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Thursday February 8, 1906
Winston-Salem, North Carolina: Forsyth County Puts the Ban on Mother Jones

The Charlotte Daily Observer of February 6th reported the news:

Forsyth Commissioners Put Ban on
"Mother Jones."

Special to The Observer.

Winston-Salem, Feb. 5.-The county commissioners, in session to-day, declined to grant an application for "Mother Jones" to speak in the court house Friday and Saturday, on the ground that the board is "opposed to the court house being used for continual agitation of socialism."

[Photograph added.]

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Monday February 7, 1916
From the Chicago Day Book: Clifton-Morenci Strike in Arizona Is Settled

From Day Book of February 4th:

NO BLOODSHED IN THE MOST REMARKABLE STRIKE IN HISTORY
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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.
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Sunday February 6, 1916
From the United Mine Workers Journal: John M. O'Neil on Colorado Justice

From the Journal of February 3rd:

The Triumph of Law and Order"
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IT WAS NO CRIME TO KILL AN ORGANIZER.
(By John M. O'Neil.)
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Gerald Lippiatt (Center), Union Organizer & Martyr
``````````

Nearly all the daily journals of the State of Colorado have frequently attempted to defend the fair name of the State and have declared that it was only the pen of the muck-raker that has traduced the reputation of a commonwealth whose people believed in the majesty of the law. The "kept press" has howled with indignation when men, permeated with the spirit of justice, have raised their voice in denunciation of wrong garbed in the veneer of law and order.

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Saturday February 5, 1916
From the United Mine Workers Journal: Imported Gunthug Walter Belk Acquitted

From the Journal of February 3rd:

Justice Ravished
-----

Organizer Gerald Lippiatt, Center
``````````

In our last issue, commenting on the action of the miners' convention in pledging moral and financial support to the miners whom the men in power in the State of Colorado are attempting to condemn to felons' cells for daring to resist the oppression of the economic masters and their henchmen, their hired armies, we remarked that the counties of that State where the coal mines are located "were not ruled, but terrorized."

In the last week we have had further proof of the truth of that statement.

Walter Belk, imported from West Virginia to Colorado and there employed because of his reputation as a mankiller who could be depended upon to use his ready gun any time in the service of those who would pay him his price, was acquitted, on the instruction of the judge on the bench to the jury, of the charge of killing Gerald Lippiatt, union organizer, on the streets of Trinidad just before the opening of the strike in Southern Colorado in the fall of 1913.

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Sunday February 4, 1906
From the Montana News: Mary Beals on Child Suicide and Heartless Churches

Readers of Hellraisers might remember a story from the Montana News, written by May Beals, about the suicide of a young cotton mill worker who was too worn out from her labors to go on living. The child sought the sure rest of the grave where her slumbers could not be interrupted by the factory whistle blowing at an early hour. That was a fictional story, but, in a letter to the News, Miss Beals claims that suicides among children who labor in the mines and mills are increasing, especially obvious in France where statistics on child suicide are available.

Writes Miss Beals:

Notice that it is "poor children"—the disinherited—who have no share in the earth, who take themselves out of it. Some good people say that the rapid increase in France is due to the spread of free thought—the decay of religion.

If the function of religion is to hold children in a life of torment, that nothing else can force them to endure, the sooner it decays the better. Truly religion is worth more to the masters than either the constable or the hangman if he can keep the children alive while they are being despoiled. Even capitalism cannot grind profits out of a dead child.

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Wednesday February 2, 1916
From the International Socialist Review: A Report on the Youngstown Massacre

This month's edition of the Review offers an overview of the Youngstown Massacre:

Capitalist Violence at Youngstown

By JOHN RANDOLPH

A GANG of gunmen broke loose in Youngstown, Ohio, on the night of January 7. When they got through with the paid job they came to Youngstown to do, three union workingmen were dead, twenty more labor rebels had bullet wounds on their bodies, and somewhere over $1,000,000 worth of property lay smoking in ruins.

Not a life was lost nor a bullet gash received by the enemies of labor, according to reports so far arriving. Of the $1,000,000 and more property destroyed practically all was owned by somebody else than the big steel sheet and tube works, whose workers were on strike.

Look at it. Three working class rebels are dead, murdered by hired gunmen. Who paid the gunmen and where did they come from and what were their orders? Nobody is telling. The one certainty is the dead are dead.

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Tuesday February 1, 1916
Indianapolis, Indiana - Mother Jones Addresses Convention of United Mine Workers, Part II

Yesterday's Hellraisers presented part one of the speech delivered by Mother Jones during Saturday's afternoon session of the United Mine Workers Convention, now coming to a close in the city of Indianapolis. Today we are pleased to present part two of her speech wherein we hear her response to a mine owner who longs for her death.

You have made more progress in government, boys, in the last three years than you had made in 125 years prior to that. We have got more recognition in the last three years than in all that time. The Secretary of Labor, who is a member of the President's cabinet, was in Pennsylvania when the strike at Arnot took place. That was before the anthracite strike. I was sent for and went there. The men were going to work next morning. I addressed a meeting that afternoon. Nobody went to work next morning, but I was thrown out of the hotel at eleven o'clock at night—I was an undesirable citizen. I went up the mountain. I saw a light and kept crawling up until I got there. When I got to the house a man there said, “Did they put you out of the hotel?” I said, “Yes, but I will put them out before I get through with them.”

The president of District No. 2 worked day and night and gave ail he had to that strike. One night I sat in W. B. Wilson's house. He was there with his feet bare. About eleven o'clock at night we were talking about a move I was going to make when a knock came on the door. Wilson opened it. I left the room. Three men came in, sat down and discussed the strike. One of them said, “Say, Wilson, we can make it twenty or twenty-five thousand dollars if you go away and let this fight fall to pieces. You can take the old woman with you.”

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Monday January 31, 1916
Indianapolis, Indiana - Mother Jones Addresses Convention of United Mine Workers, Part I

Yesterday Hellraisers reported on the speech delivered by Mother Jones during Saturday's afternoon session of the United Mine Workers Convention, now in session in Indianapolis. Today we are pleased to present part one of her speech; we will offer part two in tomorrow's edition of Hellraisers.

ELEVENTH DAY-AFTERNOON SESSION The convention was called to order at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, January 29th, Secretary Green in the chair......

Secretary Green—.....President White will not be here for a little while and, with your permission, we will pause for just a few minutes in our regular order to hear from Mother Jones. She is planning to leave soon and wants to say something to the boys before she leaves.

Mother Jones—Boys, I have looked over this convention from the platform, and I want to give expression to the feeling that in this gathering are men of the most highly developed brains this country can produce. You have come from the picks, but you are developing, and I want to say to you to keep on.

Now I want to call your attention to a few things. Away back in the old Roman age, two hundred years after the world’s greatest agitator was murdered by the ruling class, there arose in Carthage a tremendous agitation among the oppressed, the exploited, those who had borne the burden for ages. The Romans began to be disturbed and thought they would go down to Carthage and capture those who were responsible for the agitation. They went down. All they captured in those days they retained as slaves or sold into slavery. Among the group that was captured was one youth. The Roman judge asked, “Who are you?” The youth said, “I am a member of the human family.” “Why do you agitate?” asked the judge. “Because I belong to that class that has been crushed, robbed, murdered and maligned in all the ages, and I want to break the chains of my class.”

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Sunday January 30, 1916
Indianapolis, Indiana - U. M. W. of A. Convention Pauses for a Poetical Tribute

Before adjourning for the day on Saturday January 22nd, delegates at the Miners' Convention were entertained with a bit of poetry:

Delegate McAlester, District 12–Delegate Loftus has written a poem upon the occurrence here the other day and we would like to have him read it.
Delegate Loftus—Delegate McDonald's name and Delegate Germer's will appear. I would like to know if they have any objections to having it read. No objection being offered, Delegate Loftus read the following:

THE PEACEMAKER.

It was just a little resolution,
Didn’t amount to very much
Brought on a very wordy war
'Mongst the Irish, Scotch and Dutch.

They used many personalities,
Which I always deemed a curse;
Had Mother not just happened in
It might have been much worse.

We have thirteen hundred delegates
Who represent labor's cause,
And many joined in the chorus
By giving great applause.

When the battle raged the fiercest—
Words shot back and forth like stones—
In stepped a goodly lady,
Our splendid Mother Jones.