You ought to be out raising hell. This is the fighting age. Put on your fighting clothes.
-Mother Jones
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Thursday June 4, 1914
Seattle, Washington - Mother Jones Refused Admission to Canada
From today's edition of Daily Capital Journal of Salem, Oregon:
CANADIAN AUTHORITIES REFUSE ADMISSION
Seattle, Wash., June 4. "Mother" Jones, labor organizer, was stopped this morning by Canadian immigration authorities when she attempted to take passage on the steamer Princess Victoria to Vancouver Island, where she intended to take an active part in the strike of 4,000 coal miners. According to Frank Farrington, of Seattle, western representative of the United Mine Workers of America, "Mother" Jones was stopped by instructions of the chief of provisional police.
Farrington has taken the matter up with Canadian immigration authorities, who say that they will not admit "Mother" Jones without instructions from Ottawa.
Farrington this morning sent a telegram to William B. Wilson, United States secretary of labor, asking that the proper machinery be set at work at once to see that "Mother" Jones is accorded every right she is entitled to as an American citizen.
Under an agreement between the Canadian and American governments, the Canadian immigration inspectors pass upon persons going aboard steamers leaving Seattle for British Columbia ports and the Americans upon persons going aboard steamers at Vancouver and Victoria for Sound ports. In that way "Mother" Jones was held up at the Seattle dock before she had an opportunity to actually reach the British Columbia border.
[photograph added]
Judge Lindsey of Denver speaks to boys in his chambers.
TESTIMONY OF JUDGE BEN B. LINDSEY, Part II
Judge Lindsey testified before the Commission on Industrial Relations during the afternoon session of May 28th. Present were Chairman Walsh, and Commissioners Ballard, O'Connell, Lennon, Garretson, and Harriman. We presented the first part of the testimony in yesterday's Hellraisers, and, for the purpose of clarity, we begin the second part of Judge Lindsey's testimony by republishing the last paragraph of Part I:
It is well for the people of this country to know the violence of capital, the violence of corporations, that is silent, if you please, and not noisy like the violence they promote.
l think, therefore, that they owe it to our people to consent to the
appointment by the President of a board of arbitration, who will go out there and
investigate those conditions and listen to both sides, and both sides being willing,
assuming, of course, the board is fair and just and acceptable to both sides, to abide
by the decision they may come to. And l think a great mistake is being made by the
powers that control the industrial government of this country, the seat of which is
here in New York, and ls as superior to the President of the United States, unless he
is willing to exert himself in spite of it, as the boss over the employee in a factory.
That is my view of it. And being in that position, knowing that they have said, or
claimed, to have the Constitution back of them, certain laws back of them that were
primarily designed for property, they owe it to our people to concede, to give, if you
please, some of this terrific power by consenting to this board, and letting them, so
far as it is possible, at least, for temporary purposes, to adjust the difficulties up
there and to relieve our people of the passion into which they have been plunged,
but the fact that when these Federal troops were withdrawn, if they are, because of
this condition that has grown up for years and years, beginning with the corporations
themselves, their own lawlessness, will be too much, and there is a possibility of the
repetition of Ludlow unless the President will keep the Federal troops there, and to
bring about any sort of settlement, go a step further and appoint this industrial
commission, and if both sides do not consent to this arbitration, then it is our
contention, in the interests of peace, because of the military necessities of the case,
because a republican form of government, with the confession of the governor of the
State, has broken down in Colorado and the Constitution says the Federal
Government shall guarantee us a republican form of government, that he would be
justified in taking some means, even though they be forcible, to compel those who
refuse to arbitrate to consent to arbitration.
[emphasis added]
Judge Lindsey continued:
Now, that is the feeling of many of our people, and l speak that feeling. l am not
here to speak on behalf of the militia, l am not here to speak on behalf of the mine
owners. l am not here to-day to speak on behalf of the mine workers. l am simply
here to voice my feelings, after years of experience, being down in the midst,
knowing both sides, understanding their viewpoint, to make clear to you, as an
industrial commission, in a general way, some of the conditions that have existed in
our State and that exist in other States, that have brought about these results, in
order that, in time if not now, there may be one result—an investigation like this, and
that will begin to tackle conditions and tackle causes that make for these effects,
and l would feel false in my duty to the children of my State and the children of this
country if l did not take a bigger opportunity for this problem than merely sitting
behind a desk and trying the immediate troubles of children. l have done that for 14
years, and l have looked into the faces of these children, and l have tried to think
and find out why do boys do bad things? Why do girls do bad things? And l think l
have found out. And l look at it and then l ask myself, why do men do bad things?
And the reason in the one case is largely the reason in the other; it is the condition,
in a large measure, not altogether, say, the environment, their viewpoint.
My plea is for a better understanding of these questions. Therefore l thought if l
came over to New York after the President of the United States had given us a most
courteous hearing, that Mr. Rockefeller himself would be willing to see me and permit
me to present this phase of the situation. But after a courteous request for that
privilege he has refused, not only to see me, but while l am of no particular
consequence perhaps, l think it is of great consequence that he should have heard
the miners' wives whom you courteously and kindly and considerately heard here
yesterday, whom the President of United States heard, because, l contend that
when men receive profits or have possessions that promise profits, they haven't any
right to take the impersonal view that he takes, and deny any responsibility. Kings
have gone down among their people, even in the days of the old feudalists, or even
in modern conditions, we have known of kings going among their people and lending
them succor and help and not being so impersonal and above them that they would
not listen to their woes and troubles and miseries, and be willing to lend something of
themselves to really find the cause of these things, and help to solve them, and
surely Mr. Rockefeller is no bigger than the President of the United States. He isn't
any bigger than kings, who have done it. But in the new feudalism that exists in
Colorado, where towns are built up and owned by private corporations, if you please,
these men refuse any present relation to conditions like these, refuse—those at the
top—to listen to the wails and pleas and explanations and the facts which might be
presented by these women. And l say that that attitude of such men is doing more to
produce lawlessness and talk about confiscation and what they call anarchy than all
the anarchists l know, and the men who stand for that sort of thing in the opinion of
some of us who have studied these industrial conditions, if they are ever injured and
harmed, and l pray God they never will be, they can damn nobody but themselves,
because it is simply a new and novel method of committing suicide, and the President
ought to grab men like that and save them from jumping into the river, like the
policeman would grab the poor devil on the street who attempted to jump in the
river, because that is the way they are going, and l think he ought to do it.
l hope l may be one of those to bring this to the attention of Mr. Rockefeller from
down in the midst, where l have seen the struggle of these people, and l think his
heart would be touched if he could see and hear it. l believe if he would show the
personal attitude that was shown in the old days, before corporations grew up in this
country and when there was a better understanding between employer and
employee, we could settle this difficulty, at least, temporarily, in Colorado, and l am
here to tell you l was absolutely refused any help in anything like that.
l am here also to answer any questions that you have to ask me, after making this
general statement, that you wish to ask.
Commissioner O'Connell. The gentleman who just preceded you made the statement
that all of the demands of the miners had been conceded up there sometime prior to
the strike with the exception of one. A similar statement appeared from Mr.
Rockefeller in the papers sometime ago, and a contradictory statement appeared
from the officers of the miners. What is your knowledge of that situation?
Mr. Lindsey. Only what they tell me. Seeing that it is necessary to have a hoard of
arbitration to find out definitely. l can only state from hearsay, namely, what the men
tell me, the wives of the men tell me, that they have no respect for the law. For
instance, that forbids the employer to refuse to employ a man simply because he has
been in the union. We have laws in our State forbidding blacklisting. They claim that
these companies refuse to respect that law. The men claim that when they protest
against the dangerous conditions in the mines, that when they insist upon their
protest, that they are fired at once.
I have talked to the labor inspectors out there, and they tell me that they have been
refused the opportunity to investigate some of these mines not with standing the
laws on the statute books. They tell me that the company stores are conducted in
such a way that they are forced, practically, to trade at those stores, and they have
many grievances in this regard that they want adjusted. l could mention others, but
these occurred to me, Mr. Commissioner, that l have heard.
And on the question of wages, according to the testimony that has been furnished
me, an average of between $2 and $3 a day is as much as a miner can hope to
make. They claim there have been discriminations among the men as to the places
that they shall work and the opportunities they shall have to work, and, indeed, l
have heard so many complaints from men that have been down there, from the wives
of men who have been down there, and things l have read in testimony and from
matters that l think you will find on record before the investigating committee, that
for these men to make a contention of that kind is certainly unjustified by the fact,
or at least what purports to be the facts, and that, if you please, Mr. Commissioner,
is to my mind one of the very reasons why they should consent to submit these
matters to a board of arbitration. If it is true, then they have everything to gain and
nothing to lose by submitting this to arbitration. l am here primarily in the interest of
the best of our people out in Colorado. l want to say, however, that this feeling does
not stop with the mine workers and the men only; it is percolating up and down into
all classes of society, throwing people at each other's throats when they get to
discussing this unfortunate controversy, and it does no good to the peace and well-
being of a State, and is a condition, a poisonous condition, that is producing this
miasmatic effect, you might say, socially and politically in our State.
Commissioner O'Connell. Judge, the law creating this commission instructs them to seek
and find the underlying causes of industrial unrest and report a remedy. What do you
think the commission should do with reference to that situation in Colorado or that it
should report to Congress as a result of your instruction?
Judge Lindsey. It is a mighty big question, Commissioner, to go into details. Still, l think
you will have to report to Congress that there has got to be some great big changes
made in the laws of property in this country, or the possession of property, or the
private ownership in coal mines or other great public necessities must be changed
entirely, because there must be some power that can settle disputes that are going
to continue right along. Now, just what the detail of that might be would take us into
all sorts of sociological discussions.
Commissioner O'Connell. Would it mean compulsory arbitration, or would you-
Judge Lindsey. No; l don't say that. But l do believe that in the case of the Erdman
Act, recently amended providing for voluntary arbitration, and the working of that
came through one of your commission, Mrs. Harriman, largely, and the work we
appreciate, and l feel that the public sentiment is so powerful that in a case like this,
that if we have a law in Colorado such as you have in the Erdman Act, with reference
to transportation companies, that if we had a law in Colorado in reference to our
coal-mining property, or with reference to any of the other natural resources that
provided for voluntary arbitration, sir, in a case like this right now, the high degree of
public sentiment and public opinion in our State is so strong that neither party would
dare to refuse to submit their side of this controversy to such a board.
Commissioner O'Connell. Would you extend the authority of that law, then, to cover
mines and mining?
Judge Lindsey. Yes, sir ; l think it should be, and l think the Government, Federal
Government, should pass a law refusing to give title to any more lands that contain
natural resources like coal, but should provide a leasing system, if you please, where
the title remains in the Government, and with the right of the Government, if you
please, always to settle disputes of this kind when they menace the peace and
happiness of a whole State or any part of the Nation.
Commissioner Garretson. Did you hear the reply of your predecessor upon the stand to
the question as to whether or not the inflammation of the public mind had been in
any great degree allayed by the report of the military inquiry board, of which he was
chairman? Did you hear the reply thereto?
Judge Lindsey. Why, that board, in our State, among most of the people, was regarded
as a huge joke.
Commissioner Garretson. Then public sentiment was in no sense changed by that
report?
Judge Lindsey. Absolutely none, but more or less indignation that men get together
and pass judgment on themselves.
Commissioner Garretson. It was regarded, then, in exactly the sense that the question
—one of the questions carried—that it was a case of the militia rendering a favorable
report upon the acts of the militia?
Judge Lindsey. Yes, sir.
Commissioner Garretson. ls there any difference of interest or action between the
different classes of mine owners of the State of Colorado; that is, metalliferous or
coal?
Judge Lindsey. No; but with unions and possessions, they represent a solidarity when
it comes to these questions.
Commissioner Garretson. Applies equally to the time when they had a universal
association?
Judge Lindsey. Absolutely; just as strong as ever.
Commissioner Lennon. Judge, what has been the power of political domination in
Huerfano and Las Animas Counties by the coal companies as to the election of
sheriffs, coroners, prosecuting attorneys, and the other officers?
Judge Lindsey. As a rule, with a possible few exceptions, and l can recall no exceptions
now, they have been absolutely the State, absolutely the State. The sheriffs and
officers of that kind were, with a few exceptions, at different times when they broke
through the lines, no more than their office boys. Not as much so, because an office
boy can quit, and there is difficulty even if they could quit if they wanted to.
Chairman Walsh. That is all, Judge. You will be excused. Thank you.
Judge Lindsey. l wish to thank the commission for the privilege of appearing before
you.
SOURCES
Daily Capital Journal
(Salem, Oregon)
-of June 04, 1914
United States. Commission on Industrial Relations,
-Frank P. Walsh, Basil Maxwell Manly
U.S. Government Printing Office, 1916 -
http://books.google.com/...
-search preview with page number: 6404
IMAGES
1). Mother Jones from Seattle Star of May 29, 1914
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/...
2). Judge Lindsey Talks to Boys in His Chambers
http://kids.britannica.com/...
See also:
The Denver Juvenile Court
http://futureofchildren.org/...
Commission on Industrial Relations
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
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We all feel like this sometimes...
https://www.youtube.com/...
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