~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday December 26, 1915
From The Arizona Republican: Mother Jones Raising Contributions for Clifton-Morenci Strikers

The Arizona Republican of December 23rd reports that the United Mine Workers of America has now taken on the cause of the Clifton-Morenci Strikers in Arizona. The strike has been on since September and is being led by the Western Federation of Miners. Mother Jones, it is reported, leads fund raising efforts in the middle west district, which district is raising large contributions for the striking miners:

UNITED MINE WORKERS HELP
-----

From fifteen to twenty thousand dollars monthly is being contributed to the relief of the striking miners in the Clifton-Morenci district by the United Mine Workers of America. A concerted movement, inaugurated by officials of the Mine Workers, has resulted in the raising of funds by practically every local in the organization. Some of these donations are sent in by the locals as soon as collected and in other instances the contributions come as from districts.

Following the endorsement of the strike by the American Federation of Labor in convention at San Francisco, James Lord, president of the mining department of the federation took up the matter of securing aid for the strikers. Representatives of the United Mine Workers soon afterwards visited the district and members of the executive board, upon receiving individual reports approved the work and suggested that it be handled by districts.

Mother Jones, on the payroll of the United Mine Workers, is in charge of the work of raising funds in the middle west district. The contributions from her district are said to be larger than from almost any other section, although the Illinois district is contributing largely.

For a time the aid to the Clifton strikers came pretty largely from the Arizona union locals, both mining and general. But the burden became greater than the Arizona locals could bear and the outside aid was welcomed. The strikers are being well taken care of and there are few reports of suffering in the district.

National & local leaders of the Western Federation of Miners.
Back row, 2nd & 3rd from left: Charles Moyer-WFM President,
& Henry McCluskey-Organizer for Miami Local 70.
Front row from left, John Murray, Canuto Vargas, Pascual Vargas, Luis Soto.
``````````

The Western Federation of Miners is of course contributing the lion's share of the relief. The remarkable thing in the contributions from the United Workers, is that the district is not organized by the United Mine Workers. The contributions are made out of hand not as a means of prolonging the strike, but out of sympathy for fellowcraftsmen, out of work, and not necessarily in approval of the causes leading up to the strike.

[Photographs added.]

SOURCES

The Arizona Republican
(Phoenix, Arizona)
-Dec 23, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/image/118971692/

History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol. 6:
On the Eve of America's Entrance Into World War 1, 1915-1916
-by Philip Sheldon Foner
International Pub, 1982
https://books.google.com/books?id=nIQFAQAAIAAJ

IMAGES
Mother Jones, Boston Glob, Jan 30, 1915
http://www.newspapers.com/image/59031148/
Clifton Morenci Strike of 1915, WFM local & national leaders
https://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/website/mining.htm
pdf http://vi.uh.edu/pages/buzzmat/Radhistory/radical%20history%20articles/L...

See also:

The Graham Guardian
(Safford, Graham County, Arizona)
-Oct 29, 1915
"Federal Probe of Clifton Strike"
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn95060914/1915-10-29/ed-1/seq-1/

Search: Graham Guardian, Clifton Strike Miners, 1915
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/search/pages/results/?state=Arizona&lc...

For more on Clifton-Morenci Strikes of 1903 + 1915:
Foreigners in Their Native Land: Historical Roots of the Mexican Americans
-by David J. Weber
UNM Press, 2003
https://books.google.com/books?id=nozzhdtLVeYC
From: Chapter V-Accommodation, Assimilation, and Resistance
https://books.google.com/books?id=nozzhdtLVeYC&pg=PA218&dq=%22Newly+arri...

``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
The Spirit of Mother Jones - Andy Irvine