’ STRIKE RESULT OF OPPRESSION
—–
Discontent With Shop Conditions Had Been Steadily Growing
for Years-What Led Up to Present Situation-Employers
Desperate and Losing Ground Rapidly, While Strikers
Are Standing Solid, but Financial Aid Is Needed.
—–

By WILLIAM MAILLY.

When 30,000 workers in one trade, mostly girls under twenty years of age, quit work with one accord and go on a general strike almost without warning and with little preparation there must be some exceptional reason for their action.

The present strike of shirtwaist makers is an exceptional strike. Behind it is a long, bitter story of working conditions that had gradually become unbearable-a story of low wages that went lower in hard times, but never higher in good times, of long hours of day and night and Sunday labor in the busy season and idleness or semi-idleness in the dull season, of unsanitary shop conditions, with poor light, foul air and unhealthy surroundings, of the tyranny, and some times worse, of petty bosses and foreman, of a subcontracting system which relieved the manufacturer, so-called, of responsibility, but made it possible for contractors to employ labor at beggarly wages and to reap large profits-all these things had combined to make the general lot of the shirtwaist makers miserable, degrading and increasingly oppressive.

And these things prevailed because the shirtwaist makers were unorganized. They had no union. They were competing among themselves to their own undoing and the great benefit of their employers. They were helpless to resist oppression because they not act together. They were victims because they submitted being victimized.

What Led to the Revolt.

But a change had to come. Such a state of things could cannot prevail indefinitely. And when the change did come it came all the more quickly because the force that impelled it had been gaining strength for so long a time. Like a long-smoldering volcano that suddenly erupts, so the growing discontent among the shirtwaist-makers found vent in a revolt that burst forth within a few hours…..

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Hellraisers Journal: Thousands of New Yorkers Demonstrate Support for Debs at Mass Meeting on Lower East Side

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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Quote EVD, NYC Lower East Side Oct 13, MTNs p 1, Oct 22, 1908~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal – Sunday October 25, 1908
Lower East Side, New York City – Debs Speaks at Hamilton Fish Park

From the Montana News of of October 22, 1908:

LAND-SLIDE FOR SOCIALISM
—–

NEW ENGLAND WORKERS GO WILD OVER DEBS.
—–

EAST SIDE CROWDS
—–
One Hundred Policemen Required to Take Care
of the Vast Masses of People
-Debs Holding Out Well.
—–

EVD, NYC Hamilton Fish Park Oct 13, Brk Dly Egl p21, Oct 14, 1908

The lower east side of New York saw the greatest demonstration in its history Tuesday afternoon [October 13th] when Eugene V. Debs, socialist candidate for president, visited it and gave his thousands of supporters an opportunity to express their devotion to him and his cause.

From Hamilton Fish park, where Mr. Debs first appeared and spoke, to Rutgers square, where he ended his visit, the automobile in which he rode was surrounded and followed by a crowd that packed the streets through which he traversed and lapped over into those adjoining until nothing but a surging, tumultuous mass of humanity could be seen.

At Rutgers square it required all of the skill and discipline of a large force of policemen to make way for the Debs automobile to the center of the square, where he was to speak. When the socialist leader at last reached the spot he turned and looked down upon the vast sea of faces that extended as far as the eye could reach.

And the enthusiasm was as unrestrained and heartfelt as the crowd itself was huge. It was impossible to have every one in that crowd hear what was said, either by Debs or any of the other speakers, but that didn’t seem to matter to the crowd, for they applauded and cheered anyway. They were there to show their regard for the greatest working class champion in America-and they showed it.

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Hellraisers Journal: Convention of Social Democracy of America Ends in Fracture; Debs, Keliher, Mailly, and Others Bolt

Janet RayeEugene Victor Debs
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EVD Quote, Revolutionary Solidarity, ISR Feb 1918~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hellraisers Journal, Monday June 13, 1898
Chicago, Illinois – Debs Rejects Utopian Colonization Scheme

The Social Democracy of America was founded just one year ago in the same city where now that party is torn asunder as the result of a bitter disagreement between those who prefer to purchase themselves a refuge from the oppression of Capitalism and those who are willing to remain in thick of the fight against the forces of Capitalism.The latter group of Socialists includes Eugene Debs who has always and ever stood shoulder to shoulder with working class men, women and children,-injunctions, gunthugs, and prison bars be damned.

EVD, SDA Fdg Conv, Chg 6-15-97, wiki, Chg Chc, June 16, 1897
Debs Addressing Founding Convention of Social Democracy of America,
Chicago, June 15, 1897

From The Chicago Chronicle of June 12, 1898:

Debs Goes Out:
Social Democracy is Split into Two Factions

Eugene V. Debs left the Social Democracy of America, which he founded and of which he was President, at 2:30 o’clock yesterday morning [June 11th] and the men who seceded under his leadership formed the Social Democratic Party of America. In one year’s experience he had determined that the colonization scheme which he had fathered was chimerical and that political action should be the purpose of the organization. When the convention in Ulhich’s Hall, after a night of bitter debate, upheld colonization by a vote of 52 to 36, Debs and his followers walked out and in the Revere House organized a new society and adopted a new platform.

While the old Social Democracy will embark at once on the establishment of its first cooperative community in the mining industry at Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, the Social Democratic Party will confine its work to propagating the principles of socialism by the use of the ballot. The division extends to the old leaders. Of the men who were imprisoned in Woodstock Jail in consequence of the great railroad strike of 1894 E.V. Debs and Sylvester Keliher are in the seceding faction, while W.E. Burns, James Hogan, Roy Goodwin, and J.F. Lloyd adhere to the old party. In both organizations the officers are new, but the former leaders are the ruling spirits.

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