Hellraisers Journal: "Thrilling Experiences of 'Little Angel of Miners' in Military Prisons"

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 26, 2015 · 11:28 AM PDT

2015/10/26 · 11:28

I was put in the cellar under the courthouse.
It was a cold, terrible place, without heat, damp and dark.
I slept in my clothes by day,
and at night I fought great sewer rats with a beer bottle.
"If I were out of this dungeon," thought I,
"I would be fighting the human sewer rats anyway!"
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Tuesday October 26, 1915
From The Labor World: Mother Jones Tells of Time Locked Up as Military Prisoner

From the October 23rd edition of the Duluth Labor World we are pleased to republish, in full, an article by Mother Jones which occupied almost one-half of the front page and was continued onto page two of the paper. In the article, Mother recounts her experiences as a military prisoner in the states of the West Virginia and Colorado. Mother has always been ready to answer the call of the miners whether they be organized by the Western Federation of Miners or by the United Mine Workers of America.

And she has never shied away from the threat of prison, no matter how dark or grim the cell may be.

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 24, 2015 · 11:04 AM PDT

2015/10/24 · 11:04

If they hire gunmen to beat up these girls, who are the mothers of the future,
then I say to them we'll have to defend ourselves.
We wouldn't be good Americans if we didn't.
I say, "Go to it. We'll fight."
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Sunday October 24, 1915
Chicago Illinois - Mother Jones Leads Parade of 5,000 Women Garment Strikers

According to The Day Book, the women and girls who marched behind Mother Jones and Sidney Hillman yesterday numbered 5,000. Even today's Chicago Daily Tribune had to admit that the number was at least 3,000:

3,000 GARMENT STRIKERS MARCH
THROUGH LOOP
-----

Police Guard at Parade
Bearing Placards Showing Demands.
-----
"MOTHER" JONES IN LINE.
------
Led by Sidney Hillman, the only man in the entire parade, 3,000 striking women and girls marched in and out through the wholesale clothing district and the boulevards yesterday afternoon. Thousands of men sympathizers, excluded from the parade, marched on the sidewalks and swelled the cheering.

In the front rank with Hillman were "Mother" Jones, Nettie Richardson, and Sarah [Bessie?] Abramowitz, all active in the striker's organization. At the start there were less than 2,000 marchers in line, but the numbers swelled, so that when the parade passed along Michigan avenue its numbers had been increased considerably.
Strikers Carry Placards.
Every fifty marchers had a placard. Here are some of the inscriptions:
Our Bosses Are Afraid of Arbitration. Why?

We Don't Want Charity. We Want Living Wages.

We Can't Live on $2 a Week. That's Why We Strike.

Our Bosses Donate to Charities. They Pauperize Their Workers.

Our Cause Is Just. Help Us Win.

We Don't Shop on State Street. We Can't on 7 Cents an Hour.

Low Wages Mean Misery. We Get 7 Cents an Hour.

We Need Protection from Brutal Foremen. Help Us Organize.

What Is a Living Wage? Our Bosses Say 7 Cents an Hour.

The strikers presented "Mother" Jones with a great bunch of chrysanthemums which Hillman carried most of the time. Two hundred policemen, forty-eight sergeants, and eight lieutenants were detailed to the parade by First Deputy Superintendent of Police Schuettler. Twenty detectives were assigned to guard spectators from pickpockets.

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 24, 2015 · 10:45 AM PDT

2015/10/24 · 10:45

No matter what your fight don't be ladylike!
God Almighty made women
and the Rockefeller gang of thieves made the ladies.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Friday October 22, 1915
Chicago, Illinois - Mother Jones and Boys' Brotherhood Republic

Mother Jones, Boston Globe, Jan 30, 1915

Today's Chicago Daily Tribune is reporting that Mother Jones took some time out from her mission of support for the Great Garment Strike in this city in order to accompany a group of young boys to a protest meeting before Judge Olson.

BOYS' 'MAYOR' PROTESTS TO
OLSON ON FINGERPRINTS.
-----
Calls on Judge, Hears Latter's View,
and Decides It's All Right-
"Mother" Jones Along.
-----
A dozen boys filed gravely into the chambers of Chief Justice Olson of the Municipal court yesterday and lined up in front of the judge's desk. Just behind them stood "Mother" Jones, who beamed through her spectacles and explained that she had come along to lend her moral support.

"We are from the Boys' Brotherhood Republic," said one sturdy youngster, "I'm Ralph Goodman, mayor, and we want to protest against this plan of yours to put the finger print system in the Boys' court. We don't believe a rogues' gallery for boys is the proper thing."

"I'm with you there," returned Judge Olson, "but we are not establishing any rogues' gallery. You boys have the wrong idea. We simply want to protect society from the vicious boy and the subnormal boy from himself. You ought not to be afraid to leave your finger prints anywhere, I'm not."

"Maybe that's right, huh?" observed Mayor Goodman, turning to his followers. They assented, agreed to help Judge Olson establish the proposed farm colony for vicious and subnormal boys, and departed well content.
-----

~~~~~~~~~~

SOURCE
Chicago Daily Tribune
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Oct 22, 1915
https://www.newspapers.com/...

IMAGE
Mother Jones, Boston Globe,
Jan 30, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/...

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday October 21, 2015 · 11:14 AM PDT

2015/10/21 · 11:14

If they hire gunmen to beat up these girls,
who are the mothers of the future,
then I say to them we'll have to defend ourselves.
We wouldn't be good Americans if we didn't.
I say, "Go to it. We'll fight."
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thursday October 21, 1915
Chicago, Illinois - Mother Jones Arrives to Aid Strikers, Testifies Before City Council

Garment Workers Parade in Chicago on October 12th
``````````

Mother Jones arrived in Chicago on Saturday to lend her aid to the striking garment workers in their struggle for a living wage and shorter hours. She was found on Tuesday testifying before Ald. Utpatel's special council committee where she made the following statement:

If I were mayor...I'd find a way to close down the factories of the men who won't pay living wages.
I do know from these girls that they get only 8 cents an hour, and that don't even pay car fare. If they hire gunmen to beat up these girls, who are the mothers of the future, then I say to them we'll have to defend ourselves. We wouldn't be good Americans if we didn't. I say, "Go to it. We'll fight."

I've prevented violence again and again. I've gone into saloons to tell the men to go on home, but violence is necessary sometimes.

If they'd give the salaries of the military and the gunmen to the workers they might avoid a strike. We don't want any of their miserable charity; what we want is just plain American Justice.

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 06, 2015 · 11:16 AM PDT

2015/10/06 · 11:16

The coal miners of Colorado are not seeking charity, they want justice.
-John R Lawson

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wednesday October 6, 1915
From The New York Times: John R Lawson Condemns the Rockefeller Plan

John Lawson Denied New Trial, Coshocton Morn Trb, OH, July 14, 1915

A statement released by John R. Lawson makes clear the opinion of the imprisoned labor leader regarding Rockefeller's industrial plan. From The New York Times of October 3rd:

LAWSON CONDEMNS PLAN.
-----
Lacks Essentials of Real Collective Bargaining, He Says.
TRINIDAD, Col., Oct. 2.-John R. Lawson, international board member of the United Mine Workers of America, confined in the county jail here awaiting decision of the Supreme Court on his application for a new trial on the charge of murder, made a statement tonight relative to the Rockefeller industrial plan.

[He declared:]
The plan is not practical...and will not prove the factor to promote industrial peace in Colorado, because it does not contain the essentials of collective bargaining, but rather attempts to substitute paternalism for democracy, or philanthropy for justice.

The coal miners of Colorado are not seeking charity, they want justice. They are only asking the same rights that the officials of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company claim for themselves, the right to join the organization of their choice, which is provided for by statute in Colorado. They demand the privilege of selling their labor through the medium of collective bargaining. They desire an organization on each side equal in strength, with a sense of equity to govern a contract that is binding on both sides.

This new plan of labor union, built along the lines of the old Provincial Workmen's Association of Canada, now defunct, will not do in Colorado. Without an organization there is amassed on one side all the wealth and power, on the other are grouped the partially organization employes, without any real organization behind them.

Referring to that part of the plan which says that the company will pay the expenses of miners' representatives to the conferences and reimburse them for time lost, Mr. Lawson said:

It will be a hopeless task, indeed, if safe representatives cannot be found under this benevolent plan. No intelligent person is going to be deceived by this subterfuge.
-----
[Photograph added.]

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 04, 2015 · 11:15 AM PDT

2015/10/04 · 11:15

The governor of Colorado...would betray God Almighty Himself if it was made of
pecuniary or political benefit or demanded by the corporations.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Monday October 4, 1915
From the Duluth Labor World: "Mother Jones Raps Colorado Governor"

Mother Jones on Cover of United Mine Workers Journal of Jan 21, 1915, Repaired by JtC

In this weeks edition of The Labor World, we find an account of the activities of Mother Jones while in Colorado a few weeks ago. Mother, who is a former schoolteacher, took up her ruler and applied a few good raps upon the knuckles of Governor Carlson:

The governor of Colorado is a lapdog of the corporations and absolutely has betrayed the people who elected him, and his action in so doing has proven to me that he would betray God Almighty Himself if it was made of pecuniary or political benefit or demanded by the corporations.
I've rather felt sorry for Governor Ammons. He was a poor, unsophisticated country weakling, and we can forgive him for his errors. But this new governor had an example before him. He has no excuse for prostituting the honor of the state as he has done by turning his authority over to the corporations.

He went east and attempted to draw pay from the state while he was preaching the doctrine of the Colorado Fuel & Iron company in Brooklyn.

By the time that John D. Jr. arrived in Colorado, Mother had left state. As reported in The Washington Times of September 30th, she regrets not being there in Colorado with the younger Mr. Rockefeller in order to show him what he really needs to see:

Dancing with the mine boss' wife, and borrowing the mine superintendent's nightgown when he sleeps in his cabin will not put any more food in the stomachs of the underpaid miner and his wife and babies...It will not end the injustices suffered by the men who have been treated as serfs, and who lived through the horrible scenes at Ludlow when their wives and babies were murdered by the hired gunmen of the mine owners.
I wish I had known Rockefeller was coming out when I was in Colorado two weeks ago. I should have staid out there and made it my business to see that Rockefeller saw the things he should see and heard the things they are keeping from him now...He can't expect to learn anything about conditions on a excursion like this that is personally conducted by his hired men.

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 29, 2015 · 12:51 PM PDT

2015/09/29 · 12:51

You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wednesday September 29, 1915
Chicago, Illinois - Cops on Horseback Charge into Ranks of Garment Strikers

Chicago Garment Strikers attacked by police on horses 2, ISR, Nov 1915

The bosses claim only 2,000 garment workers have answered the strike call of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers; the Union insists that thousands are now on strike and thousands more will walk out as the strike goes general.

Meanwhile, Chicago's police force has joined the strike on the side of the bosses, clubbing and beating strikes and riding their horses onto the sidewalks and into a group of girls.

The Chicago Day Book reports:

Police brutality is already marking strike of the clothing workers that really only got under swing yesterday and is not yet a complete tie-up. Responding to the calls of the bosses for assistance in their attempt to break the nerve of the strikers, mounted cops rode up on the sidewalk into a crowd of girls; cops on foot charged with their clubs and fists into a crowd in front of Hirsch Wickwire & Co.; and cops on motorcycles rode on the sidewalk at strikers in front of Lamm & Co., Jackson and Peoria sts.
At Kuppenheimer's factory, 22, and Richmond sts., a boy of about 11 laughed his sympathy with the strikers. He was badly shaken up by the officers on duty there...

Lena Rosin and her sister Hilda, 1823 W. North av., were walking on the street opposite Kuppenheimer's when two motorcycle cops rode into them from behind. Lena's leg is bruised and Hilda's back is sprained. Tillie Katz, 1814 W. North av., claims she was poked in the back by Officers 3839 and 3598 as she walked along.

From today's Chicago Daily Tribune:

Garment Workers Make Strike, Chicago Daily Tribune, Sept 29, 1915

Below the fold our readers can find further reporting on the strike from The Day Book. Read More

Hellraisers Journal: Rockefeller Jr in Colorado, Mother Jones Advises Rise Above "Economic Leeches"

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 23, 2015 · 11:03 AM PDT

2015/09/23 · 11:03

You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thursday September 23, 1915
Trinidad, Colorado - Rockefeller Arrives to Inspect Properties of C. F. & I. Company

John D Rockefeller Jr

John D. Rockefeller Jr. has arrived in Trinidad, Colorado to inspect the properties of the Colorado Fuel and Iron Company.

Meanwhile, in the filthy unsanitary jail located in Trinidad, we can find the class-war prisoners, former striking miners, who have been incarcerated for many long months. Among them is John R. Lawson, now convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison by Judge Hillyer, a judge who was formerly employed by the very company whose properties John D. Jr. has come to inspect.

Whether or not Mr. Rockefeller will visit the imprisoned miners remains to be seen.

From Akron, Ohio, Mother Jones advises the young Mr. Rockefeller to hold mass meetings and to listen to the miners without threat of firing or blacklisting. She further states that he should rise above "the level of the high-class burglars and economic leeches which now surround him."

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 01, 2015 · 11:15 AM PDT

2015/09/01 · 11:15

The strike is serious.
Get together and you will beat the Herzogs
and help every toiler of the sweatshops.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wednesday August 23, 1905
From the Appeal to Reason: Missouri Tour by Mother Jones Met with Enthusiasm

The Appeal of August 19th carried this report on the recent tour of Missouri made by Mother Jones:

"MOTHER" JONES' TOUR.
-----
"Mother' Jones' tour of Missouri has evidently stirred the comrades of that neck of the woods to renewed activity. Reports coming in from the various points scintillate with enthusiasm and faith in an early victory for the principles of international socialism. At Novinger a wonderful meeting was held, and the activities of Local Secretary L. A. Wise were well rewarded; 1,500 people attended the meeting. The miners as might be expected, predominated, but bosses, ministers, mine owners and others could be seen, all anxious to hear the news of the good time coming. At Bevier a successful meeting was held in the park. Here is where Hy Thompson and his fighting band stand by the guns in good days and bad. It was a day never to be forgotten. "Mother" Jones was at her best, and fairly burned the truth into her hearers. The miners of Bevier had only worked five days in five weeks during the period of professed prosperity, and were in splendid condition to accept the plain facts handed out by "Mother" Jones.

At Sedalia a large delegation of the ladies of the "Labor League" met "Mother" at the depot and formed a body guard that was different from the one she had at Cripple Creek, and escorted her to a hotel instead of a bull-pen. An immense meeting was held in the courthouse. At Kansas City "Mother" spoke in Industrial Hall to a packed house. Her speech bristled with epigrams and scathing sarcasm, and was well received. It was a new gospel to many.
-----

The New York Times of August 18th reported that Mother joins will soon be in New York:

"Mother" Jones Coming Here.
"Mother" Jones, the woman organizer of the coal mining districts, will reach New York in about two weeks to address meetings in support of the candidacy of Algernon Lee, the Socialist candidate for Mayor, and Morris Brown, the Socialist candidate for President of the Board of Aldermen. She will remain for several weeks, endeavoring to make recruits for the Social Democratic Party.

~~~~~~~~~~

SOURCES
Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-Aug 19, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...

The New York Times
(New York, New York)
-Aug 18, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...

IMAGE
Mother Mary Harris Jones, Miners Angel
http://www.biography.com/...

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 01, 2015 · 11:13 AM PDT

2015/09/01 · 11:13

John Mitchell left to his heirs a fortune,
and his political friends are using the labor movement
to gather funds to erect a monument to his memory,
to a name that should be forgotten.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Saturday August 12, 1905
Pittsburg, Kansas - Mother Jones Denounces John Mitchell as a "False Prophet"

In a speech in Pittsburg, Kansas, on Thursday August 10th, Mother Jones, the "distinguished socialist orator," denounced John Mitchell as a "false prophet," causing a storm of controversy between the local socialists and the leaders of District 14 of the United Mine Workers of America.

From The Pittsburg daily Headlight of August 11th:

SAYS SOCIALISTS DO HARM
-----
Miners' Union Officials Declare That "Mother" Jones
Is Doing Union An Injury.
------
President, Geo. Richardson, of the district miners' board, said today that a strong effort is being made to strengthen the ranks of the miners' organization in the southwest in order to meet the operators next spring with an unbroken front.

"Every effort is being made from different directions to dismember and weaken our organization," remarked the district president, and this antagonism is not coming altogether from the side of the operators. The socialists like "Mother" Jones, who made that attack on the Mine Workers last night are dong more than the Parryites and the Citizens' Alliance to undermine and disrupt the union organization of the miners. I didn't hear "Mother" Jones last night but from what I have been told, she used terms and language which will not do the U. M. W. of A. any good. In fact such agitators are doing more injury to our cause than the Citizens' Alliance and the Parryites ever have done."
------

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 01, 2015 · 11:13 AM PDT

2015/09/01 · 11:13

You are not dealing with great brains;
you are dealing with wolf brains;
with snake brains; with rat brains...
Great brains are interested in a nobler manhood,
and a grander womanhood,
and a higher, nobler work.
Great brains never sell themselves for a smile
to the pirates of nations.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Wednesday August 11, 1915
Pittsburg, Kansas - Mother Jones Speaks at Public Meeting at Labor Temple

Mathew Schmidt, David Caplan, International Socialist Review, Aug 1915

On Saturday, August 7th, Mother Jones spoke at a public meeting held in the Labor Temple of Pittsburg, Kansas, the home of the District 14 of the United Mine Workers.

Mother spoke on various topics of interest to working men and women: guns and gunmen; the "great brains" who rule the nation; railroad men who agree to haul John D. Jr.'s machine guns across the country with which their fellow workers are murdered; and a lecture on economics given by a preacher to the mother of several hungry children. She invited the "pencil slaves" to take down her words and print them in the morning papers. She also addressed the issue of the safety of the young Mr. Rockefeller should he ever make his promised trip to Colorado.

At the end of the meeting, with a unanimous vote of those attending the meeting, two telegrams were sent to President Wilson to protest the trial of Mathew Schmidt, and David Caplan.

Below the fold our readers can find excerpts from the speech given by Mother Jones.

JayRaye for Hellraisers Journal

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 01, 2015 · 11:12 AM PDT

2015/09/01 · 11:12

The Appeal to Reason had its youth of vigor,
its later days of profound wisdom,
and then it passed away.
-Mother Jones

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Thursday August 10, 1905
Girard, Kansas - Mother Jones Visits with the Waylands, Will Speak in Nearby Pittsburg

Mother Jones, Appeal to Reason, Mar 11, 1905

According to The Pittsburg Daily Headlight of August 4th, Mother Jones has been visiting with Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Wayland in Girard, Kansas. Julius A. Wayland is the editor and publisher of the Appeal to Reason, the nation's leading socialist newspaper.

Mother Jones, the famous socialist orator, is the guest of Mr. and Mrs J. A. Wayland.

From the Appeal to Reason of August 5th, we learn that Mother Jones spoke before a large audience in Novinger, Missouri on July 23rd:

Comrade Wise, of Novinger, Mo., informs the Appeal that Mother Jones visited them on the 23rd of July and spoke to over twelve hundred people. The meeting was one of the greatest successes they ever had, and the comrades are profuse in their expressions of gratitude and hopes of success for Mother.

Today's Pittsburg Daily Headlight reports that Mother Jones will speak in Pittsburg, Kansas this evening:

Makes a Flying Visit
"Mother" Jones, the socialist agitator, who will speak in Pittsburg this evening, spent the day here among her friends and admirers among the local socialists. One of the local socialist committee stated this afternoon that she was not able to address the Chicopee meeting as expected this afternoon, and that she would make but one address in this field, that in Pittsburg tonight, she will leave here tomorrow for North Dakota to address a meeting there.

~~~~~~~~~~~

SOURCES

The Pittsburg Daily Headlight
(Pittsburg, Kansas)
-Aug 4, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...
-Aug 10, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...

Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-Aug 5, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...

IMAGE
Mother Jones,
Appeal to Reason, Mar 11, 1905
http://www.newspapers.com/...

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Newer
Older

RSS

Hellraisers Journal: "Thrilling Experiences of 'Little Angel of Miners' in Military Prisons"

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Leads Parade of 5,000 Women of the Great Chicago Garment Strike

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones, Suffrage, Feminism, & the Struggles of Working Class Women

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones Testifies Before Chicago City Council, Urges Girls to "Go to it."

Hellraisers Journal: JDR Jr's plan substitutes paternalism for democracy & philanthropy for justice.

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones, "The governor of Colorado is a lapdog of the corporations."

Hellraisers Journal: Chicago-"Cops Aid the Bosses in Monster Strike-Charge Girls with Their Horses"

Hellraisers Journal: Rockefeller Jr in Colorado, Mother Jones Advises Rise Above "Economic Leeches"

Hellraisers Journal: Get together & you will beat the Herzogs & help every toiler of the sweatshops.

Hellraisers Journal: In Pittsburg, Kansas, Mother Jones, Socialist Orator, Denounces John Mitchell

Hellraisers Journal: "Great brains never sell themselves for a smile to the pirates of nations."

Hellraisers Journal: Mother Jones, "Famous Socialist Orator," in Girard with Mr & Mrs J. A. Wayland