You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
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Thursday September 17, 1903
From the Denver Post: "Does Gov. Peabody Really Know What He Is Doing?"
The present attitude of Governor Peabody is that organized labor is treasonable. The situation at Cripple Creek is a reminder of the fact that the President of the United States and governor of a state have unlimited power in emergencies-but if they exercise it wrongly upon their heads be it; that is to say, the politician or the political aspirant who uses the supreme power of the state and it turns out to have been unnecessary is destroyed by his mistake. ...
So all the presidents of the United States and all the governors of states have hesitated long and well, and, indeed, there is no modern example of the thing Peabody is dong, save Cleveland's famous act in Chicago. The pretext there was that the United States mails had to be moved. The excuse for martial law at Cripple Creek is that there is conspiracy against the law. The real reason in Chicago was that President Cleveland decided to put an end to the railway strike and likewise the real reason at Cripple Creek is that the governor proposes to crush the miners' strike.
SOURCE
The Cripple Creek Strike
-by Emma F Langdon
(Part I, 1st pub 1904)
NY, 1969
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Wednesday September 17, 1913
Trinidad, Colorado - Mother Jones: "Rise up and strike"
Mother Jones spoke yesterday to a hall packed with cheering miners. They were the delegates of the Special Convention called by District 15 of the United Mine Workers of America to consider a strike call for the southern coalfields. Mother spoke for over an hour; we can offer only a few excerpts:
"Don't be afraid, boys; fear is the greatest curse we have."
Don't be afraid, boys; fear is the greatest curse we have. I never was anywhere yet that I feared anybody. I do what I think is right and when I die I will render an account of it. These miners have suffered, but it will have to come to an end, my boys. If your operators do not give to you that which is fair, then I say strike, but let the strike be the very last move you make. Don't put it off either. The time is ripe now. If they don't come to time we will lay down the tools.
"We are going to stand together and never surrender!"
Rise up and strike! If you are too cowardly to fight for your rights there are enough women in this country to come in and beat hell out of you. If it is slavery or strike, I say strike until the last one of you drop into your graves. Strike and stay with it as we did in West Virginia. We are going to stay here in Southern Colorado until the banner of industrial freedom floats over every coal mine. We are going to stand together and never surrender.
"Stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor."
I want you to pledge yourselves in this convention to stand as one solid army against the foes of human labor. Think of the thousands who are killed every year and there is no redress for it. We will fight until the mines are made secure and human life valued more that props. Look things in the face...You are the biggest part of the population in the state. You create its wealth, so I say, "let the fight go on; if nobody else well keep on, I will."
John Lawson gave the report of the Scale and Policy Committee and ended with this recommendation to the convention:
In view of the failure of our efforts to secure a peaceful solution of our differences, and in view of the fact that the operators have even refused to answer any of our invitations for a joint meeting, we hereby instruct that a strike call be issued by the District Policy Committee to all the mine workers in Colorado to take effect Tuesday, September 23, 1913.
The delegates of the convention gave their unanimous consent to Lawson's recommendation.
SOURCES
Mother Jones Speaks
-ed by Philip S Foner
NY, 1983
Out of the Depths
Barron B. Beshoar
(1st ed 1942)
CO, 1980
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Tuesday September 16, 2013
Email from Jaymie Kelly: "Tell Freddie Mac: I'm not leaving."
Dear friends,
Thanks to your support, my daughter Sinead and I are still in our home five months after the banks first tried to evict. Unfortunately, a judge ruled last week that Freddie Mac can now evict me at any time.
This is ridiculous. I have already paid for my house five times over I have lived in my home 30 years and on my block for my entire life. I will not allow the greed of JPMorgan Chase and Freddie Mac to remove me from my community. I am not going anywhere and my neighborhood stands with me.
Today please call Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton. Tell him to call off the eviction and negotiate instead.
You can call him at work at 703-903-2000. Say "Donald Layton" to transfer the call.
Here's a sample script:
"Hi, my name is ___ and I'm calling from _(city, state)__. I'm calling on behalf of Jaymie Kelly at 3753 11th Avenue South in Minneapolis, who faces imminent eviction from Freddie Mac. Jaymie has lived in her home for 30 years and has paid for it five times over. She is supported by neighbors in the Eviction Free Zone who resist unjust evictions, and she is not leaving her home. Freddie Mac must immediately call off the eviction and negotiate with Jaymie."
Thanks so much for your support. I'll keep you posted. This is an Eviction Free Zone, and we shall NOT be moved.
Jaymie Kelly
P.S. You can chip in to help us fund our eviction defense here.
Occupy Homes MN
http://www.occupyhomesmn.org/
Occupy Homes MN on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/...
Occupy Homes MN on Twitter
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A Miner's Life- Kilshannig
Stand up tall and stand together;
Victory for you prevails.
Keep your hand upon your wages
And your eye upon the scale.