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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10725-0.txt b/10725-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..36ebf26 --- /dev/null +++ b/10725-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4181 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10725 *** + +The Centralia Conspiracy + +By Ralph Chaplin + + + + + + + +[Illustration: cover] + + + + + + A Tongue of Flame + + The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of + flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house + enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates + through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last + aroused; reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all + her work is ruin. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is + undone.--Emerson. + + + + + + +Murder or Self-Defense? + + + +This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to +unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day +tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe +that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even +then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of +savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other +methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting. + +The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of +four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World +in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these +unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered +from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced +that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not +raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime. + +But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers +presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who +participated in the affair, testified at the coroner's inquest that the +Legion men were attempting to raid the union hall when they were killed. +Sworn testimony of various eyewitnesses has revealed the fact that some of +the "unoffending paraders" carried coils of rope and that others were +armed with such weapons as would work the demolition of the hall and +bodily injury to its occupants. These things throw an entirely different +light on the subject. If this is true it means that the union loggers +fired only in self-defense and not with the intention of committing wanton +and malicious murder as has been stated. Now, as at least two of the union +men who did the shooting were ex-soldiers, it appears that the tragedy +must have resulted from something more than a mere quarrel between loggers +and soldiers. There must be something back of it all that the public +generally doesn't know about. + +There is only one body of men in the Northwest who would hate a union hall +enough to have it raided--the lumber "interests." And now we get at the +kernel of the matter, which is the fact that the affair was the outgrowth +of a struggle between the lumber trust and its employees--between +Organized Capital and Organized Labor. + + + + +A Labor Case + + + +And so, after all, the famous trial at Montesano was not a murder trial +but a labor trial in the strict sense of the word. Under the law, it must +be remembered, a man is not committing murder in defending his life and +property from the felonious assault of a mob bent on killing and +destruction. There is no doubt whatever but what the lumber trust had +plotted to "make an example" of the loggers and destroy their hall on this +occasion. And this was not the first time that such atrocities had been +attempted and actually committed. Isn't it peculiar that, out of many +similar raids, you only heard of the one where the men defended +themselves? Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but the +preservation of its holy profits is the first law of the lumber trust. The +organized lumber workers were considered a menace to the super-prosperity +of a few profiteers--hence the attempted raid and the subsequent killing. + +What is more significant is the fact the raid had been carefully planned +weeks in advance. There is a great deal of evidence to prove this point. + +There is no question that the whole affair was the outcome of a +struggle--a class struggle, if you please--between the union loggers and +the lumber interests; the former seeking to organize the workers in the +woods and the latter fighting this movement with all the means at its +disposal. + +In this light the Centralia affair does not appear as an isolated incident +but rather an incident in an eventful industrial conflict, little known +and less understood, between the lumber barons and loggers of the Pacific +Northwest. This viewpoint will place Centralia in its proper perspective +and enable one to trace the tragedy back to the circumstances and +conditions that gave it birth. + +But was there a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to commit +murder and violence in an effort to drive organized labor from its domain? +Weeks of patient investigating in and around the scene or the occurrence +has convinced the present writer that such a conspiracy has existed. A +considerable amount of startling evidence has been unearthed that has +hitherto been suppressed. If you care to consider Labor's version of this +unfortunate incident you are urged to read the following truthful account +of this almost unbelievable piece of mediaeval intrigue and brutality. + +The facts will speak for themselves. Credit them or not, but read! + + + + +The Forests of the Northwest + + + +The Pacific Northwest is world famed for its timber. The first white +explorers to set foot upon its fertile soil were awed by the magnitude and +grandeur of its boundless stretches of virgin forests. Nature has never +endowed any section of our fair world with such an immensity of kingly +trees. Towering into the sky to unthinkable heights, they stand as living +monuments to the fecundity of natural life. Imagine, if you can, the vast +wide region of the West coast, hills, slopes and valleys, covered with +millions of fir, spruce and cedar trees, raising their verdant crests a +hundred, two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet into the air. + +When Columbus first landed on the uncharted continent these trees were +already ancient. There they stood, straight and majestic with green and +foam-flecked streams purling here and there at their feet, crowning the +rugged landscape with superlative beauty, overtopped only by the +snow-capped mountains--waiting for the hand of man to put them to the +multitudinous uses of modern civilization. Imagine, if you can, the first +explorer, gazing awe-stricken down those "calm cathedral isles," wondering +at the lavish bounty of our Mother Earth in supplying her children with +such inexhaustible resources. + +But little could the first explorer know that the criminal clutch of Greed +was soon to seize these mighty forests, guard them from the human race +with bayonets, hangman's ropes and legal statutes; and use them, +robber-baron like, to exact unimaginable tribute from the men and women of +the world who need them. Little did the first explorer dream that the day +would come when individuals would claim private ownership of that which +prolific nature had travailed through centuries to bestow upon mankind. + +But that day has come and with it the struggle between master and man that +was to result in Centralia--or possibly many Centralias. + + + + +Lumber--A Basic Industry + + + +It seems the most logical thing in the world to believe that the natural +resources of the Earth, upon which the race depends for food, clothing and +shelter, should be owned collectively by the race instead of being the +private property of a few social parasites. It seems that reason would +preclude the possibility of any other arrangement, and that it would be +considered as absurd for individuals to lay claim to forests, mines, +railroads and factories as it would be for individuals to lay claim to the +ownership of the sunlight that warms us or to the air we breathe. But the +poor human race, in its bungling efforts to learn how to live in our +beautiful world, appears destined to find out by bitter experience that +the private ownership of the means of life is both criminal and +disastrous. + +Lumber is one of the basic industries--one of the industries mankind never +could have done without. The whole structure of what we call civilization +is built upon wooden timbers, ax-hewn or machine finished as the case may +be. Without the product of the forests humanity would never have learned +the use of fire, the primitive bow and arrow or the bulging galleys of +ancient commerce. Without the firm and fibrous flesh of the mighty +monarchs of the forest men might never have had barges for fishing or +weapons for the chase; they would not have had carts for their oxen or +kilns for the fashioning of pottery; they would not have had dwellings, +temples or cities; they would not have had furniture nor fittings nor +roofs above their heads. Wood is one of the most primitive and +indispensable of human necessities. Without its use we would still be +groping in the gloom and misery of early savagery, suffering from the cold +of outer space and defenseless in the midst of a harsh and hostile +environment. + + + + +From Pioneer to Parasite + + + +So it happened that the first pioneers in the northern were forced to bare +their arms and match their strength with the wooded wilderness. At first +the subjugation of the forests was a social effort. The lives and future +prosperity of the settlers must be made secure from the raids of the +Indians and the inclemency of the elements. Manfully did these men labor +until their work was done. But this period did not last long, for the tide +of emigration was sweeping westward over the sun-baked prairies to the +promised land in the golden West. + +[Illustration: Fir and Spruce Trees + +The wood of the West coast abound with tall fir trees. Practically all +high grade spruce comes from this district also. Spruce was a war +necessity and the lumber trust profiteered unmercifully on the government. +U.S. prisons are full of loggers who struck for the 8 hour day in 1917.] + +Towns sprang up like magic, new trees were felled, sawmills erected and +huge logs in ever increasing numbers were driven down the foaming torrents +each year at spring time. The country was new, the market for lumber +constantly growing and expanding. But the monopolist was unknown and the +lynch-mobs of the lumber trust still sleeping in the womb of the Future. +So passed the not unhappy period when opportunity was open to everyone, +when freedom was dear to the hearts of all. It was at this time that the +spirit of real Americanism was born, when the clean, sturdy name "America" +spelled freedom, justice and independence. Patriotism in these days was +not a mask for profiteers and murderers were not permitted to hide their +bloody hands in the folds of their nation's flag. + +But modern capitalism was creeping like a black curse upon the land. +Stealing, coercing, cajoling, defrauding, it spread from its plague-center +in Wall St., leaving misery, class antagonism and resentment in its trial. +The old free America of our fathers was undergoing a profound change. +Equality of opportunity was doomed. A new social alignment was being +created. Monopoly was loosed upon the land. Fabulous fortunes were being +made as wealth was becoming centered into fewer and fewer hands. Modern +capitalism was entrenching itself for the final and inevitable struggle +for world domination. In due time the social parasites of the East, +foreseeing that the forests of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin could not +last forever, began to look to the woods of the Northwest with covetous +eyes. + +[Illustration: Cedar Trees of the Northwest + +With these giants the logger daily matches his strength and skill. The +profit-greedy lumber trust has wasted enough trees of smaller size to +supply the world with wood for years to come.] + + + + +Stealing the People's Forest Land + + + +The history of the acquisition of the forests of Washington, Montana, +Idaho, Oregon and California is a long, sordid story of thinly veiled +robbery and intrigue. The methods of the lumber barons in invading and +seizing its "holdings" did not differ greatly, however, from those of the +steel and oil kings, the railroad magnates or any of the other industrial +potentates who acquired great wealth by pilfering America and peonizing +its people. The whole sorry proceeding was disgraceful, high-handed and +treacherous, and only made possible by reason of the blindness of the +generous American people, drugged with the vanishing hope of "success" and +too confident of the continued possession of its blood-bought liberties. +And do the lumber barons were unhindered in their infamous work of +debauchery, bribery, murder and brazen fraud. + +As a result the monopoly of the Northwestern woods became an established +fact. The lumber trust came into "its own." The new social alignment was +complete, with the idle, absentee landlord at one end and the migratory +and possessionless lumber jack at the other. The parasites had +appropriated to themselves the standing timber of the Northwest; but the +brawny logger whose labor had made possible the development of the +industry was given, as his share of the spoils, a crumby "bindle" and a +rebellious heart. The masters had gained undisputed control of the timber +of the country, three quarters of which is located in the Northwest; but +the workers who felled the trees, drove the logs, dressed, finished and +loaded the lumber were left in the state of helpless dependency from which +they could only extricate themselves by means of organization. And it is +this effort to form a union and establish union headquarters that led to +the tragedy at Centralia. + +The lumber barons had not only achieved a monopoly of the woods but a +perfect feudal domination of the woods as well. Within their domain banks, +ships, railways and mills bore their private insignia-and politicians, +Employers' Associations, preachers, newspapers, fraternal orders and +judges and gun-men were always at their beck and call. The power they +wield is tremendous and their profits would ransom a kingdom. Naturally +they did not intend to permit either power or profits to be menaced by a +mass of weather-beaten slaves in stag shirts and overalls. And so the +struggle waxed fiercer just as the lumberjack learned to contend +successfully for living conditions and adequate remuneration. It was the +old, old conflict of human rights against property rights. Let us see how +they compared in strength. + + + + +The Triumph of Monopoly + + + +The following extract from a document entitled "The Lumber Industry," by +the Honorable Herbert Knox Smith and published by the U.S. Department of +Commerce (Bureau of Corporations) will give some idea of the holdings and +influence of the lumber trust: + +"Ten monopoly groups, aggregating only one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, monopolized one thousand, two hundred and eight billion eight +hundred million (1,208,800,000,000) board feet of standing timber--each a +foot square and an inch thick. These figures are so stupendous that they +are meaningless without a hackneyed device to bring their meaning home. +These one thousand, eight hundred and two timber business monopolists held +enough standing timber; an indispensable natural resource, to yield the +planks necessary (over and above manufacturing wastage) to make a floating +bridge more than two feet thick and more than five miles wide from New +York to Liverpool. It would supply one inch planks for a roof over France, +Germany and Italy. It would build a fence eleven miles high along our +entire coast line. All monopolized by one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, or interests more or less interlocked. One of those interests--a +grant of only three holders--monopolized at one time two hundred and +thirty-seven billion, five hundred million (237,500,000,000) feet which +would make a column one foot square and three million miles high. Although +controlled by only three holders, that interest comprised over eight +percent of all the standing timber in the United States at that time." + +The above illuminating figures, quoted from "The I.W.A. in the Lumber +Industry," by James Rowan, will give some idea of the magnitude and power +of the lumber trust. + +[Illustration: "Topping a Tree" + +After one of these huge trees is "topped" it is called a "spar tree"--very +necessary in a certain kind of logging operations. As soon as the +chopped-off portion falls, the trunk vibrates rapidly from side to side +sometimes shaking the logger to certain death below.] + +Opposing this colossal aggregation of wealth and cussedness were the +thousands of hard-driven and exploited lumberworkers in the woods and +sawmills. These had neither wealth nor influence--nothing but their hard, +bare hands and a growing sense of solidarity. And the masters of the +forests were more afraid of this solidarity than anything else in the +world--and they fought it more bitterly, as events will show. Centralia is +only one of the incidents of this struggle between owner and worker. But +let us see what this hated and indispensable logger-the productive and +human basis of the lumber industry, the man who made all these things +possible, is like. + + + + +The Human Element--"The Timber Beast" + + + +Lumber workers are, by nature of their employment, divided into two +categories--the saw-mill hand and the logger. The former, like his +brothers in the Eastern factories, is an indoor type while the latter is +essentially a man of the open air. Both types are necessary to the +production of finished lumber, and to both union organization is an +imperative necessity. + +Sawmill work is machine work--rapid, tedious and often dangerous. There is +the uninteresting repetition of the same act of motions day in and day +out. The sights, sounds and smells of the mill are never varied. The fact +that the mill is permanently located tends to keep mill workers grouped +about the place of their employment. Many of them, especially in the +shingle mills, have lost fingers or hands in feeding the lumber to the +screaming saws. It has been estimated that fully a half of these men are +married and remain settled in the mill communities. The other half, +however, are not nearly so migratory as the lumberjack. Sawmill workers +are not the "rough-necks" of the industry. They are of the more +conservative "home-guard" element and characterized by the psychology of +all factory workers. + +The logger, on the other hand, (and it is with him our narrative is +chiefly concerned), is accustomed to hard and hazardous work in the open +woods. His occupation makes him of necessity migratory. The camp, +following the uncut timber from place to place, makes it impossible for +him to acquire a family and settle down. Scarcely one out of ten has ever +dared assume the responsibility of matrimony. The necessity of shipping +from a central point in going from one job to another usually forces a +migratory existence upon the lumberjack in spite of his best intentions to +live otherwise. + + + + +What Is a Casual Laborer? + + + +The problem of the logger is that of the casual laborer in general. +Broadly speaking, there are three distinct classes of casual laborers: +First, the "harvest stiff" of the middle West who follows the ripening +crops from Kansas to the Dakotas, finding winter employment in the North, +Middle Western woods, in construction camps or on the ice fields. Then +there is the harvest worker of "the Coast" who garners the fruit, hops and +grain, and does the canning of California, Washington and Oregon, finding +out-of-season employment wherever possible. Finally there is the +Northwestern logger, whose work, unlike that of the Middle Western "jack" +is not seasonal, but who is compelled nevertheless to remain migratory. As +a rule, however, his habitat is confined, according to preference or force +of circumstances, to either the "long log" country of Western Washington +and Oregon as well as California, or to the "short log" country of Eastern +Washington and Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Minnesota, +Michigan, and Wisconsin are in what is called the "short log" region. + +[Illustration: A Logger of the Pacific Northwest + +This is a type of the men who work in the "long log" region of the West +coast. His is a man's sized job, and his efforts to organize and better +the working conditions in the lumber industry have been manly efforts--and +bitterly opposed.] + +As a rule the logger of the Northwest follows the woods to the exclusion +of all other employment. He is militantly a lumberjack and is inclined to +be a trifle "patriotic" and disputatious as to the relative importance of +his own particular branch of the industry. "Long loggers," for instance, +view with a suspicion of disdain the work of "short loggers" and vice +versa. + + + + +"Lumber-Jack" The Giant Killer + + + +But the lumber-jack is a casual worker and he is the finished product of +modern capitalism. He is the perfect proletarian type--possessionless, +homeless, and rebellious. He is the reverse side of the gilded medal of +present day society. On the one side is the third generation idle +rich--arrogant and parasitical, and on the other, the actual producer, +economically helpless and denied access to the means of production unless +he "beg his lordly fellow worm to give him leave to toil," as Robert Burns +has it. + +The logger of the Northwest has his faults. He is not any more perfect +than the rest of us. The years of degradation and struggle he has endured +in the woods have not failed to leave their mark upon him. But, as the +wage workers go, he is not the common but the uncommon type both as +regards physical strength and cleanliness and mental alertness. He is +generous to a fault and has all the qualities Lincoln and Whitman loved in +men. + +In the first place, whether as faller, rigging man or on the "drive," his +work is muscular and out of doors. He must at all times conquer the forest +and battle with the elements. There is a tang and adventure to his labor +in the impressive solitude of the woods that gives him a steady eye, a +strong arm and a clear brain. Being constantly close to the great green +heart of Nature, he acquires the dignity and independence of the savage +rather than the passive and unresisting submission of the factory worker. +The fact that he is free from family ties also tends to make him ready for +an industrial frolic or fight at any time. In daily matching his prowess +and skill with the products of the earth he feels in a way, that the woods +"belong" to him and develops a contempt for the unseen and unknown +employers who kindly permit him to enrich them with his labor. He is +constantly reminded of the glaring absurdity of the private ownership of +natural resources. Instinctively he becomes a rebel against the injustice +and contradictions of capitalist society. + +Dwarfed to ant-like insignificance by the verdant immensity around him, +the logger toils daily with ax, saw and cable. One after another forest +giants of dizzy height crash to the earth with a sound like thunder. In a +short time they are loaded on flat cars and hurried across the +stump-dotted clearing to the river, whence they are dispatched to the +noisy, ever-waiting saws at the mill. And always the logger knows in his +heart that this is not done that people may have lumber for their needs, +but rather that some overfed parasite may first add to his holy dividends. +Production for profit always strikes the logger with the full force of +objective observation. And is it any wonder, with the process of +exploitation thus naked always before his eyes, that he should have been +among the very first workers to challenge the flimsy title of the lumber +barons to the private ownership of the woods? + + + + +The Factory Worker and the Lumber-Jack + + + +Without wishing to disparage the ultimate worth of either; it might be +well to contrast for a moment the factory worker of the East with the +lumber-jack of the Pacific Northwest. To the factory hand the master's +claim to the exclusive title of the means of production is not so +evidently absurd. Around him are huge, smoking buildings filled with +roaring machinery--all man-made. As a rule he simply takes for granted +that his employers--whoever they are--own these just as he himself owns, +for instance, his pipe or his furniture. Only when he learns, from +thoughtful observation or study, that such things are the appropriated +products of the labor of himself and his kind, does the truth dawn upon +him that labor produces all and is entitled to its own. + +[Illustration: Logging Operations + +Look around you at the present moment and you will see wood used for many +different purposes. Have you ever stopped to think where the raw material +comes from or what the workers are like who produce it? Here is a scene +from a lumber camp showing the loggers at their daily tasks. The lumber +trust is willing that these men should work-but not organize.] + +It must be admitted that factory life tends to dispirit and cow the +workers who spend their lives in the gloomy confines of the modern mill or +shop. Obedient to the shrill whistle they pour out of their clustered grey +dwellings in the early morning. Out of the labor ghettos they swarm and +into their dismal slave-pens. Then the long monotonous, daily "grind," and +home again to repeat the identical proceeding on the following day. Almost +always, tired, trained to harsh discipline or content with low comfort; +they are all too liable to feel that capitalism is invincibly colossal and +that the possibility of a better day is hopelessly remote. Most of them +are unacquainted with their neighbors. They live in small family or +boarding house units and, having no common meeting place, realize only +with difficulty the mighty potency of their vast numbers. To them +organization appears desirable at times but unattainable. The dickering +conservatism of craft unionism appeals to their cautious natures. They act +only en masse, under awful compulsion and then their release of repressed +slave emotion is sudden and terrible. + +Not so with the weather-tanned husky of the Northwestern woods. His job +life is a group life. He walks to his daily task with his fellow workers. +He is seldom employed for long away from them. At a common table he eats +with them, and they all sleep in common bunk houses. The trees themselves +teach him to scorn his master's adventitious claim to exclusive ownership. +The circumstances of his daily occupation show him the need of class +solidarity. His strong body clamours constantly for the sweetness and +comforts of life that are denied him, his alert brain urges him to +organize and his independent spirit gives him the courage and tenacity to +achieve his aims. The union hall is often his only home and the One Big +Union his best-beloved. He is fond of reading and discussion. He resents +industrial slavery as an insult. He resented filth, overwork and poverty, +he resented being made to carry his own bundle of blankets from job to +job; he gritted his teeth together and fought until he had ground these +obnoxious things under his iron-caulked heel. The lumber trust hated him +just in proportion as he gained and used his industrial power; but neither +curses, promises nor blows could make him budge. He knew what he wanted +and he knew how to get what he wanted. And his boss didn't like it very +well. + +The lumber-jack is secretive and not given to expressed emotion--excepting +in his union songs. The bosses don't like his songs either. But the logger +isn't worried a bit. Working away in the woods every day, or in his bunk +at night, he dreams his dream of the world as he thinks it should be--that +"wild wobbly dream" that every passing day brings closer to +realization--and he wants all who work around him to share his vision and +his determination to win so that all will be ready and worthy to live in +the New Day that is dawning. + +In a word the Northwestern lumber-jack was too human and too stubborn ever +to repudiate his red-blooded manhood at the behest of his masters and +become a serf. His union meant to him all that he possessed or hoped to +gain. Is it any wonder that he endured the tortures of hell during the +period of the war rather than yield his Red Card--or that he is still +determined and still undefeated? Is it any wonder the lumber barons hated +him, and sought to break his spirit with brute force and legal cunning--or +that they conspired to murder it at Centralia with mob violence--and +failed? + + + + +Why the Loggers Organized + + + +The condition of the logger previous to the period of organization beggars +description. Modern industrial autocracy seemed with him to develop its +most inhuman characteristics. The evil plant of wage slavery appeared to +bear its most noxious blossoms in the woods. + +The hours of labor were unendurably long, ten hours being the general +rule--with the exception of the Grays Harbor district, where the eleven or +even twelve hour day prevailed. In addition to this men were compelled to +walk considerable distances to and from their work and meals through the +wet brush. + +Not infrequently the noon lunch was made almost impossible because of the +order to be back on the job when work commenced. A ten hour stretch of +arduous labor, in a climate where incessant rain is the rule for at least +six months of the year, was enough to try the strength and patience of +even the strongest. The wages too were pitiably inadequate. + +The camps themselves, always more or less temporary affairs, were inferior +to the cow-shed accommodations of a cattle ranch. The bunk house were +over-crowded, ill-smelling and unsanitary. In these ramshackle affairs the +loggers were packed like sardines. The bunks were arranged tier over tier +and nearly always without mattresses. They were uniformly vermin-infested +and sometimes of the "muzzle-loading" variety. No blankets were furnished, +each logger being compelled to supply his own. There were no facilities +for bathing or the washing and drying of sweaty clothing. Lighting and +ventilation were of course, always poor. + +In addition to these discomforts the unorganized logger was charged a +monthly hospital fee for imaginary medical service. Also it was nearly +always necessary to pay for the opportunity of enjoying these privileges +by purchasing employment from a "job shark" or securing the good graces of +a "man catcher." The former often had "business agreements" with the camp +foreman and, in many cases, a man could not get a job unless he had a +ticket from a labor agent in some shipping point. + +It may be said that the conditions just described were more prevalent in +some parts of the lumber country than in others. Nevertheless, these +prevailed pretty generally in all sections of the industry before the +workers attempted to better them by organizing. At all events such were +the conditions the lumber barons sought with all their power to preserve +and the loggers to change. + + + + +Organization and the Opening Struggle + + + +A few years before the birth of the Industrial workers of the World the +lumber workers had started to organize. By 1905, when the above mentioned +union was launched, lumber-workers were already united in considerable +numbers in the old Western afterwards the American Labor Union. This +organization took steps to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the +World and was thus among the very first to seek a larger share of life in +the ranks of that militant and maligned organization. Strike followed +strike with varying success and the conditions of the loggers began +perceptibly to improve. + +Scattered here and there in the cities of the Northwest were many locals +of the Industrial Workers of the World. Not until 1912, however, were +these consolidated into a real industrial unit. For the first time a +sufficient number of loggers and saw mill men were organized to be grouped +into an integral part of the One Big Union. This was done with reasonable +success. In the following year the American Federation of Labor attempted +a similar task but without lasting results, the loggers preferring the +industrial to the craft form of organization. Besides this, they were +predisposed to sympathize with the ideal of solidarity and Industrial +Democracy for which their own union had stood from the beginning. + +The "timber beast" was starting to reap the benefits of his organized +power. Also he was about to feel the force and hatred of the "interests" +arrayed against him. He was soon to learn that the path of labor unionism +is strewn with more rocks than roses. He was making an earnest effort to +emerge from the squalor and misery of peonage and was soon to see that his +overlords were satisfied to keep him right where he had always been. + +Strange to say, almost the first really important clash occurred in the +very heart of the lumber trust's domain, in the little city of Aberdeen, +Grays Harbor County--only a short distance from Centralia, of mob fame! + +[Illustration: Eugene Barnett + +(After the man-hunt) + +Coal miner. Born in North Carolina. Member of U.M.W.A. and I.W.W. Went to +work underground at the age of eight. Self educated, a student and +philosopher. Upon reaching home Barnett, fearful of the mob, took to the +woods with his rifle. He surrendered to the posse only after he had +convinced himself that their purpose was not to lynch him.] + +This was in 1912. A strike had started in the saw mills over demands of a +$2.50 daily wage. Some of the saw mill workers were members of the +Industrial Workers of the World. They were supported by the union loggers +of Western Washington. The struggle was bitterly contested and lasted for +several weeks. The lumber trust bared its fangs and struck viciously at +the workers in a manner that has since characterized its tactics in all +labor disputes. + +The jails of Aberdeen and adjoining towns were filled with strikers. +Picket lines were broken up and the pickets arrested. When the wives of +the strikers with babies in their arms, took the places of their +imprisoned husbands, the fire hose was turned on them with great force, in +many instances knocking them to the ground. Loggers and sawmill men alike +were unmercifully beaten. Many were slugged by mobs with pick handles, +taken to the outskirts of the city and told that their return would be the +occasion of a lynching. At one time an armed mob of business men dragged +nearly four hundred strikers from their homes or boarding houses, herded +them into waiting boxcars, sealed up the doors and were about to deport +them en masse. The sheriff, getting wind of this unheard-of proceeding, +stopped it at the last moment. Many men were badly scarred by beatings +they received. One logger was crippled for life by the brutal treatment +accorded him. + +But the strikers won their demands and conditions were materially +improved. The Industrial Workers of the World continued to grow in numbers +and prestige. This event may be considered the beginning of the labor +movement on Grays Harbor that the lumber trust sought finally to crush +with mob violence on a certain memorable day in Centralia seven years +later. + +Following the Aberdeen strike one or two minor clashes occurred. The +lumber workers were usually successful. During this period they were +quietly but effectually spreading One Big Union propaganda throughout the +camps and mills in the district. Also they were organizing their fellow +workers in increasing numbers into their union. The lumber trust, smarting +under its last defeat, was alarmed and alert. + +[Illustration: Bert Faulkner + +American. Logger. 21 years of age. Member of the Industrial Workers of the +World since 1917. Was in the hall when raid occurred. Faulkner personally +knew Grimm, McElfresh and a number of others who marched in the parade. He +is an ex-soldier himself. The prosecution used a great deal of pressure to +make this boy turn state's evidence. He refused stating that he would tell +nothing but the truth. At the last moment he was discharged from the case +after being held in jail four months.] + + + + +A Massacre and a New Law + + + +But no really important event occurred until 1916. At this time the union +loggers, organized in the Industrial Workers of the World, had started a +drive for membership around Puget Sound. Loggers and mill hands were eager +for the message of Industrial Unionism. Meetings were well attended and +the sentiment in favor of the organization was steadily growing. The A.F. +of L. shingle weavers and longshoremen were on strike and had asked the +I.W.W. to help them secure free speech in Everett. The ever-watchful +lumber interests decided the time to strike had again arrived. The events +of "Bloody Sunday" are too well known to need repeating here. Suffice to +say that after a summer replete with illegal beatings and jailings five +men were killed in cold blood and forty wounded in a final desperate +effort to drive the union out of the city of Everett, Washington. These +unarmed loggers were slaughtered and wounded by the gunfire of a gang of +business men and plug-uglies of the lumber interests. True to form, the +lumber trust had every union man in sight arrested and seventy-four +charged with the murder of a gunman who had been killed by the cross-fire +of his own comrades. None of the desperadoes who had done the actual +murdering was ever prosecuted or even reprimanded. The charge against the +members of the Industrial Workers of the World was pressed. The case was +tried in court and the Industrialists declared "not guilty." George +Vanderveer was attorney for the defense. + +The lumber interests were infuriated at their defeat, and from this time +on the struggle raged in deadly earnest. Almost everything from mob law to +open assassination had been tried without avail. The execrated One Big +Union idea was gaining members and power every day. The situation was +truly alarming. Their heretofore trustworthy "wage plugs" were showing +unmistakable symptoms of intelligence. Workingmen were waking up. They +were, in appalling numbers, demanding the right to live like men. +Something must be done something new and drastic--to split asunder this +on-coming phalanx of industrial power. + +But the gun-man-and-mob method was discarded, temporarily at least, in +favor of the machinations of lumber trust tools in the law making bodies. +Big Business can make laws as easily as it can break them--and with as +little impunity. So the notorious Washington "Criminal Syndicalism" law +was devised. This law, however, struck a snag. The honest-minded governor +of the state, recognizing its transparent character and far-reaching +effects, promptly vetoed the measure. After the death of Governor Lister +the criminal syndicalism law was passed, however, by the next State +Legislature. Since that time it has been used against the American +Federation of Labor, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Socialist +Party and even common citizens not affiliated with any of these +organizations. The criminal syndicalism law registers the high water mark +of reaction. It infringes more on the liberties of the people than any of +the labor-crushing laws that blackened Russia during the dynasty of the +Romanoffs. It would disgrace the anti-Celestial legislation of Hell. + + + + +The Eight Hour Day and "Treason" + + + +Nineteen hundred and seventeen was an eventful year. It was then the +greatest strike in the history of the lumber industry occurred-the strike +for the eight hour day. For years the logger and mill hand had fought +against the unrestrained greed of the lumber interests. Step by step, in +the face of fiercest opposition, they had fought for the right to live +like men; and step by step they had been gaining. Each failure or success +had shown them the weakness or the strength of their union. They had been +consolidating their forces as well as learning how to use them. The lumber +trust had been making huge profits the while, but the lumber workers were +still working ten hours or more and the logger was still packing his dirty +blankets from job to job. Dissatisfaction with conditions was wider and +more prevalent then ever before. Then came the war. + +As soon as this country had taken its stand with the allied imperialists +the price of lumber, needed for war purposes, was boosted to sky high +figures. From $16.00 to $116.00 per thousand feet is quite a jump; but +recent disclosures show that the Government paid as high as $1200.00 per +thousand for spruce that private concerns were purchasing for less than +one tenth of that sum. Gay parties with plenty of wild women and hard +drink are alleged to have been instrumental in enabling the "patriotic" +lumber trust to put these little deals across. Due to the duplicity of +this same bunch of predatory gentlemen the airplane and ship building +program of the United States turned out to be a scandal instead of a +success. Out of 21,000 feet of spruce delivered to a Massachusetts +factory, inspectors could only pass 400 feet as fit for use. Keep these +facts and figures in mind when you read about what happened to the +"disloyal" lumber workers during the war-and afterwards. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Elmer Smith and Baby Girl + +Mrs. Elmer Smith is the cultured daughter of a Washington judge. Since +Elmer Smith got into trouble many efforts have been made to induce his +wife to leave him. Mrs. Smith prefers, however, to stick with her rebel +lawyer whom she loves and admires.] + +Discontent had been smouldering in the woods for a long time. It was soon +fanned to a flame by the brazen profiteering of the lumber trust. The +loggers had been biding their time--rather sullenly it is true--for the +day when the wrongs they had endured so patiently and so long might be +rectified. Their quarrel with the lumber interests was an old one. The +time was becoming propitious. + +In the early summer of 1917 the strike started. Sweeping through the short +log country it spread like wild-fire over nearly all the Northwestern +lumber districts. The tie-up was practically complete. The industry was +paralyzed. The lumber trust, its mouth drooling in anticipation of the +many millions it was about to make in profits, shattered high heaven with +its cries of rage. Immediately its loyal henchmen in the Wilson +administration rushed to the rescue. Profiteering might be condoned, +moralized over or winked at, but militant labor unionism was a menace to +the government and the prosecution of the war. It must be crushed. For was +it not treacherous and treasonable for loggers to strike for living +conditions when Uncle Sam needed the wood and the lumber interests the +money? So Woodrow Wilson and his coterie of political troglodytes from the +slave-owning districts of the old South, started out to teach militant +labor a lesson. Corporation lawyers were assembled. Indictments were made +to order. The bloodhounds of the Department of "Justice" were unleashed. +Grand Juries of "patriotic" business men were impaneled and did their +expected work not wisely but too well. All the gun-men and stool-pigeons +of Big Business got busy. And the opera bouffe of "saving our form of +government" was staged. + + + + +Industrial Heretics and the White Terror + + + +For a time it seemed as though the strikers would surely be defeated. The +onslaught was terrific, but the loggers held out bravely. Workers were +beaten and jailed by the hundreds. Men were herded like cattle in +blistering "bull-pens," to be freed after months of misery, looking more +like skeletons than human beings. Ellensburg and Yakima will never be +forgotten in Washington. One logger was even burned to death while locked +in a small iron-barred shack that had been dignified with the title of +"jail." In the Northwest even the military were used and the bayonet of +the soldier could be seen glistening beside the cold steel of the hired +thug. Union halls were raided in all parts of the land. Thousands of +workers were deported. Dozens were tarred and feathered and mobbed. Some +were even taken out in the dead of night and hanged to railway bridges. +Hundreds were convicted of imaginary offenses and sent to prison for terms +from one to twenty years. Scores were held in filthy jails for as long as +twenty-six months awaiting trial. The Espionage Law, which never convicted +a spy, and the Criminal Syndicalism Laws, which never convicted a +criminal, were used savagely and with full force against the workers in +their struggle for better conditions. By means of newspaper-made war +hysteria the profiteers of Big Business entrenched themselves in public +opinion. By posing as "100% Americans" (how stale and trite the phrase has +become from their long misuse of it!) these social parasites sought to +convince the nation that they, and not the truly American unionists whose +backs they were trying to break, were working for the best interests of +the American people. Our form of government, forsooth, must be saved. Our +institutions must be rescued from the clutch of the "reds." Thus was the +war-frenzy of their dupes lashed to madness and the guarantees of the +constitution suspended as far as the working class was concerned. + +So all the good, wise and noisy men of the nation were induced by diverse +means to cry out against the strikers and their union. The worst passions +of the respectable people were appealed to. The hoarse blood-cry of the +mob was raised. It was echoed and re-echoed from press and pulpit. The +very air quivered from its reverberations. Lynching parties became +"respectable." Indictments were flourished. Hand-cuffs flashed. The +clinking feet of workers going to prison rivaled the sound of the soldiers +marching to war. And while all this was happening, a certain paunchy +little English Jew with moth-eaten hair and blotchy jowls the accredited +head of a great labor union glared through his thick spectacles and nodded +his perverse approval. But the lumber trust licked its fat lips and leered +at its swollen dividends. All was well and the world was being made "safe +for democracy!" + +[Illustration: Britt Smith + +American. Logger. 35 years old. Had followed the woods for twenty years. +Smith made his home in the hall that was raided and was secretary of the +Union. When the mob broke into the jail and seized Wesley Everest to +torture and lynch him they cried, "We've got Britt Smith!" Smith was the +man they wanted and it was to break his neck that ropes were carried in +the "parade." Not until Everest's body was brought back to the city jail +was it discovered that the mob had lynched the wrong man.] + + + + +Autocracy vs. Unionism + + + +This unprecedented struggle was really a test of strength between +industrial autocracy and militant unionism. The former was determined to +restore the palmy days of peonage for all time to come, the latter to +fight to the last ditch in spite of hell and high water. The lumber trust +sought to break the strike of the loggers and destroy their organization. +In the ensuing fracas the lumber barons came out only second best--and +they were bad losers. After the war-fever had died down--one year after +the signing of the Armistice--they were still trying in Centralia to +attain their ignoble ends by means of mob violence. + +But at this time the ranks of the strikers were unbroken. The heads of the +loggers were "bloody but unbowed." Even at last, when compelled to yield +to privation and brute force and return to work, they turned defeat to +victory by "carrying the strike onto the job." As a body they refused to +work more than eight hours. Secretary of War Baker and President Wilson +had both vainly urged the lumber interests to grant the eight hour day. +The determined industrialists gained this demand, after all else had +failed, by simply blowing a whistle when the time was up. Most of their +other demands were won as well. In spite of even the Disque despotism, +mattresses, clean linen and shower baths were reluctantly granted as the +fruits of victory. + +But even as these lines are written the jails and prisons of America are +filled to overflowing with men and women whose only crime is loyalty to +the working class. The war profiteers are still wallowing in luxury. None +has ever been placed behind the bars. Before he was lynched in Butte, +Frank Little had said, "I stand for the solidarity of labor." That was +enough. The vials of wrath were poured on his head for no other reason. +And for no other reason was the hatred of the employing class directed at +the valiant hundreds who now rot in prison for longer terms than those +meted out to felons. William Haywood and Eugene Debs are behind steel bars +today for the same cause. The boys at Centralia were conspired against +because they too stood "for the solidarity of labor." It is simply lying +and camouflage to attempt to trace such persecutions to any other source. +These are things America will be ashamed of when she comes to her senses. +Such gruesome events are paralleled in no country save the Germany of +Kaiser Wilhelm or the Russia of the Czar. + +This picture of labor persecution in free America--terrible but true--will +serve as a background for the dramatic history of the events leading up to +the climactic tragedy at Centralia on Armistice Day, 1919. + + + + +While in Washington... + + + +All over the state of Washington the mobbing, jailing and tar and +feathering of workers continued the order of the day until long after the +cessation of hostilities in Europe. The organization had always urged and +disciplined its members to avoid violence as an unworthy weapon. Usually +the loggers have left their halls to the mercy of the mobs when they knew +a raid was contemplated. Centralia is the one exception. Here the outrages +heaped upon them could be no longer endured. + +In Yakima and Sedro Woolley, among other places in 1918, union men were +stripped of their clothing, beaten with rope ends and hot tar applied to +the bleeding flesh. They were then driven half naked into the woods. A man +was hanged at night in South Montesano about this time and another had +been tarred and feathered. As a rule the men were taken unaware before +being treated in this manner. In one instance a stationary delegate of the +Industrial Workers of the World received word that he was to be +"decorated" and rode out of town on a rail. He slit a pillow open and +placed it in the window with a note attached stating that he knew of the +plan; would be ready for them, and would gladly supply his own feathers. +He did not leave town either on a rail or otherwise. + +In Seattle, Tacoma and many other towns, union halls and print shops were +raided and their contents destroyed or burned. In the former city in 1919, +men, women and children were knocked insensible by policemen and +detectives riding up and down the sidewalks in automobiles, striking to +right and left with "billy" and night stick as they went. These were +accompanied by auto trucks filled with hidden riflemen and an armored tank +bristling with machine guns. A peaceable meeting of union men was being +dispersed. + +[Illustration: Loren Roberts + +American. Logger. 19 years old. Loren's mother said of him at the trial: +"Loren was a good boy, he brought his money home regularly for three +years. After his father took sick he was the only support for his father +and me and the three younger ones." The father was a sawyer in a mill and +died of tuberculosis after an accident had broken his strength. This boy, +the weakest of the men on trial, was driven insane by the unspeakable +"third degree" administered in the city jail. One of the lumber trust +lawyers was in the jail at the time Roberts signed his so-called +"confession." "Tell him to quit stalling," said a prosecutor to +Vanderveer, when Roberts left the witness stand. "You cur!" replied the +defense attorney in a low voice, "you know who is responsible for this +boy's condition." Roberts was one of the loggers on Seminary Hill.] + +In Centralia, Aberdeen and Montesano, in Grays Harbor County, the struggle +was more local but not less intense. No fewer than twenty-five loggers on +different occasions were taken from their beds at night and treated to tar +and feathers. A great number were jailed for indefinite periods on +indefinite charges. As an additional punishment these were frequently +locked in their cells and the fire hose played on their drenched and +shivering bodies. "Breech of jail discipline" was the reason given for +this "cruel and unusual" form of lumber trust punishment. + +In Aberdeen and Montesano there were several raids and many deportations +of the tar and feather variety. In Aberdeen in the fall of 1917 during a +"patriotic" parade, the battered hall of the union loggers was again +forcibly entered in the absence of its owners. Furniture, office fixtures, +Victrola and books were dumped into the street and destroyed. In the town +of Centralia, about a year before the tragedy, the Union Secretary was +kidnapped and taken into the woods by a mob of well dressed business men. +He was made to "run the gauntlet" and severely beaten. There was a strong +sentiment in favor of lynching him on the spot, but one of the mob +objected saying it would be "too raw." The victim was then escorted to the +outskirts of the city and warned not to return under pain of usual +penalty. On more than one occasion loggers who had expressed themselves in +favor of the Industrial Workers of the World, were found in the morning +dangling from trees in the neighborhood. No explanation but that of +"suicide" was ever offered. The whole story of the atrocities perpetrated +during these days of the White Terror, in all probability, will never be +published. The criminals are all well known but their influence is too +powerful to ever make it expedient to expose their crimes. Besides, who +would care to get a gentleman in trouble for killing a mere "Wobbly"? The +few instances noted above will, however, give the reader some slight idea +of the gruesome events that were leading inevitably to that grim day in +Centralia in November, 1919. + + + + +Weathering the Storm + + + +Through it all the industrialists clung to their Red Cards and to the One +Big Union for which they had sacrificed so much. Time after time, with +incomparable patience, they would refurnish and reopen their beleaguered +halls, heal up the wounds of rope, tar or "billy" and proceed with the +work of organization as though nothing had happened. With union cards or +credentials hidden in their heavy shoes they would meet secretly in the +woods at night. Here they would consult about members who had been mobbed, +jailed or killed, about caring for their families--if they had any--about +carrying on the work of propaganda and laying plans for the future +progress of their union. Perhaps they would take time to chant a rebel +song or two in low voices. Then, back on the job again to "line up the +slaves for the New Society!" + +Through a veritable inferno of torment and persecution these men had +refused to be driven from the woods or to give up their union--the +Industrial Workers of the World. Between the two dreadful alternatives of +peonage or persecution they chose the latter--and the lesser. Can you +imagine what their peonage must have been like? + + + + +Sinister Centralia + + + +But Centralia was destined to be the scene of the most dramatic portion of +the struggle between the entrenched interests and the union loggers. Here +the long persecuted industrialists made a stand for their lives and fought +to defend their own, thus giving the glib-tongued lawyers of the +prosecution the opportunity of accusing them of "wantonly murdering +unoffending paraders" on Armistice Day. + +Centralia in appearance is a creditable small American city--the kind of +city smug people show their friends with pride from the rose-scented +tranquility of a super-six in passage. The streets are wide and clean, the +buildings comfortable, the lawns and shade trees attractive. Centralia is +somewhat of a coquette but she is as sinister and cowardly as she is +pretty. There is a shudder lurking in every corner and a nameless fear +sucks the sweetness out of every breeze. Song birds warble at the +outskirts of the town but one is always haunted by the cries of the human +beings who have been tortured and killed within her confines. + +A red-faced business man motors leisurely down the wet street. He shouts a +laughing greeting to a well dressed group at the curb who respond in kind. +But the roughly dressed lumberworkers drop their glances in passing one +another. The Fear is always upon them. As these lines are written several +hundred discontented shingle-weavers are threatened with deportation if +they dare to strike. They will not strike, for they know too well the +consequences. The man-hunt of a few months ago is not forgotten and the +terror of it grips their hearts whenever they think of opposing the will +of the Moloch that dominates their every move. + +Around Centralia are wooded hills; men have been beaten beneath them and +lynched from their limbs. The beautiful Chehalis River flows near by; +Wesley Everest was left dangling from one of its bridges. But Centralia is +provokingly pretty for all that. It is small wonder that the lumber trust +and its henchmen wish to keep it all for themselves. + +Well tended roads lead in every direction, bordered with clearings of +worked out camps and studded with occasional tree stumps of great age and +truly prodigious size. At intervals are busy saw mills with thousands of +feet of odorous lumber piled up in orderly rows. In all directions +stretches the pillared immensity of the forests. The vistas through the +trees seen enchanted rather than real--unbelievable green and of form and +depth that remind one of painted settings for a Maeterlinck fable rather +than matter-of-fact timber land. + + + + +The High Priests of Labor Hatred + + + +Practically all of this land is controlled by the trusts; much of it by +the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, of which F.B. Hubbard is the head. +The strike of 1917 almost ruined this worthy gentleman. He has always been +a strong advocate of the open shop, but during the last few years he has +permitted his rabid labor-hatred to reach the point of fanaticism. This +Hubbard figures prominently in Centralia's business, social and mob +circles. He is one of the moving spirits in the Centralia conspiracy. The +Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, besides large tracts of land, owns +saw-mills, coal mines and a railway. The Centralia newspapers are its +mouthpieces while the Chamber of Commerce and the Elks' Club are its +general headquarters. The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is its local +citadel of power. In charge of this bank is a sinister character, one +Uhlman, a German of the old school and a typical Prussian junker. At one +time he was an officer in the German army but at present is a "100% +American"--an easy metamorphosis for a Prussian in these days. His native +born "brother-at-arms" is George Dysart whose son led the posses in the +man-hunt that followed the shooting. In Centralia this bank and its Hun +dictator dominates the financial, political and social activities of the +community. Business men, lawyers, editors, doctors and local authorities +all kow-tow to the institution and its Prussian president. And woe be to +any who dare do otherwise! The power of the "interests" is a vengeful +power and will have no other power before it. Even the mighty arm of the +law becomes palsied in its presence. + +[Illustration: Lumberworkers Union Hall, Raided in 1918 + +The first of the two halls to be wrecked by Centralia's terrorists. This +picture was not permitted to be introduced as evidence of the conspiracy +to raid the new hall. Judge Wilson didn't want the jury to know anything +about this event.] + +The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is the local instrumentality of the +invisible government that holds the nation in its clutch. Kaiser Uhlman +has more influence than the city mayor and more power than the police +force. The law has always been a little thing to him and his clique. The +inscription on the shield of this bank is said to read "To hell with the +Constitution; this is Lewis County." As events will show, this inspiring +maxim has been faithfully adhered to. One of the mandates of this +delectable nest of highbinders is that no headquarters of the Union of the +lumber workers shall ever be permitted within the sacred precincts of the +city of Centralia. + + + + +The Loved and Hated Union Hall + + + +Now the loggers, being denied the luxury of home and family life, have but +three places they can call "home." The bunkhouse in the camp, the cheap +rooming house in town and the Union Hall. This latter is by far the best +loved of all. It is here the men can gather around a crackling wood fire, +smoke their pipes and warm their souls with the glow of comradeship. Here +they can, between jobs or after work, discuss the vicissitudes of their +daily lives, read their books and magazines and sing their songs of +solidarity, or merely listen to the "tinned" humor or harmony of the +much-prized Victrola. Also they here attend to affairs of their +Union--line up members, hold business and educational meetings and a +weekly "open forum." Once in awhile a rough and wholesome "smoker" is +given. The features of this great event are planned for weeks in advance +and sometimes talked about for months afterwards. + +[Illustration: The Scene of the Armistice Day Tragedy + +This is what was left of the Union hall the loggers tried to defend on +November 11th. Three of the raiders, Grimm, McElfresh and Cassagranda, +were killed in the immediate vicinity of the doorway. Several others were +wounded while attempting to rush the doors.] + +These halls are at all times open to the public and inducements are made +to get workers to come in and read a thoughtful treatise on Industrial +questions. The latch-string is always out for people who care to listen to +a lecture on economics or similar subjects. Inside the hall there is +usually a long reading-table littered with books, magazines or papers. In +a rack or case at the wall are to be found copies of the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Butte Daily Bulletin," "The New Solidarity," "The Industrial +Worker," "The Liberator," "The New Republic" and "The Nation." Always +there is a shelf of thumb-worn books on history, science, economics and +socialism. On the walls are lithographs or engravings of noted champions +of the cause of Labor, a few photographs of local interest and the monthly +Bulletins and Statements of the Union. Invariably there is a blackboard +with jobs, wages and hours written in chalk for the benefit of men seeking +employment. There are always a number of chairs in the room and a roll top +desk for the secretary. Sometimes at the end of the hall is a plank +rostrum--a modest altar to the Goddess of Free Speech and open discussion. +This is what the loved and hated I.W.W. Halls are like--the halls that +have been raided and destroyed by the hundreds during the last three +years. + +Remember, too, that in each of these raids the union men were not the +aggressors and that there was never any attempt at reprisal. In spite of +the fact that the lumber workers were within their legal right to keep +open their halls and to defend them from felonious attack, it had never +happened until November 11, that active resistance was offered the +marauders. This fact alone speaks volumes for the long-suffering patience +of the logger and for his desire to settle his problems by peaceable means +wherever possible. But the Centralia raid was the straw that broke the +camel's back. The lumber trust went a little too far on this occasion and +it got the surprise of its life. Four of its misguided dupes paid for +their lawlessness with their lives, and a number of others were wounded. +There has not since been a raid on a union hall in the Northwestern +District. + +It is well that workingmen and women throughout the country should +understand the truth about the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia and the +circumstances that led up to it. But in order to know why the hall was +raided it is necessary first to understand why this, and all similar +halls, are hated by the oligarchies of the woods. + +The issue contested is whether the loggers have the right to organize +themselves into a union, or whether they must remain chattels--mere hewers +of wood and helpless in the face of the rapacity of their industrial +overlords--or whether they have the right to keep open their halls and +peacefully to conduct the affairs of their union. The lumber workers +contend that they are entitled by law to do these things and the employers +assert that, law or no law, they shall not do so. In other words, it is a +question of whether labor organization shall retain its foothold in the +lumber industry or be "driven from the woods." + + + + +Pioneers of Unionism + + + +It is hard for workers in most of the other industries--especially in the +East--to understand the problems, struggles and aspirations of the husky +and unconquerable lumber workers of the Northwest. The reason is that the +average union man takes his union for granted. He goes to his union +meetings, discusses the affairs of his craft, industry or class, and he +carries his card--all as a matter of course. It seldom enters his mind +that the privileges and benefits that surround him and the protection he +enjoys are the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the nameless +thousands of pioneers that cleared the way. But these unknown heroes of +the great struggle of the classes did precede him with their loyal hearts +and strong hands; otherwise workers now organized would have to start the +long hard battle at the beginning and count their gains a step at a time, +just as did the early champions of industrial organization, or as the +loggers of the West Coast are now doing. + +The working class owes all honor and respect to the first men who planted +the standard of labor solidarity on the hostile frontier of unorganized +industry. They were the men who made possible all things that came after +and all things that are still to come. They were the trail blazers. It is +easier to follow them than to have gone before them--or with them. They +established the outposts of unionism in the wilderness of Industrial +autocracy. Their voices were the first to proclaim the burning message of +Labor's power, of Labor's mission and of Labor's ultimate emancipation. +Their breasts were the first to receive the blows of the enemy; their +unprotected bodies were shielding the countless thousands to follow. They +were the forerunners of the solidarity of Toil. They fought in a good and +great cause; for without solidarity, Labor would have attained nothing +yesterday, gained nothing today nor dare to hope for anything tomorrow. + +[Illustration: Seminary Hall + +The Union hall looks out on this hill, with Tower avenue and an alley +between. It is claimed that loggers, among others Loren Roberts, Bert +Bland and the missing Ole Hanson, fired at the attacking mob from this +position.] + + + + +The Block House and the Union Hall + + + +In the Northwest today the rebel lumberjack is a pioneer. Just as our +fathers had to face the enmity of the Indians, so are these men called +upon to face the fury of the predatory interests that have usurped the +richest timber resources of the richest nation in the world. Just outside +Centralia stands a weatherbeaten landmark. It is an old, brown dilapidated +block house of early days. In many ways it reminds one of the battered and +wrecked union halls to be found in the heart of the city. + +The evolution of industry has replaced the block house with the union hall +as the embattled center of assault and defense. The weapons are no longer +the rifle and the tomahawk but the boycott and the strike. The frontier is +no longer territorial but industrial. The new struggle is as portentous as +the old. The stakes are larger and the warfare even more bitter. + +The painted and be-feathered scalp-hunter of the Sioux or Iroquois were +not more heartless in maiming, mutilating and killing their victims than +the "respectable" profit-hunters of today--the type of men who conceived +the raid on the Union Hall in Centralia on Armistice Day--and who +fiendishly tortured and hanged Wesley Everest for the crime of defending +himself from their inhuman rage. It seems incredible that such deeds could +be possible in the twentieth century. It is incredible to those who have +not followed in the bloody trail of the lumber trust and who are not +familiar with its ruthlessness, its greed and its lust for power. + +As might be expected the I.W.W. Halls in Washington were hated by the +lumber barons with a deep and undying hatred. Union halls were a standing +challenge to their hitherto undisputed right to the complete domination of +the forests. Like the blockhouses of early days, these humble meeting +places were the outposts of a new and better order planted in the +stronghold of the old. And they were hated accordingly. The thieves who +had invaded the resources of the nation had long ago seized the woods and +still held them in a grip of steel. They were not going to tolerate the +encroachments of the One Big Union of the lumber workers. Events will +prove that they did not hesitate at anything to achieve their purposes. + + + + +The First Centralia Hall + + + +In the year 1918 a union hall stood on one of the side streets in +Centralia. It was similar to the halls that have just been described. This +was not, however, the hall in which the Armistice Day tragedy took place. +You must always remember that there were two halls raided in Centralia; +one in 1918 and another in 1919. The loggers did not defend the first hall +and many of them were manhandled by the mob that wrecked it. The loggers +did defend the second and were given as reward a hanging, a speedy, fair +and impartial conviction and sentences of from 25 to 40 years. No member +of the mob has ever been punished or even taken to task for this misdeed. +Their names are known to everybody. They kiss their wives and babies at +night and go to church on Sundays. People tip their hats to them on the +street. Yet they are a greater menace to the institutions of this country +than all the "reds" in the land. In a world where Mammon is king the king +can do no wrong. But the question of "right" or "wrong" did not concern +the lumber interests when they raided the Union hall in 1918. "Yes, we +raided the hall, what are you going to do about it," is the position they +take in the matter. + +During the 1917 strike the two lumber trust papers in Centralia, the "Hub" +and the "Chronicle" were bitter in their denunciation of the strikers. +Repeatedly they urged that most drastic and violent measures be taken by +the authorities and "citizens" to break the strike, smash the union and +punish the strikers. The war-frenzy was at its height and these miserable +sheets went about their work like Czarist papers inciting a pogrom. The +lumber workers were accused of "disloyalty," "treason," +"anarchy"--anything that would tend to make their cause unpopular. The +Abolitionists were spoken about in identical terms before the civil war. +As soon as the right atmosphere for their crime had been created the +employers struck and struck hard. + +It was in April, 1918. Like many other cities in the land Centralia was +conducting a Red Cross drive. Among the features of this event were a +bazaar and a parade. + +The profits of the lumber trust were soaring to dizzy heights at this time +and their patriotism was proportionately exalted. + +There was the usual brand of hypocritical and fervid speechmaking. The +flag was waved, the Government was lauded and the Constitution praised. +Then, after the war-like proclivities of the stay-at-home heroes had been +sufficiently worked upon; flag, Government and Constitution were forgotten +long enough for the gang to go down the street and raid the "wobbly" hall. + +Dominating the festivities was the figure of F.B. Hubbard, at that time +President of the Employers' Association of the State of Washington. This +is neither Hubbard's first nor last appearance as a terrorist and +mob-leader--usually behind the scenes, however, or putting in a last +minute appearance. + +[Illustration: Avalon Hotel, Centralia + +From this point Elsie Hornbeck claimed she identified Eugene Barnett in +the open window with a rifle. Afterwards she admitted that her +identification was based only on a photograph shown her by the +prosecution. This young lady nearly fainted on the witness stand while +trying to patch her absurd story together.] + + + + +The 1918 Raid + + + +It had been rumored about town that the Union Hall was to be wrecked on +this day but the loggers at the hall were of the opinion that the business +men, having driven their Secretary out of town a short time previously, +would not dare to perpetrate another atrocity so soon afterwards. In this +they were sadly mistaken. + +Down the street marched the parade, at first presenting no unusual +appearance. The Chief of Police, the Mayor and the Governor of the State +were given places of honor at the head of the procession. Company G of the +National Guard and a gang of broad-cloth hoodlums disguised as "Elks" made +up the main body of the marchers. But the crafty and unscrupulous Hubbard +had laid his plans in advance with characteristic cunning. The parade, +like a scorpion, carried its sting in the rear. + +Along the main avenue went the guardsmen and the gentlemen of the Elks +Club. So far nothing extraordinary had happened. Then the procession +swerved to a side street. This must be the right thing for the line of +march had been arranged by the Chamber of Commerce itself. A couple of +blocks more and the parade had reached the intersection of First Street +and Tower Avenue. What happened then the Mayor and Chief of Police +probably could not have stopped even had the Governor himself ordered them +to do so. From somewhere in the line of march a voice cried out, "Let's +raid the I.W.W. Hall!" And the crowd at the tail end of the procession +broke ranks and leaped to their work with a will. + +In a short time the intervening block that separated them from the Union +Hall was covered. The building was stormed with clubs and stones. Every +window was shattered and every door was smashed, the very sides of the +building were torn off by the mob in its blind fury. Inside the rioters +tore down the partitions and broke up chairs and pictures. The union men +were surrounded, beaten and driven to the street where they were forced to +watch furniture, records, typewriter and literature demolished and burned +before their eyes. An American flag hanging in the hall, was torn down and +destroyed. A Victrola and a desk were carried to the street with +considerable care. The former was auctioned off on the spot for the +benefit of the Red Cross. James Churchill, owner of a glove factory, won +the machine. He still boasts of its possession. The desk was appropriated +by F.B. Hubbard himself. This was turned over to an expressman and carted +to the Chamber of Commerce. A small boy picked up the typewriter case and +started to take it to a nearby hotel office. One of the terrorists +detected the act and gave warning. The mob seized the lad, took him to a +nearby light pole and threatened to lynch him if he did not tell them +where books and papers were secreted which somebody said had been carried +away by him. The boy denied having done this, but the hoodlums went into +the hotel, ransacked and overturned everything. Not finding what they +wanted, they left a notice that the proprietor would have to take the sign +down from his building in just twenty-four hours. Then the mob surged +around the unfortunate men who had been found in the Union hall. With +cuffs and blows these were dragged to waiting trucks where they were +lifted by the ears to the body of the machine and knocked prostrate one at +a time. Sometimes a man would be dropped to the ground just after he had +been lifted from his feet. Here he would lay with ear drums bursting and +writhing from the kicks and blows that had been freely given. Like all +similar mobs this one carried ropes, which were placed about the necks of +the loggers. "Here's and I.W.W." yelled someone. "What shall we do with +him?" A cry was given to "lynch him!" Some were taken to the city jail and +the rest were dumped unceremoniously on the other side of the county line. + +Since that time the wrecked hall has remained tenantless and unrepaired. +Grey and gaunt like a house in battle-scarred Belgium, it stands a mute +testimony of the labor-hating ferocity of the lumber trust. Repeated +efforts have since been made to destroy the remains with fire. The defense +had tried without avail to introduce a photograph of the ruin as evidence +to prove that the second hall was raided in a similar manner on Armistice +Day, 1919. Judge Wilson refused to permit the jury to see either the +photographs or the hall. But in case of another trial...? + +Evidently the lumber trust thought it better to have all traces of its +previous crime obliterated. + +The raid of 1918 did not weaken the lumber workers' Union in Centralia. On +the contrary it served to strengthen it. But not until more than a year +had passed were the loggers able to establish a new headquarters. This +hall was located next door to the Roderick Hotel on Tower Avenue, between +Second and Third Streets. Hardly was this hall opened when threats were +circulated by the Chamber of Commerce that it, like the previous one, was +marked for destruction. The business element was lined up solid in +denunciation of and opposition to the Union Hall and all that it stood +for. But other anti-labor matters took up their attention and it was some +time before the second raid was actually accomplished. + +There was one rift in the lute of lumber trust solidarity in Centralia. +Business and professional men had long been groveling in sycophantic +servility at the feet of "the clique." There was only one notable +exception. + + + + +A Lawyer--and a Man + + + +A young lawyer had settled in the city a few years previous to the +Armistice Day tragedy. Together with his parents and four brothers he had +left his home in Minnesota to seek fame and fortune in the woods of +Washington. He had worked his way through McAlester College and the Law +School of the University of Minnesota. He was young, ambitious, red-headed +and husky, a loving husband and the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. +Nature had endowed him with a dangerous combination of gifts,--a brilliant +mind and a kind heart. His name was just plain Smith--Elmer Smith--and he +came from the old rugged American stock. + +Smith started to practice law in Centralia, but unlike his brother +attorneys, he held to the assumption that all men are equal under the +law--even the hated I.W.W. In a short time his brilliant mind and kind +heart had won him as much hatred from the lumber barons as love from the +down-trodden,--which is saying a good deal. The "interests" studied the +young lawyer carefully for awhile and soon decided that he could be +neither bullied or bought. So they determined to either break his spirit +or to break his neck. Smith is at present in prison charged with murder. +This is how it happened: + +Smith established his office in the First Guarantee Bank Building which +was quite the proper thing to do. Then he began to handle law suits for +wage-earners, which was altogether the reverse. Caste rules in Centralia, +and Elmer Smith was violating its most sacred mandataries by giving the +"working trash" the benefit of his talents instead of people really worth +while. + +Warren O. Grimm, who was afterwards shot while trying to break into the +Union Hall with the mob, once cautioned Smith of the folly and danger of +such a course. "You'll get along all right," said he, "if you will come in +with us." Then he continued: + +"How would you feel if one of your clients would come up to you in public, +slap you on the back and say 'Hello, Elmer?'" + +"Very proud," answered the young lawyer. + +[Illustration: Elmer Smith + +Attorney at law. Old American stock--born on a homestead in North Dakota. +By championing the cause of the "under-dog" in Centralia Smith brought +down on himself the wrath of the lumber trust. He defended many union men +in the courts, and at one time sought to prosecute the kidnappers of Tom +Lassiter. Smith is the man Warren O. Grimm told would get along all right, +"if you come in with us." He bucked the lumber trust instead and landed in +prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Smith was found "not guilty" by the +jury, but immediately re-arrested on practically the same charge. He is +not related to Britt Smith.] + +[Illustration: Wesley Everest + +Logger. American (old Washington pioneer stock). Joined the Industrial +Workers of the World in 1917. A returned soldier. Earnest, sincere, quiet, +he was the "Jimmy Higgins" of the Centralia branch of the Lumberworkers +Union. Everest was mistaken for Britt Smith, the Union secretary, whom the +mob had started out to lynch. He was pursued by a gang of terrorists and +unmercifully manhandled. Later--at night--he was taken from the city jail +and hanged to a bridge. In the automobile, on the way to the lynching, he +was unsexed by a human fiend--a well known Centralia business man--who +used a razor on his helpless victim. Even the lynchers were forced to +admit that Everest was the most "dead game" man they had ever seen.] + +Some months previous Smith had taken a case for an I.W.W. logger. He won +it. Other cases in which workers needed legal advice came to him. He took +them. A young girl was working at the Centralia "Chronicle." She was +receiving a weekly wage of three dollars which is in defiance of the +minimum wage law of the state for women. Smith won the case. Also he +collected hundreds of dollars in back wages for workers whom the companies +had sought to defraud. Workers in the clutches of loan sharks were +extricated by means of the bankruptcy laws, hitherto only used by their +masters. An automobile firm was making a practice of replacing Ford +engines with old ones when a machine was brought in for repairs. One of +the victims brought his case to Smith. and a lawsuit followed. This was an +unheard-of proceeding, for heretofore such little business tricks had been +kept out of court by common understanding. + +A worker, formerly employed by a subsidiary of the Eastern Lumber & +Railway Company, had been deprived of his wages on a technicality of the +law by the corporation attorneys. This man had a large family and hard +circumstances were forced upon them by this misfortune. One of his little +girls died from what the doctor called malnutrition--plain starvation. +Smith filed suit and openly stated that the lawyers of the corporation +were responsible for the death of the child. The indignation of the +business and professional element blazed to white heat. A suit for libel +and disbarment proceedings were started against him. Nothing could be done +in this direction as Smith had not only justice but the law on his side. +His enemies were waiting with great impatience for a more favorable +opportunity to strike him down. Open threats were beginning to be heard +against him. + +A Union lecturer came to town. The meeting was well attended. A vigilance +committee of provocateurs and business men was in the audience. At the +close of the lecture those gentlemen started to pass the signal for +action. Elmer Smith sauntered down the aisle, shook hands with the speaker +and told him he would walk to the train with him. + +The following morning the door to Smith's office was ornamented with a +cardboard sign. It read: "Are you an American? You had better say so. +Citizens' Committee." This was lettered in lead pencil. Across the bottom +were scrawled these words: "No more I.W.W. meetings for you." + +In 1918 an event occurred which served further to tighten the noose about +the stubborn neck of the young lawyer. On this occasion the terrorists of +the city perpetrated another shameful crime against the working class--and +the law. + + + + +Blind Tom--A Blemish on America + + + +Tom Lassiter made his living by selling newspapers at a little stand on a +street corner. Tom is blind, a good soul and well liked by the loggers. +But Tom has vision enough to see that there is something wrong with the +hideous capitalist system we live under; and so he kept papers on sale +that would help enlighten the workers. Among these were the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Industrial Worker" and "Solidarity." To put it plainly, Tom +was a thorn in the side of the local respectability because of his modest +efforts to make people thing. And his doom had also been sealed. + +Early in June the newsstand was broken into and all his clothing, +literature and little personal belongings were taken to a vacant lot and +burned. A warning sign was left on a short pole stuck in the ashes. The +message, "You leave town in 24 hours, U.S. Soldiers, Sailors and Marines," +was left on the table in his room. + +With true Wobbly determination, Lassiter secured a new stock of papers and +immediately re-opened his little stand. About this time a Centralia +business man, J.H. Roberts by name, was heard to say "This man (Lassiter) +is within his legal rights and if we can't do anything by law we'll take +the law into our own hands." This is precisely what happened. + +On the afternoon of June 30th, Blind Tom was crossing Tower Avenue with +hesitating steps when, without warning, two business men seized his +groping arms and yelled in his ear, "We'll get you out of town this time!" +Lassiter called for help. The good Samaritan came along in the form of a +brute-faced creature known as W.R. Patton, a rich property owner of the +city. This Christian gentleman sneaked up behind the blind man and lunged +him forcibly into a waiting Oakland automobile. The machine is owned by +Cornelius McIntyre who is said to have been one of the kidnapping party. + +"Shut up or I'll smash your mouth so you can't yell," said one of his +assailants as Lassiter was forced, still screaming for help, into the car. +Turning to the driver one of the party said, "Step on her and let's get +out of here." About this time Constable Luther Patton appeared on the +scene. W.R. Patton walked over to where the constable stood and shouted to +the bystanders, "We'll arrest the first person that objects, interferes or +gets too loud." + +"A good smash on the jaw would do more good," suggested the kind-hearted +official. + +"Well, we got that one pretty slick and now there are two more we have to +get," stated W.R. Patton, a short time afterwards. + +Blind Tom was dropped helpless in a ditch just over the county line. He +was picked up by a passing car and eventually made his way to Olympia, +capital of the state. In about a week he was back in Centralia. But before +he could again resume his paper selling he was arrested on a charge of +"criminal syndicalism." He is now awaiting conviction at Chehalis. + +Before his arrest, however, Lassiter engaged Elmer Smith as his attorney. +Smith appealed to County Attorney Herman Allen for protection for his +client. After a half-hearted effort to locate the kidnappers--who were +known to everybody--this official gave up the task saying he was "Too busy +to bother with the affair, and, besides, the offense was only 'third +degree assault' which is punishable with a fine of but one dollar and +costs." The young lawyer did not waste any more time with the County +authorities. Instead he secured sworn statements of the facts in the case +and submitted them to the Governor. These were duly acknowledged and +placed on file in Olympia. But up to date no action has been taken by the +executive to prosecute the criminals who committed the crime. + +"Handle these I.W.W. cases if you want to," said a local attorney to Elmer +Smith, counsel for one of the banks, "but sooner or later they're all +going to be hanged or deported anyway." + +[Illustration: Where Barnett's Rifle Was Supposed to Have Been Found + +Eugene Barnett was said to have left his rifle under this sign-board as he +fled from the scene of the shooting. It would have been much easier to +hide a gun in the tall brush in the foreground. In reality Barnett did not +have a rifle on November 11th and was never within a mile of this place. +Prosecutor Cunningham said he had "been looking all over for that rifle" +when it was turned over to him by a stool pigeon. Strangely enough +Cunningham knew the number of the gun before he placed hands on it.] + +Smith was feathering a nest for himself--feathering it with steel and +stone and a possible coil of hempen rope. The shadow of the prison bars +was falling blacker on his red head with every passing moment. His +fearless championing of the cause of the "under dog" had won him the +implacable hatred of his own class. To them his acts of kindness and +humanity were nothing less than treason. Smith had been ungrateful to the +clique that had offered him every inducement to "come in with us". A +lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a working man with his brains. +Elmer Smith would be punished all right; it would just be a matter of +time. + +The indifference of the County and State authorities regarding the +kidnapping of blind Tom gave the terrorists renewed confidence in the +efficacy and "legality" of their methods. Also it gave them a hint as to +the form their future depredations were to take. And so, with the implied +approval of everyone worth considering, they went about their plotting +with still greater determination and a soothing sense of security. + + + + +The Conspiracy Develops + + + +The cessation of hostilities in Europe deprived the gangsters of the cloak +of "patriotism" as a cover for their crimes. But this cloak was too +convenient to be discarded so easily. "Let the man in uniform do it" was +an axiom that had been proved both profitable and safe. Then came the +organization of the local post of the American Legion and the now famous +Citizen's Protective League--of which more afterwards. + +With the signing of the Armistice, and the consequent almost imperceptible +lifting of the White Terror that dominated the country, the organization +of the loggers began daily to gather strength. The Chamber of Commerce +began to growl menacingly, the Employers' Association to threaten and the +lumber trust papers to incite open violence. And the American Legion began +to function as a "cats paw" for the men behind the scenes. + +Why should the beautiful city of Centralia tolerate the hated Union hall +any longer? Other halls had been raided, men had been tarred and feathered +and deported--no one had ever been punished! Why should the good citizens +of Centralia endure a lumberworkers headquarters and their despised union +itself right in the midst of their peaceful community? Why indeed! The +matter appeared simple enough from any angle. So then and there the +conspiracy was hatched that resulted in the tragedy on Armistice Day. But +the forces at work to bring about this unhappy conclusion were far from +local. Let us see what these were like before the actual details of the +conspiracy are recounted. + +There were three distinct phases of this campaign to "rid the woods of the +agitators." These three phases dovetail together perfectly. Each one is a +perfect part of a shrewdly calculated and mercilessly executed conspiracy +to commit constructive murder and unlawful entry. The diabolical plan +itself was designed to brush aside the laws of the land, trample the +Constitution underfoot and bring about an unparalleled orgy of unbridled +labor hatred and labor repression that would settle the question of +unionism for a long time. + + + + +The Conspiracy--And a Snag + + + +First of all comes the propaganda stage with the full force of the +editorial virulence of the trust-controlled newspapers directed against +labor in favor of "law and order," i.e., the lumber interests. All the +machinery of newspaper publicity was used to vilify the lumber worker and +to discredit his Union. Nothing was left unsaid that would tend to produce +intolerance and hatred or to incite mob violence. This is not only true of +Centralia, but of all the cities and towns located in the lumber district. +Centralia happened to be the place where the tree of anti-labor propaganda +first bore its ghastly fruit. Space does not permit us to quote the +countless horrible things the I.W.W. was supposed to stand for and to be +constantly planning to do. Statements from the lips of General Wood and +young Roosevelt to the effect that citizens should not argue with +Bolshevists but meet them "head on" were very conspicuously displayed on +all occasions. Any addle-headed mediocrity, in or out of uniform, who had +anything particularly atrocious to say against the labor movement in +general or the "radicals" in particular, was afforded every opportunity to +do so. The papers were vying with one another in devising effectual, if +somewhat informal, means of dealing with the "red menace." + +Supported by, and partly the result of this barrage of lies, +misrepresentation and incitation, came the period of attempted repression +by "law". This was probably the easiest thing of all because the grip of +Big Business upon the law-making and law-enforcing machinery of the nation +is incredible. At all events a state's "criminal syndicalism law" had been +conveniently passed and was being applied vigorously against union men, +A.F. of L. and I.W.W. alike, but chiefly against the Lumber Workers' +Industrial Union, No. 500, of the Industrial Workers of the World, the +basic lumber industry being the largest in the Northwest and the growing +power of the organized lumberjack being therefore more to be feared. + +[Illustration: His Uncle Planned It + +Dale Hubbard, killed in self-defense by Wesley Everest, Armistice Day, +1919. F. Hubbard, a lumber baron and uncle of the dead man, is held to +have been the instigator of the plot in which his nephew was shot. Hubbard +was martyrized by the lumber trust's determination "to let the men in +uniform do it."] + +No doubt the lumber interests had great hope that the execution of these +made-to-order laws would clear up the atmosphere so far as the lumber +situation was concerned. But they were doomed to a cruel and surprising +disappointment. + +A number of arrests were made in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and +even Nevada. Fifty or sixty men all told were arrested and their trials +rushed as test cases. During this period from April 25th to October 28th, +1919, the lumber trust saw with chagrin and dismay each of the state cases +in turn either won outright by the defendants or else dismissed in the +realization that it would be impossible to win them. By October 28th +George F. Vanderveer, chief attorney for the defense, declared there were +not a single member of the I.W.W. in custody in Washington, Idaho or +Montana under this charge. In Seattle, Washington, an injunction was +obtained restraining the mayor from closing down the new Union hall in +that city under the new law. Thus it appeared that the nefarious plan of +the employers and their subservient lawmaking adjuncts, to outlaw the +lumber workers Union and to penalize the activities of its members, was to +be doomed to an ignominious failure. + + + + +Renewed Efforts--Legal and Otherwise + + + +Furious at the realization of their own impotency the "interests" launched +forth upon a new campaign. This truly machiavellian scheme was devised to +make it impossible for accused men to secure legal defense of any kind. +All labor cases were to be tried simultaneously, thus making it impossible +for the defendants to secure adequate counsel. George F. Russell, +Secretary-Manager of the Washington Employers' Association, addressed +meetings over the state urging all Washington Prosecuting Attorneys to +organize that this end might be achieved. It is reported that Governor +Hart, of Washington, looked upon the scheme with favor when it was brought +to his personal attention by Mr. Russell. + +However, the fact remains that the lumber trust was losing and that it +would have to devise even more drastic measures if it were to hope to +escape the prospect of a very humiliating defeat. And, all the while the +organization of the lumber workers continued to grow. + +In Washington the situation was becoming more tense, momentarily. Many +towns in the heart of the lumber district had passed absurd criminal +syndicalism ordinances. These prohibited membership in the I.W.W.; made it +unlawful to rent premises to the organization or to circulate its +literature. The Employers' Association had boasted that it was due to its +efforts that these ordinances had been passed. But still they were faced +with the provocative and unforgettable fact, that the I.W.W. was no more +dead than the cat with the proverbial nine lives. Where halls had been +closed or raided the lumber workers were transacting their union affairs +right on the job or in the bunkhouses, just as though nothing had +happened. What was more deplorable a few Union halls were still open and +doing business at the same old stand. Centralia was one of these; drastic +measures must be applied at once or loggers in other localities might be +encouraged to open halls also. As events prove these measures were +taken--and they were drastic. + + + + +The Employers Show Their Fangs + + + +That the Employers' Association was assiduously preparing its members for +action suitable for the situation is evidenced by the following quotations +from the official bulletin addressed privately "to Members of the +Employers' Association of Washington". Note them carefully; they are +published as "suggestions to members" over the written signature of George +F. Russell Secretary-Manager: + +June 25th, 1918.--"Provide a penalty for idleness ... Common labor now +works a few days and then loafs to spend the money earned ... Active +prosecution of the I.W.W. and other radicals." + +April 30th, 1919.--"Keep business out of the control of radicals and +I.W.W.... Overcome agitation ... Closer co-operation between employers and +employees ... Suppress the agitators ... Hang the Bolshevists." + +May 31st, 1919.--"If the agitators were taken care of we would have very +little trouble ... Propaganda to counteract radicals and overcome +agitation ... Put the I.W.W. in jail." + +June 30th, 1919.--"Make some of the Seattle papers print the truth ... Get +rid of the I.W.W.'s." + +July 2nd, 1919.--"Educate along the line of the three R's and the golden +rule, economy and self denial ... Import Japanese labor ... Import Chinese +labor." + +July 31st, 1919.--"Deport about ten Russians in this community." + +August 31st, 1919.--"Personal contact between employer and employee, +stringent treatment of the I.W.W." + +October 15th, 1919. "There are many I.W.W.s--mostly in the +logging camps...." + +October 31st, 1919.--(A little over a week before the Centralia raid.) +"Run your business or quit ... Business men and tax payers of Vancouver, +Washington, have organized the Loyal Citizen's Protective League; opposed +to Bolsheviki and the Soviet form of government and in favor of the open +shop ... Jail the radicals and deport them ... Since the armistice these +radicals have started in again. ONLY TWO COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON ALLOW +I.W.W. HEADQUARTERS." (!!!) + +[Illustration: Arthur McElfresh + +A Centralia druggist. His wife warned him not to march to the union +headquarters because "she knew he'd get hurt." McElfresh is the man said +to have been shot inside the hall when the mob burst through the door.] + +December 31st, 1919. "Get rid of all the I.W.W. and all other un-American +organizations ... Deport the radicals or use the rope as at Centralia. +Until we get rid of the I.W.W. and radicals we don't expect to do much in +this country ... Keep cleaning up on the I.W.W.... Don't let it die down +... Keep up public sentiment..." + +These few choice significant morsels of one hundred percent (on the +dollar) Americanism are quoted almost at random from the private bulletins +of the officials of the Iron Heel in the state of Washington. Here you can +read their sentiments in their own words; you can see how dupes and +hirelings were coached to perpetrate the crime of Centralia, and as many +other similar crimes as they could get away with. Needless to say these +illuminating lines were not intended for the perusal of the working class. +But now that we have obtained them and placed them before your eyes you +can draw your own conclusion. There are many, many more records germane to +this case that we would like to place before you, but the Oligarchy has +closed its steel jaws upon them and they are at present inaccessible. Men +are still afraid to tell the truth in Centralia. Some day the workers may +learn the whole truth about the inside workings of the Centralia +conspiracy. Be that as it may the business interests of the Northwest +lumber country stand bloody handed and doubly damned, black with guilt and +foul with crime; convicted before the bar of public opinion, by their own +statements and their own acts. + + + + +Failure and Desperation + + + +Let us see for a moment how the conspiracy of the lumber barons operated +to achieve the unlawful ends for which it was designed. Let us see how +they were driven by their own failure at intrigue to adopt methods so +brutal that they would have disgraced the head-hunter; how they tried to +gain with murder-lust what they had failed to gain lawfully and with +public approval. + +The campaign of lies and slander inaugurated by their private newspapers +failed to convince the workers of the undesirability of labor +organization. In spite of the armies of editors and news-whelps assembled +to its aid, it served only to lash to a murderous frenzy the low instincts +of the anti-labor elements in the community. The campaign of legal +repression, admittedly instituted by the Employers' Association, failed +also in spite of the fact that all the machinery of the state from +dog-catcher down to Governor was at its beck and call on all occasions and +for all purposes. + +Having made a mess of things with these methods the lumber barons threw +all scruples to the winds--if they ever had any--threw aside all +pretension of living within the law. They started out, mad-dog like, to +rent, wreck and destroy the last vestige of labor organization from the +woods of the Northwest, and furthermore, to hunt down union men and +martyrize them with the club, the gun, the rope and the courthouse. + +It was to cover up their own crimes that the heartless beasts of Big +Business beat the tom-toms of the press in order to lash the "patriotism" +of their dupes and hirelings into hysteria. It was to hide their own +infamy that the loathsome war dance was started that developed perceptibly +from uncomprehending belligerency into the lawless tumult of mobs, raids +and lynching! And it will be an everlasting blot upon the fair name of +America that they were permitted to do so. + +The Centralia tragedy was the culmination of a long series of unpunished +atrocities against labor. What is expected of men who have been treated as +these men were treated and who were denied redress or protection under the +law? Every worker in the Northwest knows about the wrongs lumberworkers +have endured--they are matters of common knowledge. It was common +knowledge in Centralia and adjoining towns that the I.W.W. hall was to be +raided on Armistice Day. Yet eight loggers have been sentenced from +twenty-five to forty years in prison for the crime of defending themselves +from the mob that set out to murder them! But let us see how the +conspiracy was operating in Centralia to make the Armistice Day tragedy +inevitable. + + + + +The Maelstrom--And Four Men + + + +Centralia was fast becoming the vortex of the conspiracy that was rushing +to its inevitable conclusion. Event followed event in rapid succession, +straws indicating the main current of the flood tide of labor-hatred. The +Commercial Club was seething with intrigue like the court of old France +under Catherine de Medici; only this time it was Industrial Unionism +instead of Huguenots who were being Marked for a new night of St. +Bartholomew. The heresy to be uprooted was belief in industrial instead of +religious freedom; but the stake and the gibbet were awaiting the New Idea +just as they had the old. + +The actions of the lumber interests were now but thinly veiled and their +evil purpose all too manifest. The connection between the Employers' +Association of the state and its local representatives in Centralia had +become unmistakably evident. And behind these loomed the gigantic +silhouette of the Employers' Association of the nation--the colossal +"invisible government"--more powerful at times than the Government itself. +More and more stood out the naked brutal fact that the purpose of all this +plotting was to drive the union loggers from the city and to destroy their +hall. The names of the men actively interested in this movement came to +light in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them obscured. Four of these +stand out prominently in the light of the tragedy that followed: George F. +Russell, F.B. Hubbard, William Scales and last, but not least, Warren O. +Grimm. + +[Illustration: Warren O. Grimm + +Warren O. Grimm, killed at the beginning of the rush on the I.W.W. hall. +At another raid on an I.W.W. hall in 1918 Grimm was said by witnesses to +have been leading the mob, "holding two American flags and dancing like a +whirling dervish." His life-long friend, Frank Van Gilder, testified: "I +stood less than two feet from Grimm when he was shot. He doubled up, put +his hands to his stomach and said to me: 'My God, I'm shot.'" "What did you +do then?" "I turned and left him."] + +The first named, George F. Russell, is a hired Manager for the Washington +Employers' Association, whose membership employs between 75,000 and 80,000 +workers in the state. Russell is known to be a reactionary of the most +pronounced type. He is an avowed union smasher and a staunch upholder of +the open shop principle, which is widely advertised as the "American plan" +in Washington. Incidentally he is an advocate of the scheme to import +Chinese and Japanese cooley labor as a solution of the "high wage and +arrogant unionism" problem. + +F. B. Hubbard, is a small-bore Russell, differing from his chief only in +that his labor hatred is more fanatical and less discreet. Hubbard was +hard hit by the strike in 1917 which fact has evidently won him the +significant title of "a vicious little anti-labor reptile." He is the man +who helped to raid the 1918 Union Hall in Centralia and who appropriated +for himself the stolen desk of the Union Secretary. His nephew Dale +Hubbard was shot while trying to lynch Wesley Everest. + +William Scales is a Centralia business man and a virulent sycophant. He is +a parochial replica of the two persons mentioned above. Scales was in the +Quartermaster's Department down on the border during the trouble with +Mexico. Because he was making too much money out of Uncle Sam's groceries, +he was relieved of his duties quite suddenly and discharged from the +service. He was fortunate in making France instead of Fort Leavenworth, +however, and upon his return, became an ardent proselyte of Russell and +Hubbard and their worthy cause. Also he continued in the grocery business. + +[Illustration: Hizzoner, The Jedge + +In his black robe, like a bird of prey, he perched above the courtroom and +ruled always adversely to the cause of labor. Appointed to try men accused +of killing other men whom he had previously eulogized Judge John M. Wilson +did not disappoint those who appointed him. In open court Vanderveer told +him. In open court Vanderveer told this man: "There was a time when I +thought your rulings were due to ignorance of the law. That will no longer +explain them."] + +Warren O. Grimm came from a good family and was a small town aristocrat. +His brother is city attorney at Centralia. Grimm was a lawyer, a college +athlete and a social lion. He had been with the American forces in Siberia +and his chief bid for distinction was a noisy dislike for the Worker's +& Peasants' Republic of Russia, and the I.W.W. which he termed the +"American Bolsheviki". During the 1918 raid on the Centralia hall Grimm is +said to have been dancing around "like a whirling dervish" and waving the +American flag while the work of destruction was going on. Afterwards he +became prominent in the American Legion and was the chief "cat's paw" for +the lumber interests who were capitalizing the uniform to gain their own +unholy ends. Personally he was a clean-cut modern young man. + + + + +Shadows Cast Before + + + +On June 26th, the following notice appeared conspicuously on the first +page of the Centralia Hub: + + + + +Meeting of Business Men Called for Friday Evening + + + +"Business men and property owners of Centralia are urged to attend a +meeting tomorrow in the Chamber of Commerce rooms to meet the officers of +the Employers' Association of the state to discuss ways and means of +bettering the conditions which now confront the business and property +interests of the state. George F. Russell, Secretary-Manager, says in his +note to business men: 'We need your advice and your co-operation in +support of the movement for the defense of property and property rights. +It is the most important question before the public today.'" + +At this meeting Mr. Russell dwelt on the statement that the "radicals" +were better organized than the property interests. Also he pointed out the +need of a special organization to protect "rights of property" from the +encroachments of all "foes of the government". The Non-Partisan League, +the Triple Alliance and the A.F. of L. were duly condemned. The speaker +then launched out into a long tirade against the Industrial Workers of the +World which was characterized as the most dangerous organization in +America and the one most necessary for "good citizens" to crush. Needless +to state the address was chock full of 100% Americanism. It amply made up +in forcefulness anything it lacked in logic. + +So the "Citizens' Protective League" of Centralia was born. From the first +it was a law unto itself--murder lust wearing the smirk of +respectability--Judge Lynch dressed in a business suit. The advent of this +infamous league marks the final ascendancy of terrorism over the +Constitution in the city of Centralia. The only things still needed were a +secret committee, a coil of rope and an opportunity. + +F.B. Hubbard was the man selected to pull off the "rough stuff" and at the +same time keep the odium of crime from smirching the fair names of the +conspirators. He was told to "perfect his own organization". Hubbard was +eminently fitted for his position by reason of his intense labor-hatred +and his aptitude for intrigue. + +The following day the Centralia Daily Chronicle carried the following +significant news item: + +BUSINESS MEN OF COUNTY ORGANIZE + +Representatives From Many Communities Attend Meeting in +Chamber of Commerce, Presided Over Secretary of Employers' Association. + +"The labor situation was thoroughly discussed this afternoon at a meeting +held in the local Chamber of Commerce which was attended by representative +business men from various parts of Lewis County. + +"George F. Russell, Secretary of the Employers' Association, of +Washington, presided at the meeting. + +"A temporary organization was effected with F. B. Hubbard, President of +the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company, as chairman. He was empowered to +perfect his own organization. A similar meeting will be held in Chehalis +in connection with the noon luncheon of the Citizens' Club on that day." + +[Illustration: "Special Prosecutor" + +C.D. Cunningham, attorney for F.B. Hubbard and various lumber interests, +took charge of the prosecution immediately. He was the father of much of +the "third degree" methods used on witnesses. Vanderveer offered to prove +at the trial that Cunningham was at the jail when Wesley Everest was +dragged out, brutally mutilated and then lynched.] + +The city of Centralia became alive with gossip and speculation about this +new move on the part of the employers. Everybody knew that the whole thing +centered around the detested hall of the Union loggers. Curiosity seekers +began to come In from all parts of the county to have a peep at this hall +before it was wrecked. Business men were known to drive their friends from +the new to the old hall in order to show what the former would look like +in a short time. People in Centralia generally knew for a certainty that +the present hall would go the way of its predecessor. It was just a +question now as to the time and circumstances of the event. + +Warren O. Grimm had done his bit to work up sentiment against the union +loggers and their hall. Only a month previously--on Labor Day, 1919,--he +had delivered a "labor" speech that was received with great enthusiasm by +a local clique of business men. Posing as an authority on Bolshevism on +account of his Siberian service Grimm had elaborated on the dangers of +this pernicious doctrine. With a great deal of dramatic emphasis he had +urged his audience to beware of the sinister influence of "the American +Bolsheviki--the Industrial Workers of the World." + +A few days before the hall was raided Elmer Smith called at Grimm's office +on legal business. Grimm asked him, by the way, what he thought of his +Labor Day speech. Smith replied that he thought it was "rotten" and that +he couldn't agree with Grimm's anti-labor conception of Americanism. Smith +pointed to the deportation of Tom Lassiter as an example of the +"Americanism" he considered disgraceful. He said also that he thought free +speech was one of the fundamental rights of all citizens. + +"I can't agree with you," replied Grimm. "That's the proper way to treat +such a fellow." + + + + +The New Black Hundred + + + +On October 19th the Centralia Hub published an item headed "Employers +Called to Discuss Handling of 'Wobbly' Problem." This article urges all +employers to attend, states that the meeting will be held in the Elk's +Club and mentioned the wrecking of the Union Hall in 1918. On the +following day, October 20th, three weeks before the shooting, this meeting +was held at the hall of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks--the +now famous Elks' Club of Centralia. The avowed purpose of this meeting was +to "deal with the I.W.W. problem." The chairman was William Scales, at +that time Commander of the Centralia Post of the American Legion. The +I.W.W. Hall was the chief topic of discussion. F.B. Hubbard opened up by +saying that the I.W.W. was a menace and should be driven out of town. +Chief of Police Hughes, however, cautioned them against such a course. He +is reported to have said that "the I.W.W. is doing nothing wrong in +Centralia--is not violating any law--and you have no right to drive them +out of town in this manner." The Chief of Police then proceeded to tell +the audience that he had taken up the matter of legally evicting the +industrialists with City Attorney C.E. Grimm, a brother of Warren O. +Grimm, who is said to have told them, "Gentlemen, there is no law by which +you can drive the I.W.W. out of town." City Commissioner Saunders and +County Attorney Allen had spoken to the same effect. The latter, Allen, +had gone over the literature of the organization with regard to violence +and destruction and had voluntarily dismissed a "criminal syndicalist" +case without trial for want of evidence. + +[Illustration: Lewis County's Legal Prostitute + +Herman Allen, prosecuting attorney of Lewis County. He stood at the corner +during the raid and received papers stolen from the hall. There is no +record of his having protested against any illegal action. He turned over +his office to the special Prosecutors and acted as their tool throughout. +During the entire trial he never appeared as an active participant.] + +Hubbard was furious at this turn of affairs and shouted to Chief of Police +Hughes: "It's a damned outrage that these men should be permitted to +remain in town! Law or no law, if I were Chief of Police they wouldn't +stay here twenty-four hours." + +"I'm not in favor of raiding the hall myself," said Scales. "But I'm +certain that if anybody else wants to raid the I.W.W. Hall there is no +jury in the land will ever convict them." + +After considerable discussion the meeting started to elect a committee to +deal with the situation. First of all an effort was made to get a +workingman elected as a member to help camouflage its very evident +character and make people believe that "honest labor" was also desirous of +ridding the town of the hated I.W.W. Hall. A switchman named Henry, a +member of the Railway Brotherhood, was nominated. When he indignantly +declined, Hubbard, red in the face with rage, called him a "damned skunk." + + + + +The Inner Circle + + + +Scales then proceeded to tell the audience in general and the city +officials in particular that he would himself appoint a committee "whose +inner workings were secret," and see if he could not get around the matter +that way. The officers of the League were then elected. The President was +County Coroner David Livingstone, who afterwards helped to lynch Wesley +Everest. Dr. Livingstone made his money from union miners. William Scales +was vice president and Hubbard was treasurer. The secret committee was +then appointed by Hubbard. As its name implies it was an underground +affair, similar to the Black Hundreds of Old Russia. No record of any of +its proceedings has ever come to light, but according to best available +knowledge, Warren O. Grimm, Arthur McElfresh, B.S. Cromier and one or two +others who figured prominently in the raid, were members. At all events on +November 6th, five days before the shooting, Grimm was elected Commander +of the Centralia Post of the American Legion, taking the place of Scales, +who resigned in his favor. Scales evidently was of the opinion that a +Siberian veteran and athlete was better fitted to lead the "shock troops" +than a mere counter-jumper like himself. There is no doubt but the secret +committee had its members well placed in positions of strategic importance +for the coming event. + +The following day the Tacoma News Tribune carried a significant editorial +on the subject of the new organization: + +"At Centralia a committee of citizens has been formed that takes the mind +back to the old days of vigilance committees of the West, which did so +much to force law-abiding citizenship upon certain lawless elements. It is +called the Centralia Protective Association, and its object is to combat +I.W.W. activities in that city and the surrounding country. It invites to +membership all citizens who favor the enforcement of law and order ... It +is high time for the people who do believe in the lawful and orderly +conduct of affairs to take the upper hand ... Every city and town might, +with profit, follow Centralia's example." + +The reference to "law and orderly conduct of affairs" has taken a somewhat +ironical twist, now that Centralia has shown the world what she considers +such processes to be. + +No less significant was an editorial appearing on the same Date in the +Centralia Hub: + +"If the city is left open to this menace, we will soon find ourselves at +the mercy of an organized band of outlaws bent on destruction. What are we +going to do about it?" And, referring to the organization of the "secret +committee," the editorial stated: "It was decided that the inner workings +of the organization were to be kept secret, to more effectively combat a +body using similar tactics." The editorial reeks with lies; but it was +necessary that the mob spirit should be kept at white heat at all times. +Newspaper incitation has never been punished by law, yet it is directly +responsible for more murders, lynching and raids than any other one force +in America. + +[Illustration: The Stool Pigeon + +Tom Morgan, who turned state's evidence. There is an historical precedent +for Morgan. Judas acted similarly, but Judas later had the manhood to go +out and hang himself. Morgan left for "parts unknown."] + + + + +The Plot Leaks Out + + + +By degrees the story of the infamous secret committee and its diabolical +plan leaked out, adding positive confirmation to the many already credited +rumors in circulation. Some of the newspapers quite openly hinted that the +I.W.W. Hall was to be the object of the brewing storm. Chief of Police +Hughes told a member of the Lewis County Trades Council, William T. +Merriman by name, that the business men were organizing to raid the hall +and drive its members out of town. Merriman, in turn carried the statement +to many of his friends and brother unionists. Soon the prospective raid +was the subject of open discussion,--over the breakfast toast, on the +street corners, in the camps and mills--every place. + +So common was the knowledge in fact that many of the craft organizations +in Centralia began to discuss openly what they should do about it. They +realized that the matter was one which concerned labor and many members +wanted to protest and were urging their unions to try to do something. At +the Lewis County Trades Council the subject was brought up for discussion +by its president, L. F. Dickson. No way of helping the loggers was found, +however, if they would so stubbornly try to keep open their headquarters +in the face of such opposition. Harry Smith, a brother of Elmer Smith, the +attorney, was a delegate at this meeting and reported to his brother the +discussion that took place. + +Secretary Britt Smith and the loggers at the Union hall were not by any +means ignorant of the conspiracy being hatched against them. Day by day +they had followed the development of the plot with breathless interest and +not a little anxiety. They knew from bitter experience how union men were +handled when they were trapped in their halls. But they would not +entertain the idea of abandoning their principles and seeking personal +safety. Every logging camp for miles around knew of the danger also. The +loggers there had gone through the hell of the organization period and had +felt the wrath of the lumber barons. Some of them felt that the statement +of Secretary of Labor Wilson as to the attitude of the Industrial Workers +of the World towards "overthrowing the government," and "violence and +destruction" would discourage the terrorists from attempting such a +flagrant and brutal injustice as the one contemplated. + +[Illustration: "Oily" Abel + +Suave and slimy as a snake; without any of the kindlier traits of nature, +W.H. Abel, sounded the gamut of rottenness in his efforts to convict the +accused men without the semblance of a fair trial. Abel is notorious +throughout Washington as the hireling of the lumber interests. In 1917 he +prosecuted "without fee" all laboring men on strike and is attorney for +the Cosmopolis "penitentiary" so called on account of the brutality with +which it treats employes. Located in one of the small towns of the state +Abel has made a fortune prosecuting labor cases for the special +interests.] + +Regarding the deportation of I.W.W.'s for belonging to an organization +which advocates such things, Secretary of Labor Wilson had stated a short +time previously: "An exhaustive study into the by-laws and practices of +the I.W.W. has thus far failed to disclose anything that brings it within +the class of organizations referred to." + +Other of the loggers were buoyed up with the many victories won in the +courts on "criminal syndicalism" charges and felt that the raid would be +too "raw" a thing for the lumber interests even to consider. All were +secure in the knowledge and assurance that they were violating no law in +keeping open their hall. And they wanted that hall kept open. + +Of course the question of what was to be done was discussed at their +business meetings. When news reached them on November 4th of the +contemplated "parade" they decided to publish a leaflet telling the +Citizens of Centralia about the justice and legality of their position, +the aims of their organization and the real reason for the intense hatred +which the lumber trust harbored against them. Such leaflet was drawn up by +Secretary Britt Smith and approved by the membership. It was an honest, +outspoken appeal for public sympathy and support. This leaflet--word for +word as it was printed and circulated in Centralia--is reprinted below: + + + + +To the Citizens of Centralia We Must Appeal + + + +[Illustration: The Chief Fink + +Frank P. Christensen, who was the "fixer" for the prosecution. As +Assistant Attorney General he used his office to intimidate witnesses and +in the effort to cover up actions of the mob. He is reported to have been +responsible for the recovery and burial of Everest's body, saying: "We've +got to bring in that body and bury it. If the wobs ever find out what was +done and get it they'll raise hell and make capital of it."] + +"To the law abiding citizens of Centralia and to the working class in +general: We beg of you to read and carefully consider the following: + +"The profiteering class of Centralia have of late been waving the flag of +our country in an endeavor to incite the lawless element of our city to +raid our hall and club us out of town. For this purpose they have inspired +editorials in the Hub, falsely and viciously attacking the I.W.W., hoping +to gain public approval for such revolting criminality. These profiteers +are holding numerous secret meetings to that end, and covertly inviting +returned service men to do their bidding. In this work they are ably +assisted by the bankrupt lumber barons of southwest Washington who led the +mob that looted and burned the I.W.W. hall a year ago. + +"These criminal thugs call us a band of outlaws bent on destruction. This +they do in an attempt to hide their own dastardly work in burning our hall +and destroying our property. They say we are a menace; and we are a menace +to all mobocrats and pilfering thieves. Never did the I.W.W. burn public +or private halls, kidnap their fellow citizens, destroy their property, +club their fellows out of town, bootleg or act in any ways as +law-breakers. These patriotic profiteers throughout the country have +falsely and with out any foundation whatever charged the I.W.W. with every +crime on the statute books. For these alleged crimes thousands of us have +been jailed in foul and filthy cells throughout this country, often +without charge, for months and in some cases, years, and when released +re-arrested and again thrust in jail to await a trial that is never +called. The only convictions of the I.W.W. were those under the espionage +law, where we were forced to trial before jurors, all of whom were at +political and industrial enmity toward us, and in courts hostile to the +working class. This same class of handpicked courts and juries also +convicted many labor leaders, socialists, non-partisans, pacifists, guilty +of no crime save that of loyalty to the working class. + +"By such courts Jesus the Carpenter was slaughtered upon the charge that +'he stirreth up the people.' Only last month 25 I.W.W. were indicted in +Seattle as strike leaders, belonging to an unlawful organization, +attempting to overthrow the government and other vile things under the +syndicalist law passed by the last legislature. To exterminate the +'wobbly' both the court and jury have the lie to every charge. The court +held them a lawful organization and their literature was not disloyal nor +inciting to violence, though the government had combed the country from +Chicago to Seattle for witnesses, and used every pamphlet taken from their +hall in government raids. + +"In Spokane 13 members were indicted in the Superior Court for wearing the +I.W.W. button and displaying their emblem. The jury unanimously acquitted +them and the court held it no crime. + +"In test cases last month both in the Seattle and Everett Superior Courts, +the presiding judge declared the police had no authority in law to close +their halls and the padlocks were ordered off and the halls opened. + +"Many I.W.W. in and around Centralia went to France and fought and bled +for the democracy they never secured. They came home to be threatened with +mob violence by the law and order outfit that pilfered every nickel +possible from their mothers and fathers while they were fighting in the +trenches in the thickest of the fray. + +"Our only crime is solidarity, loyalty to the working class and justice to +the oppressed." + + + + +"Let the Men in Uniform Do It" + + + +On November 6th, the Centralia Post of the American Legion met with a +committee from the Chamber of Commerce to arrange for a parade-another +"patriotic" parade. The first anniversary of the signing of the armistice +was now but a few days distant and Centralia felt it incumbent upon +herself to celebrate. Of course the matter was brought up rather +circumspectly, but knowing smiles greeted the suggestion. One business man +made a motion that the brave boys wear their uniforms. This was agreed +upon. + +The line of march was also discussed. As the union hall was a little off +the customary parade route, Scales suggested that their course lead past +the hall "in order to show them how strong we are." It was intimated that +a command "eyes right" would be given as the legionaries and business men +passed the union headquarters. This was merely a poor excuse of the secret +committeemen to get the parade where they needed it. But many innocent men +were lured into a "lynching bee" without knowing that they were being led +to death by a hidden gang of broad-cloth conspirators who were plotting at +murder. Lieutenant Cormier, who afterwards blew the whistle that was the +signal for the raid, endorsed the proposal of Scales as did Grimm and +McElfresh--all three of them secret committeemen. + +Practically no other subject but the "parade" was discussed at this +meeting. The success of the project was now assured for it had placed into +the hands of the men who alone could arrange to "have the men in uniform +do it." The men in uniform had done it once before and people knew what to +expect. + +The day following this meeting the Centralia Hub published an announcement +of the coming event stating that the legionaires had "voted to wear +uniforms." The line of march was published for the first time. Any doubts +about the real purpose of the parade vanished when people read that the +precession was to march from the City Park to Third street and Tower +avenue and return. The union hall was on Tower between Second and Third +streets, practically at the end of the line of march and plainly the +objective of the demonstrators. + +[Illustration: Bridge from which Everest Was Hanged + +From this bridge, over the Chehalis river, Wesley Everest was left +dangling by a mob of business men. Automobile parties visited this spot at +different times during the night and played their headlights on the corpse +in order better to enjoy the spectacle.] + + + + +"Decent Labor"--Hands Off! + + + +A short time after the shooting a virulent leaflet was issued by the +Mayor's office stating that the "plot to kill had been laid two or three +weeks before the tragedy," and that "the attack (of the loggers) was +without justification or excuse." Both statements are bare faced lies. The +meeting was held the 6th and the line of march made public of the 7th. The +loggers could not possibly have planned a week and a half previously to +shoot into a parade they knew nothing about and whose line of march had +not yet been disclosed. It was proved in court that the union men armed +themselves at the very last moment, after everything else had failed and +they had been left helpless to face the alternative of being driven out of +town or being lynched. + +About this time eyewitnesses declare coils of rope were being purchased in +a local hardware store. This rope is all cut up into little pieces now and +most of it is dirty and stained. But many of Centralia's best families +prize their souvenir highly. They say it brings good luck to a family. + +A few days after the meeting just described William Dunning, vice +president of the Lewis County Trades and Labor Assembly, met Warren Grimm +on the street. Having fresh in his mind a recent talk about the raid in +the Labor Council meetings, and being well aware of Grimm's standing and +influence, Dunning broached the subject. + +"We've been discussing the threatened raid on the I.W.W. hall," he said. + +"Who are you, an I.W.W.?" asked Grimm. + +Dunning replied stating that he was vice president of the Labor Assembly +and proceeded to tell Grimm the feeling of his organization on the +subject. + +"Decent labor ought to keep its hands off," was Grimm's laconic reply. + +The Sunday before the raid a public meeting was held in the union hall. +About a hundred and fifty persons were in the audience, mostly working men +and women of Centralia. A number of loggers were present, dressed in the +invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes. John Foss, an +I.W.W. ship builder from Seattle, was the speaker. Secretary Britt Smith +was chairman. Walking up and down the isle, selling the union's pamphlets +and papers was a muscular and sun-burned young man with a rough, honest +face and a pair of clear hazel eyes in which a smile was always twinkling. +He wore a khaki army coat above stagged overalls of a slightly darker +shade,--Wesley Everest, the ex-soldier who was shortly to be mutilated and +lynched by the mob. + + + + +"I Hope to Jesus Nothing Happens" + + + +The atmosphere of the meeting was already tainted with the Terror. Nerves +were on edge. Every time any newcomer would enter the door the audience +would look over their shoulders with apprehensive glances. At the +conclusion of the meeting the loggers gathered around the secretary and +asked him the latest news about the contemplated raid. For reply Britt +Smith handed them copies of the leaflet "We Must Appeal" and told of the +efforts that had been made and were being made to secure legal protection +and to let the public know the real facts in the case. + +"If they raid the hall again as they did in 1918 the boys won't stand for +it," said a logger. + +"If the law won't protect us we've got a right to protect ourselves," +ventured another. + +"I hope to Jesus nothing happens," replied the secretary. + +Wesley Everest laid down his few unsold papers, rolled a brown paper +cigarette and smiled enigmatically over the empty seats in the general +direction of the new One Big Union label on the front window. His closest +friends say he was never afraid of anything in all his life. + +None of these men knew that loggers from nearby camps, having heard of the +purchase of the coils of rope, were watching the hall night and day to see +that "nothing happens." + +The next day, after talking things over with Britt Smith, Mrs. McAllister, +wife of the proprietor of the Roderick hotel from whom the loggers rented +the hall, went to see Chief of Police Hughes. This is how she told of the +interview: + +"I got worried and I went to the Chief. I says to him 'Are you going to +protect my property?' Hughes says, 'We'll do the best we can for you, but +as far as the wobblies are concerned they wouldn't last fifteen minutes if +the business men start after them. The business men don't want any +wobblies in this town.'" + +The day before the tragedy Elmer Smith dropped in at the Union hall to +warn his clients that nothing could now stop the raid. "Defend it if you +choose to do so," he told them. "The law gives you that right." + +It was on the strength of this remark, overheard by the stool-pigeon, +Morgan, and afterwards reported to the prosecution, that Elmer Smith was +hailed to prison charged with murder in the first degree. His enemies had +been certain all along that his incomprehensible delusion about the law +being the same for the poor man as the rich would bring its own +punishment. It did; there can no longer be any doubt on the subject. + +[Illustration: Carting Away Wesley Everest's Body for Burial + +After the mutilated body had been cut down in laid in the river for two +days. Then it was taken back to the city jail where it remained for two +days more--as an object lesson--in plain view of the comrades of the +murdered boy. Everest was taken from this building to be lynched. During +the first week after the tragedy this jail witnessed scenes of torture and +horror that equaled the worst days of the Spanish inquisition.] + + + + +The Scorpion's Sting + + + +November 11th was a raw, gray day; the cold sunlight barely penetrating +the mist that hung over the city and the distant tree-clad hills. The +"parade" assembled at the City Park. Lieutenant Cormier was marshal. +Warren Grimm was commander of the Centralia division. In a very short time +he had the various bodies arranged to his satisfaction. At the head of the +procession was the "two-fisted" Centralia bunch. This was followed by one +from Chehalis, the county seat, and where the parade would logically have +been held had its purpose been an honest one. Then came a few sailors and +marines and a large body of well dressed gentlemen from the Elks. The +school children who were to have marched did not appear. At the very end +were a couple of dozen boy scouts and an automobile carrying pretty girls +dressed in Red Cross uniforms. Evidently this parade, unlike the one of +1918, did not, like a scorpion, carry its sting in the rear. But wait +until you read how cleverly this part of it had been arranged! + +The marchers were unduly silent and those who knew nothing of the lawless +plan of the secret committee felt somehow that something must be wrong. +City Postmaster McCleary and a wicked-faced old man named Thompson were +seen carrying coils of rope. Thompson is a veteran of the Civil War and a +minister of God. On the witness stand he afterwards swore he picked up the +rope from the street and was carrying it "as a joke." It turned out that +the "joke" was on Wesley Everest. + +"Be ready for the command 'eyes right' or 'eyes left' when we pass the +'reviewing stand'," Grimm told the platoon commanders just as the parade +started. + +The procession covered most of the line of march without incident. When +the union hall was reached there was some craning of necks but no outburst +of any kind. A few of the out-of-town paraders looked at the place +curiously and several business men were seen pointing the hall out to +their friends. There were some dark glances and a few long noses but no +demonstration. + +"When do we reach the reviewing stand?" asked a parader, named Joe Smith, +of a man marching beside him. + +"Hell, there ain't any reviewing stand," was the reply. "We're going to +give the wobbly hall 'eyes right' on the way back." + +The head of the columns reached Third avenue and halted. A command of +'about face' was given and the procession again started to march past the +union hall going in the opposite direction. The loggers inside felt +greatly relieved as they saw the crowd once more headed for the city. But +the Centralia and Chehalis contingents, that had headed the parade, was +now in the rear--just where the "scorpion sting" of the 1918 parade had +been located! The danger was not yet over. + + + + +"Let's go! At 'em, boys!" + + + +The Chehalis division had marched past the hall and the Centralia division +was just in front of it when a sharp command was given. The latter stopped +squarely in front of the hall but the former continued to march. +Lieutenant Cormier of the secret committee was riding between the two +contingents on a bay horse. Suddenly he placed his fingers to his mouth +and gave a shrill whistle. Immediately there was a hoarse cry of "Let's +go-o-o! At 'em, boys!" About sixty feet separated the two contingents at +this time, the Chehalis men still continuing the march. Cromier spurred +his horse and overtook them. "Aren't you boys in on this?" he shouted. + +At the words "Let's go," the paraders from both ends and the middle of the +Centralia contingent broke ranks and started on the run for the union +headquarters. A crowd of soldiers surged against the door. There was a +crashing of glass and a splintering of wood as the door gave way. A few of +the marauders had actually forced their way into the hall. Then there was +a shot, three more shots ... and a small volley. From Seminary hill and +the Avalon hotel rifles began to crack. + +[Illustration: Elks Club, Centralia + +It was here that the Centralia conspiracy was hatched and the notorious +"secret committee" appointed to do the dirty work.] + +The mob stopped suddenly, astounded at the unexpected opposition. Out of +hundreds of halls that had been raided during the past two years this was +the first time the union men had attempted to defend themselves. It had +evidently been planned to stampede the entire contingent into the attack +by having the secret committeemen take the lead from both ends and the +middle. But before this could happen the crowd, frightened at the shots +started to scurry for cover. Two men were seen carrying the limp figure of +a soldier from the door of the hall. When the volley started they dropped +it and ran. The soldier was a handsome young man, named Arthur McElfresh. +He was left lying in front of the hall with his feet on the curb and his +head in the gutter. The whole thing had been a matter of seconds. + + + + +"I Had No Business Being There" + + + +Several men had been wounded. A pool of blood was widening in front of the +doorway. A big man in officer's uniform was seen to stagger away bent +almost double and holding his hands over his abdomen. "My God, I'm shot!" +he had cried to the soldier beside him. This was Warren O. Grimm; the +other was his friend, Frank Van Gilder. Grimm walked unassisted to the +rear of a nearby soft drink place from whence he was taken to a hospital. +He died a short time afterwards. Van Gilder swore on the witness stand +that Grimm and himself were standing at the head of the columns of +"unoffending paraders" when his friend was shot. He stated that Grimm had +been his life-long friend but admitted that when his "life-long friend" +received his mortal wound that he (Van Gilder), instead of acting like a +hero in no man's land, had deserted him in precipitate haste. Too many eye +witnesses had seen Grimm stagger wounded from the doorway of the hall to +suit the prosecution. Van Gilder knew at which place Grimm had been shot +but it was necessary that he be placed at a convenient distance from the +hall. It is reported on good authority that Grimm, just before he died in +the hospital, confessed to a person at his bedside: "It served me right, I +had no business being there." + +A workingman, John Patterson, had come down town on Armistice Day with his +three small children to watch the parade. He was standing thirty-five feet +from the door of the hall when the raid started. On the witness stand +Patterson told of being pushed out of the way by the rush before the +shooting began. He saw a couple of soldiers shot and saw Grimm stagger +away from the doorway wounded in the abdomen. The testimony of Dr. +Bickford at the corner's inquest under oath was as follows: + +"I spoke up and said I would lead if enough would follow, but before I +could take the lead there were many ahead of me. Someone next to me put +his foot against the door and forced it open, after which a shower of +bullets poured through the opening about us." Dr. Bickford is an A.E.F. +man and one of the very few legionaires who dared to tell the truth about +the shooting. The Centralia business element has since tried repeatedly to +ruin him. + +In trying to present the plea of self defense to the court, Defense +attorney Vanderveer stated: + +"There was a rush, men reached the hall under the command of Grimm, and +yet counsel asks to have shown a specific overt act of Grimm before we can +present the plea of self-defense. Would he have had the men wait with +their lives at stake? The fact is that Grimm was there and in defending +themselves these men shot. Grimm was killed because he was there. They +could not wait. Your honor, self defense isn't much good after a man is +dead." + +The prosecution sought to make a point of the fact that the loggers had +fired into a street in which there were innocent bystanders as well as +paraders. But the fact remains that the only men hit by bullets were those +who were in the forefront of the mob. + + + + +Through the Hall Window + + + +How the raid looked from the inside of the hall can best be described from +the viewpoint of one of the occupants, Bert Faulkner, a union logger and +ex-service man. Faulkner described how he had dropped in at the hall on +Armistice Day and stood watching the parade from the window. In words all +the more startling for their sheer artlessness he told of the events which +followed: First the grimacing faces of the business men, then as the +soldiers returned, a muffled order, the smashing of the window, with the +splinters of glass falling against the curtain, the crashing open of the +door ... and the shots that "made his ears ring," and made him run for +shelter to the rear of the hall, with the shoulder of his overcoat torn +with a bullet. Then how he found himself on the back stairs covered with +rifles and commanded to come down with his hands in the air. Finally how +he was frisked to the city jail in an automobile with a business man +standing over him armed with a piece of gas pipe. + +Eugene Barnett gave a graphic description of the raid as he saw it from +the office of the adjoining Roderick hotel. Barnett said he saw the line +go past the hotel. The business men were ahead of the soldiers and as this +detachment passed the hotel returning the soldiers still were going north. +The business men were looking at the hall and pointing it out to the +soldiers. Some of them had their thumbs to their noses and others were +saying various things. + +[Illustration: City Park, Centralia + +At this place the parade assembled that started out to raid the Union hall +and lynch its secretary.] + +"When the soldiers turned and came past I saw a man on horseback ride +past. He was giving orders which were repeated along the line by another. +As the rider passed the hotel he gave a command and the second man said: +'Bunch up, men!' + +"When this order came the men all rushed for the hall. I heard glass +break. I heard a door slam. There was another sound and then shooting +came. It started from inside the hall. + +"As I saw these soldiers rush the hall I jumped up and threw off my coat. +I thought there would be a fight and I was going to mix in. Then came the +shooting, and I knew I had no business there." + +Later Barnett went home and remained there until his arrest the next day. + +In the union hall, besides Bert Faulkner, were Wesley Everest, Roy Becker, +Britt Smith, Mike Sheehan, James McInerney and the "stool pigeon," these, +with the exception of Faulkner and Everest, remained in the hall until the +authorities came to place them under arrest. They had after the first +furious rush of their assailants, taken refuge in a big and long disused +ice box in the rear of the hall. Britt Smith was unarmed, his revolver +being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk. After their +arrest the loggers were taken to the city jail which was to be the scene +of an inquisition unparalleled in the history of the United States. After +this, as an additional punishment, they were compelled to face the farce +of a "fair trial" in a capitalistic court. + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +But Destiny had decided to spare one man the bitter irony of judicial +murder. Wesley Everest still had a pocket full of cartridges and a +forty-four automatic that could speak for itself. + +This soldier-lumberjack had done most of the shooting in the hall. He held +off the mob until the very last moment, and, instead of seeking refuge in +the refrigerator after the "paraders" had been dispersed, he ran out of +the back door, reloading his pistol as he went. It is believed by many +that Arthur McElfresh was killed inside the hall by a bullet fired by +Everest. + +In the yard at the rear of the hall the mob had already reorganized for an +attack from that direction. Before anyone knew what had happened Everest +had broken through their ranks and scaled the fence. "Don't follow me and +I won't shoot," he called to the crowd and displaying the still smoking +blue steel pistol in his hand. + +"There goes the secretary!" yelled someone, as the logger started at top +speed down the alley. The mob surged in pursuit, collapsing the board +fence before them with sheer force of numbers. There was a rope in the +crowd and the union secretary was the man they wanted. The chase that +followed probably saved the life, not only of Britt Smith, but the +remaining loggers in the hall as well. + +Running pell-mell down the alley the mob gave a shout of exaltation as +Everest slowed his pace and turned to face them. They stopped cold, +however, as a number of quick shots rang out and bullets whistled and +zipped around them. Everest turned in his tracks and was off again like a +flash, reloading his pistol as he ran. The mob again resumed the pursuit. +The logger ran through an open gateway, paused to turn and again fire at +his pursuers; then he ran between two frame dwellings to the open street. +When the mob again caught the trail they were evidently under the +impression that the logger's ammunition was exhausted. At all events they +took up the chase with redoubled energy. Some men in the mob had rifles +and now and then a pot-shot would be taken at the fleeing figure. The +marksmanship of both sides seems to have been poor for no one appears to +have been injured. + + + + +Dale Hubbard + + + +This kind of running fight was kept up until Everest reached the river. +Having kept off his pursuers thus far the boy started boldly for the +comparative security of the opposite shore, splashing the water violently +as he waded out into the stream. The mob was getting closer all the time. +Suddenly Everest seemed to change his mind and began to retrace his steps +to the shore. Here he stood dripping wet in the tangled grasses to await +the arrival of the mob bent on his destruction. Everest had lost his hat +and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. His gun was now so hot he could +hardly hold it and the last of his ammunition was in the magazine. Eye +witnesses declare his face still wore a quizzical, half bantering smile +when the mob overtook him. With the pistol held loosely in his rough hand +Everest stood at bay, ready to make a last stand for his life. Seeing him +thus, and no doubt thinking his last bullet had been expended, the mob +made a rush for its quarry. + +"Stand back!" he shouted. "If there are 'bulls' in the crowd, I'll submit +to arrest; otherwise lay off of me." + +[Illustration: Blind Tom Lassiter + +Tom Lassiter is the blind news dealer who Was kidnapped and deported out +of town in June, 1919, by a gang of business men. His stand was raided and +the contents burned in the street. He had been selling The Seattle Union +Record, The Industrial Worker and Solidarity. County attorney Allen said +he couldn't help to apprehend the criminals and would only charge them +with third degree assault if they were found. The fine would be one dollar +and costs! Lassiter is now in jail in Chehalis charged with "criminal +syndicalism."] + +No attention was paid to his words. Everest shot from the hip four +times,--then his gun stalled. A group of soldiers started to run in his +direction. Everest was tugging at the gun with both hands. Raising it +suddenly he took careful aim and fired. All the soldiers but one wavered +and stopped. Everest fired twice, both bullets taking effect. Two more +shots were fired almost point blank before the logger dropped his +assailant at his feet. Then he tossed away the empty gun and the mob +surged upon him. + +The legionaire who had been shot was Dale Hubbard, a nephew of F.B. +Hubbard, the lumber baron. He was a strong, brave and misguided young +man--worthy of a nobler death. + + + + +"Let's Finish the Job!" + + + +Everest attempted a fight with his fists but was overpowered and severely +beaten. A number of men clamoured for immediate lynching, but saner +council prevailed for the time and he was dragged through the streets +towards the city jail. When the mob was half a block from this place the +"hot heads" made another attempt to cheat the state executioner. A wave of +fury seemed here to sweep the crowd. Men fought with one another for a +chance to strike, kick or spit in the face of their victim. It was an orgy +of hatred and blood-lust. Everest's arms were pinioned, blows, kicks and +curses rained upon him from every side. One business man clawed strips of +bleeding flesh from his face. A woman slapped his battered cheek with a +well groomed hand. A soldier tried to lunge a hunting rifle at the +helpless logger; the crowd was too thick. He bumped them aside with the +butt of the gun to get room. Then he crashed the muzzle with full force +into Everest's mouth. Teeth were broken and blood flowed profusely. + +A rope appeared from somewhere. "Let's finish the job!" cried a voice. The +rope was placed about the neck of the logger. "You haven't got guts enough +to lynch a man in the daytime," was all he said. + +At this juncture a woman brushed through the crowd and took the rope from +Everest's neck. Looking into the distorted faces of the mob she cried +indignantly, "You are curs and cowards to treat a man like that!" + +There may be human beings in Centralia after all. + +Wesley Everest was taken to the city jail and thrown without ceremony upon +the cement floor of the "bull pen." In the surrounding cells were his +comrades who had been arrested in the union hall. Here he lay in a wet +heap, twitching with agony. A tiny bright stream of blood gathered at his +side and trailed slowly along the floor. Only an occasional quivering moan +escaped his torn lips as the hours slowly passed by. + + + + +"Here Is Your Man" + + + +Later, at night, when it was quite dark, the lights of the jail were +suddenly snapped off. At the same instant the entire city was plunged in +darkness. A clamour of voices was heard beyond the walls. There was a +hoarse shout as the panel of the outer door was smashed in. "Don't shoot, +men," said the policemen on guard, "Here is your man." It was night now, +and the business men had no further reason for not lynching the supposed +secretary. Everest heard their approaching foot steps in the dark. He +arose drunkenly to meet them. "Tell the boys I died for my class," he +whispered brokenly to the union men in the cells. These were the last +words he uttered in the jail. There were sounds of a short struggle and of +many blows. Then a door slammed and, in a short time the lights were +switched on. The darkened city was again illuminated at the same moment. +Outside three luxurious automobiles were purring them selves out of sight +in the darkness. + +The only man who had protested the lynching at the last moment was William +Scales. "Don't kill him, men," he is said to have begged of the mob. But +it was too late. "If you don't go through with this you're an I.W.W. too," +they told him. Scales could not calm the evil passions he had helped to +arouse. + +But how did it happen that the lights were turned out at such an opportune +time? Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove with the +lynch mob? + +Defense Attorney Vanderveer offered to prove to the court that such was +the case. He offered to prove this was a part of the greater conspiracy +against the union loggers and their hall,--offered to prove it point by +point from the very beginning. Incidentally Vanderveer offered to prove +that Earl Craft, electrician in charge of the city lighting plant, had +left the station at seven o'clock on Armistice day after securely locking +the door; and that while Craft was away the lights of the city were turned +off and Wesley Everest taken out and lynched. Furthermore, he offered to +prove that when Craft returned, the lights were again turned on and the +city electrician, his assistant and the Mayor of Centralia were in the +building with the door again locked. + +These offers were received by his honor with impassive judicial dignity, +but the faces of the lumber trust attorneys were wreathed with smiles at +the audacity of the suggestion. The corporation lawyers very politely +registered their objections which the judge as politely sustained. + + + + +The Night of Horrors + + + +After Everest had been taken away the jail became a nightmare--as full of +horrors as a madman's dream. The mob howled around the walls until late in +the night. Inside, a lumber trust lawyer and his official assistants were +administering the "third degree" to the arrested loggers, to make them +"confess." One at a time the men were taken to the torture chamber, and so +terrible was the ordeal of this American Inquisition that some were almost +broken--body and soul. Loren Roberts had the light in his brain snuffed +out. Today he is a shuffling wreck. He is not interested in things any +more. He is always looking around with horror-wide eyes, talking of +"voices" and "wires" that no one but himself knows anything about. There +is no telling what they did to the boy, but he signed the "confession." +Its most incriminating statement must have contained too much truth for +the prosecution. It was never used in court. + +When interviewed by Frank Walklin of the Seattle Union Record the loggers +told the story in their own way: + +"I have heard tales of cruelty," said James McInerney, "but I believe what +we boys went through on those nights can never be equaled. I thought it +was my last night on earth and had reconciled myself to an early death of +some kind, perhaps hanging. I was taken out once by the mob, and a rope +was placed around my neck and thrown over a cross-bar or something. + +"I waited for them to pull the rope. But they didn't. I heard voices in +the mob say, 'That's not him,' and then I was put back into the jail." + +John Hill Lamb, another defendant, related how several times a gun was +poked through his cell window by some one who was aching to get a pot shot +at him. Being ever watchful he hid under his bunk and close to the wall +where the would-be murderer could not see him. + +Britt Smith and Roy Becker told with bated breath about Everest as he lay +half-dead in the corridor, in plain sight of the prisoners in the cells on +both sides. The lights went out and Everest, unconscious and dying, was +taken out. The men inside could hear the shouts of the mob diminishing as +Everest was hurried to the Chehalis River bridge. + +[Illustration: Bert Bland + +Logger. American. (Brother of O.C. Bland.) One of the men who fired from +Seminary Hill. Bland has worked all his life in the woods. He joined the +Industrial Workers of the World during the great strike of 1917. Bert +Bland took to the hills after the shooting and was captured a week later +during the man hunt.] + +None of the prisoners was permitted to sleep that night; the fear of death +was kept upon them constantly, the voices outside the cell windows telling +of more lynchings to come. "Every time I heard a footstep or the clanking +of keys," said Britt Smith, "I thought the mob was coming after more of +us. I didn't sleep, couldn't sleep; all I could do was strain my ears for +the mob I felt sure was coming." Ray Becker, listening at Britt's side, +said: "Yes, that was one hell of a night." And the strain of that night +seems to linger in their faces; probably it always will remain--the +expression of a memory that can never be blotted out. + +When asked if they felt safer when the soldiers arrived to guard the +Centralia jail, there was a long pause, and finally the answer was "Yes." +"But you must remember," offered one, "that they took 'em out at Tulsa +from a supposedly guarded jail; and we couldn't know from where we were +what was going on outside." + +"For ten days we had no blankets," said Mike Sheehan. "It was cold +weather, and we had to sleep uncovered on concrete floors. In those ten +days I had no more than three hours sleep." + +"The mob and those who came after the mob wouldn't let us sleep. They +would come outside our windows and hurl curses at us, and tell each of us +it would be our turn next. They brought in Wesley Everest and laid him on +the corridor floor; he was bleeding from his ears and mouth and nose, was +curled in a heap and groaning. And men outside and inside kept up the din. +I tried to sleep; I was nearly mad; my temples kept pounding like +sledge-hammers. I don't know how a man can go through all that and +live--but we did." + +All through the night the prisoners could hear the voices of the mob under +their cell windows. "Well, we fixed that guy Everest all right," some one +would say. "Now we'll get Roberts." Then the lights would snap off, there +would be a shuffling, curses, a groan and the clanking of a steel door. +All the while they were being urged to "come clean" with a statement that +would clear the lumber trust of the crime and throw the blame onto its +victims. McInerney's neck was scraped raw by the rope of the mob but he +repeatedly told them to "go to hell!" Morgan, the stool-pigeon, escaped +the torture by immediate acquiescence. Someone has since paid his fare To +parts unknown. His "statement" didn't damage the defense. + +[Illustration: Ray Becker + +Logger, American born. Twenty-five years of age. Studied four years for +the ministry before going to work in the woods. His father and brother are +both preachers. Becker joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 +and has always been a strong believer in the cause of the solidarity of +Labor. He has the zeal of a prophet and the courage of a lion. Defended +himself inside the hall with an Ivor Johnson, 38, until his ammunition was +exhausted. He surrendered to the authorities--not the mob.] + + + + +The Human Fiend + + + +But with the young logger who had been taken out into the night things +were different. Wesley Everest was thrown, half unconscious, into the +bottom of an automobile. The hands of the men who had dragged him there +were sticky and red. Their pant legs were sodden from rubbing against the +crumpled figure at their feet. Through the dark streets sped the three +machines. The smooth asphalt became a rough road as the suburbs were +reached. Then came a stretch of open country, with the Chehalis river +bridge only a short distance ahead. The cars lurched over the uneven road +with increasing speed, their headlights playing on each other or on the +darkened highway. + +Wesley Everest stirred uneasily. Raising himself slowly on one elbow he +swung weakly with his free arm, striking one of his tormentors full in the +face. The other occupants immediately seized him and bound his hands and +feet with rope. It must have been the glancing blow from the fist of the +logger that gave one of the gentlemen his fiendish inspiration. Reaching +in his pocket he produced a razor. For a moment he fumbled over the now +limp figure in the bottom of the car. His companions looked on with stolid +acquiescence. Suddenly there was a piercing scream of pain. The figure +gave a convulsive shudder of agony. After a moment Wesley Everest said in +a weak voice: "For Christ's sake, men; shoot me--don't let me suffer like +this." + +On the way back to Centralia, after the parade rope had done Its deadly +work, the gentlemen of the razor alighted from the car in front of a +certain little building. He asked leave to wash his hands. They were as +red as a butcher's. Great clots of blood were adhering to his sleeves. +"That's about the nastiest job I ever had to do," was his casual remark as +he washed himself in the cool clear water of the Washington hills. The +name of this man is known to nearly everybody in Centralia. He is still at +large. + +The headlight of the foremost car was now playing on the slender steel +framework of the Chehalis river bridge. This machine crossed over and +stopped, the second one reached the middle of the bridge and stopped while +the third came to a halt when it had barely touched the plankwork on the +near side. The well-dressed occupants of the first and last cars alighted +and proceeded at once to patrol both approaches to the bridge. + + + + +Lynching--An American Institution + + + +Wesley Everest was dragged out of the middle machine. A rope was attached +to a girder with the other end tied in a noose around his neck. His almost +lifeless body was hauled to the side of the bridge. The headlights of two +of the machines threw a white light over the horrible scene. Just as the +lynchers let go of their victim the fingers of the half dead logger clung +convulsively to the planking of the bridge. A business man stamped on them +with a curse until the grip was broken. There was a swishing sound; then a +sudden crunching jerk and the rope tied to the girder began to writhe and +twist like a live thing. This lasted but a short time. The lynchers peered +over the railing into the darkness. Then they slowly pulled up the dead +body, attached a longer rope and repeated the performance. This did not +seem to suit them either, so they again dragged the corpse through the +railings and tied a still longer rope around the horribly broken neck of +the dead logger. The business men were evidently enjoying their work, and +besides, the more rope the more souvenirs for their friends, who would +prize them highly. + +This time the knot was tied by a young sailor. He knew how to tie a good +knot and was proud of the fact. He boasted of the stunt afterwards to a +man he thought as beastly as himself. In all probability he never dreamed +he was talking for publication. But he was. + +The rope had now been lengthened to about fifteen feet. The broken and +gory body was kicked through the railing for the last time. The knot on +the girder did not move any more. Then the lynchers returned to their +luxurious cars and procured their rifles. A headlight flashed the dangling +figure into ghastly relief. It was riddled with volley after volley. The +man who fired the first shot boasted of the deed afterwards to a brother +lodge member. He didn't know he was talking for publication either. + +On the following morning the corpse was cut down by an unknown hand. It +drifted away with the current. A few hours later Frank Christianson, a +tool of the lumber trust from the Attorney General's office, arrived in +Centralia. "We've got to get that body," this worthy official declared, +"or the wobs will find it and raise hell over its condition." + +The corpse was located after a search. It was not buried, however, but +carted back to the city jail, there to be used as a terrible object lesson +for the benefit of the incarcerated union men. The unrecognizable form was +placed in a cell between two of the loggers who had loved the lynched boy +as a comrade and a friend. Something must be done to make the union men +admit that they, and not the lumber interests, had conspired to commit +murder. This was the final act of ruthlessness. It was fruitful in +results. One "confession," one Judas and one shattered mind were the +result of their last deed of fiendish terrorism. + +[Illustration: The Burial of the Mob's Victim + +No undertaker would handle Everest's body. The autopsy was performed by a +man from Portland, who hung the body up by the heels and played a hose on +it. The men lowering the plank casket into the grave are Union loggers who +had been caught in the police drag net and taken from jail for this +purpose.] + +No undertaker could be found to bury Everest's body, so after two days it +was dropped into a hole in the ground by four union loggers who had been +arrested on suspicion and were released from jail for this purpose. The +"burial" is supposed to have taken place in the new cemetery; the body +being carried thither in an auto truck. The union loggers who really dug +the grave declare, however, that the interment took place at a desolate +spot "somewhere along a railroad track." Another body was seen, covered +with ashes in a cart, being taken away for burial on the morning of the +twelfth. There are persistent rumors that more than one man was lynched on +the eve of Armistice day. A guard of heavily armed soldiers had charge of +the funeral. The grave has since been obliterated. Rumor has it that the +body has since been removed to Camp Lewis. No one seems to know why or +when. + + + + +"As Comical as a Corner" + + + +An informal inquest was held in the city jail. A man from Portland +performed the autopsy, that is, he hung the body up by the heels and +played a water hose on it. Everest was reported by the corner's jury to +have met his death at the hands of parties unknown. It was here that Dr. +Bickford let slip the statement about the hall being raided before the +shooting started. This was the first inkling of truth to reach the public. +Coroner Livingstone, in a jocular mood, reported the inquest to a meeting +of gentlemen at the Elks' Club. In explaining the death of the union +logger, Dr. Livingstone stated that Wesley Everest had broken out of jail, +gone to the Chehalis river bridge and jumped off with a rope around his +neck. Finding the rope too short he climbed back and fastened on a longer +one; jumped off again, broke his neck and then shot himself full of holes. +Livingstone's audience, appreciative of his tact and levity, laughed long +and hearty. Business men still chuckle over the joke in Centralia. "As +funny as a funeral" is no longer the stock saying in this humorous little +town; "as comical as a coroner" is now the approved form. + + + + +The Man-Hunt + + + +Acting on the theory that "a strong offensive is the best defense," the +terrorists took immediate steps to conceal all traces of their crime and +to shift the blame onto the shoulders of their victims. The capitalist +press did yeoman service in this cause by deluging the nation with a +veritable avalanche of lies. + +For days the district around Centralia and the city itself were at the +mercy of a mob. The homes of all workers suspected of being sympathetic to +Labor were spied upon or surrounded and entered without warrant. Doors +were battered down at times, and women and children abused and insulted. +Heavily armed posses were sent out in all directions in search of "reds." +All roads were patrolled by armed business men in automobiles. A strict +mail and wire censorship was established. It was the open season for +"wobblies" and intimidation was the order of the day. The White Terror was +supreme. + +An Associated Press reporter was compelled to leave town hastily without +bag or baggage because he inadvertently published Dr. Bickford's +indiscreet remark about the starting of the trouble. Men and women did not +dare to think, much less think aloud. Some of them in the district are +still that way. + +To Eugene Barnett's little home came a posse armed to the teeth. They +asked for Barnett and were told by his young wife that he had gone up the +hill with his rifle. Placing a bayonet to her breast they demanded +entrance. The brave little woman refused to admit them until they had +shown a warrant. Barnett surrendered when he had made sure he was to be +arrested and not mobbed. + +O.C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb and Loren Roberts were also apprehended +in due time. Two loggers, John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson, who were said to +have also fired on the mob, have not yet been arrested. A vigorous search +is still being made for them in all parts of the country. It is believed +by many that one of these men was lynched like Everest on the night of +November 11th. + +[Illustration: Court House at Montesano--And a Little "Atmosphere" + +The trial was held on the third floor of the building as you look at the +picture. The soldiers were sent for over the head of the judge by one of +the lumber trust attorneys of the prosecution. Their only purpose was to +create the proper "atmosphere" for an unjust conviction.] + + + + +Hypocrisy and Terror + + + +The reign of terror was extended to cover the entire West coast. Over a +thousand men and women were arrested in the state of Washington alone. +Union halls were closed and kept that way. Labor papers were suppressed +and many men have been given sentences of from one to fourteen years for +having in their possession copies of periodicals which contained little +else but the truth about the Centralia tragedy. The Seattle Union Record +was temporarily closed down and its stock confiscated for daring to hint +that there were two sides to the story. During all this time the +capitalist press was given full rein to spread its infamous poison. The +general public, denied the true version of the affair, was shuddering over +its morning coffee at the thought of I.W.W. desperadoes shooting down +unoffending paraders from ambush. But the lumber interests were chortling +with glee and winking a suggestive eye at their high priced lawyers who +were making ready for the prosecution. Jurymen were shortly to be drawn +and things were "sitting pretty," as they say in poker. + +Adding a characteristic touch to the rotten hypocrisy of the situation +came a letter from Supreme Court Judge McIntosh to George Dysart, whose +son was in command of a posse during the manhunt. This remarkable document +is as follows: + + Kenneth Mackintosh, Judge + The Supreme Court, State of Washington + Olympia. + + George Dysart, Esq., + Centralia, Wash. + My Dear Dysart: + + November 13, 1919. + + I want to express to you my appreciation of the high character of + citizenship displayed by the people of Centralia in their agonizing + calamity. We are all shocked by the manifestation of barbarity on the + part of the outlaws, and are depressed by the loss of lives of brave + men, but at the same time are proud of the calm control and loyalty to + American ideals demonstrated by the returned soldiers and citizens. I am + proud to be an inhabitant of a state which contains a city with the + record which has been made for Centralia by its law-abiding citizens. + + Sincerely, + (Signed) Kenneth MacKintosh. + + + + +"Patriotic" Union Smashing + + + +Not to be outdone by this brazen example of judicial perversion, Attorney +General Thompson, after a secret conference of prosecuting attorneys, +issued a circular of advice to county prosecutors. In this document the +suggestion was made that officers and members of the Industrial Workers of +the World in Washington be arrested by the wholesale under the "criminal +syndicalism" law and brought to trial simultaneously so that they might +not be able to secure legal defense. The astounding recommendation was +also made that, owing to the fact that juries had been "reluctant to +convict," prosecutors and the Bar Association should co-operate in +examining jury panels so that "none but courageous and patriotic +Americans" secure places on the juries. + +This effectual if somewhat arbitrary plan was put into operation at once. +Since the tragedy at Centralia dozens of union workers have been convicted +by "courageous and patriotic" juries and sentenced to serve from one to +fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Hundreds more are awaiting +trial. The verdict at Montesano is now known to everyone. Truly the lives +of the four Legion boys which were sacrificed by the lumber interests in +furtherance of their own murderous designs, were well expended. The +investment was a profitable one and the results are no doubt highly +gratifying. + +But just the same the despicable plot of the Attorney General is an +obvious effort to defeat the purpose of the courts and obtain unjust +convictions by means of what is termed "jury fixing." There may be honor +among thieves but there is plainly none among the public servants they +have working for them! + +[Illustration: Mike Sheenan + +Born in Ireland. 64 years old. Has been a union man for over fifty years, +having joined his grandfather's union when he was only eight. Has been +through many strikes and has been repeatedly black-hated, beaten and even +exiled. He was a stoker in the Navy during the Spanish War. Mike Sheehan +was arrested in the Union hall, went through the horrible experience in +the city jail and was found "not guilty" by the jury. Like Elmer Smith, he +was re-arrested on another similar charge and thrown back in jail.] + +The only sane note sounded during these dark days, outside of the +startling statement of Dr. Bickford, came from Montana. Edward Bassett, +commander of the Butte Post of the American Legion and an over-seas +veteran, issued a statement to the labor press that was truly remarkable: + +"The I.W.W. in Centralia, Wash., who fired upon the men that were +attempting to raid the I.W.W. headquarters, were fully justified in their +act. + +"Mob rule in this country must be stopped, and when mobs attack the home +of a millionaire, of a laborer, or of the I.W.W., it is not only the right +but the duty of the occupants to resist with every means in their power. +If the officers of the law can not stop these raids, perhaps the +resistance of the raided may have that effect. + +"Whether the I.W.W. is a meritorious organization or not, whether it is +unpopular or otherwise, should have absolutely nothing to do with the +case. The reports of the evidence at the coroner's jury show that the +attack was made before the firing started. If that is true, I commend the +boys inside for the action that they took. + +"The fact that there were some American Legion men among the paraders who +everlastingly disgraced themselves by taking part in the raid, does not +affect my judgment in the least. Any one who becomes a party to a mob bent +upon unlawful violence, cannot expect the truly patriotic men of the +American Legion to condone his act." + + + + +Vanderveer's Opening Speech + + + +Defense Attorney George Vanderveer hurried across the continent from +Chicago to take up the legal battle for the eleven men who had been +arrested and charged with the murder of Warren O. Grimm. The lumber +interests had already selected six of their most trustworthy tools as +prosecutors. It is not the purpose of the present writer to give a +detailed story of this "trial"--possibly one of the greatest travesties on +justice ever staged. This incident was a very important part of the +Centralia conspiracy but a hasty sketch, such as might be portrayed in +these pages, would be an inadequate presentation at best. It might be +well, therefore, to permit Mr. Vanderveer to tell of the case as he told +it to the jury in his opening and closing arguments. Details of the trial +itself can be found in other booklets by more capable authors. +Vanderveer's opening address appears in part below: + +May it please the court and gentlemen of the jury:--As you have already +sensed from our examination of you and from a question which I propounded +to counsel at the close of his statement yesterday, the big question in +this case is, who was the aggressor, who started the battle? Was it on the +one side a deliberately planned murderous attack upon innocent marchers, +or was it on the other side a deliberately planned wicked attack upon the +I.W.W., which they merely resisted? That, I say, is the issue. I asked +counsel what his position would be in order that you might know it, and +that he said was his position, that he would stand and fall and be judged +by it, and I say to you now that is our position, and we will stand or +fall and be judged by that issue. + +In order that you may properly understand this situation, and the things +that led up to it, the motives underlying it, the manner in which it was +planned and executed, I want to go just a little way back of the +occurrence on November 11th, and state to you in rough outline the +situation that existed in Centralia, the objects that were involved in +this case, the things each are trying to accomplish and the way each went +about it. There has been some effort on the part of the state to make it +appear it is not an I.W.W. trial. I felt throughout that the I.W.W. issue +must come into this case, and now that they have made their opening +statement, I say unreservedly it is here in this case, not because we want +to drag it in here, but because it can't be left out. To conceal from you +gentlemen that it is an I.W.W. issue would be merely to conceal the truth +from you and we, on our part, don't want to do that now or at any time +hereafter. + +The I.W.W. is at the bottom of this. Not as an aggressor, however. It is a +labor organization, organized in Chicago in 1905, and it is because of the +philosophy for which it stands and because of certain tactics which it +evolves that this thing arose. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +Logger. Born in County Claire, Ireland. Joined the Industrial Workers of +the World in 1916. Was wounded on the steamer "Verona" when the lumber +trust tried to exterminate the union lumberworkers with bullets at +Everett, Washington. McInerney was one of those trapped in the hall. He +surrendered to officers of the law. While in the city jail his neck was +worn raw with a hangman's rope in an effort to make him "confess" that the +loggers and not the mob had started the trouble. McInerney told them to +"go to hell." He is Irish and an I.W.W. and proud of being both.] + + + + +A Labor Movement on Trial + + + +The I.W.W. is the representative in this country of the labor movement of +the rest of the world It is the representative in the United States of the +idea that capitalism is wrong: that no man has a right, moral or +otherwise, to exploit his fellow men, the idea that our industrial efforts +should be conducted not for the profits of any individual but should be +conducted for social service, for social welfare. So the I.W.W. says +first, that the wage system is wrong and that it means to abolish that +wage system. It says that it intends to do this, not by political action, +not by balloting, but by organization on the industrial or economical +field, precisely as employers, precisely as capital is organized on the +basis of the industry, not on the basis of the tool. The I.W.W. says +industrial evolution has progressed to that point there the tool no longer +enforces craftsmanship. In the place of a half dozen or dozen who were +employed, each a skilled artisan, employed to do the work, you have a +machine process to do that work and it resulted in the organization of the +industry on an industrial basis. You have the oil industry, controlled by +the Standard Oil; you have the lumber industry, controlled by the +Lumbermen's Association of the South and West, and you have the steel and +copper industry, all organized on an industrial basis resulting in a +fusing, or corporation, or trust of a lot of former owners. Now the I.W.W. +say if they are to compete with our employers, we must compete with our +employers as an organization, and as they are organized so we must protect +our organization, as they protect themselves. And so they propose to +organize into industrial unions; the steel workers and the coal miners, +and the transportation workers each into its own industrial unit. + +This plan of organization is extremely distasteful to the employers +because it is efficient; because it means a new order, a new system in the +labor world in this country. The meaning of this can be gathered, in some +measure, from the recent experiences in the steel strike of this country, +where they acted as an industrial unit; from the recent experiences in the +coal mining industry, where they acted as an industrial unit. Instead of +having two or three dozen other crafts, each working separately, they +acted as an industrial unit. When the strike occurred it paralyzed +industry and forced concessions to the demands of the workers. That is the +first thing the I.W.W. stands for and in some measure and in part explains +the attitude capital has taken all over the country towards it. + +In the next place it says that labor should organize on the basis of some +fundamental principle; and labor should organize for something more than a +mere bartering and dickering for fifty cents a day or for some shorter +time, something of that sort. It says that the system is fundamentally +wrong and must be fundamentally changed before you can look for some +improvement. Its philosophy is based upon government statistics which show +that in a few years in this country our important industries have crept +into more than two-thirds of our entire wealth. Seventy-five per cent of +the workers in the basic industry are unable to send their children to +school. Seventy-one per cent of the heads of the families in our basic +industries are unable to provide a decent living for their families +without the assistance of the other members. Twenty-nine per cent of our +laborers are able to live up to the myth that he is the head of the +family. The results of these evils are manifold. Our people are not being +raised in decent vicinities. They are not being raised and educated. Their +health is not being cared for; their morals are not being cared for. I +will show you that in certain of our industries where the wages are low +and the hours are long, that the children of the working people die at the +rate of 300 to 350 per thousand inhabitants under the age of one year +because of their undernourishment, lack of proper housing and lack of +proper medical attention and because the mothers of these children before +they are born and when the children are being carried in the mother's womb +that they are compelled to go into the industries and work and work and +work, and before the child can receive proper nourishment the mother is +compelled to go back into the industry and work again. The I.W.W.'s say +there must be a fundamental change and that fundamental change must be in +the line of reorganization of industry, for public service, so that the +purpose shall be that we will work to live and not merely live to work. +Work for service rather than work for profit. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +(After he had undergone the "Third degree".) + +McInerney had a rope around his neck nearly all night before this picture +was taken. One end of the rope had been pulled taut over a beam by his +tormentors. McInerney had told them to "go to hell." "It's no use trying +to get anything out of a man like that," was the final decision of the +inquisitors.] + + + + +To Kill an Ideal... + + + +Some time in September, counsel told you, the I.W.W., holding these +beliefs, opened a hall in Centralia. Back of that hall was a living room, +where Britt Smith lived, kept his clothes and belongings and made his +home. From then on the I.W.W. conducted a regular propaganda meeting every +Saturday night. These propaganda meetings were given over to a discussion +of these industrial problems and beliefs. From that district there were +dispatched into nearby lumber camps and wherever there were working people +to whom to carry this message--there were dispatched organizers who went +out, made the talks in the camps briefly and sought to organize them into +this union, at least to teach them the philosophy of this labor movement. + +Because that propaganda is fatal to those who live by other people's work, +who live by the profits they wring from labor, it excited intense +opposition on the part of employers and business people of Centralia and +about the time this hall was opened we will show you that people from +Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters for these labor fights, +came into Centralia and held meetings. I don't know what they call this +new thing they were seeking to organize--it is in fact a branch of the +Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of the United States, a national +organization whose sole purpose is to fight and crush and beat labor. It +was in no sense a local movement because it started in Seattle and it was +organized by people from Seattle, and the purpose was to organize in +Centralia an organization of business men to combat this new labor +philosophy. Whether in the mouths of the I.W.W., or Nonpartisan League, or +the Socialists, it did not make any difference; to brand anybody as a +traitor, un-American, who sought to tell the truth about our industrial +conditions. + + + + +The Two Raids + + + +In the fall of 1918, the I.W.W. had a hall two blocks and a half from this +hall, at the corner of First and B streets. There was a Red Cross parade, +and that hall was wrecked, just as was this hall. These profiteering +gentlemen never overlook an opportunity to capitalize on a patriotic +event, and so they capitalized the Red Cross parade that day just as they +capitalized the Armistice Day parade on November 11, and in exactly the +same way as on November 11. + +And that day, when the tail-end of the parade of the Red Cross passed the +main avenue, it broke off and went a block out of its way and attacked the +I.W.W. hall, a good two-story building. And they broke it into splinters. +The furniture, records, the literature that belongs to these boys, +everything was taken out into the street and burned. + +[Illustration: O. C. Bland + +Logger. American. Resident of Centralia for a number of years. Has worked +in woods and mills practically all his life. Has a wife and seven +children. Bland was in the Arnold hotel at the time of the raid. He was +armed but had cut his hand on broken glass before he had a chance to +shoot. Since his arrest and conviction his family has undergone severe +hardships. The defense is making an effort to raise enough funds to keep +the helpless wives and children of the convicted men in the comforts of +life.] + +Now, what was contemplated on Armistice Day? The I.W.W. did as you would +do; it judged from experience. + + + + +Patience No Longer a Virtue + + + +When the paraders smashed the door in, the I.W.W.'s, as every lover of +free speech and every respecter of his person--they had appealed to the +citizens, they had appealed to the officers, and some of their members had +been tarred and feathered, beaten up and hung--they said in thought: +"Patience has ceased to be a virtue." And if the law will not protect us, +and the people won't protect us, we will protect ourselves. And they did. + +And in deciding this case, I want each of you, members of the jury, to ask +yourself what would you have done? + +There had been discussions of this character in the I.W.W. hall, and so +have there been discussions everywhere. There had never been a plot laid +to murder anybody, nor to shoot anybody in any parade. I want you to ask +yourself: "Why would anybody want to shoot anybody in a parade," and to +particularly ask yourself why anyone would want to shoot upon soldiers? + +He who was a soldier himself, Wesley Everest, the man who did most of the +shooting, and the man whom they beat until he was unconscious and whom +they grabbed from the street and put a rope around his neck, the man whom +they nearly shot to pieces, and the man whom they hung, once dropping him +ten feet, and when what didn't kill him lengthened the rope to 15 feet and +dropped him again--why would one soldier want to kill another soldier, or +soldiers, who had never done him nor his fellows any harm? + +I exonerate the American Legion as an organization of the responsibility +of this. For I say they didn't know about it. The day will come when they +will realize that they have been mere catspaws in the hands of the +Centralia commercial interests. That is the story. I don't know what the +verdict will be today, but the verdict ten years hence will be the verdict +in the Lovejoy case; that these men were within their rights and that they +fought for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They fought for +these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers of liberty +stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of our country. + +This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been +tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is +from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals +and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started +with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its +head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it. + + + + +Vanderveer's Closing Argument + + + +There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who was +the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene +Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred? + +We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the +I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business +interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We +have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants +are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway +of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the +prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot. + +We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and +undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he +was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the +shooting. + +In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: Who +was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and +stand by it now. + +Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same promise. +So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who has been so +ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. Cunningham, +ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the defense was +piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. hall by the +paraders, Mr. Abel backed down. + + + + +Why Were the Shots Fired? + + + +I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all +along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was +the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice +Day paraders were fired upon in cold blood while engaged in lawful and +peaceful action. + +What possible motive could these boys have had for firing upon innocent +marching soldiers? It is true that the marchers were fired upon; that +shots were fired by some of these defendants; but why were the shots +fired? + +[Illustration: John Lamb + +Logger. American. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. Lamb +was in the Arnold Hotel with O.C. Bland during the raid on the hall. +Neither of them did any shooting. John Lamb has lived for years in +Centralia. He is married and has five children who are left dependent +since the conviction.] + +There is only one reason why--they were defending their own legal property +against unlawful invasion and attack; they were defending the dwelling +place of Britt Smith, their secretary. + +And they had full right to defend their lives and that property and that +home against violence or destruction; they had a right to use force, if +necessary, to effect that defense. The law gives them that right; and it +accrues to them also from all of the wells of elementary justice. + +The law says that when a man or group of men have reason to fear attack +from superior numbers, they may provide whatever protection they may deem +necessary to repel such an attack. And it says also that if a man who is +in bad company when such an attack is made happens to be killed by the +defenders, those defenders are not to be considered guilty of that man's +death. + +So they had the troops come, to blow bugles and drill in the streets where +the jury could see; their power, however wielded, was great enough to +cause Governor Hart to send the soldiers here without consulting the trial +judge or the sheriff, whose function it was to preserve law and order +here--and you know, I am sure, that law and order were adequately +preserved here before the troops came. + + + + +"Fearful of the Truth" + + + +They tried the moth-eaten device of arresting our witnesses for alleged +perjury, hoping to discredit those witnesses thus in your eyes because +they knew they couldn't discredit them in any regular nor legitimate way. + +Fearful of the truth, the guilty ones at Centralia deliberately framed up +evidence to save themselves from blame--to throw the responsibility for +the Armistice Day horror onto other men. But they bungled the frame-up +badly. No bolder nor cruder fabrication has ever been attempted than the +ridiculous effort to fasten the killing of Warren Grimm upon Eugene +Barnett. + +[Illustration: Court Room in which the Farcical "Trial" Took Place + +This garish room in the court house at Montesano was the scene of the +attempted "judicial murder" that followed the lynching. The judge always +entered his chambers through the door under the word "Transgression": the +jury always left through the door over which "Instruction" appears. In +this room the lumber trust attorneys attempted to build a gallows of +perjured testimony on which to break the necks of innocent men.] + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she had +been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution. She would not have +told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was obvious +to everybody in this courtroom that day. + +You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a +murder trial, and not a labor trial. But they have been careful to ask all +our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to +any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on +trial for their lives. And when the answer to any of these questions was +yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief. Their +policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is +in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held +Centralia in its grasp. + +You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, of +the part F.R. Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at Centralia. +You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill owned by +Hubbard's corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is a +notorious non-union concern. And you have heard it said that W.A. Abel, +the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter +for years. + +Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia. Why did he want to +drive them out? He said they were a menace. And it is true that they were +a menace, and are a menace--to those who exploit the workers who produce +the wealth for the few to enjoy. + + + + +Why Were Ropes Carried? + + + +Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting? Dr. Frank Bickford, a +reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had +sworn to at the coroner's inquest--that when the parade stopped, he +offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,--but that +others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came +from inside. + +And why did the Rev. H.W. Thompson have a rope? Thompson believes in +hanging men by the neck until they are dead. When the state Employers' +Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not +long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in +behalf of that law. And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W. +Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf? Or +what? + +Why did the prosecution need so many attorneys here, if it had the facts +straight? Why were scores of American Legion members imported here to sit +at the trial at a wage of $4 per day and expenses? + +They have told you this was a murder trial, and not a labor trial. But +vastly more than the lives of ten men are the stakes in the big gamble +here; for the right of workers to organize for the bettering of their own +condition is on trial; the right of free assemblage is on trial; democracy +and Americanism are on trial. + +In our opening statement, we promised to prove various facts; and we have +proven them, in the main; if there are any contentions about which the +evidence remains vague, this circumstance exists only because His Honor +has seen fit to rule out certain testimony which is vital to the case, and +we believed, and still believe, was entirely material and properly +admissible. + +But is there any doubt in your minds that there was a conspiracy to raid +the I.W.W. hall, and to run the Industrial Workers of the World out of +town? Even if the court will not allow you to read the handbill issued by +the I.W.W., asking protection from the citizens of Centralia have you any +doubt that the I.W.W. had reason to fear an attack from Warren Grimm and +his fellow marchers? And have you any doubt that there was a raid on the +hall? + +When I came into this case I knew that we were up against tremendous odds. +Terror was loose in Centralia; prejudice and hatred against the I.W.W. was +being systematically and sweepingly spread in Grays Harbor county and +throughout the whole Northwest; and intimidation or influence of some sort +was being employed against every possible witness and talesman. + +[Illustration: George Vanderveer + +This man single handed opposed six high priced lumber trust prosecutors in +the famous trial at Montesano. Vanderveer is a man of wide experience and +deep social vision. He was at one time prosecuting attorney for King +County, Washington. The lumber trust has made countless threats to "get +him." "A lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a workingman with +brains."] + +Not only were unlimited money and other resources of the Lewis County +commercial interests banded against us, but practically all the attorneys +up and down the Pacific coast had pledged themselves not to defend any +I.W.W., no matter how great nor how small the charge he faced. Our +investigators were arrested without warrant; solicitors for our defense +fund met with the same fate. + +And when the trial date approached, the judge before whom this case is +being heard admitted that a fair trial could not be had here, because of +the surging prejudice existent in this community. Then, five days later, +the court announced that the law would not permit a second change of +venue, and that the trial must go ahead in Montesano. + +In the face of these things, and in the face of all the atmosphere of +violence and bloodthirstiness which the prosecution has sought to throw +around these defendants, I am placing our case in your hands; I am +intrusting to you gentlemen to decide upon the fate of ten human +beings--whether they shall live or die or be shut away from their fellows +for months or years. + +But I am asking you much more than that--I am asking you to decide the +fate of organized labor in the Northwest; whether its fundamental rights +are to survive or be trampled underfoot. + + + + +The Lumber Trust Wins the Jury + + + +On Saturday evening, March 13th, the jury brought in its final verdict of +guilty. In the face of the very evident ability of the lumber interests, +to satisfy its vengeance at will, any other verdict would have been +suicidal--for the jury. + +The prosecution was out for blood and nothing less than blood. Day by day +they had built the structure of gallows right there in the courtroom. They +built a scaffolding on which to hang ten loggers--built it of lies and +threats and perjury. Dozens of witnesses from the Chamber of Commerce and +the American Legion took the stand to braid a hangman's rope of untruthful +testimony. Some of these were members of the mob; on their white hands the +blood of Wesley Everest was hardly dry. And they were not satisfied with +sending their victims to prison for terms of from 25 to 40 years, they +wanted the pleasure of seeing their necks broken. But they failed. Two +verdicts were returned; his honor refused to accept the first; no +intelligent man can accept the second. + +Here is the way the two verdicts compare with each other: Elmer Smith and +Mike Sheehan were declared not guilty and Loren Roberts insane, in both +the first and second verdicts. Britt Smith, O.C. Bland, James McInerney, +Bert Bland and Ray Becker were found guilty of murder in the second degree +in both instances, but Eugene Barnett and John Lamb were at first declared +guilty of manslaughter, or murder "in the third degree" in the jury's +first findings, and guilty of second degree murder in the second. + +The significant point is that the state made its strongest argument +against the four men whom the jury practically exonerated of the charge of +conspiring to murder. More significant is the fact that the whole verdict +completely upsets the charge of conspiracy to murder under which the men +were tried. The difference between first and second degree murder is that +the former, first degree, implies premeditation while the other, second +degree, means murder that is not premeditated. Now, how in the world can +men be found guilty of conspiring to murder without previous +premeditation? The verdict, brutal and stupid as it is, shows the weakness +and falsity of the state's charge more eloquently than anything the +defense has ever said about it. + + + + +But Labor Says, "Not Guilty!" + + + +But another jury had been watching the trial. Their verdict came as a +surprise to those who had read the newspaper version of the case. No +sooner had the twelve bewildered and frightened men in the jury box paid +tribute to the power of the Lumber Trust with a ludicrous and tragic +verdict than the six workingmen of the Labor Jury returned their verdict +also. Those six men represented as many labor organizations in the Pacific +Northwest with a combined membership of many thousands of wage earners. + +The last echoes of the prolonged legal battle had hardly died away when +these six men sojourned to Tacoma to ballot, deliberate and to reach their +decision about the disputed facts of the case. At the very moment when the +trust-controlled newspapers, frantic with disappointment, were again +raising the blood-cry of their pack, the frank and positive statement of +these six workers came like a thunderclap out of a clear sky,--"Not +Guilty!" + +The Labor Jury had studied the development of the case with earnest +attention from the beginning. Day by day they had watched with increasing +astonishment the efforts of the defense to present, and of the prosecution +and the judge to exclude, from the consideration of the trial jury, the +things everybody knew to be true about the tragedy at Centralia. Day by +day the sordid drama had been unfolded before their eyes. Day by day the +conviction had grown upon them that the loggers on trial for their lives +were being railroaded to the gallows by the legal hirelings of the Lumber +Trust. The Labor Jury was composed of men with experience in the labor +movement. They had eyes to see through a maze of red tape and legal +mummery to the simple truth that was being hidden or obscured. The Lumber +Trust did not fool these men and it could not intimidate them. They had +the courage to give the truth to the world just as they saw it. They were +convinced in their hearts and minds that the loggers on trial were +innocent. And they would have been just as honest and just as fearless had +their convictions been otherwise. + +It cannot be said that the Labor Jury was biased in favor of the +defendants or of the I.W.W. If anything, they were predisposed to believe +the defendants guilty and their union an outlaw organization. It must be +remembered that all the labor jury knew of the case was what it had read +in the capitalist newspapers prior to their arrival at the scene of the +trial. These men were not radicals but representative working men--members +of conservative unions--who had been instructed by their organizations to +observe impartially the progress of the trial and to report back to their +unions the result of their observations. Read their report: + + + + +Labor's Verdict + + + +Labor Temple, Tacoma, March 15, 1920, 1:40 p.m. + +The Labor Jury met in the rooms of the Labor Temple and organized, +electing P. K. Mohr as foreman. + +Present: J.A. Craft, W.J. Beard, Otto Newman, Theodore Mayer, E.W. Thrall +and P.K. Mohr. + +1. On motion a secret ballot of guilty or not guilty was taken, the count +resulting in a unanimous "Not Guilty!" + +2. Shall we give our report to the press? Verdict, "Yes." + +[Illustration: Labor's Silent Jury + +W.J. Beard, Central Labor Council, Tacoma: Paul K. Mohr, Central Labor +Council, Seattle: Theodore Meyer, Central Labor Council, Everett: E.W. +Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia: John A. Craft, Metal +Trades Council, Seattle.] + +3. Was there a conspiracy to raid the I.W.W. hall on the part of the +business interests of Centralia? Verdict, "Yes." + +There was evidence offered by the defense to show that the business +interests held a meeting at the Elk's Club on October 20, 1919, at which +ways and means to deal with the I.W.W. situation were discussed. F.B. +Hubbard, Chief of Police Hughes and William Scales, commander of the +American Legion at Centralia, were present. Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +quoted as having said, "There is no law that would let you run the I.W.W. +out of town." Chief of Police Hughes said, "You cannot run the I.W.W. out +of town; they have violated no law." F.G. Hubbard said, "It's a damn +shame; if I was chief I would have them out of town in 24 hours." William +Scales, presiding at the meeting, said that although he was not in favor +of a raid, there was no American jury that would convict them if they did, +or words to that effect. He then announced that he would appoint a secret +committee to deal with the I.W.W. situation. + +4. Was the I.W.W. hall unlawfully raided? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence +introduced convinces us that an attack was made before a shot was fired. + +5. Had the defendants a right to defend their hall. Verdict, "yes." On a +former occasion the I.W.W. hall was raided, furniture destroyed and +stolen, ropes placed around their necks and they were otherwise abused and +driven out of town by citizens, armed with pick handles. + +6. Was Warren O. Grimm a party to the conspiracy of raiding the I.W.W. +hall? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence introduced convinces us that Warren O. +Grimm participated in the raid of the I.W.W. hall. + +7. To our minds the most convincing evidence that Grimm was in front of +and raiding the I.W.W. hall with others, is the evidence of State Witness +Van Gilder who testified that he stood at the side of Grimm at the +intersection of Second street and Tower avenue, when, according to his +testimony, Grimm was shot. This testimony was refuted by five witnesses +who testified that they saw Grimm coming wounded from the direction of the +I.W.W. hall. It is not credible that Van Gilder, who was a personal and +intimate friend of Grimm, would leave him when he was mortally wounded, to +walk half a block alone and unaided. + +8. Did the defendants get a fair and impartial trial? Verdict, "No." The +most damaging evidence of a conspiracy by the business men of Centralia, +of a raid on the I.W.W. hall, was ruled out by the court and not permitted +to go to the jury. This was one of the principal issues that the defense +sought to establish. + +Also the calling of the federal troops by Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +for no other reason than to create atmosphere. On interviewing the judge, +sheriff and prosecuting attorney, the judge and the sheriff informed us +that in their opinion the troops were not needed and that they were +brought there without their consent or knowledge. In the interview Mr. +Allen promised to furnish the substance of the evidence which in his +opinion necessitated the presence of the troops the next morning, but on +the following day he declined the information. He, however, did say that +he did not fear the I.W.W., but was afraid of violence by the American +Legion. This confession came after he was shown by us the fallacy of the +I.W.W. coming armed to interfere with the verdict. Also the presence of +the American Legion in large numbers in court. + +Theodore Meyer, Everett Central Labor Council; John O. Craft, Seattle +Metal Trades Council; E.W. Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, +Centralia; W.J. Beard, Tacoma Central Labor Council; Otto Newman, Portland +Central Labor Council; P.K. Mohr, Seattle Central Labor Council. + +The above report speaks for itself. It was received with great enthusiasm +by the organizations of each of the jurymen when the verdict was +submitted. On March 17th, the Seattle Central Labor Council voted +unanimously to send the verdict to all of the Central Labor Assemblies of +the United States and Canada. + +Not only are the loggers vindicated in defending their property and lives +from the felonious assault of the Armistice Day mob, but the conspiracy of +the business interests to raid the hall and the raid itself were +established. The participation of Warren O. Grimm is also accepted as +proved beyond doubt. Doubly significant is the statement about the "fair +and impartial trial" that is supposed to be guaranteed all men under our +constitution. + +Nothing could more effectively stamp the seal of infamy upon the whole +sickening rape of justice than the manly outspoken statements of these six +labor jurors. Perhaps the personalities of these men might prove of +interest: + +E. W. Thrall, of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia, is an old +time and trusted member of his union. As will be noticed, he comes from +Centralia, the scene of the tragedy. + +Otto Newman, of the Central Labor Council, Portland, Oregon, has ably +represented his union in the C.L.C. for some time. + +W.J. Beard is organizer for the Central Labor Council in Tacoma, +Washington. He is an old member of the Western Federation of Miners and +remembers the terrible times during the strikes at Tulluride. + +John O. Craft is president of Local 40, International Union of Steam +Operating Engineers, of which union he has been a member for the last ten +years. Mr. Craft has been actively connected with unions affiliated with +the A.F. of L. since 1898. + +Theodore Meyer was sent by the Longshoremen of Everett, Washington. Since +1903 he has been a member of the A.F. of L.; prior to that time being a +member of the National Sailors and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and +Ireland, and of the Sailors' Union of Australia. + +P. K. Mohr represents the Central Labor Council of Seattle and is one of +the oldest active members in the Seattle unions. Mr. Mohr became a charter +member of the first Bakers' Union in 1889 and was its first presiding +officer. He was elected delegate to the old Western Central Labor Council +in 1890. At one time Mr. Mohr was president of the Seattle Labor Council. +At the present time he is president of the Bakers' Union. + +Such are the men who have studied the travesty on justice in the great +labor trial at Montesano. "Not Guilty" is their verdict. Does it mean +anything to you? + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +Torn and defiant as a wind-lashed reed, +Wounded, he faced you as he stood at bay; +You dared not lynch him in the light of day, +But on your dungeon stones you let him bleed; +Night came ... and you black vigilants of Greed,... +Like human wolves, seized hand upon your prey, +Tortured and killed ... and, silent, slunk away +Without one qualm of horror at the deed. + +Once ... long ago ... do you remember how +You hailed Him king for soldiers to deride-- +You placed a scroll above His bleeding brow +And spat upon Him, scourged Him, crucified...? +A rebel unto Caesar--then as now-- +Alone, thorn-crowned, a spear wound in His side! + +--R.C. in "N.Y. Call." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10725 *** diff --git a/10725-h.zip b/10725-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..be30961 --- /dev/null +++ b/10725-h.zip diff --git a/10725-h/10725-h.htm b/10725-h/10725-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f83a19 --- /dev/null +++ b/10725-h/10725-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4331 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Centralia Conspiracy, by Ralph Chaplin</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + + body { + margin .5em; + font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; + } + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + font-variant: small-caps + } + + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + + div.image { + width: 40%; + float: right; + border-style: dashed; + border-width: 1px; + border-color: #000000; + background-color: #ccffcc; + font-size: .8em; + } + + div.image p { + margin: 10px 10px 10px 10px; + } + + div.image p.title { + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + } + --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Centralia Conspiracy, by Ralph Chaplin</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: The Centralia Conspiracy + +Author: Ralph Chaplin + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: utf-8 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + +</pre> +<center><font face="Times New Roman"><b>E-text prepared by Curtis A. Weyant</b></font></center> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> + +<p align="center"><img src="cover.gif" alt="Cover image" /></p> + +<h1 class="title">The Centralia Conspiracy</h1> + +<h2 class="author">By Ralph Chaplin</h2> + +<blockquote> +<h2>A Tongue of Flame</h2> + +<p>The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of +flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house +enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates +through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last aroused; +reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all her work is +ruin. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is undone.--Emerson.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h1 class="title">The Centralia Conspiracy</h1> + +<h2>Murder or Self-Defense?</h2> + +<p>This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to +unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day +tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe +that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even +then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of +savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other +methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting.</p> + +<p>The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of +four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World +in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these +unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered +from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced +that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not +raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime.</p> + +<p>But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers +presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who +participated in the affair, testified at the coroner's inquest that the +Legion men were attempting to raid the union hall when they were killed. +Sworn testimony of various eyewitnesses has revealed the fact that some of +the "unoffending paraders" carried coils of rope and that others were +armed with such weapons as would work the demolition of the hall and +bodily injury to its occupants. These things throw an entirely different +light on the subject. If this is true it means that the union loggers +fired only in self-defense and not with the intention of committing wanton +and malicious murder as has been stated. Now, as at least two of the union +men who did the shooting were ex-soldiers, it appears that the tragedy +must have resulted from something more than a mere quarrel between loggers +and soldiers. There must be something back of it all that the public +generally doesn't know about.</p> + +<p>There is only one body of men in the Northwest who would hate a union +hall enough to have it raided--the lumber "interests." And now we get at +the kernel of the matter, which is the fact that the affair was the +outgrowth of a struggle between the lumber trust and its employees--between +Organized Capital and Organized Labor.</p> + +<h2>A Labor Case</h2> + +<p>And so, after all, the famous trial at Montesano was not a murder trial +but a labor trial in the strict sense of the word. Under the law, it must +be remembered, a man is not committing murder in defending his life and +property from the felonious assault of a mob bent on killing and +destruction. There is no doubt whatever but what the lumber trust had +plotted to "make an example" of the loggers and destroy their hall on this +occasion. And this was not the first time that such atrocities had been +attempted and actually committed. Isn't it peculiar that, out of many +similar raids, you only heard of the one where the men defended +themselves? Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but the +preservation of its holy profits is the first law of the lumber trust. The +organized lumber workers were considered a menace to the super-prosperity +of a few profiteers--hence the attempted raid and the subsequent +killing.</p> + +<p>What is more significant is the fact the raid had been carefully +planned weeks in advance. There is a great deal of evidence to prove this +point.</p> + +<p>There is no question that the whole affair was the outcome of a +struggle--a class struggle, if you please--between the union loggers and the +lumber interests; the former seeking to organize the workers in the woods +and the latter fighting this movement with all the means at its +disposal.</p> + +<p>In this light the Centralia affair does not appear as an isolated +incident but rather an incident in an eventful industrial conflict, little +known and less understood, between the lumber barons and loggers of the +Pacific Northwest. This viewpoint will place Centralia in its proper +perspective and enable one to trace the tragedy back to the circumstances +and conditions that gave it birth.</p> + +<p>But was there a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to +commit murder and violence in an effort to drive organized labor from its +domain? Weeks of patient investigating in and around the scene or the +occurrence has convinced the present writer that such a conspiracy has +existed. A considerable amount of startling evidence has been unearthed +that has hitherto been suppressed. If you care to consider Labor's version +of this unfortunate incident you are urged to read the following truthful +account of this almost unbelievable piece of mediaeval intrigue and +brutality.</p> + +<p>The facts will speak for themselves. Credit them or not, but read!</p> + +<h2>The Forests of the Northwest</h2> + +<p>The Pacific Northwest is world famed for its timber. The first white +explorers to set foot upon its fertile soil were awed by the magnitude and +grandeur of its boundless stretches of virgin forests. Nature has never +endowed any section of our fair world with such an immensity of kingly +trees. Towering into the sky to unthinkable heights, they stand as living +monuments to the fecundity of natural life. Imagine, if you can, the vast +wide region of the West coast, hills, slopes and valleys, covered with +millions of fir, spruce and cedar trees, raising their verdant crests a +hundred, two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet into the air.</p> + +<p>When Columbus first landed on the uncharted continent these trees were +already ancient. There they stood, straight and majestic with green and +foam-flecked streams purling here and there at their feet, crowning the +rugged landscape with superlative beauty, overtopped only by the +snow-capped mountains--waiting for the hand of man to put them to the +multitudinous uses of modern civilization. Imagine, if you can, the first +explorer, gazing awe-stricken down those "calm cathedral isles," wondering +at the lavish bounty of our Mother Earth in supplying her children with +such inexhaustible resources.</p> + +<p>But little could the first explorer know that the criminal clutch of +Greed was soon to seize these mighty forests, guard them from the human +race with bayonets, hangman's ropes and legal statutes; and use them, +robber-baron like, to exact unimaginable tribute from the men and women of +the world who need them. Little did the first explorer dream that the day +would come when individuals would claim private ownership of that which +prolific nature had travailed through centuries to bestow upon +mankind.</p> + +<p>But that day has come and with it the struggle between master and man +that was to result in Centralia--or possibly many Centralias.</p> + +<h2>Lumber--A Basic Industry</h2> + +<p>It seems the most logical thing in the world to believe that the +natural resources of the Earth, upon which the race depends for food, +clothing and shelter, should be owned collectively by the race instead of +being the private property of a few social parasites. It seems that reason +would preclude the possibility of any other arrangement, and that it would +be considered as absurd for individuals to lay claim to forests, mines, +railroads and factories as it would be for individuals to lay claim to the +ownership of the sunlight that warms us or to the air we breathe. But the +poor human race, in its bungling efforts to learn how to live in our +beautiful world, appears destined to find out by bitter experience that +the private ownership of the means of life is both criminal and +disastrous.</p> + +<p>Lumber is one of the basic industries--one of the industries mankind +never could have done without. The whole structure of what we call +civilization is built upon wooden timbers, ax-hewn or machine finished as +the case may be. Without the product of the forests humanity would never +have learned the use of fire, the primitive bow and arrow or the bulging +galleys of ancient commerce. Without the firm and fibrous flesh of the +mighty monarchs of the forest men might never have had barges for fishing +or weapons for the chase; they would not have had carts for their oxen or +kilns for the fashioning of pottery; they would not have had dwellings, +temples or cities; they would not have had furniture nor fittings nor +roofs above their heads. Wood is one of the most primitive and +indispensable of human necessities. Without its use we would still be +groping in the gloom and misery of early savagery, suffering from the cold +of outer space and defenseless in the midst of a harsh and hostile +environment.</p> + +<h2>From Pioneer to Parasite</h2> + +<p>So it happened that the first pioneers in the northern were forced to +bare their arms and match their strength with the wooded wilderness. At +first the subjugation of the forests was a social effort. The lives and +future prosperity of the settlers must be made secure from the raids of +the Indians and the inclemency of the elements. Manfully did these men +labor until their work was done. But this period did not last long, for +the tide of emigration was sweeping westward over the sun-baked prairies +to the promised land in the golden West.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Fir and Spruce Trees</p> + +<p>The wood of the West coast abound with tall fir trees. Practically all +high grade spruce comes from this district also. Spruce was a war +necessity and the lumber trust profiteered unmercifully on the government. +U.S. prisons are full of loggers who struck for the 8 hour day in +1917.</p></div> + +<p>Towns sprang up like magic, new trees were felled, sawmills erected and +huge logs in ever increasing numbers were driven down the foaming torrents +each year at spring time. The country was new, the market for lumber +constantly growing and expanding. But the monopolist was unknown and the +lynch-mobs of the lumber trust still sleeping in the womb of the Future. +So passed the not unhappy period when opportunity was open to everyone, +when freedom was dear to the hearts of all. It was at this time that the +spirit of real Americanism was born, when the clean, sturdy name "America" +spelled freedom, justice and independence. Patriotism in these days was +not a mask for profiteers and murderers were not permitted to hide their +bloody hands in the folds of their nation's flag.</p> + +<p>But modern capitalism was creeping like a black curse upon the land. +Stealing, coercing, cajoling, defrauding, it spread from its plague-center +in Wall St., leaving misery, class antagonism and resentment in its trial. +The old free America of our fathers was undergoing a profound change. +Equality of opportunity was doomed. A new social alignment was being +created. Monopoly was loosed upon the land. Fabulous fortunes were being +made as wealth was becoming centered into fewer and fewer hands. Modern +capitalism was entrenching itself for the final and inevitable struggle +for world domination. In due time the social parasites of the East, +foreseeing that the forests of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin could not +last forever, began to look to the woods of the Northwest with covetous +eyes.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Cedar Trees of the Northwest</p> + +<p>With these giants the logger daily matches his strength and skill. The +profit-greedy lumber trust has wasted enough trees of smaller size to +supply the world with wood for years to come.</p></div> + +<h2>Stealing the People's Forest Land</h2> + +<p>The history of the acquisition of the forests of Washington, Montana, +Idaho, Oregon and California is a long, sordid story of thinly veiled +robbery and intrigue. The methods of the lumber barons in invading and +seizing its "holdings" did not differ greatly, however, from those of the +steel and oil kings, the railroad magnates or any of the other industrial +potentates who acquired great wealth by pilfering America and peonizing +its people. The whole sorry proceeding was disgraceful, high-handed and +treacherous, and only made possible by reason of the blindness of the +generous American people, drugged with the vanishing hope of "success" and +too confident of the continued possession of its blood-bought liberties. +And do the lumber barons were unhindered in their infamous work of +debauchery, bribery, murder and brazen fraud.</p> + +<p>As a result the monopoly of the Northwestern woods became an +established fact. The lumber trust came into "its own." The new social +alignment was complete, with the idle, absentee landlord at one end and +the migratory and possessionless lumber jack at the other. The parasites +had appropriated to themselves the standing timber of the Northwest; but +the brawny logger whose labor had made possible the development of the +industry was given, as his share of the spoils, a crumby "bindle" and a +rebellious heart. The masters had gained undisputed control of the timber +of the country, three quarters of which is located in the Northwest; but +the workers who felled the trees, drove the logs, dressed, finished and +loaded the lumber were left in the state of helpless dependency from which +they could only extricate themselves by means of organization. And it is +this effort to form a union and establish union headquarters that led to +the tragedy at Centralia.</p> + +<p>The lumber barons had not only achieved a monopoly of the woods but a +perfect feudal domination of the woods as well. Within their domain banks, +ships, railways and mills bore their private insignia-and politicians, +Employers' Associations, preachers, newspapers, fraternal orders and +judges and gun-men were always at their beck and call. The power they +wield is tremendous and their profits would ransom a kingdom. Naturally +they did not intend to permit either power or profits to be menaced by a +mass of weather-beaten slaves in stag shirts and overalls. And so the +struggle waxed fiercer just as the lumberjack learned to contend +successfully for living conditions and adequate remuneration. It was the +old, old conflict of human rights against property rights. Let us see how +they compared in strength.</p> + +<h2>The Triumph of Monopoly</h2> + +<p>The following extract from a document entitled "The Lumber Industry," +by the Honorable Herbert Knox Smith and published by the U.S. Department +of Commerce (Bureau of Corporations) will give some idea of the holdings +and influence of the lumber trust:</p> + +<p>"Ten monopoly groups, aggregating only one thousand, eight hundred and +two holders, monopolized one thousand, two hundred and eight billion eight +hundred million (1,208,800,000,000) board feet of standing timber--each a +foot square and an inch thick. These figures are so stupendous that they +are meaningless without a hackneyed device to bring their meaning home. +These one thousand, eight hundred and two timber business monopolists held +enough standing timber; an indispensable natural resource, to yield the +planks necessary (over and above manufacturing wastage) to make a floating +bridge more than two feet thick and more than five miles wide from New +York to Liverpool. It would supply one inch planks for a roof over France, +Germany and Italy. It would build a fence eleven miles high along our +entire coast line. All monopolized by one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, or interests more or less interlocked. One of those interests--a +grant of only three holders--monopolized at one time two hundred and +thirty-seven billion, five hundred million (237,500,000,000) feet which +would make a column one foot square and three million miles high. Although +controlled by only three holders, that interest comprised over eight +percent of all the standing timber in the United States at that time."</p> + +<p>The above illuminating figures, quoted from "The I.W.A. in the Lumber +Industry," by James Rowan, will give some idea of the magnitude and power +of the lumber trust.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Topping a Tree"</p> + +<p>After one of these huge trees is "topped" it is called a "spar +tree"--very necessary in a certain kind of logging operations. As soon as +the chopped-off portion falls, the trunk vibrates rapidly from side to +side sometimes shaking the logger to certain death below.</p></div> + +<p>Opposing this colossal aggregation of wealth and cussedness were the +thousands of hard-driven and exploited lumberworkers in the woods and +sawmills. These had neither wealth nor influence--nothing but their hard, +bare hands and a growing sense of solidarity. And the masters of the +forests were more afraid of this solidarity than anything else in the +world--and they fought it more bitterly, as events will show. Centralia is +only one of the incidents of this struggle between owner and worker. But +let us see what this hated and indispensable logger-the productive and +human basis of the lumber industry, the man who made all these things +possible, is like.</p> + +<h2>The Human Element--"The Timber Beast"</h2> + +<p>Lumber workers are, by nature of their employment, divided into two +categories--the saw-mill hand and the logger. The former, like his brothers +in the Eastern factories, is an indoor type while the latter is +essentially a man of the open air. Both types are necessary to the +production of finished lumber, and to both union organization is an +imperative necessity.</p> + +<p>Sawmill work is machine work--rapid, tedious and often dangerous. There +is the uninteresting repetition of the same act of motions day in and day +out. The sights, sounds and smells of the mill are never varied. The fact +that the mill is permanently located tends to keep mill workers grouped +about the place of their employment. Many of them, especially in the +shingle mills, have lost fingers or hands in feeding the lumber to the +screaming saws. It has been estimated that fully a half of these men are +married and remain settled in the mill communities. The other half, +however, are not nearly so migratory as the lumberjack. Sawmill workers +are not the "rough-necks" of the industry. They are of the more +conservative "home-guard" element and characterized by the psychology of +all factory workers.</p> + +<p>The logger, on the other hand, (and it is with him our narrative is +chiefly concerned), is accustomed to hard and hazardous work in the open +woods. His occupation makes him of necessity migratory. The camp, +following the uncut timber from place to place, makes it impossible for +him to acquire a family and settle down. Scarcely one out of ten has ever +dared assume the responsibility of matrimony. The necessity of shipping +from a central point in going from one job to another usually forces a +migratory existence upon the lumberjack in spite of his best intentions to +live otherwise.</p> + +<h2>What Is a Casual Laborer?</h2> + +<p>The problem of the logger is that of the casual laborer in general. +Broadly speaking, there are three distinct classes of casual laborers: +First, the "harvest stiff" of the middle West who follows the ripening +crops from Kansas to the Dakotas, finding winter employment in the North, +Middle Western woods, in construction camps or on the ice fields. Then +there is the harvest worker of "the Coast" who garners the fruit, hops and +grain, and does the canning of California, Washington and Oregon, finding +out-of-season employment wherever possible. Finally there is the +Northwestern logger, whose work, unlike that of the Middle Western "jack" +is not seasonal, but who is compelled nevertheless to remain migratory. As +a rule, however, his habitat is confined, according to preference or force +of circumstances, to either the "long log" country of Western Washington +and Oregon as well as California, or to the "short log" country of Eastern +Washington and Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Minnesota, +Michigan, and Wisconsin are in what is called the "short log" region.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">A Logger of the Pacific Northwest</p> + +<p>This is a type of the men who work in the "long log" region of the West +coast. His is a man's sized job, and his efforts to organize and better +the working conditions in the lumber industry have been manly efforts--and +bitterly opposed.</p></div> + +<p>As a rule the logger of the Northwest follows the woods to the +exclusion of all other employment. He is militantly a lumberjack and is +inclined to be a trifle "patriotic" and disputatious as to the relative +importance of his own particular branch of the industry. "Long loggers," +for instance, view with a suspicion of disdain the work of "short loggers" +and vice versa.</p> + +<h2>"Lumber-Jack" The Giant Killer</h2> + +<p>But the lumber-jack is a casual worker and he is the finished product +of modern capitalism. He is the perfect proletarian type--possessionless, +homeless, and rebellious. He is the reverse side of the gilded medal of +present day society. On the one side is the third generation idle +rich--arrogant and parasitical, and on the other, the actual producer, +economically helpless and denied access to the means of production unless +he "beg his lordly fellow worm to give him leave to toil," as Robert Burns +has it.</p> + +<p>The logger of the Northwest has his faults. He is not any more perfect +than the rest of us. The years of degradation and struggle he has endured +in the woods have not failed to leave their mark upon him. But, as the +wage workers go, he is not the common but the uncommon type both as +regards physical strength and cleanliness and mental alertness. He is +generous to a fault and has all the qualities Lincoln and Whitman loved in +men.</p> + +<p>In the first place, whether as faller, rigging man or on the "drive," +his work is muscular and out of doors. He must at all times conquer the +forest and battle with the elements. There is a tang and adventure to his +labor in the impressive solitude of the woods that gives him a steady eye, +a strong arm and a clear brain. Being constantly close to the great green +heart of Nature, he acquires the dignity and independence of the savage +rather than the passive and unresisting submission of the factory worker. +The fact that he is free from family ties also tends to make him ready for +an industrial frolic or fight at any time. In daily matching his prowess +and skill with the products of the earth he feels in a way, that the woods +"belong" to him and develops a contempt for the unseen and unknown +employers who kindly permit him to enrich them with his labor. He is +constantly reminded of the glaring absurdity of the private ownership of +natural resources. Instinctively he becomes a rebel against the injustice +and contradictions of capitalist society.</p> + +<p>Dwarfed to ant-like insignificance by the verdant immensity around him, +the logger toils daily with ax, saw and cable. One after another forest +giants of dizzy height crash to the earth with a sound like thunder. In a +short time they are loaded on flat cars and hurried across the +stump-dotted clearing to the river, whence they are dispatched to the +noisy, ever-waiting saws at the mill. And always the logger knows in his +heart that this is not done that people may have lumber for their needs, +but rather that some overfed parasite may first add to his holy dividends. +Production for profit always strikes the logger with the full force of +objective observation. And is it any wonder, with the process of +exploitation thus naked always before his eyes, that he should have been +among the very first workers to challenge the flimsy title of the lumber +barons to the private ownership of the woods?</p> + +<h2>The Factory Worker and the Lumber-Jack</h2> + +<p>Without wishing to disparage the ultimate worth of either; it might be +well to contrast for a moment the factory worker of the East with the +lumber-jack of the Pacific Northwest. To the factory hand the master's +claim to the exclusive title of the means of production is not so +evidently absurd. Around him are huge, smoking buildings filled with +roaring machinery--all man-made. As a rule he simply takes for granted that +his employers--whoever they are--own these just as he himself owns, for +instance, his pipe or his furniture. Only when he learns, from thoughtful +observation or study, that such things are the appropriated products of +the labor of himself and his kind, does the truth dawn upon him that labor +produces all and is entitled to its own.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Logging Operations</p> + +<p>Look around you at the present moment and you will see wood used for +many different purposes. Have you ever stopped to think where the raw +material comes from or what the workers are like who produce it? Here is a +scene from a lumber camp showing the loggers at their daily tasks. The +lumber trust is willing that these men should work-but not organize.</p></div> + +<p>It must be admitted that factory life tends to dispirit and cow the +workers who spend their lives in the gloomy confines of the modern mill or +shop. Obedient to the shrill whistle they pour out of their clustered grey +dwellings in the early morning. Out of the labor ghettos they swarm and +into their dismal slave-pens. Then the long monotonous, daily "grind," and +home again to repeat the identical proceeding on the following day. Almost +always, tired, trained to harsh discipline or content with low comfort; +they are all too liable to feel that capitalism is invincibly colossal and +that the possibility of a better day is hopelessly remote. Most of them +are unacquainted with their neighbors. They live in small family or +boarding house units and, having no common meeting place, realize only +with difficulty the mighty potency of their vast numbers. To them +organization appears desirable at times but unattainable. The dickering +conservatism of craft unionism appeals to their cautious natures. They act +only en masse, under awful compulsion and then their release of repressed +slave emotion is sudden and terrible.</p> + +<p>Not so with the weather-tanned husky of the Northwestern woods. His job +life is a group life. He walks to his daily task with his fellow workers. +He is seldom employed for long away from them. At a common table he eats +with them, and they all sleep in common bunk houses. The trees themselves +teach him to scorn his master's adventitious claim to exclusive ownership. +The circumstances of his daily occupation show him the need of class +solidarity. His strong body clamours constantly for the sweetness and +comforts of life that are denied him, his alert brain urges him to +organize and his independent spirit gives him the courage and tenacity to +achieve his aims. The union hall is often his only home and the One Big +Union his best-beloved. He is fond of reading and discussion. He resents +industrial slavery as an insult. He resented filth, overwork and poverty, +he resented being made to carry his own bundle of blankets from job to +job; he gritted his teeth together and fought until he had ground these +obnoxious things under his iron-caulked heel. The lumber trust hated him +just in proportion as he gained and used his industrial power; but neither +curses, promises nor blows could make him budge. He knew what he wanted +and he knew how to get what he wanted. And his boss didn't like it very +well.</p> + +<p>The lumber-jack is secretive and not given to expressed +emotion--excepting in his union songs. The bosses don't like his songs +either. But the logger isn't worried a bit. Working away in the woods +every day, or in his bunk at night, he dreams his dream of the world as he +thinks it should be--that "wild wobbly dream" that every passing day brings +closer to realization--and he wants all who work around him to share his +vision and his determination to win so that all will be ready and worthy +to live in the New Day that is dawning.</p> + +<p>In a word the Northwestern lumber-jack was too human and too stubborn +ever to repudiate his red-blooded manhood at the behest of his masters and +become a serf. His union meant to him all that he possessed or hoped to +gain. Is it any wonder that he endured the tortures of hell during the +period of the war rather than yield his Red Card--or that he is still +determined and still undefeated? Is it any wonder the lumber barons hated +him, and sought to break his spirit with brute force and legal cunning--or +that they conspired to murder it at Centralia with mob violence--and +failed?</p> + +<h2>Why the Loggers Organized</h2> + +<p>The condition of the logger previous to the period of organization +beggars description. Modern industrial autocracy seemed with him to +develop its most inhuman characteristics. The evil plant of wage slavery +appeared to bear its most noxious blossoms in the woods.</p> + +<p>The hours of labor were unendurably long, ten hours being the general +rule--with the exception of the Grays Harbor district, where the eleven or +even twelve hour day prevailed. In addition to this men were compelled to +walk considerable distances to and from their work and meals through the +wet brush.</p> + +<p>Not infrequently the noon lunch was made almost impossible because of +the order to be back on the job when work commenced. A ten hour stretch of +arduous labor, in a climate where incessant rain is the rule for at least +six months of the year, was enough to try the strength and patience of +even the strongest. The wages too were pitiably inadequate.</p> + +<p>The camps themselves, always more or less temporary affairs, were +inferior to the cow-shed accommodations of a cattle ranch. The bunk house +were over-crowded, ill-smelling and unsanitary. In these ramshackle +affairs the loggers were packed like sardines. The bunks were arranged +tier over tier and nearly always without mattresses. They were uniformly +vermin-infested and sometimes of the "muzzle-loading" variety. No blankets +were furnished, each logger being compelled to supply his own. There were +no facilities for bathing or the washing and drying of sweaty clothing. +Lighting and ventilation were of course, always poor.</p> + +<p>In addition to these discomforts the unorganized logger was charged a +monthly hospital fee for imaginary medical service. Also it was nearly +always necessary to pay for the opportunity of enjoying these privileges +by purchasing employment from a "job shark" or securing the good graces of +a "man catcher." The former often had "business agreements" with the camp +foreman and, in many cases, a man could not get a job unless he had a +ticket from a labor agent in some shipping point.</p> + +<p>It may be said that the conditions just described were more prevalent +in some parts of the lumber country than in others. Nevertheless, these +prevailed pretty generally in all sections of the industry before the +workers attempted to better them by organizing. At all events such were +the conditions the lumber barons sought with all their power to preserve +and the loggers to change.</p> + +<h2>Organization and the Opening Struggle</h2> + +<p>A few years before the birth of the Industrial workers of the World the +lumber workers had started to organize. By 1905, when the above mentioned +union was launched, lumber-workers were already united in considerable +numbers in the old Western afterwards the American Labor Union. This +organization took steps to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the +World and was thus among the very first to seek a larger share of life in +the ranks of that militant and maligned organization. Strike followed +strike with varying success and the conditions of the loggers began +perceptibly to improve.</p> + +<p>Scattered here and there in the cities of the Northwest were many +locals of the Industrial Workers of the World. Not until 1912, however, +were these consolidated into a real industrial unit. For the first time a +sufficient number of loggers and saw mill men were organized to be grouped +into an integral part of the One Big Union. This was done with reasonable +success. In the following year the American Federation of Labor attempted +a similar task but without lasting results, the loggers preferring the +industrial to the craft form of organization. Besides this, they were +predisposed to sympathize with the ideal of solidarity and Industrial +Democracy for which their own union had stood from the beginning.</p> + +<p>The "timber beast" was starting to reap the benefits of his organized +power. Also he was about to feel the force and hatred of the "interests" +arrayed against him. He was soon to learn that the path of labor unionism +is strewn with more rocks than roses. He was making an earnest effort to +emerge from the squalor and misery of peonage and was soon to see that his +overlords were satisfied to keep him right where he had always been.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, almost the first really important clash occurred in the +very heart of the lumber trust's domain, in the little city of Aberdeen, +Grays Harbor County--only a short distance from Centralia, of mob fame!</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Eugene Barnett</p> + +<p align="center">(After the man-hunt)</p> + +<p>Coal miner. Born in North Carolina. Member of U.M.W.A. and I.W.W. Went +to work underground at the age of eight. Self educated, a student and +philosopher. Upon reaching home Barnett, fearful of the mob, took to the +woods with his rifle. He surrendered to the posse only after he had +convinced himself that their purpose was not to lynch him.</p></div> + +<p>This was in 1912. A strike had started in the saw mills over demands of +a $2.50 daily wage. Some of the saw mill workers were members of the +Industrial Workers of the World. They were supported by the union loggers +of Western Washington. The struggle was bitterly contested and lasted for +several weeks. The lumber trust bared its fangs and struck viciously at +the workers in a manner that has since characterized its tactics in all +labor disputes.</p> + +<p>The jails of Aberdeen and adjoining towns were filled with strikers. +Picket lines were broken up and the pickets arrested. When the wives of +the strikers with babies in their arms, took the places of their +imprisoned husbands, the fire hose was turned on them with great force, in +many instances knocking them to the ground. Loggers and sawmill men alike +were unmercifully beaten. Many were slugged by mobs with pick handles, +taken to the outskirts of the city and told that their return would be the +occasion of a lynching. At one time an armed mob of business men dragged +nearly four hundred strikers from their homes or boarding houses, herded +them into waiting boxcars, sealed up the doors and were about to deport +them en masse. The sheriff, getting wind of this unheard-of proceeding, +stopped it at the last moment. Many men were badly scarred by beatings +they received. One logger was crippled for life by the brutal treatment +accorded him.</p> + +<p>But the strikers won their demands and conditions were materially +improved. The Industrial Workers of the World continued to grow in numbers +and prestige. This event may be considered the beginning of the labor +movement on Grays Harbor that the lumber trust sought finally to crush +with mob violence on a certain memorable day in Centralia seven years +later.</p> + +<p>Following the Aberdeen strike one or two minor clashes occurred. The +lumber workers were usually successful. During this period they were +quietly but effectually spreading One Big Union propaganda throughout the +camps and mills in the district. Also they were organizing their fellow +workers in increasing numbers into their union. The lumber trust, smarting +under its last defeat, was alarmed and alert.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bert Faulkner</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 21 years of age. Member of the Industrial Workers of +the World since 1917. Was in the hall when raid occurred. Faulkner +personally knew Grimm, McElfresh and a number of others who marched in the +parade. He is an ex-soldier himself. The prosecution used a great deal of +pressure to make this boy turn state's evidence. He refused stating that +he would tell nothing but the truth. At the last moment he was discharged +from the case after being held in jail four months.</p></div> + +<h2>A Massacre and a New Law</h2> + +<p>But no really important event occurred until 1916. At this time the +union loggers, organized in the Industrial Workers of the World, had +started a drive for membership around Puget Sound. Loggers and mill hands +were eager for the message of Industrial Unionism. Meetings were well +attended and the sentiment in favor of the organization was steadily +growing. The A.F. of L. shingle weavers and longshoremen were on strike +and had asked the I.W.W. to help them secure free speech in Everett. The +ever-watchful lumber interests decided the time to strike had again +arrived. The events of "Bloody Sunday" are too well known to need +repeating here. Suffice to say that after a summer replete with illegal +beatings and jailings five men were killed in cold blood and forty wounded +in a final desperate effort to drive the union out of the city of Everett, +Washington. These unarmed loggers were slaughtered and wounded by the +gunfire of a gang of business men and plug-uglies of the lumber interests. +True to form, the lumber trust had every union man in sight arrested and +seventy-four charged with the murder of a gunman who had been killed by +the cross-fire of his own comrades. None of the desperadoes who had done +the actual murdering was ever prosecuted or even reprimanded. The charge +against the members of the Industrial Workers of the World was pressed. +The case was tried in court and the Industrialists declared "not guilty." +George Vanderveer was attorney for the defense.</p> + +<p>The lumber interests were infuriated at their defeat, and from this +time on the struggle raged in deadly earnest. Almost everything from mob +law to open assassination had been tried without avail. The execrated One +Big Union idea was gaining members and power every day. The situation was +truly alarming. Their heretofore trustworthy "wage plugs" were showing +unmistakable symptoms of intelligence. Workingmen were waking up. They +were, in appalling numbers, demanding the right to live like men. +Something must be done something new and drastic--to split asunder this +on-coming phalanx of industrial power.</p> + +<p>But the gun-man-and-mob method was discarded, temporarily at least, in +favor of the machinations of lumber trust tools in the law making bodies. +Big Business can make laws as easily as it can break them--and with as +little impunity. So the notorious Washington "Criminal Syndicalism" law +was devised. This law, however, struck a snag. The honest-minded governor +of the state, recognizing its transparent character and far-reaching +effects, promptly vetoed the measure. After the death of Governor Lister +the criminal syndicalism law was passed, however, by the next State +Legislature. Since that time it has been used against the American +Federation of Labor, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Socialist +Party and even common citizens not affiliated with any of these +organizations. The criminal syndicalism law registers the high water mark +of reaction. It infringes more on the liberties of the people than any of +the labor-crushing laws that blackened Russia during the dynasty of the +Romanoffs. It would disgrace the anti-Celestial legislation of Hell.</p> + +<h2>The Eight Hour Day and "Treason"</h2> + +<p>Nineteen hundred and seventeen was an eventful year. It was then the +greatest strike in the history of the lumber industry occurred-the strike +for the eight hour day. For years the logger and mill hand had fought +against the unrestrained greed of the lumber interests. Step by step, in +the face of fiercest opposition, they had fought for the right to live +like men; and step by step they had been gaining. Each failure or success +had shown them the weakness or the strength of their union. They had been +consolidating their forces as well as learning how to use them. The lumber +trust had been making huge profits the while, but the lumber workers were +still working ten hours or more and the logger was still packing his dirty +blankets from job to job. Dissatisfaction with conditions was wider and +more prevalent then ever before. Then came the war.</p> + +<p>As soon as this country had taken its stand with the allied +imperialists the price of lumber, needed for war purposes, was boosted to +sky high figures. From $16.00 to $116.00 per thousand feet is quite a +jump; but recent disclosures show that the Government paid as high as +$1200.00 per thousand for spruce that private concerns were purchasing for +less than one tenth of that sum. Gay parties with plenty of wild women and +hard drink are alleged to have been instrumental in enabling the +"patriotic" lumber trust to put these little deals across. Due to the +duplicity of this same bunch of predatory gentlemen the airplane and ship +building program of the United States turned out to be a scandal instead +of a success. Out of 21,000 feet of spruce delivered to a Massachusetts +factory, inspectors could only pass 400 feet as fit for use. Keep these +facts and figures in mind when you read about what happened to the +"disloyal" lumber workers during the war-and afterwards.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Mrs. Elmer Smith and Baby Girl</p> + +<p>Mrs. Elmer Smith is the cultured daughter of a Washington judge. Since +Elmer Smith got into trouble many efforts have been made to induce his +wife to leave him. Mrs. Smith prefers, however, to stick with her rebel +lawyer whom she loves and admires.</p></div> + +<p>Discontent had been smouldering in the woods for a long time. It was +soon fanned to a flame by the brazen profiteering of the lumber trust. The +loggers had been biding their time--rather sullenly it is true--for the day +when the wrongs they had endured so patiently and so long might be +rectified. Their quarrel with the lumber interests was an old one. The +time was becoming propitious.</p> + +<p>In the early summer of 1917 the strike started. Sweeping through the +short log country it spread like wild-fire over nearly all the +Northwestern lumber districts. The tie-up was practically complete. The +industry was paralyzed. The lumber trust, its mouth drooling in +anticipation of the many millions it was about to make in profits, +shattered high heaven with its cries of rage. Immediately its loyal +henchmen in the Wilson administration rushed to the rescue. Profiteering +might be condoned, moralized over or winked at, but militant labor +unionism was a menace to the government and the prosecution of the war. It +must be crushed. For was it not treacherous and treasonable for loggers to +strike for living conditions when Uncle Sam needed the wood and the lumber +interests the money? So Woodrow Wilson and his coterie of political +troglodytes from the slave-owning districts of the old South, started out +to teach militant labor a lesson. Corporation lawyers were assembled. +Indictments were made to order. The bloodhounds of the Department of +"Justice" were unleashed. Grand Juries of "patriotic" business men were +impaneled and did their expected work not wisely but too well. All the +gun-men and stool-pigeons of Big Business got busy. And the opera bouffe +of "saving our form of government" was staged.</p> + +<h2>Industrial Heretics and the White Terror</h2> + +<p>For a time it seemed as though the strikers would surely be defeated. +The onslaught was terrific, but the loggers held out bravely. Workers were +beaten and jailed by the hundreds. Men were herded like cattle in +blistering "bull-pens," to be freed after months of misery, looking more +like skeletons than human beings. Ellensburg and Yakima will never be +forgotten in Washington. One logger was even burned to death while locked +in a small iron-barred shack that had been dignified with the title of +"jail." In the Northwest even the military were used and the bayonet of +the soldier could be seen glistening beside the cold steel of the hired +thug. Union halls were raided in all parts of the land. Thousands of +workers were deported. Dozens were tarred and feathered and mobbed. Some +were even taken out in the dead of night and hanged to railway bridges. +Hundreds were convicted of imaginary offenses and sent to prison for terms +from one to twenty years. Scores were held in filthy jails for as long as +twenty-six months awaiting trial. The Espionage Law, which never convicted +a spy, and the Criminal Syndicalism Laws, which never convicted a +criminal, were used savagely and with full force against the workers in +their struggle for better conditions. By means of newspaper-made war +hysteria the profiteers of Big Business entrenched themselves in public +opinion. By posing as "100% Americans" (how stale and trite the phrase has +become from their long misuse of it!) these social parasites sought to +convince the nation that they, and not the truly American unionists whose +backs they were trying to break, were working for the best interests of +the American people. Our form of government, forsooth, must be saved. Our +institutions must be rescued from the clutch of the "reds." Thus was the +war-frenzy of their dupes lashed to madness and the guarantees of the +constitution suspended as far as the working class was concerned.</p> + +<p>So all the good, wise and noisy men of the nation were induced by +diverse means to cry out against the strikers and their union. The worst +passions of the respectable people were appealed to. The hoarse blood-cry +of the mob was raised. It was echoed and re-echoed from press and pulpit. +The very air quivered from its reverberations. Lynching parties became +"respectable." Indictments were flourished. Hand-cuffs flashed. The +clinking feet of workers going to prison rivaled the sound of the soldiers +marching to war. And while all this was happening, a certain paunchy +little English Jew with moth-eaten hair and blotchy jowls the accredited +head of a great labor union glared through his thick spectacles and nodded +his perverse approval. But the lumber trust licked its fat lips and leered +at its swollen dividends. All was well and the world was being made "safe +for democracy!"</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Britt Smith</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 35 years old. Had followed the woods for twenty +years. Smith made his home in the hall that was raided and was secretary +of the Union. When the mob broke into the jail and seized Wesley Everest +to torture and lynch him they cried, "We've got Britt Smith!" Smith was +the man they wanted and it was to break his neck that ropes were carried +in the "parade." Not until Everest's body was brought back to the city +jail was it discovered that the mob had lynched the wrong man.</p></div> + +<h2>Autocracy vs. Unionism</h2> + +<p>This unprecedented struggle was really a test of strength between +industrial autocracy and militant unionism. The former was determined to +restore the palmy days of peonage for all time to come, the latter to +fight to the last ditch in spite of hell and high water. The lumber trust +sought to break the strike of the loggers and destroy their organization. +In the ensuing fracas the lumber barons came out only second best--and they +were bad losers. After the war-fever had died down--one year after the +signing of the Armistice--they were still trying in Centralia to attain +their ignoble ends by means of mob violence.</p> + +<p>But at this time the ranks of the strikers were unbroken. The heads of +the loggers were "bloody but unbowed." Even at last, when compelled to +yield to privation and brute force and return to work, they turned defeat +to victory by "carrying the strike onto the job." As a body they refused +to work more than eight hours. Secretary of War Baker and President Wilson +had both vainly urged the lumber interests to grant the eight hour day. +The determined industrialists gained this demand, after all else had +failed, by simply blowing a whistle when the time was up. Most of their +other demands were won as well. In spite of even the Disque despotism, +mattresses, clean linen and shower baths were reluctantly granted as the +fruits of victory.</p> + +<p>But even as these lines are written the jails and prisons of America +are filled to overflowing with men and women whose only crime is loyalty +to the working class. The war profiteers are still wallowing in luxury. +None has ever been placed behind the bars. Before he was lynched in Butte, +Frank Little had said, "I stand for the solidarity of labor." That was +enough. The vials of wrath were poured on his head for no other reason. +And for no other reason was the hatred of the employing class directed at +the valiant hundreds who now rot in prison for longer terms than those +meted out to felons. William Haywood and Eugene Debs are behind steel bars +today for the same cause. The boys at Centralia were conspired against +because they too stood "for the solidarity of labor." It is simply lying +and camouflage to attempt to trace such persecutions to any other source. +These are things America will be ashamed of when she comes to her senses. +Such gruesome events are paralleled in no country save the Germany of +Kaiser Wilhelm or the Russia of the Czar.</p> + +<p>This picture of labor persecution in free America--terrible but +true--will serve as a background for the dramatic history of the events +leading up to the climactic tragedy at Centralia on Armistice Day, +1919.</p> + +<h2>While in Washington...</h2> + +<p>All over the state of Washington the mobbing, jailing and tar and +feathering of workers continued the order of the day until long after the +cessation of hostilities in Europe. The organization had always urged and +disciplined its members to avoid violence as an unworthy weapon. Usually +the loggers have left their halls to the mercy of the mobs when they knew +a raid was contemplated. Centralia is the one exception. Here the outrages +heaped upon them could be no longer endured.</p> + +<p>In Yakima and Sedro Woolley, among other places in 1918, union men were +stripped of their clothing, beaten with rope ends and hot tar applied to +the bleeding flesh. They were then driven half naked into the woods. A man +was hanged at night in South Montesano about this time and another had +been tarred and feathered. As a rule the men were taken unaware before +being treated in this manner. In one instance a stationary delegate of the +Industrial Workers of the World received word that he was to be +"decorated" and rode out of town on a rail. He slit a pillow open and +placed it in the window with a note attached stating that he knew of the +plan; would be ready for them, and would gladly supply his own feathers. +He did not leave town either on a rail or otherwise.</p> + +<p>In Seattle, Tacoma and many other towns, union halls and print shops +were raided and their contents destroyed or burned. In the former city in +1919, men, women and children were knocked insensible by policemen and +detectives riding up and down the sidewalks in automobiles, striking to +right and left with "billy" and night stick as they went. These were +accompanied by auto trucks filled with hidden riflemen and an armored tank +bristling with machine guns. A peaceable meeting of union men was being +dispersed.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Loren Roberts</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 19 years old. Loren's mother said of him at the +trial: "Loren was a good boy, he brought his money home regularly for +three years. After his father took sick he was the only support for his +father and me and the three younger ones." The father was a sawyer in a +mill and died of tuberculosis after an accident had broken his strength. +This boy, the weakest of the men on trial, was driven insane by the +unspeakable "third degree" administered in the city jail. One of the +lumber trust lawyers was in the jail at the time Roberts signed his +so-called "confession." "Tell him to quit stalling," said a prosecutor to +Vanderveer, when Roberts left the witness stand. "You cur!" replied the +defense attorney in a low voice, "you know who is responsible for this +boy's condition." Roberts was one of the loggers on Seminary Hill.</p></div> + +<p>In Centralia, Aberdeen and Montesano, in Grays Harbor County, the +struggle was more local but not less intense. No fewer than twenty-five +loggers on different occasions were taken from their beds at night and +treated to tar and feathers. A great number were jailed for indefinite +periods on indefinite charges. As an additional punishment these were +frequently locked in their cells and the fire hose played on their +drenched and shivering bodies. "Breech of jail discipline" was the reason +given for this "cruel and unusual" form of lumber trust punishment.</p> + +<p>In Aberdeen and Montesano there were several raids and many +deportations of the tar and feather variety. In Aberdeen in the fall of +1917 during a "patriotic" parade, the battered hall of the union loggers +was again forcibly entered in the absence of its owners. Furniture, office +fixtures, Victrola and books were dumped into the street and destroyed. In +the town of Centralia, about a year before the tragedy, the Union +Secretary was kidnapped and taken into the woods by a mob of well dressed +business men. He was made to "run the gauntlet" and severely beaten. There +was a strong sentiment in favor of lynching him on the spot, but one of +the mob objected saying it would be "too raw." The victim was then +escorted to the outskirts of the city and warned not to return under pain +of usual penalty. On more than one occasion loggers who had expressed +themselves in favor of the Industrial Workers of the World, were found in +the morning dangling from trees in the neighborhood. No explanation but +that of "suicide" was ever offered. The whole story of the atrocities +perpetrated during these days of the White Terror, in all probability, +will never be published. The criminals are all well known but their +influence is too powerful to ever make it expedient to expose their +crimes. Besides, who would care to get a gentleman in trouble for killing +a mere "Wobbly"? The few instances noted above will, however, give the +reader some slight idea of the gruesome events that were leading +inevitably to that grim day in Centralia in November, 1919.</p> + +<h2>Weathering the Storm</h2> + +<p>Through it all the industrialists clung to their Red Cards and to the +One Big Union for which they had sacrificed so much. Time after time, with +incomparable patience, they would refurnish and reopen their beleaguered +halls, heal up the wounds of rope, tar or "billy" and proceed with the +work of organization as though nothing had happened. With union cards or +credentials hidden in their heavy shoes they would meet secretly in the +woods at night. Here they would consult about members who had been mobbed, +jailed or killed, about caring for their families--if they had any--about +carrying on the work of propaganda and laying plans for the future +progress of their union. Perhaps they would take time to chant a rebel +song or two in low voices. Then, back on the job again to "line up the +slaves for the New Society!"</p> + +<p>Through a veritable inferno of torment and persecution these men had +refused to be driven from the woods or to give up their union--the +Industrial Workers of the World. Between the two dreadful alternatives of +peonage or persecution they chose the latter--and the lesser. Can you +imagine what their peonage must have been like?</p> + +<h2>Sinister Centralia</h2> + +<p>But Centralia was destined to be the scene of the most dramatic portion +of the struggle between the entrenched interests and the union loggers. +Here the long persecuted industrialists made a stand for their lives and +fought to defend their own, thus giving the glib-tongued lawyers of the +prosecution the opportunity of accusing them of "wantonly murdering +unoffending paraders" on Armistice Day.</p> + +<p>Centralia in appearance is a creditable small American city--the kind +of city smug people show their friends with pride from the rose-scented +tranquility of a super-six in passage. The streets are wide and clean, the +buildings comfortable, the lawns and shade trees attractive. Centralia is +somewhat of a coquette but she is as sinister and cowardly as she is +pretty. There is a shudder lurking in every corner and a nameless fear +sucks the sweetness out of every breeze. Song birds warble at the +outskirts of the town but one is always haunted by the cries of the human +beings who have been tortured and killed within her confines.</p> + +<p>A red-faced business man motors leisurely down the wet street. He +shouts a laughing greeting to a well dressed group at the curb who respond +in kind. But the roughly dressed lumberworkers drop their glances in +passing one another. The Fear is always upon them. As these lines are +written several hundred discontented shingle-weavers are threatened with +deportation if they dare to strike. They will not strike, for they know +too well the consequences. The man-hunt of a few months ago is not +forgotten and the terror of it grips their hearts whenever they think of +opposing the will of the Moloch that dominates their every move.</p> + +<p>Around Centralia are wooded hills; men have been beaten beneath them +and lynched from their limbs. The beautiful Chehalis River flows near by; +Wesley Everest was left dangling from one of its bridges. But Centralia is +provokingly pretty for all that. It is small wonder that the lumber trust +and its henchmen wish to keep it all for themselves.</p> + +<p>Well tended roads lead in every direction, bordered with clearings of +worked out camps and studded with occasional tree stumps of great age and +truly prodigious size. At intervals are busy saw mills with thousands of +feet of odorous lumber piled up in orderly rows. In all directions +stretches the pillared immensity of the forests. The vistas through the +trees seen enchanted rather than real--unbelievable green and of form and +depth that remind one of painted settings for a Maeterlinck fable rather +than matter-of-fact timber land.</p> + +<h2>The High Priests of Labor Hatred</h2> + +<p>Practically all of this land is controlled by the trusts; much of it by +the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, of which F.B. Hubbard is the head. +The strike of 1917 almost ruined this worthy gentleman. He has always been +a strong advocate of the open shop, but during the last few years he has +permitted his rabid labor-hatred to reach the point of fanaticism. This +Hubbard figures prominently in Centralia's business, social and mob +circles. He is one of the moving spirits in the Centralia conspiracy. The +Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, besides large tracts of land, owns +saw-mills, coal mines and a railway. The Centralia newspapers are its +mouthpieces while the Chamber of Commerce and the Elks' Club are its +general headquarters. The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is its local +citadel of power. In charge of this bank is a sinister character, one +Uhlman, a German of the old school and a typical Prussian junker. At one +time he was an officer in the German army but at present is a "100% +American"--an easy metamorphosis for a Prussian in these days. His native +born "brother-at-arms" is George Dysart whose son led the posses in the +man-hunt that followed the shooting. In Centralia this bank and its Hun +dictator dominates the financial, political and social activities of the +community. Business men, lawyers, editors, doctors and local authorities +all kow-tow to the institution and its Prussian president. And woe be to +any who dare do otherwise! The power of the "interests" is a vengeful +power and will have no other power before it. Even the mighty arm of the +law becomes palsied in its presence.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Lumberworkers Union Hall, Raided in 1918</p> + +<p>The first of the two halls to be wrecked by Centralia's terrorists. +This picture was not permitted to be introduced as evidence of the +conspiracy to raid the new hall. Judge Wilson didn't want the jury to know +anything about this event.</p></div> + +<p>The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is the local instrumentality of the +invisible government that holds the nation in its clutch. Kaiser Uhlman +has more influence than the city mayor and more power than the police +force. The law has always been a little thing to him and his clique. The +inscription on the shield of this bank is said to read "To hell with the +Constitution; this is Lewis County." As events will show, this inspiring +maxim has been faithfully adhered to. One of the mandates of this +delectable nest of highbinders is that no headquarters of the Union of the +lumber workers shall ever be permitted within the sacred precincts of the +city of Centralia.</p> + +<h2>The Loved and Hated Union Hall</h2> + +<p>Now the loggers, being denied the luxury of home and family life, have +but three places they can call "home." The bunkhouse in the camp, the +cheap rooming house in town and the Union Hall. This latter is by far the +best loved of all. It is here the men can gather around a crackling wood +fire, smoke their pipes and warm their souls with the glow of comradeship. +Here they can, between jobs or after work, discuss the vicissitudes of +their daily lives, read their books and magazines and sing their songs of +solidarity, or merely listen to the "tinned" humor or harmony of the +much-prized Victrola. Also they here attend to affairs of their +Union--line up members, hold business and educational meetings and a +weekly "open forum." Once in awhile a rough and wholesome "smoker" is +given. The features of this great event are planned for weeks in advance +and sometimes talked about for months afterwards.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Scene of the Armistice Day Tragedy</p> + +<p>This is what was left of the Union hall the loggers tried to defend on +November 11th. Three of the raiders, Grimm, McElfresh and Cassagranda, +were killed in the immediate vicinity of the doorway. Several others were +wounded while attempting to rush the doors.</p></div> + +<p>These halls are at all times open to the public and inducements are +made to get workers to come in and read a thoughtful treatise on +Industrial questions. The latch-string is always out for people who care +to listen to a lecture on economics or similar subjects. Inside the hall +there is usually a long reading-table littered with books, magazines or +papers. In a rack or case at the wall are to be found copies of the +"Seattle Union Record," "The Butte Daily Bulletin," "The New Solidarity," +"The Industrial Worker," "The Liberator," "The New Republic" and "The +Nation." Always there is a shelf of thumb-worn books on history, science, +economics and socialism. On the walls are lithographs or engravings of +noted champions of the cause of Labor, a few photographs of local interest +and the monthly Bulletins and Statements of the Union. Invariably there is +a blackboard with jobs, wages and hours written in chalk for the benefit +of men seeking employment. There are always a number of chairs in the room +and a roll top desk for the secretary. Sometimes at the end of the hall is +a plank rostrum--a modest altar to the Goddess of Free Speech and open +discussion. This is what the loved and hated I.W.W. Halls are like--the +halls that have been raided and destroyed by the hundreds during the last +three years.</p> + +<p>Remember, too, that in each of these raids the union men were not the +aggressors and that there was never any attempt at reprisal. In spite of +the fact that the lumber workers were within their legal right to keep +open their halls and to defend them from felonious attack, it had never +happened until November 11, that active resistance was offered the +marauders. This fact alone speaks volumes for the long-suffering patience +of the logger and for his desire to settle his problems by peaceable means +wherever possible. But the Centralia raid was the straw that broke the +camel's back. The lumber trust went a little too far on this occasion and +it got the surprise of its life. Four of its misguided dupes paid for +their lawlessness with their lives, and a number of others were wounded. +There has not since been a raid on a union hall in the Northwestern +District.</p> + +<p>It is well that workingmen and women throughout the country should +understand the truth about the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia and the +circumstances that led up to it. But in order to know why the hall was +raided it is necessary first to understand why this, and all similar +halls, are hated by the oligarchies of the woods.</p> + +<p>The issue contested is whether the loggers have the right to organize +themselves into a union, or whether they must remain chattels--mere hewers +of wood and helpless in the face of the rapacity of their industrial +overlords--or whether they have the right to keep open their halls and +peacefully to conduct the affairs of their union. The lumber workers +contend that they are entitled by law to do these things and the employers +assert that, law or no law, they shall not do so. In other words, it is a +question of whether labor organization shall retain its foothold in the +lumber industry or be "driven from the woods."</p> + +<h2>Pioneers of Unionism</h2> + +<p>It is hard for workers in most of the other industries--especially in +the East--to understand the problems, struggles and aspirations of the +husky and unconquerable lumber workers of the Northwest. The reason is +that the average union man takes his union for granted. He goes to his +union meetings, discusses the affairs of his craft, industry or class, and +he carries his card--all as a matter of course. It seldom enters his mind +that the privileges and benefits that surround him and the protection he +enjoys are the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the nameless +thousands of pioneers that cleared the way. But these unknown heroes of +the great struggle of the classes did precede him with their loyal hearts +and strong hands; otherwise workers now organized would have to start the +long hard battle at the beginning and count their gains a step at a time, +just as did the early champions of industrial organization, or as the +loggers of the West Coast are now doing.</p> + +<p>The working class owes all honor and respect to the first men who +planted the standard of labor solidarity on the hostile frontier of +unorganized industry. They were the men who made possible all things that +came after and all things that are still to come. They were the trail +blazers. It is easier to follow them than to have gone before them--or +with them. They established the outposts of unionism in the wilderness of +Industrial autocracy. Their voices were the first to proclaim the burning +message of Labor's power, of Labor's mission and of Labor's ultimate +emancipation. Their breasts were the first to receive the blows of the +enemy; their unprotected bodies were shielding the countless thousands to +follow. They were the forerunners of the solidarity of Toil. They fought +in a good and great cause; for without solidarity, Labor would have +attained nothing yesterday, gained nothing today nor dare to hope for +anything tomorrow.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Seminary Hall</p> + +<p>The Union hall looks out on this hill, with Tower avenue and an alley +between. It is claimed that loggers, among others Loren Roberts, Bert +Bland and the missing Ole Hanson, fired at the attacking mob from this +position.</p></div> + +<h2>The Block House and the Union Hall</h2> + +<p>In the Northwest today the rebel lumberjack is a pioneer. Just as our +fathers had to face the enmity of the Indians, so are these men called +upon to face the fury of the predatory interests that have usurped the +richest timber resources of the richest nation in the world. Just outside +Centralia stands a weatherbeaten landmark. It is an old, brown dilapidated +block house of early days. In many ways it reminds one of the battered and +wrecked union halls to be found in the heart of the city.</p> + +<p>The evolution of industry has replaced the block house with the union +hall as the embattled center of assault and defense. The weapons are no +longer the rifle and the tomahawk but the boycott and the strike. The +frontier is no longer territorial but industrial. The new struggle is as +portentous as the old. The stakes are larger and the warfare even more +bitter.</p> + +<p>The painted and be-feathered scalp-hunter of the Sioux or Iroquois were +not more heartless in maiming, mutilating and killing their victims than +the "respectable" profit-hunters of today--the type of men who conceived +the raid on the Union Hall in Centralia on Armistice Day--and who +fiendishly tortured and hanged Wesley Everest for the crime of defending +himself from their inhuman rage. It seems incredible that such deeds could +be possible in the twentieth century. It is incredible to those who have +not followed in the bloody trail of the lumber trust and who are not +familiar with its ruthlessness, its greed and its lust for power.</p> + +<p>As might be expected the I.W.W. Halls in Washington were hated by the +lumber barons with a deep and undying hatred. Union halls were a standing +challenge to their hitherto undisputed right to the complete domination of +the forests. Like the blockhouses of early days, these humble meeting +places were the outposts of a new and better order planted in the +stronghold of the old. And they were hated accordingly. The thieves who +had invaded the resources of the nation had long ago seized the woods and +still held them in a grip of steel. They were not going to tolerate the +encroachments of the One Big Union of the lumber workers. Events will +prove that they did not hesitate at anything to achieve their +purposes.</p> + +<h2>The First Centralia Hall</h2> + +<p>In the year 1918 a union hall stood on one of the side streets in +Centralia. It was similar to the halls that have just been described. This +was not, however, the hall in which the Armistice Day tragedy took place. +You must always remember that there were two halls raided in Centralia; +one in 1918 and another in 1919. The loggers did not defend the first hall +and many of them were manhandled by the mob that wrecked it. The loggers +did defend the second and were given as reward a hanging, a speedy, fair +and impartial conviction and sentences of from 25 to 40 years. No member +of the mob has ever been punished or even taken to task for this misdeed. +Their names are known to everybody. They kiss their wives and babies at +night and go to church on Sundays. People tip their hats to them on the +street. Yet they are a greater menace to the institutions of this country +than all the "reds" in the land. In a world where Mammon is king the king +can do no wrong. But the question of "right" or "wrong" did not concern +the lumber interests when they raided the Union hall in 1918. "Yes, we +raided the hall, what are you going to do about it," is the position they +take in the matter.</p> + +<p>During the 1917 strike the two lumber trust papers in Centralia, the +"Hub" and the "Chronicle" were bitter in their denunciation of the +strikers. Repeatedly they urged that most drastic and violent measures be +taken by the authorities and "citizens" to break the strike, smash the +union and punish the strikers. The war-frenzy was at its height and these +miserable sheets went about their work like Czarist papers inciting a +pogrom. The lumber workers were accused of "disloyalty," "treason," +"anarchy"--anything that would tend to make their cause unpopular. The +Abolitionists were spoken about in identical terms before the civil war. +As soon as the right atmosphere for their crime had been created the +employers struck and struck hard.</p> + +<p>It was in April, 1918. Like many other cities in the land Centralia was +conducting a Red Cross drive. Among the features of this event were a +bazaar and a parade.</p> + +<p>The profits of the lumber trust were soaring to dizzy heights at this +time and their patriotism was proportionately exalted.</p> + +<p>There was the usual brand of hypocritical and fervid speechmaking. The +flag was waved, the Government was lauded and the Constitution praised. +Then, after the war-like proclivities of the stay-at-home heroes had been +sufficiently worked upon; flag, Government and Constitution were forgotten +long enough for the gang to go down the street and raid the "wobbly" +hall.</p> + +<p>Dominating the festivities was the figure of F.B. Hubbard, at that time +President of the Employers' Association of the State of Washington. This +is neither Hubbard's first nor last appearance as a terrorist and +mob-leader--usually behind the scenes, however, or putting in a last +minute appearance.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Avalon Hotel, Centralia</p> + +<p>From this point Elsie Hornbeck claimed she identified Eugene Barnett in +the open window with a rifle. Afterwards she admitted that her +identification was based only on a photograph shown her by the +prosecution. This young lady nearly fainted on the witness stand while +trying to patch her absurd story together.</p></div> + +<h2>The 1918 Raid</h2> + +<p>It had been rumored about town that the Union Hall was to be wrecked on +this day but the loggers at the hall were of the opinion that the business +men, having driven their Secretary out of town a short time previously, +would not dare to perpetrate another atrocity so soon afterwards. In this +they were sadly mistaken.</p> + +<p>Down the street marched the parade, at first presenting no unusual +appearance. The Chief of Police, the Mayor and the Governor of the State +were given places of honor at the head of the procession. Company G of the +National Guard and a gang of broad-cloth hoodlums disguised as "Elks" made +up the main body of the marchers. But the crafty and unscrupulous Hubbard +had laid his plans in advance with characteristic cunning. The parade, +like a scorpion, carried its sting in the rear.</p> + +<p>Along the main avenue went the guardsmen and the gentlemen of the Elks +Club. So far nothing extraordinary had happened. Then the procession +swerved to a side street. This must be the right thing for the line of +march had been arranged by the Chamber of Commerce itself. A couple of +blocks more and the parade had reached the intersection of First Street +and Tower Avenue. What happened then the Mayor and Chief of Police +probably could not have stopped even had the Governor himself ordered them +to do so. From somewhere in the line of march a voice cried out, "Let's +raid the I.W.W. Hall!" And the crowd at the tail end of the procession +broke ranks and leaped to their work with a will.</p> + +<p>In a short time the intervening block that separated them from the +Union Hall was covered. The building was stormed with clubs and stones. +Every window was shattered and every door was smashed, the very sides of +the building were torn off by the mob in its blind fury. Inside the +rioters tore down the partitions and broke up chairs and pictures. The +union men were surrounded, beaten and driven to the street where they were +forced to watch furniture, records, typewriter and literature demolished +and burned before their eyes. An American flag hanging in the hall, was +torn down and destroyed. A Victrola and a desk were carried to the street +with considerable care. The former was auctioned off on the spot for the +benefit of the Red Cross. James Churchill, owner of a glove factory, won +the machine. He still boasts of its possession. The desk was appropriated +by F.B. Hubbard himself. This was turned over to an expressman and carted +to the Chamber of Commerce. A small boy picked up the typewriter case and +started to take it to a nearby hotel office. One of the terrorists +detected the act and gave warning. The mob seized the lad, took him to a +nearby light pole and threatened to lynch him if he did not tell them +where books and papers were secreted which somebody said had been carried +away by him. The boy denied having done this, but the hoodlums went into +the hotel, ransacked and overturned everything. Not finding what they +wanted, they left a notice that the proprietor would have to take the sign +down from his building in just twenty-four hours. Then the mob surged +around the unfortunate men who had been found in the Union hall. With +cuffs and blows these were dragged to waiting trucks where they were +lifted by the ears to the body of the machine and knocked prostrate one at +a time. Sometimes a man would be dropped to the ground just after he had +been lifted from his feet. Here he would lay with ear drums bursting and +writhing from the kicks and blows that had been freely given. Like all +similar mobs this one carried ropes, which were placed about the necks of +the loggers. "Here's and I.W.W." yelled someone. "What shall we do with +him?" A cry was given to "lynch him!" Some were taken to the city jail and +the rest were dumped unceremoniously on the other side of the county +line.</p> + +<p>Since that time the wrecked hall has remained tenantless and +unrepaired. Grey and gaunt like a house in battle-scarred Belgium, it +stands a mute testimony of the labor-hating ferocity of the lumber trust. +Repeated efforts have since been made to destroy the remains with fire. +The defense had tried without avail to introduce a photograph of the ruin +as evidence to prove that the second hall was raided in a similar manner +on Armistice Day, 1919. Judge Wilson refused to permit the jury to see +either the photographs or the hall. But in case of another trial...?</p> + +<p>Evidently the lumber trust thought it better to have all traces of its +previous crime obliterated.</p> + +<p>The raid of 1918 did not weaken the lumber workers' Union in Centralia. +On the contrary it served to strengthen it. But not until more than a year +had passed were the loggers able to establish a new headquarters. This +hall was located next door to the Roderick Hotel on Tower Avenue, between +Second and Third Streets. Hardly was this hall opened when threats were +circulated by the Chamber of Commerce that it, like the previous one, was +marked for destruction. The business element was lined up solid in +denunciation of and opposition to the Union Hall and all that it stood +for. But other anti-labor matters took up their attention and it was some +time before the second raid was actually accomplished.</p> + +<p>There was one rift in the lute of lumber trust solidarity in Centralia. +Business and professional men had long been groveling in sycophantic +servility at the feet of "the clique." There was only one notable +exception.</p> + +<h2>A Lawyer--and a Man</h2> + +<p>A young lawyer had settled in the city a few years previous to the +Armistice Day tragedy. Together with his parents and four brothers he had +left his home in Minnesota to seek fame and fortune in the woods of +Washington. He had worked his way through McAlester College and the Law +School of the University of Minnesota. He was young, ambitious, red-headed +and husky, a loving husband and the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. +Nature had endowed him with a dangerous combination of gifts,--a brilliant +mind and a kind heart. His name was just plain Smith--Elmer Smith--and he +came from the old rugged American stock.</p> + +<p>Smith started to practice law in Centralia, but unlike his brother +attorneys, he held to the assumption that all men are equal under the +law--even the hated I.W.W. In a short time his brilliant mind and kind +heart had won him as much hatred from the lumber barons as love from the +down-trodden,--which is saying a good deal. The "interests" studied the +young lawyer carefully for awhile and soon decided that he could be +neither bullied or bought. So they determined to either break his spirit +or to break his neck. Smith is at present in prison charged with murder. +This is how it happened:</p> + +<p>Smith established his office in the First Guarantee Bank Building which +was quite the proper thing to do. Then he began to handle law suits for +wage-earners, which was altogether the reverse. Caste rules in Centralia, +and Elmer Smith was violating its most sacred mandataries by giving the +"working trash" the benefit of his talents instead of people really worth +while.</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm, who was afterwards shot while trying to break into the +Union Hall with the mob, once cautioned Smith of the folly and danger of +such a course. "You'll get along all right," said he, "if you will come in +with us." Then he continued:</p> + +<p>"How would you feel if one of your clients would come up to you in +public, slap you on the back and say 'Hello, Elmer?'"</p> + +<p>"Very proud," answered the young lawyer.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Elmer Smith</p> + +<p>Attorney at law. Old American stock--born on a homestead in North +Dakota. By championing the cause of the "under-dog" in Centralia Smith +brought down on himself the wrath of the lumber trust. He defended many +union men in the courts, and at one time sought to prosecute the +kidnappers of Tom Lassiter. Smith is the man Warren O. Grimm told would +get along all right, "if you come in with us." He bucked the lumber trust +instead and landed in prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Smith was +found "not guilty" by the jury, but immediately re-arrested on practically +the same charge. He is not related to Britt Smith.</p> + +<p class="title">Wesley Everest</p> + +<p>Logger. American (old Washington pioneer stock). Joined the Industrial +Workers of the World in 1917. A returned soldier. Earnest, sincere, quiet, +he was the "Jimmy Higgins" of the Centralia branch of the Lumberworkers +Union. Everest was mistaken for Britt Smith, the Union secretary, whom the +mob had started out to lynch. He was pursued by a gang of terrorists and +unmercifully manhandled. Later--at night--he was taken from the city jail +and hanged to a bridge. In the automobile, on the way to the lynching, he +was unsexed by a human fiend--a well known Centralia business man--who +used a razor on his helpless victim. Even the lynchers were forced to +admit that Everest was the most "dead game" man they had ever seen.</p></div> + +<p>Some months previous Smith had taken a case for an I.W.W. logger. He +won it. Other cases in which workers needed legal advice came to him. He +took them. A young girl was working at the Centralia "Chronicle." She was +receiving a weekly wage of three dollars which is in defiance of the +minimum wage law of the state for women. Smith won the case. Also he +collected hundreds of dollars in back wages for workers whom the companies +had sought to defraud. Workers in the clutches of loan sharks were +extricated by means of the bankruptcy laws, hitherto only used by their +masters. An automobile firm was making a practice of replacing Ford +engines with old ones when a machine was brought in for repairs. One of +the victims brought his case to Smith. and a lawsuit followed. This was an +unheard-of proceeding, for heretofore such little business tricks had been +kept out of court by common understanding.</p> + +<p>A worker, formerly employed by a subsidiary of the Eastern Lumber & +Railway Company, had been deprived of his wages on a technicality of the +law by the corporation attorneys. This man had a large family and hard +circumstances were forced upon them by this misfortune. One of his little +girls died from what the doctor called malnutrition--plain starvation. +Smith filed suit and openly stated that the lawyers of the corporation +were responsible for the death of the child. The indignation of the +business and professional element blazed to white heat. A suit for libel +and disbarment proceedings were started against him. Nothing could be done +in this direction as Smith had not only justice but the law on his side. +His enemies were waiting with great impatience for a more favorable +opportunity to strike him down. Open threats were beginning to be heard +against him.</p> + +<p>A Union lecturer came to town. The meeting was well attended. A +vigilance committee of provocateurs and business men was in the audience. +At the close of the lecture those gentlemen started to pass the signal for +action. Elmer Smith sauntered down the aisle, shook hands with the speaker +and told him he would walk to the train with him.</p> + +<p>The following morning the door to Smith's office was ornamented with a +cardboard sign. It read: "Are you an American? You had better say so. +Citizens' Committee." This was lettered in lead pencil. Across the bottom +were scrawled these words: "No more I.W.W. meetings for you."</p> + +<p>In 1918 an event occurred which served further to tighten the noose +about the stubborn neck of the young lawyer. On this occasion the +terrorists of the city perpetrated another shameful crime against the +working class--and the law.</p> + +<h2>Blind Tom--A Blemish on America</h2> + +<p>Tom Lassiter made his living by selling newspapers at a little stand on +a street corner. Tom is blind, a good soul and well liked by the loggers. +But Tom has vision enough to see that there is something wrong with the +hideous capitalist system we live under; and so he kept papers on sale +that would help enlighten the workers. Among these were the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Industrial Worker" and "Solidarity." To put it plainly, Tom +was a thorn in the side of the local respectability because of his modest +efforts to make people thing. And his doom had also been sealed.</p> + +<p>Early in June the newsstand was broken into and all his clothing, +literature and little personal belongings were taken to a vacant lot and +burned. A warning sign was left on a short pole stuck in the ashes. The +message, "You leave town in 24 hours, U.S. Soldiers, Sailors and Marines," +was left on the table in his room.</p> + +<p>With true Wobbly determination, Lassiter secured a new stock of papers +and immediately re-opened his little stand. About this time a Centralia +business man, J.H. Roberts by name, was heard to say "This man (Lassiter) +is within his legal rights and if we can't do anything by law we'll take +the law into our own hands." This is precisely what happened.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of June 30th, Blind Tom was crossing Tower Avenue with +hesitating steps when, without warning, two business men seized his +groping arms and yelled in his ear, "We'll get you out of town this time!" +Lassiter called for help. The good Samaritan came along in the form of a +brute-faced creature known as W.R. Patton, a rich property owner of the +city. This Christian gentleman sneaked up behind the blind man and lunged +him forcibly into a waiting Oakland automobile. The machine is owned by +Cornelius McIntyre who is said to have been one of the kidnapping +party.</p> + +<p>"Shut up or I'll smash your mouth so you can't yell," said one of his +assailants as Lassiter was forced, still screaming for help, into the car. +Turning to the driver one of the party said, "Step on her and let's get +out of here." About this time Constable Luther Patton appeared on the +scene. W.R. Patton walked over to where the constable stood and shouted to +the bystanders, "We'll arrest the first person that objects, interferes or +gets too loud."</p> + +<p>"A good smash on the jaw would do more good," suggested the +kind-hearted official.</p> + +<p>"Well, we got that one pretty slick and now there are two more we have +to get," stated W.R. Patton, a short time afterwards.</p> + +<p>Blind Tom was dropped helpless in a ditch just over the county line. He +was picked up by a passing car and eventually made his way to Olympia, +capital of the state. In about a week he was back in Centralia. But before +he could again resume his paper selling he was arrested on a charge of +"criminal syndicalism." He is now awaiting conviction at Chehalis.</p> + +<p>Before his arrest, however, Lassiter engaged Elmer Smith as his +attorney. Smith appealed to County Attorney Herman Allen for protection +for his client. After a half-hearted effort to locate the kidnappers--who +were known to everybody--this official gave up the task saying he was "Too +busy to bother with the affair, and, besides, the offense was only 'third +degree assault' which is punishable with a fine of but one dollar and +costs." The young lawyer did not waste any more time with the County +authorities. Instead he secured sworn statements of the facts in the case +and submitted them to the Governor. These were duly acknowledged and +placed on file in Olympia. But up to date no action has been taken by the +executive to prosecute the criminals who committed the crime.</p> + +<p>"Handle these I.W.W. cases if you want to," said a local attorney to +Elmer Smith, counsel for one of the banks, "but sooner or later they're +all going to be hanged or deported anyway."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Where Barnett's Rifle Was Supposed to Have Been Found</p> + +<p>Eugene Barnett was said to have left his rifle under this sign-board as +he fled from the scene of the shooting. It would have been much easier to +hide a gun in the tall brush in the foreground. In reality Barnett did not +have a rifle on November 11th and was never within a mile of this place. +Prosecutor Cunningham said he had "been looking all over for that rifle" +when it was turned over to him by a stool pigeon. Strangely enough +Cunningham knew the number of the gun before he placed hands on it.</p></div> + +<p>Smith was feathering a nest for himself--feathering it with steel and +stone and a possible coil of hempen rope. The shadow of the prison bars +was falling blacker on his red head with every passing moment. His +fearless championing of the cause of the "under dog" had won him the +implacable hatred of his own class. To them his acts of kindness and +humanity were nothing less than treason. Smith had been ungrateful to the +clique that had offered him every inducement to "come in with us". A +lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a working man with his brains. +Elmer Smith would be punished all right; it would just be a matter of +time.</p> + +<p>The indifference of the County and State authorities regarding the +kidnapping of blind Tom gave the terrorists renewed confidence in the +efficacy and "legality" of their methods. Also it gave them a hint as to +the form their future depredations were to take. And so, with the implied +approval of everyone worth considering, they went about their plotting +with still greater determination and a soothing sense of security.</p> + +<h2>The Conspiracy Develops</h2> + +<p>The cessation of hostilities in Europe deprived the gangsters of the +cloak of "patriotism" as a cover for their crimes. But this cloak was too +convenient to be discarded so easily. "Let the man in uniform do it" was +an axiom that had been proved both profitable and safe. Then came the +organization of the local post of the American Legion and the now famous +Citizen's Protective League--of which more afterwards.</p> + +<p>With the signing of the Armistice, and the consequent almost +imperceptible lifting of the White Terror that dominated the country, the +organization of the loggers began daily to gather strength. The Chamber of +Commerce began to growl menacingly, the Employers' Association to threaten +and the lumber trust papers to incite open violence. And the American +Legion began to function as a "cats paw" for the men behind the +scenes.</p> + +<p>Why should the beautiful city of Centralia tolerate the hated Union +hall any longer? Other halls had been raided, men had been tarred and +feathered and deported--no one had ever been punished! Why should the good +citizens of Centralia endure a lumberworkers headquarters and their +despised union itself right in the midst of their peaceful community? Why +indeed! The matter appeared simple enough from any angle. So then and +there the conspiracy was hatched that resulted in the tragedy on Armistice +Day. But the forces at work to bring about this unhappy conclusion were +far from local. Let us see what these were like before the actual details +of the conspiracy are recounted.</p> + +<p>There were three distinct phases of this campaign to "rid the woods of +the agitators." These three phases dovetail together perfectly. Each one +is a perfect part of a shrewdly calculated and mercilessly executed +conspiracy to commit constructive murder and unlawful entry. The +diabolical plan itself was designed to brush aside the laws of the land, +trample the Constitution underfoot and bring about an unparalleled orgy of +unbridled labor hatred and labor repression that would settle the question +of unionism for a long time.</p> + +<h2>The Conspiracy--And a Snag</h2> + +<p>First of all comes the propaganda stage with the full force of the +editorial virulence of the trust-controlled newspapers directed against +labor in favor of "law and order," i.e., the lumber interests. All the +machinery of newspaper publicity was used to vilify the lumber worker and +to discredit his Union. Nothing was left unsaid that would tend to produce +intolerance and hatred or to incite mob violence. This is not only true of +Centralia, but of all the cities and towns located in the lumber district. +Centralia happened to be the place where the tree of anti-labor propaganda +first bore its ghastly fruit. Space does not permit us to quote the +countless horrible things the I.W.W. was supposed to stand for and to be +constantly planning to do. Statements from the lips of General Wood and +young Roosevelt to the effect that citizens should not argue with +Bolshevists but meet them "head on" were very conspicuously displayed on +all occasions. Any addle-headed mediocrity, in or out of uniform, who had +anything particularly atrocious to say against the labor movement in +general or the "radicals" in particular, was afforded every opportunity to +do so. The papers were vying with one another in devising effectual, if +somewhat informal, means of dealing with the "red menace."</p> + +<p>Supported by, and partly the result of this barrage of lies, +misrepresentation and incitation, came the period of attempted repression +by "law". This was probably the easiest thing of all because the grip of +Big Business upon the law-making and law-enforcing machinery of the nation +is incredible. At all events a state's "criminal syndicalism law" had been +conveniently passed and was being applied vigorously against union men, +A.F. of L. and I.W.W. alike, but chiefly against the Lumber Workers' +Industrial Union, No. 500, of the Industrial Workers of the World, the +basic lumber industry being the largest in the Northwest and the growing +power of the organized lumberjack being therefore more to be feared.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">His Uncle Planned It</p> + +<p>Dale Hubbard, killed in self-defense by Wesley Everest, Armistice Day, +1919. F. Hubbard, a lumber baron and uncle of the dead man, is held to +have been the instigator of the plot in which his nephew was shot. Hubbard +was martyrized by the lumber trust's determination "to let the men in +uniform do it."</p></div> + +<p>No doubt the lumber interests had great hope that the execution of +these made-to-order laws would clear up the atmosphere so far as the +lumber situation was concerned. But they were doomed to a cruel and +surprising disappointment.</p> + +<p>A number of arrests were made in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and +even Nevada. Fifty or sixty men all told were arrested and their trials +rushed as test cases. During this period from April 25th to October 28th, +1919, the lumber trust saw with chagrin and dismay each of the state cases +in turn either won outright by the defendants or else dismissed in the +realization that it would be impossible to win them. By October 28th +George F. Vanderveer, chief attorney for the defense, declared there were +not a single member of the I.W.W. in custody in Washington, Idaho or +Montana under this charge. In Seattle, Washington, an injunction was +obtained restraining the mayor from closing down the new Union hall in +that city under the new law. Thus it appeared that the nefarious plan of +the employers and their subservient lawmaking adjuncts, to outlaw the +lumber workers Union and to penalize the activities of its members, was to +be doomed to an ignominious failure.</p> + +<h2>Renewed Efforts--Legal and Otherwise</h2> + +<p>Furious at the realization of their own impotency the "interests" +launched forth upon a new campaign. This truly machiavellian scheme was +devised to make it impossible for accused men to secure legal defense of +any kind. All labor cases were to be tried simultaneously, thus making it +impossible for the defendants to secure adequate counsel. George F. +Russell, Secretary-Manager of the Washington Employers' Association, +addressed meetings over the state urging all Washington Prosecuting +Attorneys to organize that this end might be achieved. It is reported that +Governor Hart, of Washington, looked upon the scheme with favor when it +was brought to his personal attention by Mr. Russell.</p> + +<p>However, the fact remains that the lumber trust was losing and that it +would have to devise even more drastic measures if it were to hope to +escape the prospect of a very humiliating defeat. And, all the while the +organization of the lumber workers continued to grow.</p> + +<p>In Washington the situation was becoming more tense, momentarily. Many +towns in the heart of the lumber district had passed absurd criminal +syndicalism ordinances. These prohibited membership in the I.W.W.; made it +unlawful to rent premises to the organization or to circulate its +literature. The Employers' Association had boasted that it was due to its +efforts that these ordinances had been passed. But still they were faced +with the provocative and unforgettable fact, that the I.W.W. was no more +dead than the cat with the proverbial nine lives. Where halls had been +closed or raided the lumber workers were transacting their union affairs +right on the job or in the bunkhouses, just as though nothing had +happened. What was more deplorable a few Union halls were still open and +doing business at the same old stand. Centralia was one of these; drastic +measures must be applied at once or loggers in other localities might be +encouraged to open halls also. As events prove these measures were +taken--and they were drastic.</p> + +<h2>The Employers Show Their Fangs</h2> + +<p>That the Employers' Association was assiduously preparing its members +for action suitable for the situation is evidenced by the following +quotations from the official bulletin addressed privately "to Members of +the Employers' Association of Washington". Note them carefully; they are +published as "suggestions to members" over the written signature of George +F. Russell Secretary-Manager:</p> + +<p>June 25th, 1918.--"Provide a penalty for idleness ... Common +labor now works a few days and then loafs to spend the money +earned ... Active prosecution of the I.W.W. and other radicals."</p> + +<p>April 30th, 1919.--"Keep business out of the control of +radicals and I.W.W.... Overcome agitation ... Closer co-operation between +employers and employees ... Suppress the agitators ... Hang the +Bolshevists."</p> + +<p>May 31st, 1919.--"If the agitators were taken care of we +would have very little trouble ... Propaganda to counteract radicals and +overcome agitation ... Put the I.W.W. in jail."</p> + +<p>June 30th, 1919.--"Make some of the Seattle papers print the +truth ... Get rid of the I.W.W.'s."</p> + +<p>July 2nd, 1919.--"Educate along the line of the three R's and +the golden rule, economy and self denial ... Import Japanese labor ... Import +Chinese labor."</p> + +<p>July 31st, 1919.--"Deport about ten Russians in this +community."</p> + +<p>August 31st, 1919.--"Personal contact between employer and +employee, stringent treatment of the I.W.W."</p> + +<p>October 15th, 1919. "There are many I.W.W.s--mostly in the +logging camps...."</p> + +<p>October 31st, 1919.--(A little over a week before the +Centralia raid.) "Run your business or quit ... Business men and tax payers +of Vancouver, Washington, have organized the Loyal Citizen's Protective +League; opposed to Bolsheviki and the Soviet form of government and in +favor of the open shop ... Jail the radicals and deport them ... Since the +armistice these radicals have started in again. ONLY TWO COMMUNITIES IN +WASHINGTON ALLOW I.W.W. HEADQUARTERS." (!!!)</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Arthur McElfresh</p> + +<p>A Centralia druggist. His wife warned him not to march to the union +headquarters because "she knew he'd get hurt." McElfresh is the +man said to have been shot inside the hall when the mob burst through the +door.</p></div> + +<p>December 31st, 1919. "Get rid of all the I.W.W. and all +other un-American organizations ... Deport the radicals or use the rope as +at Centralia. Until we get rid of the I.W.W. and radicals we don't expect +to do much in this country ... Keep cleaning up on the I.W.W.... Don't let it +die down ... Keep up public sentiment..."</p> + +<p>These few choice significant morsels of one hundred percent (on the +dollar) Americanism are quoted almost at random from the private bulletins +of the officials of the Iron Heel in the state of Washington. Here you can +read their sentiments in their own words; you can see how dupes and +hirelings were coached to perpetrate the crime of Centralia, and as many +other similar crimes as they could get away with. Needless to say these +illuminating lines were not intended for the perusal of the working class. +But now that we have obtained them and placed them before your eyes you +can draw your own conclusion. There are many, many more records germane to +this case that we would like to place before you, but the Oligarchy has +closed its steel jaws upon them and they are at present inaccessible. Men +are still afraid to tell the truth in Centralia. Some day the workers may +learn the whole truth about the inside workings of the Centralia +conspiracy. Be that as it may the business interests of the Northwest +lumber country stand bloody handed and doubly damned, black with guilt and +foul with crime; convicted before the bar of public opinion, by their own +statements and their own acts.</p> + +<h2>Failure and Desperation</h2> + +<p>Let us see for a moment how the conspiracy of the lumber barons +operated to achieve the unlawful ends for which it was designed. Let us +see how they were driven by their own failure at intrigue to adopt methods +so brutal that they would have disgraced the head-hunter; how they tried +to gain with murder-lust what they had failed to gain lawfully and with +public approval.</p> + +<p>The campaign of lies and slander inaugurated by their private +newspapers failed to convince the workers of the undesirability of labor +organization. In spite of the armies of editors and news-whelps assembled +to its aid, it served only to lash to a murderous frenzy the low instincts +of the anti-labor elements in the community. The campaign of legal +repression, admittedly instituted by the Employers' Association, failed +also in spite of the fact that all the machinery of the state from +dog-catcher down to Governor was at its beck and call on all occasions and +for all purposes.</p> + +<p>Having made a mess of things with these methods the lumber barons threw +all scruples to the winds--if they ever had any--threw aside all +pretension of living within the law. They started out, mad-dog like, to +rent, wreck and destroy the last vestige of labor organization from the +woods of the Northwest, and furthermore, to hunt down union men and +martyrize them with the club, the gun, the rope and the courthouse.</p> + +<p>It was to cover up their own crimes that the heartless beasts of Big +Business beat the tom-toms of the press in order to lash the "patriotism" +of their dupes and hirelings into hysteria. It was to hide their own +infamy that the loathsome war dance was started that developed perceptibly +from uncomprehending belligerency into the lawless tumult of mobs, raids +and lynching! And it will be an everlasting blot upon the fair name of +America that they were permitted to do so.</p> + +<p>The Centralia tragedy was the culmination of a long series of +unpunished atrocities against labor. What is expected of men who have been +treated as these men were treated and who were denied redress or +protection under the law? Every worker in the Northwest knows about the +wrongs lumberworkers have endured--they are matters of common knowledge. +It was common knowledge in Centralia and adjoining towns that the I.W.W. +hall was to be raided on Armistice Day. Yet eight loggers have been +sentenced from twenty-five to forty years in prison for the crime of +defending themselves from the mob that set out to murder them! But let us +see how the conspiracy was operating in Centralia to make the Armistice +Day tragedy inevitable.</p> + +<h2>The Maelstrom--And Four Men</h2> + +<p>Centralia was fast becoming the vortex of the conspiracy that was +rushing to its inevitable conclusion. Event followed event in rapid +succession, straws indicating the main current of the flood tide of +labor-hatred. The Commercial Club was seething with intrigue like the +court of old France under Catherine de Medici; only this time it was +Industrial Unionism instead of Huguenots who were being Marked for a new +night of St. Bartholomew. The heresy to be uprooted was belief in +industrial instead of religious freedom; but the stake and the gibbet were +awaiting the New Idea just as they had the old.</p> + +<p>The actions of the lumber interests were now but thinly veiled and +their evil purpose all too manifest. The connection between the Employers' +Association of the state and its local representatives in Centralia had +become unmistakably evident. And behind these loomed the gigantic +silhouette of the Employers' Association of the nation--the colossal +"invisible government"--more powerful at times than the Government itself. +More and more stood out the naked brutal fact that the purpose of all this +plotting was to drive the union loggers from the city and to destroy their +hall. The names of the men actively interested in this movement came to +light in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them obscured. Four of these +stand out prominently in the light of the tragedy that followed: George F. +Russell, F.B. Hubbard, William Scales and last, but not least, Warren O. +Grimm.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Warren O. Grimm</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm, killed at the beginning of the rush on the I.W.W. +hall. At another raid on an I.W.W. hall in 1918 Grimm was said by +witnesses to have been leading the mob, "holding two American flags and +dancing like a whirling dervish." His life-long friend, Frank Van Gilder, +testified: "I stood less than two feet from Grimm when he was shot. He +doubled up, put his hands to his stomach and said to me: 'My God, I'm +shot." "What did you do then?" "I turned and left him."</p></div> + +<p>The first named, George F. Russell, is a hired Manager for the +Washington Employers' Association, whose membership employs between 75,000 +and 80,000 workers in the state. Russell is known to be a reactionary of +the most pronounced type. He is an avowed union smasher and a staunch +upholder of the open shop principle, which is widely advertised as the +"American plan" in Washington. Incidentally he is an advocate of the +scheme to import Chinese and Japanese cooley labor as a solution of the +"high wage and arrogant unionism" problem.</p> + +<p>F. B. Hubbard, is a small-bore Russell, differing from his chief only +in that his labor hatred is more fanatical and less discreet. Hubbard was +hard hit by the strike in 1917 which fact has evidently won him the +significant title of "a vicious little anti-labor reptile." He is the man +who helped to raid the 1918 Union Hall in Centralia and who appropriated +for himself the stolen desk of the Union Secretary. His nephew Dale +Hubbard was shot while trying to lynch Wesley Everest.</p> + +<p>William Scales is a Centralia business man and a virulent sycophant. He +is a parochial replica of the two persons mentioned above. Scales was in +the Quartermaster's Department down on the border during the trouble with +Mexico. Because he was making too much money out of Uncle Sam's groceries, +he was relieved of his duties quite suddenly and discharged from the +service. He was fortunate in making France instead of Fort Leavenworth, +however, and upon his return, became an ardent proselyte of Russell and +Hubbard and their worthy cause. Also he continued in the grocery +business.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Hizzoner, The Jedge</p> + +<p>In his black robe, like a bird of prey, he perched above the courtroom +and ruled always adversely to the cause of labor. Appointed to try men +accused of killing other men whom he had previously eulogized Judge John +M. Wilson did not disappoint those who appointed him. In open court +Vanderveer told him. In open court Vanderveer told this man: "There was a +time when I thought your rulings were due to ignorance of the law. That +will no longer explain them."</p></div> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm came from a good family and was a small town +aristocrat. His brother is city attorney at Centralia. Grimm was a lawyer, +a college athlete and a social lion. He had been with the American forces +in Siberia and his chief bid for distinction was a noisy dislike for the +Worker's & Peasants' Republic of Russia, and the I.W.W. which he +termed the "American Bolsheviki". During the 1918 raid on the Centralia +hall Grimm is said to have been dancing around "like a whirling dervish" +and waving the American flag while the work of destruction was going on. +Afterwards he became prominent in the American Legion and was the chief +"cat's paw" for the lumber interests who were capitalizing the uniform to +gain their own unholy ends. Personally he was a clean-cut modern young +man.</p> + +<h2>Shadows Cast Before</h2> + +<p>On June 26th, the following notice appeared conspicuously on the first +page of the Centralia Hub:</p> + +<h2>Meeting of Business Men Called for Friday Evening</h2> + +<p>"Business men and property owners of Centralia are urged to attend a +meeting tomorrow in the Chamber of Commerce rooms to meet the officers of +the Employers' Association of the state to discuss ways and means of +bettering the conditions which now confront the business and property +interests of the state. George F. Russell, Secretary-Manager, says in his +note to business men: 'We need your advice and your co-operation in +support of the movement for the defense of property and property rights. +It is the most important question before the public today.'"</p> + +<p>At this meeting Mr. Russell dwelt on the statement that the "radicals" +were better organized than the property interests. Also he pointed out the +need of a special organization to protect "rights of property" from the +encroachments of all "foes of the government". The Non-Partisan League, +the Triple Alliance and the A.F. of L. were duly condemned. The speaker +then launched out into a long tirade against the Industrial Workers of the +World which was characterized as the most dangerous organization in +America and the one most necessary for "good citizens" to crush. Needless +to state the address was chock full of 100% Americanism. It amply made up +in forcefulness anything it lacked in logic.</p> + +<p>So the "Citizens' Protective League" of Centralia was born. From the +first it was a law unto itself--murder lust wearing the smirk of +respectability--Judge Lynch dressed in a business suit. The advent of this +infamous league marks the final ascendancy of terrorism over the +Constitution in the city of Centralia. The only things still needed were a +secret committee, a coil of rope and an opportunity.</p> + +<p>F.B. Hubbard was the man selected to pull off the "rough stuff" and at +the same time keep the odium of crime from smirching the fair names of the +conspirators. He was told to "perfect his own organization". Hubbard was +eminently fitted for his position by reason of his intense labor-hatred +and his aptitude for intrigue.</p> + +<p>The following day the Centralia Daily Chronicle carried the following +significant news item:</p> + +<p align="center">BUSINESS MEN OF COUNTY ORGANIZE</p> + +<p align="center">Representatives From Many Communities Attend Meeting in Chamber of +Commerce, Presided Over Secretary of Employers' Association.</p> + +<p>"The labor situation was thoroughly discussed this afternoon at a +meeting held in the local Chamber of Commerce which was attended by +representative business men from various parts of Lewis County.</p> + +<p>"George F. Russell, Secretary of the Employers' Association, of +Washington, presided at the meeting.</p> + +<p>"A temporary organization was effected with F. B. Hubbard, President of +the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company, as chairman. He was empowered to +perfect his own organization. A similar meeting will be held in Chehalis +in connection with the noon luncheon of the Citizens' Club on that +day."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Special Prosecutor"</p> + +<p>C.D. Cunningham, attorney for F.B. Hubbard and various lumber +interests, took charge of the prosecution immediately. He was the father +of much of the "third degree" methods used on witnesses. Vanderveer +offered to prove at the trial that Cunningham was at the jail when Wesley +Everest was dragged out, brutally mutilated and then lynched.</p></div> + +<p>The city of Centralia became alive with gossip and speculation about +this new move on the part of the employers. Everybody knew that the whole +thing centered around the detested hall of the Union loggers. Curiosity +seekers began to come In from all parts of the county to have a peep at +this hall before it was wrecked. Business men were known to drive their +friends from the new to the old hall in order to show what the former +would look like in a short time. People in Centralia generally knew for a +certainty that the present hall would go the way of its predecessor. It +was just a question now as to the time and circumstances of the event.</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm had done his bit to work up sentiment against the union +loggers and their hall. Only a month previously--on Labor Day, 1919,--he +had delivered a "labor" speech that was received with great enthusiasm by +a local clique of business men. Posing as an authority on Bolshevism on +account of his Siberian service Grimm had elaborated on the dangers of +this pernicious doctrine. With a great deal of dramatic emphasis he had +urged his audience to beware of the sinister influence of "the American +Bolsheviki--the Industrial Workers of the World."</p> + +<p>A few days before the hall was raided Elmer Smith called at Grimm's +office on legal business. Grimm asked him, by the way, what he thought of +his Labor Day speech. Smith replied that he thought it was "rotten" and +that he couldn't agree with Grimm's anti-labor conception of Americanism. +Smith pointed to the deportation of Tom Lassiter as an example of the +"Americanism" he considered disgraceful. He said also that he thought free +speech was one of the fundamental rights of all citizens.</p> + +<p>"I can't agree with you," replied Grimm. "That's the proper way to +treat such a fellow."</p> + +<h2>The New Black Hundred</h2> + +<p>On October 19th the Centralia Hub published an item headed "Employers +Called to Discuss Handling of 'Wobbly' Problem." This article urges all +employers to attend, states that the meeting will be held in the Elk's +Club and mentioned the wrecking of the Union Hall in 1918. On the +following day, October 20th, three weeks before the shooting, this meeting +was held at the hall of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks--the +now famous Elks' Club of Centralia. The avowed purpose of this meeting was +to "deal with the I.W.W. problem." The chairman was William Scales, at +that time Commander of the Centralia Post of the American Legion. The +I.W.W. Hall was the chief topic of discussion. F.B. Hubbard opened up by +saying that the I.W.W. was a menace and should be driven out of town. +Chief of Police Hughes, however, cautioned them against such a course. He +is reported to have said that "the I.W.W. is doing nothing wrong in +Centralia--is not violating any law--and you have no right to drive them +out of town in this manner." The Chief of Police then proceeded to tell +the audience that he had taken up the matter of legally evicting the +industrialists with City Attorney C.E. Grimm, a brother of Warren O. +Grimm, who is said to have told them, "Gentlemen, there is no law by which +you can drive the I.W.W. out of town." City Commissioner Saunders and +County Attorney Allen had spoken to the same effect. The latter, Allen, +had gone over the literature of the organization with regard to violence +and destruction and had voluntarily dismissed a "criminal syndicalist" +case without trial for want of evidence.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Lewis County's Legal Prostitute</p> + +<p>Herman Allen, prosecuting attorney of Lewis County. He stood at the +corner during the raid and received papers stolen from the hall. There is +no record of his having protested against any illegal action. He turned +over his office to the special Prosecutors and acted as their tool +throughout. During the entire trial he never appeared as an active +participant.</p></div> + +<p>Hubbard was furious at this turn of affairs and shouted to Chief of +Police Hughes: "It's a damned outrage that these men should be permitted +to remain in town! Law or no law, if I were Chief of Police they wouldn't +stay here twenty-four hours."</p> + +<p>"I'm not in favor of raiding the hall myself," said Scales. "But I'm +certain that if anybody else wants to raid the I.W.W. Hall there is no +jury in the land will ever convict them."</p> + +<p>After considerable discussion the meeting started to elect a committee +to deal with the situation. First of all an effort was made to get a +workingman elected as a member to help camouflage its very evident +character and make people believe that "honest labor" was also desirous of +ridding the town of the hated I.W.W. Hall. A switchman named Henry, a +member of the Railway Brotherhood, was nominated. When he indignantly +declined, Hubbard, red in the face with rage, called him a "damned +skunk."</p> + +<h2>The Inner Circle</h2> + +<p>Scales then proceeded to tell the audience in general and the city +officials in particular that he would himself appoint a committee "whose +inner workings were secret," and see if he could not get around the matter +that way. The officers of the League were then elected. The President was +County Coroner David Livingstone, who afterwards helped to lynch Wesley +Everest. Dr. Livingstone made his money from union miners. William Scales +was vice president and Hubbard was treasurer. The secret committee was +then appointed by Hubbard. As its name implies it was an underground +affair, similar to the Black Hundreds of Old Russia. No record of any of +its proceedings has ever come to light, but according to best available +knowledge, Warren O. Grimm, Arthur McElfresh, B.S. Cromier and one or two +others who figured prominently in the raid, were members. At all events on +November 6th, five days before the shooting, Grimm was elected Commander +of the Centralia Post of the American Legion, taking the place of Scales, +who resigned in his favor. Scales evidently was of the opinion that a +Siberian veteran and athlete was better fitted to lead the "shock troops" +than a mere counter-jumper like himself. There is no doubt but the secret +committee had its members well placed in positions of strategic importance +for the coming event.</p> + +<p>The following day the Tacoma News Tribune carried a significant +editorial on the subject of the new organization:</p> + +<p>"At Centralia a committee of citizens has been formed that takes the +mind back to the old days of vigilance committees of the West, which did +so much to force law-abiding citizenship upon certain lawless elements. It +is called the Centralia Protective Association, and its object is to +combat I.W.W. activities in that city and the surrounding country. It +invites to membership all citizens who favor the enforcement of law and +order ... It is high time for the people who do believe in the lawful and +orderly conduct of affairs to take the upper hand ... Every city and town +might, with profit, follow Centralia's example."</p> + +<p>The reference to "law and orderly conduct of affairs" has taken a +somewhat ironical twist, now that Centralia has shown the world what she +considers such processes to be.</p> + +<p>No less significant was an editorial appearing on the same Date in the +Centralia Hub:</p> + +<p>"If the city is left open to this menace, we will soon find ourselves +at the mercy of an organized band of outlaws bent on destruction. What are +we going to do about it?" And, referring to the organization of the +"secret committee," the editorial stated: "It was decided that the inner +workings of the organization were to be kept secret, to more effectively +combat a body using similar tactics." The editorial reeks with lies; but +it was necessary that the mob spirit should be kept at white heat at all +times. Newspaper incitation has never been punished by law, yet it is +directly responsible for more murders, lynching and raids than any other +one force in America.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Stool Pigeon</p> + +<p>Tom Morgan, who turned state's evidence. There is an historical +precedent for Morgan. Judas acted similarly, but Judas later had the +manhood to go out and hang himself. Morgan left for "parts unknown."</p></div> + +<h2>The Plot Leaks Out</h2> + +<p>By degrees the story of the infamous secret committee and its +diabolical plan leaked out, adding positive confirmation to the many +already credited rumors in circulation. Some of the newspapers quite +openly hinted that the I.W.W. Hall was to be the object of the brewing +storm. Chief of Police Hughes told a member of the Lewis County Trades +Council, William T. Merriman by name, that the business men were +organizing to raid the hall and drive its members out of town. Merriman, +in turn carried the statement to many of his friends and brother +unionists. Soon the prospective raid was the subject of open +discussion,--over the breakfast toast, on the street corners, in the camps +and mills--every place.</p> + +<p>So common was the knowledge in fact that many of the craft +organizations in Centralia began to discuss openly what they should do +about it. They realized that the matter was one which concerned labor and +many members wanted to protest and were urging their unions to try to do +something. At the Lewis County Trades Council the subject was brought up +for discussion by its president, L. F. Dickson. No way of helping the +loggers was found, however, if they would so stubbornly try to keep open +their headquarters in the face of such opposition. Harry Smith, a brother +of Elmer Smith, the attorney, was a delegate at this meeting and reported +to his brother the discussion that took place.</p> + +<p>Secretary Britt Smith and the loggers at the Union hall were not by any +means ignorant of the conspiracy being hatched against them. Day by day +they had followed the development of the plot with breathless interest and +not a little anxiety. They knew from bitter experience how union men were +handled when they were trapped in their halls. But they would not +entertain the idea of abandoning their principles and seeking personal +safety. Every logging camp for miles around knew of the danger also. The +loggers there had gone through the hell of the organization period and had +felt the wrath of the lumber barons. Some of them felt that the statement +of Secretary of Labor Wilson as to the attitude of the Industrial Workers +of the World towards "overthrowing the government," and "violence and +destruction" would discourage the terrorists from attempting such a +flagrant and brutal injustice as the one contemplated.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Oily" Abel</p> + +<p>Suave and slimy as a snake; without any of the kindlier traits of +nature, W.H. Abel, sounded the gamut of rottenness in his efforts to +convict the accused men without the semblance of a fair trial. Abel is +notorious throughout Washington as the hireling of the lumber interests. +In 1917 he prosecuted "without fee" all laboring men on strike and is +attorney for the Cosmopolis "penitentiary" so called on account of the +brutality with which it treats employes. Located in one of the small towns +of the state Abel has made a fortune prosecuting labor cases for the +special interests.</p></div> + +<p>Regarding the deportation of I.W.W.'s for belonging to an organization +which advocates such things, Secretary of Labor Wilson had stated a short +time previously: "An exhaustive study into the by-laws and practices of +the I.W.W. has thus far failed to disclose anything that brings it within +the class of organizations referred to."</p> + +<p>Other of the loggers were buoyed up with the many victories won in the +courts on "criminal syndicalism" charges and felt that the raid would be +too "raw" a thing for the lumber interests even to consider. All were +secure in the knowledge and assurance that they were violating no law in +keeping open their hall. And they wanted that hall kept open.</p> + +<p>Of course the question of what was to be done was discussed at their +business meetings. When news reached them on November 4th of the +contemplated "parade" they decided to publish a leaflet telling the +Citizens of Centralia about the justice and legality of their position, +the aims of their organization and the real reason for the intense hatred +which the lumber trust harbored against them. Such leaflet was drawn up by +Secretary Britt Smith and approved by the membership. It was an honest, +outspoken appeal for public sympathy and support. This leaflet--word for +word as it was printed and circulated in Centralia--is reprinted below:</p> + +<h2>To the Citizens of Centralia We Must Appeal</h2> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Chief Fink</p> + +<p>Frank P. Christensen, who was the "fixer" for the prosecution. As +Assistant Attorney General he used his office to intimidate witnesses and +in the effort to cover up actions of the mob. He is reported to have been +responsible for the recovery and burial of Everest's body, saying: "We've +got to bring in that body and bury it. If the wobs ever find out what was +done and get it they'll raise hell and make capital of it."</p></div> + +<p>"To the law abiding citizens of Centralia and to the working class in +general: We beg of you to read and carefully consider the following:</p> + +<p>"The profiteering class of Centralia have of late been waving the flag +of our country in an endeavor to incite the lawless element of our city to +raid our hall and club us out of town. For this purpose they have inspired +editorials in the Hub, falsely and viciously attacking the I.W.W., hoping +to gain public approval for such revolting criminality. These profiteers +are holding numerous secret meetings to that end, and covertly inviting +returned service men to do their bidding. In this work they are ably +assisted by the bankrupt lumber barons of southwest Washington who led the +mob that looted and burned the I.W.W. hall a year ago.</p> + +<p>"These criminal thugs call us a band of outlaws bent on destruction. +This they do in an attempt to hide their own dastardly work in burning our +hall and destroying our property. They say we are a menace; and we are a +menace to all mobocrats and pilfering thieves. Never did the I.W.W. burn +public or private halls, kidnap their fellow citizens, destroy their +property, club their fellows out of town, bootleg or act in any ways as +law-breakers. These patriotic profiteers throughout the country have +falsely and with out any foundation whatever charged the I.W.W. with every +crime on the statute books. For these alleged crimes thousands of us have +been jailed in foul and filthy cells throughout this country, often +without charge, for months and in some cases, years, and when released +re-arrested and again thrust in jail to await a trial that is never +called. The only convictions of the I.W.W. were those under the espionage +law, where we were forced to trial before jurors, all of whom were at +political and industrial enmity toward us, and in courts hostile to the +working class. This same class of handpicked courts and juries also +convicted many labor leaders, socialists, non-partisans, pacifists, guilty +of no crime save that of loyalty to the working class.</p> + +<p>"By such courts Jesus the Carpenter was slaughtered upon the charge +that 'he stirreth up the people.' Only last month 25 I.W.W. were indicted +in Seattle as strike leaders, belonging to an unlawful organization, +attempting to overthrow the government and other vile things under the +syndicalist law passed by the last legislature. To exterminate the +'wobbly' both the court and jury have the lie to every charge. The court +held them a lawful organization and their literature was not disloyal nor +inciting to violence, though the government had combed the country from +Chicago to Seattle for witnesses, and used every pamphlet taken from their +hall in government raids.</p> + +<p>"In Spokane 13 members were indicted in the Superior Court for wearing +the I.W.W. button and displaying their emblem. The jury unanimously +acquitted them and the court held it no crime.</p> + +<p>"In test cases last month both in the Seattle and Everett Superior +Courts, the presiding judge declared the police had no authority in law to +close their halls and the padlocks were ordered off and the halls +opened.</p> + +<p>"Many I.W.W. in and around Centralia went to France and fought and bled +for the democracy they never secured. They came home to be threatened with +mob violence by the law and order outfit that pilfered every nickel +possible from their mothers and fathers while they were fighting in the +trenches in the thickest of the fray.</p> + +<p>"Our only crime is solidarity, loyalty to the working class and justice +to the oppressed."</p> + +<h2>"Let the Men in Uniform Do It"</h2> + +<p>On November 6th, the Centralia Post of the American Legion met with a +committee from the Chamber of Commerce to arrange for a parade-another +"patriotic" parade. The first anniversary of the signing of the armistice +was now but a few days distant and Centralia felt it incumbent upon +herself to celebrate. Of course the matter was brought up rather +circumspectly, but knowing smiles greeted the suggestion. One business man +made a motion that the brave boys wear their uniforms. This was agreed +upon.</p> + +<p>The line of march was also discussed. As the union hall was a little +off the customary parade route, Scales suggested that their course lead +past the hall "in order to show them how strong we are." It was intimated +that a command "eyes right" would be given as the legionaries and business +men passed the union headquarters. This was merely a poor excuse of the +secret committeemen to get the parade where they needed it. But many +innocent men were lured into a "lynching bee" without knowing that they +were being led to death by a hidden gang of broad-cloth conspirators who +were plotting at murder. Lieutenant Cormier, who afterwards blew the +whistle that was the signal for the raid, endorsed the proposal of Scales +as did Grimm and McElfresh--all three of them secret committeemen.</p> + +<p>Practically no other subject but the "parade" was discussed at this +meeting. The success of the project was now assured for it had placed into +the hands of the men who alone could arrange to "have the men in uniform +do it." The men in uniform had done it once before and people knew what to +expect.</p> + +<p>The day following this meeting the Centralia Hub published an +announcement of the coming event stating that the legionaires had "voted +to wear uniforms." The line of march was published for the first time. Any +doubts about the real purpose of the parade vanished when people read that +the precession was to march from the City Park to Third street and Tower +avenue and return. The union hall was on Tower between Second and Third +streets, practically at the end of the line of march and plainly the +objective of the demonstrators.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bridge from which Everest Was Hanged</p> + +<p>From this bridge, over the Chehalis river, Wesley Everest was left +dangling by a mob of business men. Automobile parties visited this spot at +different times during the night and played their headlights on the corpse +in order better to enjoy the spectacle.</p></div> + +<h2>"Decent Labor"--Hands Off!</h2> + +<p>A short time after the shooting a virulent leaflet was issued by the +Mayor's office stating that the "plot to kill had been laid two or three +weeks before the tragedy," and that "the attack (of the loggers) was +without justification or excuse." Both statements are bare faced lies. The +meeting was held the 6th and the line of march made public of the 7th. The +loggers could not possibly have planned a week and a half previously to +shoot into a parade they knew nothing about and whose line of march had +not yet been disclosed. It was proved in court that the union men armed +themselves at the very last moment, after everything else had failed and +they had been left helpless to face the alternative of being driven out of +town or being lynched.</p> + +<p>About this time eyewitnesses declare coils of rope were being purchased +in a local hardware store. This rope is all cut up into little pieces now +and most of it is dirty and stained. But many of Centralia's best families +prize their souvenir highly. They say it brings good luck to a family.</p> + +<p>A few days after the meeting just described William Dunning, vice +president of the Lewis County Trades and Labor Assembly, met Warren Grimm +on the street. Having fresh in his mind a recent talk about the raid in +the Labor Council meetings, and being well aware of Grimm's standing and +influence, Dunning broached the subject.</p> + +<p>"We've been discussing the threatened raid on the I.W.W. hall," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, an I.W.W.?" asked Grimm.</p> + +<p>Dunning replied stating that he was vice president of the Labor +Assembly and proceeded to tell Grimm the feeling of his organization on +the subject.</p> + +<p>"Decent labor ought to keep its hands off," was Grimm's laconic +reply.</p> + +<p>The Sunday before the raid a public meeting was held in the union hall. +About a hundred and fifty persons were in the audience, mostly working men +and women of Centralia. A number of loggers were present, dressed in the +invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes. John Foss, an +I.W.W. ship builder from Seattle, was the speaker. Secretary Britt Smith +was chairman. Walking up and down the isle, selling the union's pamphlets +and papers was a muscular and sun-burned young man with a rough, honest +face and a pair of clear hazel eyes in which a smile was always twinkling. +He wore a khaki army coat above stagged overalls of a slightly darker +shade,--Wesley Everest, the ex-soldier who was shortly to be mutilated and +lynched by the mob.</p> + +<h2>"I Hope to Jesus Nothing Happens"</h2> + +<p>The atmosphere of the meeting was already tainted with the Terror. +Nerves were on edge. Every time any newcomer would enter the door the +audience would look over their shoulders with apprehensive glances. At the +conclusion of the meeting the loggers gathered around the secretary and +asked him the latest news about the contemplated raid. For reply Britt +Smith handed them copies of the leaflet "We Must Appeal" and told of the +efforts that had been made and were being made to secure legal protection +and to let the public know the real facts in the case.</p> + +<p>"If they raid the hall again as they did in 1918 the boys won't stand +for it," said a logger.</p> + +<p>"If the law won't protect us we've got a right to protect ourselves," +ventured another.</p> + +<p>"I hope to Jesus nothing happens," replied the secretary.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest laid down his few unsold papers, rolled a brown paper +cigarette and smiled enigmatically over the empty seats in the general +direction of the new One Big Union label on the front window. His closest +friends say he was never afraid of anything in all his life.</p> + +<p>None of these men knew that loggers from nearby camps, having heard of +the purchase of the coils of rope, were watching the hall night and day to +see that "nothing happens."</p> + +<p>The next day, after talking things over with Britt Smith, Mrs. +McAllister, wife of the proprietor of the Roderick hotel from whom the +loggers rented the hall, went to see Chief of Police Hughes. This is how +she told of the interview:</p> + +<p>"I got worried and I went to the Chief. I says to him 'Are you +going to protect my property?' Hughes says, 'We'll do the best we can +for you, but as far as the wobblies are concerned they wouldn't last +fifteen minutes if the business men start after them. The business men +don't want any wobblies in this town.'"</p> + +<p>The day before the tragedy Elmer Smith dropped in at the Union hall to +warn his clients that nothing could now stop the raid. "Defend it if you +choose to do so," he told them. "The law gives you that right."</p> + +<p>It was on the strength of this remark, overheard by the stool-pigeon, +Morgan, and afterwards reported to the prosecution, that Elmer Smith was +hailed to prison charged with murder in the first degree. His enemies had +been certain all along that his incomprehensible delusion about the law +being the same for the poor man as the rich would bring its own +punishment. It did; there can no longer be any doubt on the subject.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Carting Away Wesley Everest's Body for Burial</p> + +<p>After the mutilated body had been cut down in laid in the river for two +days. Then it was taken back to the city jail where it remained for two +days more--as an object lesson--in plain view of the comrades of the +murdered boy. Everest was taken from this building to be lynched. During +the first week after the tragedy this jail witnessed scenes of torture and +horror that equaled the worst days of the Spanish inquisition.</p></div> + +<h2>The Scorpion's Sting</h2> + +<p>November 11th was a raw, gray day; the cold sunlight barely +penetrating the mist that hung over the city and the distant tree-clad +hills. The "parade" assembled at the City Park. Lieutenant Cormier was +marshal. Warren Grimm was commander of the Centralia division. In a very +short time he had the various bodies arranged to his satisfaction. At the +head of the procession was the "two-fisted" Centralia bunch. This was +followed by one from Chehalis, the county seat, and where the parade would +logically have been held had its purpose been an honest one. Then came a +few sailors and marines and a large body of well dressed gentlemen from +the Elks. The school children who were to have marched did not appear. At +the very end were a couple of dozen boy scouts and an automobile carrying +pretty girls dressed in Red Cross uniforms. Evidently this parade, unlike +the one of 1918, did not, like a scorpion, carry its sting in the rear. +But wait until you read how cleverly this part of it had been +arranged!</p> + +<p>The marchers were unduly silent and those who knew nothing of the +lawless plan of the secret committee felt somehow that something must be +wrong. City Postmaster McCleary and a wicked-faced old man named Thompson +were seen carrying coils of rope. Thompson is a veteran of the Civil War +and a minister of God. On the witness stand he afterwards swore he picked +up the rope from the street and was carrying it "as a joke." It turned out +that the "joke" was on Wesley Everest.</p> + +<p>"Be ready for the command 'eyes right' or 'eyes left' when we pass the +'reviewing stand'," Grimm told the platoon commanders just as the parade +started.</p> + +<p>The procession covered most of the line of march without incident. When +the union hall was reached there was some craning of necks but no outburst +of any kind. A few of the out-of-town paraders looked at the place +curiously and several business men were seen pointing the hall out to +their friends. There were some dark glances and a few long noses but no +demonstration.</p> + +<p>"When do we reach the reviewing stand?" asked a parader, named Joe +Smith, of a man marching beside him.</p> + +<p>"Hell, there ain't any reviewing stand," was the reply. "We're going to +give the wobbly hall 'eyes right' on the way back."</p> + +<p>The head of the columns reached Third avenue and halted. A command of +'about face' was given and the procession again started to march past the +union hall going in the opposite direction. The loggers inside felt +greatly relieved as they saw the crowd once more headed for the city. But +the Centralia and Chehalis contingents, that had headed the parade, was +now in the rear--just where the "scorpion sting" of the 1918 parade had +been located! The danger was not yet over.</p> + +<h2>"Let's go! At 'em, boys!"</h2> + +<p>The Chehalis division had marched past the hall and the Centralia +division was just in front of it when a sharp command was given. The +latter stopped squarely in front of the hall but the former continued to +march. Lieutenant Cormier of the secret committee was riding between the +two contingents on a bay horse. Suddenly he placed his fingers to his +mouth and gave a shrill whistle. Immediately there was a hoarse cry of +"Let's go-o-o! At 'em, boys!" About sixty feet separated the two +contingents at this time, the Chehalis men still continuing the march. +Cromier spurred his horse and overtook them. "Aren't you boys in on this?" +he shouted.</p> + +<p>At the words "Let's go," the paraders from both ends and the middle of +the Centralia contingent broke ranks and started on the run for the union +headquarters. A crowd of soldiers surged against the door. There was a +crashing of glass and a splintering of wood as the door gave way. A few of +the marauders had actually forced their way into the hall. Then there was +a shot, three more shots ... and a small volley. From Seminary hill and the +Avalon hotel rifles began to crack.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Elks Club, Centralia</p> + +<p>It was here that the Centralia conspiracy was hatched and the notorious +"secret committee" appointed to do the dirty work.</p></div> + +<p>The mob stopped suddenly, astounded at the unexpected opposition. Out +of hundreds of halls that had been raided during the past two years this +was the first time the union men had attempted to defend themselves. It +had evidently been planned to stampede the entire contingent into the +attack by having the secret committeemen take the lead from both ends and +the middle. But before this could happen the crowd, frightened at the +shots started to scurry for cover. Two men were seen carrying the limp +figure of a soldier from the door of the hall. When the volley started +they dropped it and ran. The soldier was a handsome young man, named +Arthur McElfresh. He was left lying in front of the hall with his feet on +the curb and his head in the gutter. The whole thing had been a matter of +seconds.</p> + +<h2>"I Had No Business Being There"</h2> + +<p>Several men had been wounded. A pool of blood was widening in front of +the doorway. A big man in officer's uniform was seen to stagger away bent +almost double and holding his hands over his abdomen. "My God, I'm shot!" +he had cried to the soldier beside him. This was Warren O. Grimm; the +other was his friend, Frank Van Gilder. Grimm walked unassisted to the +rear of a nearby soft drink place from whence he was taken to a hospital. +He died a short time afterwards. Van Gilder swore on the witness stand +that Grimm and himself were standing at the head of the columns of +"unoffending paraders" when his friend was shot. He stated that Grimm had +been his life-long friend but admitted that when his "life-long friend" +received his mortal wound that he (Van Gilder), instead of acting like a +hero in no man's land, had deserted him in precipitate haste. Too many eye +witnesses had seen Grimm stagger wounded from the doorway of the hall to +suit the prosecution. Van Gilder knew at which place Grimm had been shot +but it was necessary that he be placed at a convenient distance from the +hall. It is reported on good authority that Grimm, just before he died in +the hospital, confessed to a person at his bedside: "It served me right, I +had no business being there."</p> + +<p>A workingman, John Patterson, had come down town on Armistice Day with +his three small children to watch the parade. He was standing thirty-five +feet from the door of the hall when the raid started. On the witness stand +Patterson told of being pushed out of the way by the rush before the +shooting began. He saw a couple of soldiers shot and saw Grimm stagger +away from the doorway wounded in the abdomen. The testimony of Dr. +Bickford at the corner's inquest under oath was as follows:</p> + +<p>"I spoke up and said I would lead if enough would follow, but before I +could take the lead there were many ahead of me. Someone next to me put +his foot against the door and forced it open, after which a shower of +bullets poured through the opening about us." Dr. Bickford is an A.E.F. +man and one of the very few legionaires who dared to tell the truth about +the shooting. The Centralia business element has since tried repeatedly to +ruin him.</p> + +<p>In trying to present the plea of self defense to the court, Defense +attorney Vanderveer stated:</p> + +<p>"There was a rush, men reached the hall under the command of Grimm, and +yet counsel asks to have shown a specific overt act of Grimm before we can +present the plea of self-defense. Would he have had the men wait with +their lives at stake? The fact is that Grimm was there and in defending +themselves these men shot. Grimm was killed because he was there. They +could not wait. Your honor, self defense isn't much good after a man is +dead."</p> + +<p>The prosecution sought to make a point of the fact that the loggers had +fired into a street in which there were innocent bystanders as well as +paraders. But the fact remains that the only men hit by bullets were those +who were in the forefront of the mob.</p> + +<h2>Through the Hall Window</h2> + +<p>How the raid looked from the inside of the hall can best be described +from the viewpoint of one of the occupants, Bert Faulkner, a union logger +and ex-service man. Faulkner described how he had dropped in at the hall +on Armistice Day and stood watching the parade from the window. In words +all the more startling for their sheer artlessness he told of the events +which followed: First the grimacing faces of the business men, then as the +soldiers returned, a muffled order, the smashing of the window, with the +splinters of glass falling against the curtain, the crashing open of the +door ... and the shots that "made his ears ring," and made him run for +shelter to the rear of the hall, with the shoulder of his overcoat torn +with a bullet. Then how he found himself on the back stairs covered with +rifles and commanded to come down with his hands in the air. Finally how +he was frisked to the city jail in an automobile with a business man +standing over him armed with a piece of gas pipe.</p> + +<p>Eugene Barnett gave a graphic description of the raid as he saw it from +the office of the adjoining Roderick hotel. Barnett said he saw the line +go past the hotel. The business men were ahead of the soldiers and as this +detachment passed the hotel returning the soldiers still were going north. +The business men were looking at the hall and pointing it out to the +soldiers. Some of them had their thumbs to their noses and others were +saying various things.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">City Park, Centralia</p> + +<p>At this place the parade assembled that started out to raid the Union +hall and lynch its secretary.</p></div> + +<p>"When the soldiers turned and came past I saw a man on horseback ride +past. He was giving orders which were repeated along the line by another. +As the rider passed the hotel he gave a command and the second man said: +'Bunch up, men!'</p> + +<p>"When this order came the men all rushed for the hall. I heard glass +break. I heard a door slam. There was another sound and then shooting +came. It started from inside the hall.</p> + +<p>"As I saw these soldiers rush the hall I jumped up and threw off my +coat. I thought there would be a fight and I was going to mix in. Then +came the shooting, and I knew I had no business there."</p> + +<p>Later Barnett went home and remained there until his arrest the next +day.</p> + +<p>In the union hall, besides Bert Faulkner, were Wesley Everest, Roy +Becker, Britt Smith, Mike Sheehan, James McInerney and the "stool pigeon," +these, with the exception of Faulkner and Everest, remained in the hall +until the authorities came to place them under arrest. They had after the +first furious rush of their assailants, taken refuge in a big and long +disused ice box in the rear of the hall. Britt Smith was unarmed, his +revolver being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk. After +their arrest the loggers were taken to the city jail which was to be the +scene of an inquisition unparalleled in the history of the United States. +After this, as an additional punishment, they were compelled to face the +farce of a "fair trial" in a capitalistic court.</p> + +<h2>Wesley Everest</h2> + +<p>But Destiny had decided to spare one man the bitter irony of judicial +murder. Wesley Everest still had a pocket full of cartridges and a +forty-four automatic that could speak for itself.</p> + +<p>This soldier-lumberjack had done most of the shooting in the hall. He +held off the mob until the very last moment, and, instead of seeking +refuge in the refrigerator after the "paraders" had been dispersed, he ran +out of the back door, reloading his pistol as he went. It is believed by +many that Arthur McElfresh was killed inside the hall by a bullet fired by +Everest.</p> + +<p>In the yard at the rear of the hall the mob had already reorganized for +an attack from that direction. Before anyone knew what had happened +Everest had broken through their ranks and scaled the fence. "Don't follow +me and I won't shoot," he called to the crowd and displaying the still +smoking blue steel pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>"There goes the secretary!" yelled someone, as the logger started at +top speed down the alley. The mob surged in pursuit, collapsing the board +fence before them with sheer force of numbers. There was a rope in the +crowd and the union secretary was the man they wanted. The chase that +followed probably saved the life, not only of Britt Smith, but the +remaining loggers in the hall as well.</p> + +<p>Running pell-mell down the alley the mob gave a shout of exaltation as +Everest slowed his pace and turned to face them. They stopped cold, +however, as a number of quick shots rang out and bullets whistled and +zipped around them. Everest turned in his tracks and was off again like a +flash, reloading his pistol as he ran. The mob again resumed the pursuit. +The logger ran through an open gateway, paused to turn and again fire at +his pursuers; then he ran between two frame dwellings to the open street. +When the mob again caught the trail they were evidently under the +impression that the logger's ammunition was exhausted. At all events they +took up the chase with redoubled energy. Some men in the mob had rifles +and now and then a pot-shot would be taken at the fleeing figure. The +marksmanship of both sides seems to have been poor for no one appears to +have been injured.</p> + +<h2>Dale Hubbard</h2> + +<p>This kind of running fight was kept up until Everest reached the river. +Having kept off his pursuers thus far the boy started boldly for the +comparative security of the opposite shore, splashing the water violently +as he waded out into the stream. The mob was getting closer all the time. +Suddenly Everest seemed to change his mind and began to retrace his steps +to the shore. Here he stood dripping wet in the tangled grasses to await +the arrival of the mob bent on his destruction. Everest had lost his hat +and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. His gun was now so hot he could +hardly hold it and the last of his ammunition was in the magazine. Eye +witnesses declare his face still wore a quizzical, half bantering smile +when the mob overtook him. With the pistol held loosely in his rough hand +Everest stood at bay, ready to make a last stand for his life. Seeing him +thus, and no doubt thinking his last bullet had been expended, the mob +made a rush for its quarry.</p> + +<p>"Stand back!" he shouted. "If there are 'bulls' in the crowd, I'll +submit to arrest; otherwise lay off of me."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Blind Tom Lassiter</p> + +<p>Tom Lassiter is the blind news dealer who Was kidnapped and deported +out of town in June, 1919, by a gang of business men. His stand was raided +and the contents burned in the street. He had been selling The Seattle +Union Record, The Industrial Worker and Solidarity. County attorney Allen +said he couldn't help to apprehend the criminals and would only charge +them with third degree assault if they were found. The fine would be one +dollar and costs! Lassiter is now in jail in Chehalis charged with +"criminal syndicalism."</p></div> + +<p>No attention was paid to his words. Everest shot from the hip four +times,--then his gun stalled. A group of soldiers started to run in his +direction. Everest was tugging at the gun with both hands. Raising it +suddenly he took careful aim and fired. All the soldiers but one wavered +and stopped. Everest fired twice, both bullets taking effect. Two more +shots were fired almost point blank before the logger dropped his +assailant at his feet. Then he tossed away the empty gun and the mob +surged upon him.</p> + +<p>The legionaire who had been shot was Dale Hubbard, a nephew of F.B. +Hubbard, the lumber baron. He was a strong, brave and misguided young +man--worthy of a nobler death.</p> + +<h2>"Let's Finish the Job!"</h2> + +<p>Everest attempted a fight with his fists but was overpowered and +severely beaten. A number of men clamoured for immediate lynching, but +saner council prevailed for the time and he was dragged through the +streets towards the city jail. When the mob was half a block from this +place the "hot heads" made another attempt to cheat the state executioner. +A wave of fury seemed here to sweep the crowd. Men fought with one another +for a chance to strike, kick or spit in the face of their victim. It was +an orgy of hatred and blood-lust. Everest's arms were pinioned, blows, +kicks and curses rained upon him from every side. One business man clawed +strips of bleeding flesh from his face. A woman slapped his battered cheek +with a well groomed hand. A soldier tried to lunge a hunting rifle at the +helpless logger; the crowd was too thick. He bumped them aside with the +butt of the gun to get room. Then he crashed the muzzle with full force +into Everest's mouth. Teeth were broken and blood flowed profusely.</p> + +<p>A rope appeared from somewhere. "Let's finish the job!" cried a voice. +The rope was placed about the neck of the logger. "You haven't got guts +enough to lynch a man in the daytime," was all he said.</p> + +<p>At this juncture a woman brushed through the crowd and took the rope +from Everest's neck. Looking into the distorted faces of the mob she cried +indignantly, "You are curs and cowards to treat a man like that!"</p> + +<p>There may be human beings in Centralia after all.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest was taken to the city jail and thrown without ceremony +upon the cement floor of the "bull pen." In the surrounding cells were his +comrades who had been arrested in the union hall. Here he lay in a wet +heap, twitching with agony. A tiny bright stream of blood gathered at his +side and trailed slowly along the floor. Only an occasional quivering moan +escaped his torn lips as the hours slowly passed by.</p> + +<h2>"Here Is Your Man"</h2> + +<p>Later, at night, when it was quite dark, the lights of the jail were +suddenly snapped off. At the same instant the entire city was plunged in +darkness. A clamour of voices was heard beyond the walls. There was a +hoarse shout as the panel of the outer door was smashed in. "Don't shoot, +men," said the policemen on guard, "Here is your man." It was night now, +and the business men had no further reason for not lynching the supposed +secretary. Everest heard their approaching foot steps in the dark. He +arose drunkenly to meet them. "Tell the boys I died for my class," he +whispered brokenly to the union men in the cells. These were the last +words he uttered in the jail. There were sounds of a short struggle and of +many blows. Then a door slammed and, in a short time the lights were +switched on. The darkened city was again illuminated at the same moment. +Outside three luxurious automobiles were purring them selves out of sight +in the darkness.</p> + +<p>The only man who had protested the lynching at the last moment was +William Scales. "Don't kill him, men," he is said to have begged of the +mob. But it was too late. "If you don't go through with this you're an +I.W.W. too," they told him. Scales could not calm the evil passions he had +helped to arouse.</p> + +<p>But how did it happen that the lights were turned out at such an +opportune time? Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove +with the lynch mob?</p> + +<p>Defense Attorney Vanderveer offered to prove to the court that such was +the case. He offered to prove this was a part of the greater conspiracy +against the union loggers and their hall,--offered to prove it point by +point from the very beginning. Incidentally Vanderveer offered to prove +that Earl Craft, electrician in charge of the city lighting plant, had +left the station at seven o'clock on Armistice day after securely locking +the door; and that while Craft was away the lights of the city were turned +off and Wesley Everest taken out and lynched. Furthermore, he offered to +prove that when Craft returned, the lights were again turned on and the +city electrician, his assistant and the Mayor of Centralia were in the +building with the door again locked.</p> + +<p>These offers were received by his honor with impassive judicial +dignity, but the faces of the lumber trust attorneys were wreathed with +smiles at the audacity of the suggestion. The corporation lawyers very +politely registered their objections which the judge as politely +sustained.</p> + +<h2>The Night of Horrors</h2> + +<p>After Everest had been taken away the jail became a nightmare--as full +of horrors as a madman's dream. The mob howled around the walls until late +in the night. Inside, a lumber trust lawyer and his official assistants +were administering the "third degree" to the arrested loggers, to make +them "confess." One at a time the men were taken to the torture chamber, +and so terrible was the ordeal of this American Inquisition that some were +almost broken--body and soul. Loren Roberts had the light in his brain +snuffed out. Today he is a shuffling wreck. He is not interested in things +any more. He is always looking around with horror-wide eyes, talking of +"voices" and "wires" that no one but himself knows anything about. There +is no telling what they did to the boy, but he signed the "confession." +Its most incriminating statement must have contained too much truth for +the prosecution. It was never used in court.</p> + +<p>When interviewed by Frank Walklin of the Seattle Union Record the +loggers told the story in their own way:</p> + +<p>"I have heard tales of cruelty," said James McInerney, "but I believe +what we boys went through on those nights can never be equaled. I thought +it was my last night on earth and had reconciled myself to an early death +of some kind, perhaps hanging. I was taken out once by the mob, and a rope +was placed around my neck and thrown over a cross-bar or something.</p> + +<p>"I waited for them to pull the rope. But they didn't. I heard voices in +the mob say, 'That's not him,' and then I was put back into the jail."</p> + +<p>John Hill Lamb, another defendant, related how several times a gun was +poked through his cell window by some one who was aching to get a pot shot +at him. Being ever watchful he hid under his bunk and close to the wall +where the would-be murderer could not see him.</p> + +<p>Britt Smith and Roy Becker told with bated breath about Everest as he +lay half-dead in the corridor, in plain sight of the prisoners in the +cells on both sides. The lights went out and Everest, unconscious and +dying, was taken out. The men inside could hear the shouts of the mob +diminishing as Everest was hurried to the Chehalis River bridge.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bert Bland</p> + +<p>Logger. American. (Brother of O.C. Bland.) One of the men who fired +from Seminary Hill. Bland has worked all his life in the woods. He joined +the Industrial Workers of the World during the great strike of 1917. Bert +Bland took to the hills after the shooting and was captured a week later +during the man hunt.</p></div> + +<p>None of the prisoners was permitted to sleep that night; the fear of +death was kept upon them constantly, the voices outside the cell windows +telling of more lynchings to come. "Every time I heard a footstep or the +clanking of keys," said Britt Smith, "I thought the mob was coming after +more of us. I didn't sleep, couldn't sleep; all I could do was strain my +ears for the mob I felt sure was coming." Ray Becker, listening at Britt's +side, said: "Yes, that was one hell of a night." And the strain of that +night seems to linger in their faces; probably it always will remain--the +expression of a memory that can never be blotted out.</p> + +<p>When asked if they felt safer when the soldiers arrived to guard the +Centralia jail, there was a long pause, and finally the answer was "Yes." +"But you must remember," offered one, "that they took 'em out at Tulsa +from a supposedly guarded jail; and we couldn't know from where we were +what was going on outside."</p> + +<p>"For ten days we had no blankets," said Mike Sheehan. "It was cold +weather, and we had to sleep uncovered on concrete floors. In those ten +days I had no more than three hours sleep."</p> + +<p>"The mob and those who came after the mob wouldn't let us sleep. They +would come outside our windows and hurl curses at us, and tell each of us +it would be our turn next. They brought in Wesley Everest and laid him on +the corridor floor; he was bleeding from his ears and mouth and nose, was +curled in a heap and groaning. And men outside and inside kept up the din. +I tried to sleep; I was nearly mad; my temples kept pounding like +sledge-hammers. I don't know how a man can go through all that and +live--but we did."</p> + +<p>All through the night the prisoners could hear the voices of the mob +under their cell windows. "Well, we fixed that guy Everest all right," +some one would say. "Now we'll get Roberts." Then the lights would snap +off, there would be a shuffling, curses, a groan and the clanking of a +steel door. All the while they were being urged to "come clean" with a +statement that would clear the lumber trust of the crime and throw the +blame onto its victims. McInerney's neck was scraped raw by the rope of +the mob but he repeatedly told them to "go to hell!" Morgan, the +stool-pigeon, escaped the torture by immediate acquiescence. Someone has +since paid his fare To parts unknown. His "statement" didn't damage the +defense.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Ray Becker</p> + +<p>Logger, American born. Twenty-five years of age. Studied four years for +the ministry before going to work in the woods. His father and brother are +both preachers. Becker joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 +and has always been a strong believer in the cause of the solidarity of +Labor. He has the zeal of a prophet and the courage of a lion. Defended +himself inside the hall with an Ivor Johnson, 38, until his ammunition was +exhausted. He surrendered to the authorities--not the mob.</p></div> + +<h2>The Human Fiend</h2> + +<p>But with the young logger who had been taken out into the night things +were different. Wesley Everest was thrown, half unconscious, into the +bottom of an automobile. The hands of the men who had dragged him there +were sticky and red. Their pant legs were sodden from rubbing against the +crumpled figure at their feet. Through the dark streets sped the three +machines. The smooth asphalt became a rough road as the suburbs were +reached. Then came a stretch of open country, with the Chehalis river +bridge only a short distance ahead. The cars lurched over the uneven road +with increasing speed, their headlights playing on each other or on the +darkened highway.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest stirred uneasily. Raising himself slowly on one elbow he +swung weakly with his free arm, striking one of his tormentors full in the +face. The other occupants immediately seized him and bound his hands and +feet with rope. It must have been the glancing blow from the fist of the +logger that gave one of the gentlemen his fiendish inspiration. Reaching +in his pocket he produced a razor. For a moment he fumbled over the now +limp figure in the bottom of the car. His companions looked on with stolid +acquiescence. Suddenly there was a piercing scream of pain. The figure +gave a convulsive shudder of agony. After a moment Wesley Everest said in +a weak voice: "For Christ's sake, men; shoot me--don't let me suffer like +this."</p> + +<p>On the way back to Centralia, after the parade rope had done Its deadly +work, the gentlemen of the razor alighted from the car in front of a +certain little building. He asked leave to wash his hands. They were as +red as a butcher's. Great clots of blood were adhering to his sleeves. +"That's about the nastiest job I ever had to do," was his casual remark as +he washed himself in the cool clear water of the Washington hills. The +name of this man is known to nearly everybody in Centralia. He is still at +large.</p> + +<p>The headlight of the foremost car was now playing on the slender steel +framework of the Chehalis river bridge. This machine crossed over and +stopped, the second one reached the middle of the bridge and stopped while +the third came to a halt when it had barely touched the plankwork on the +near side. The well-dressed occupants of the first and last cars alighted +and proceeded at once to patrol both approaches to the bridge.</p> + +<h2>Lynching--An American Institution</h2> + +<p>Wesley Everest was dragged out of the middle machine. A rope was +attached to a girder with the other end tied in a noose around his neck. +His almost lifeless body was hauled to the side of the bridge. The +headlights of two of the machines threw a white light over the horrible +scene. Just as the lynchers let go of their victim the fingers of the half +dead logger clung convulsively to the planking of the bridge. A business +man stamped on them with a curse until the grip was broken. There was a +swishing sound; then a sudden crunching jerk and the rope tied to the +girder began to writhe and twist like a live thing. This lasted but a +short time. The lynchers peered over the railing into the darkness. Then +they slowly pulled up the dead body, attached a longer rope and repeated +the performance. This did not seem to suit them either, so they again +dragged the corpse through the railings and tied a still longer rope +around the horribly broken neck of the dead logger. The business men were +evidently enjoying their work, and besides, the more rope the more +souvenirs for their friends, who would prize them highly.</p> + +<p>This time the knot was tied by a young sailor. He knew how to tie a +good knot and was proud of the fact. He boasted of the stunt afterwards to +a man he thought as beastly as himself. In all probability he never +dreamed he was talking for publication. But he was.</p> + +<p>The rope had now been lengthened to about fifteen feet. The broken and +gory body was kicked through the railing for the last time. The knot on +the girder did not move any more. Then the lynchers returned to their +luxurious cars and procured their rifles. A headlight flashed the dangling +figure into ghastly relief. It was riddled with volley after volley. The +man who fired the first shot boasted of the deed afterwards to a brother +lodge member. He didn't know he was talking for publication either.</p> + +<p>On the following morning the corpse was cut down by an unknown hand. It +drifted away with the current. A few hours later Frank Christianson, a +tool of the lumber trust from the Attorney General's office, arrived in +Centralia. "We've got to get that body," this worthy official declared, +"or the wobs will find it and raise hell over its condition."</p> + +<p>The corpse was located after a search. It was not buried, however, but +carted back to the city jail, there to be used as a terrible object lesson +for the benefit of the incarcerated union men. The unrecognizable form was +placed in a cell between two of the loggers who had loved the lynched boy +as a comrade and a friend. Something must be done to make the union men +admit that they, and not the lumber interests, had conspired to commit +murder. This was the final act of ruthlessness. It was fruitful in +results. One "confession," one Judas and one shattered mind were the +result of their last deed of fiendish terrorism.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Burial of the Mob's Victim</p> + +<p>No undertaker would handle Everest's body. The autopsy was performed by +a man from Portland, who hung the body up by the heels and played a hose +on it. The men lowering the plank casket into the grave are Union loggers +who had been caught in the police drag net and taken from jail for this +purpose.</p></div> + +<p>No undertaker could be found to bury Everest's body, so after two days +it was dropped into a hole in the ground by four union loggers who had +been arrested on suspicion and were released from jail for this purpose. +The "burial" is supposed to have taken place in the new cemetery; the body +being carried thither in an auto truck. The union loggers who really dug +the grave declare, however, that the interment took place at a desolate +spot "somewhere along a railroad track." Another body was seen, covered +with ashes in a cart, being taken away for burial on the morning of the +twelfth. There are persistent rumors that more than one man was lynched on +the eve of Armistice day. A guard of heavily armed soldiers had charge of +the funeral. The grave has since been obliterated. Rumor has it that the +body has since been removed to Camp Lewis. No one seems to know why or +when.</p> + +<h2>"As Comical as a Corner"</h2> + +<p>An informal inquest was held in the city jail. A man from Portland +performed the autopsy, that is, he hung the body up by the heels and +played a water hose on it. Everest was reported by the corner's jury to +have met his death at the hands of parties unknown. It was here that Dr. +Bickford let slip the statement about the hall being raided before the +shooting started. This was the first inkling of truth to reach the public. +Coroner Livingstone, in a jocular mood, reported the inquest to a meeting +of gentlemen at the Elks' Club. In explaining the death of the union +logger, Dr. Livingstone stated that Wesley Everest had broken out of jail, +gone to the Chehalis river bridge and jumped off with a rope around his +neck. Finding the rope too short he climbed back and fastened on a longer +one; jumped off again, broke his neck and then shot himself full of holes. +Livingstone's audience, appreciative of his tact and levity, laughed long +and hearty. Business men still chuckle over the joke in Centralia. "As +funny as a funeral" is no longer the stock saying in this humorous little +town; "as comical as a coroner" is now the approved form.</p> + +<h2>The Man-Hunt</h2> + +<p>Acting on the theory that "a strong offensive is the best defense," the +terrorists took immediate steps to conceal all traces of their crime and +to shift the blame onto the shoulders of their victims. The capitalist +press did yeoman service in this cause by deluging the nation with a +veritable avalanche of lies.</p> + +<p>For days the district around Centralia and the city itself were at the +mercy of a mob. The homes of all workers suspected of being sympathetic to +Labor were spied upon or surrounded and entered without warrant. Doors +were battered down at times, and women and children abused and insulted. +Heavily armed posses were sent out in all directions in search of "reds." +All roads were patrolled by armed business men in automobiles. A strict +mail and wire censorship was established. It was the open season for +"wobblies" and intimidation was the order of the day. The White Terror was +supreme.</p> + +<p>An Associated Press reporter was compelled to leave town hastily +without bag or baggage because he inadvertently published Dr. Bickford's +indiscreet remark about the starting of the trouble. Men and women did not +dare to think, much less think aloud. Some of them in the district are +still that way.</p> + +<p>To Eugene Barnett's little home came a posse armed to the teeth. They +asked for Barnett and were told by his young wife that he had gone up the +hill with his rifle. Placing a bayonet to her breast they demanded +entrance. The brave little woman refused to admit them until they had +shown a warrant. Barnett surrendered when he had made sure he was to be +arrested and not mobbed.</p> + +<p>O.C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb and Loren Roberts were also +apprehended in due time. Two loggers, John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson, who +were said to have also fired on the mob, have not yet been arrested. A +vigorous search is still being made for them in all parts of the country. +It is believed by many that one of these men was lynched like Everest on +the night of November 11th.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Court House at Montesano--And a Little "Atmosphere"</p> + +<p>The trial was held on the third floor of the building as you look at +the picture. The soldiers were sent for over the head of the judge by one +of the lumber trust attorneys of the prosecution. Their only purpose was +to create the proper "atmosphere" for an unjust conviction.</p></div> + +<h2>Hypocrisy and Terror</h2> + +<p>The reign of terror was extended to cover the entire West coast. Over a +thousand men and women were arrested in the state of Washington alone. +Union halls were closed and kept that way. Labor papers were suppressed +and many men have been given sentences of from one to fourteen years for +having in their possession copies of periodicals which contained little +else but the truth about the Centralia tragedy. The Seattle Union Record +was temporarily closed down and its stock confiscated for daring to hint +that there were two sides to the story. During all this time the +capitalist press was given full rein to spread its infamous poison. The +general public, denied the true version of the affair, was shuddering over +its morning coffee at the thought of I.W.W. desperadoes shooting down +unoffending paraders from ambush. But the lumber interests were chortling +with glee and winking a suggestive eye at their high priced lawyers who +were making ready for the prosecution. Jurymen were shortly to be drawn +and things were "sitting pretty," as they say in poker.</p> + +<p>Adding a characteristic touch to the rotten hypocrisy of the situation +came a letter from Supreme Court Judge McIntosh to George Dysart, whose +son was in command of a posse during the manhunt. This remarkable document +is as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p align="center">Kenneth Mackintosh, Judge<br /> +The Supreme Court, State of Washington<br /> +Olympia.</p> + +<p>George Dysart, Esq.,<br /> +Centralia, Wash.<br /> +My Dear Dysart:</p> + +<p>November 13, 1919.</p> + +<p>I want to express to you my appreciation of the high character of +citizenship displayed by the people of Centralia in their agonizing +calamity. We are all shocked by the manifestation of barbarity on the part +of the outlaws, and are depressed by the loss of lives of brave men, but +at the same time are proud of the calm control and loyalty to American +ideals demonstrated by the returned soldiers and citizens. I am proud to +be an inhabitant of a state which contains a city with the record which +has been made for Centralia by its law-abiding citizens.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"> Sincerely,<br /> +(Signed) Kenneth MacKintosh.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h2>"Patriotic" Union Smashing</h2> + +<p>Not to be outdone by this brazen example of judicial perversion, +Attorney General Thompson, after a secret conference of prosecuting +attorneys, issued a circular of advice to county prosecutors. In this +document the suggestion was made that officers and members of the +Industrial Workers of the World in Washington be arrested by the wholesale +under the "criminal syndicalism" law and brought to trial simultaneously +so that they might not be able to secure legal defense. The astounding +recommendation was also made that, owing to the fact that juries had been +"reluctant to convict," prosecutors and the Bar Association should +co-operate in examining jury panels so that "none but courageous and +patriotic Americans" secure places on the juries.</p> + +<p>This effectual if somewhat arbitrary plan was put into operation at +once. Since the tragedy at Centralia dozens of union workers have been +convicted by "courageous and patriotic" juries and sentenced to serve from +one to fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Hundreds more are +awaiting trial. The verdict at Montesano is now known to everyone. Truly +the lives of the four Legion boys which were sacrificed by the lumber +interests in furtherance of their own murderous designs, were well +expended. The investment was a profitable one and the results are no doubt +highly gratifying.</p> + +<p>But just the same the despicable plot of the Attorney General is an +obvious effort to defeat the purpose of the courts and obtain unjust +convictions by means of what is termed "jury fixing." There may be honor +among thieves but there is plainly none among the public servants they +have working for them!</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Mike Sheenan</p> + +<p>Born in Ireland. 64 years old. Has been a union man for over fifty +years, having joined his grandfather's union when he was only eight. Has +been through many strikes and has been repeatedly black-hated, beaten and +even exiled. He was a stoker in the Navy during the Spanish War. Mike +Sheehan was arrested in the Union hall, went through the horrible +experience in the city jail and was found "not guilty" by the jury. Like +Elmer Smith, he was re-arrested on another similar charge and thrown back +in jail.</p></div> + +<p>The only sane note sounded during these dark days, outside of the +startling statement of Dr. Bickford, came from Montana. Edward Bassett, +commander of the Butte Post of the American Legion and an over-seas +veteran, issued a statement to the labor press that was truly +remarkable:</p> + +<p>"The I.W.W. in Centralia, Wash., who fired upon the men that were +attempting to raid the I.W.W. headquarters, were fully justified in their +act.</p> + +<p>"Mob rule in this country must be stopped, and when mobs attack the +home of a millionaire, of a laborer, or of the I.W.W., it is not only the +right but the duty of the occupants to resist with every means in their +power. If the officers of the law can not stop these raids, perhaps the +resistance of the raided may have that effect.</p> + +<p>"Whether the I.W.W. is a meritorious organization or not, whether it is +unpopular or otherwise, should have absolutely nothing to do with the +case. The reports of the evidence at the coroner's jury show that the +attack was made before the firing started. If that is true, I commend the +boys inside for the action that they took.</p> + +<p>"The fact that there were some American Legion men among the paraders +who everlastingly disgraced themselves by taking part in the raid, does +not affect my judgment in the least. Any one who becomes a party to a mob +bent upon unlawful violence, cannot expect the truly patriotic men of the +American Legion to condone his act."</p> + +<h2>Vanderveer's Opening Speech</h2> + +<p>Defense Attorney George Vanderveer hurried across the continent from +Chicago to take up the legal battle for the eleven men who had been +arrested and charged with the murder of Warren O. Grimm. The lumber +interests had already selected six of their most trustworthy tools as +prosecutors. It is not the purpose of the present writer to give a +detailed story of this "trial"--possibly one of the greatest travesties on +justice ever staged. This incident was a very important part of the +Centralia conspiracy but a hasty sketch, such as might be portrayed in +these pages, would be an inadequate presentation at best. It might be +well, therefore, to permit Mr. Vanderveer to tell of the case as he told +it to the jury in his opening and closing arguments. Details of the trial +itself can be found in other booklets by more capable authors. +Vanderveer's opening address appears in part below:</p> + +<p>May it please the court and gentlemen of the jury:--As you have already +sensed from our examination of you and from a question which I propounded +to counsel at the close of his statement yesterday, the big question in +this case is, who was the aggressor, who started the battle? Was it on the +one side a deliberately planned murderous attack upon innocent marchers, +or was it on the other side a deliberately planned wicked attack upon the +I.W.W., which they merely resisted? That, I say, is the issue. I asked +counsel what his position would be in order that you might know it, and +that he said was his position, that he would stand and fall and be judged +by it, and I say to you now that is our position, and we will stand or +fall and be judged by that issue.</p> + +<p>In order that you may properly understand this situation, and the +things that led up to it, the motives underlying it, the manner in which +it was planned and executed, I want to go just a little way back of the +occurrence on November 11th, and state to you in rough outline the +situation that existed in Centralia, the objects that were involved in +this case, the things each are trying to accomplish and the way each went +about it. There has been some effort on the part of the state to make it +appear it is not an I.W.W. trial. I felt throughout that the I.W.W. issue +must come into this case, and now that they have made their opening +statement, I say unreservedly it is here in this case, not because we want +to drag it in here, but because it can't be left out. To conceal from you +gentlemen that it is an I.W.W. issue would be merely to conceal the truth +from you and we, on our part, don't want to do that now or at any time +hereafter.</p> + +<p>The I.W.W. is at the bottom of this. Not as an aggressor, however. It +is a labor organization, organized in Chicago in 1905, and it is because +of the philosophy for which it stands and because of certain tactics which +it evolves that this thing arose.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">James McInerney</p> + +<p>Logger. Born in County Claire, Ireland. Joined the Industrial Workers +of the World in 1916. Was wounded on the steamer "Verona" when the lumber +trust tried to exterminate the union lumberworkers with bullets at +Everett, Washington. McInerney was one of those trapped in the hall. He +surrendered to officers of the law. While in the city jail his neck was +worn raw with a hangman's rope in an effort to make him "confess" that the +loggers and not the mob had started the trouble. McInerney told them to +"go to hell." He is Irish and an I.W.W. and proud of being both.</p></div> + +<h2>A Labor Movement on Trial</h2> + +<p>The I.W.W. is the representative in this country of the labor movement +of the rest of the world It is the representative in the United States of +the idea that capitalism is wrong: that no man has a right, moral or +otherwise, to exploit his fellow men, the idea that our industrial efforts +should be conducted not for the profits of any individual but should be +conducted for social service, for social welfare. So the I.W.W. says +first, that the wage system is wrong and that it means to abolish that +wage system. It says that it intends to do this, not by political action, +not by balloting, but by organization on the industrial or economical +field, precisely as employers, precisely as capital is organized on the +basis of the industry, not on the basis of the tool. The I.W.W. says +industrial evolution has progressed to that point there the tool no longer +enforces craftsmanship. In the place of a half dozen or dozen who were +employed, each a skilled artisan, employed to do the work, you have a +machine process to do that work and it resulted in the organization of the +industry on an industrial basis. You have the oil industry, controlled by +the Standard Oil; you have the lumber industry, controlled by the +Lumbermen's Association of the South and West, and you have the steel and +copper industry, all organized on an industrial basis resulting in a +fusing, or corporation, or trust of a lot of former owners. Now the I.W.W. +say if they are to compete with our employers, we must compete with our +employers as an organization, and as they are organized so we must protect +our organization, as they protect themselves. And so they propose to +organize into industrial unions; the steel workers and the coal miners, +and the transportation workers each into its own industrial unit.</p> + +<p>This plan of organization is extremely distasteful to the employers +because it is efficient; because it means a new order, a new system in the +labor world in this country. The meaning of this can be gathered, in some +measure, from the recent experiences in the steel strike of this country, +where they acted as an industrial unit; from the recent experiences in the +coal mining industry, where they acted as an industrial unit. Instead of +having two or three dozen other crafts, each working separately, they +acted as an industrial unit. When the strike occurred it paralyzed +industry and forced concessions to the demands of the workers. That is the +first thing the I.W.W. stands for and in some measure and in part explains +the attitude capital has taken all over the country towards it.</p> + +<p>In the next place it says that labor should organize on the basis of +some fundamental principle; and labor should organize for something more +than a mere bartering and dickering for fifty cents a day or for some +shorter time, something of that sort. It says that the system is +fundamentally wrong and must be fundamentally changed before you can look +for some improvement. Its philosophy is based upon government statistics +which show that in a few years in this country our important industries +have crept into more than two-thirds of our entire wealth. Seventy-five +per cent of the workers in the basic industry are unable to send their +children to school. Seventy-one per cent of the heads of the families in +our basic industries are unable to provide a decent living for their +families without the assistance of the other members. Twenty-nine per cent +of our laborers are able to live up to the myth that he is the head of the +family. The results of these evils are manifold. Our people are not being +raised in decent vicinities. They are not being raised and educated. Their +health is not being cared for; their morals are not being cared for. I +will show you that in certain of our industries where the wages are low +and the hours are long, that the children of the working people die at the +rate of 300 to 350 per thousand inhabitants under the age of one year +because of their undernourishment, lack of proper housing and lack of +proper medical attention and because the mothers of these children before +they are born and when the children are being carried in the mother's womb +that they are compelled to go into the industries and work and work and +work, and before the child can receive proper nourishment the mother is +compelled to go back into the industry and work again. The I.W.W.'s say +there must be a fundamental change and that fundamental change must be in +the line of reorganization of industry, for public service, so that the +purpose shall be that we will work to live and not merely live to work. +Work for service rather than work for profit.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">James McInerney</p> + +<p align="center">(After he had undergone the "Third degree".)</p> + +<p>McInerney had a rope around his neck nearly all night before this +picture was taken. One end of the rope had been pulled taut over a beam by +his tormentors. McInerney had told them to "go to hell." "It's no use +trying to get anything out of a man like that," was the final decision of +the inquisitors.</p></div> + +<h2>To Kill an Ideal...</h2> + +<p>Some time in September, counsel told you, the I.W.W., holding these +beliefs, opened a hall in Centralia. Back of that hall was a living room, +where Britt Smith lived, kept his clothes and belongings and made his +home. From then on the I.W.W. conducted a regular propaganda meeting every +Saturday night. These propaganda meetings were given over to a discussion +of these industrial problems and beliefs. From that district there were +dispatched into nearby lumber camps and wherever there were working people +to whom to carry this message--there were dispatched organizers who went +out, made the talks in the camps briefly and sought to organize them into +this union, at least to teach them the philosophy of this labor +movement.</p> + +<p>Because that propaganda is fatal to those who live by other people's +work, who live by the profits they wring from labor, it excited intense +opposition on the part of employers and business people of Centralia and +about the time this hall was opened we will show you that people from +Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters for these labor fights, +came into Centralia and held meetings. I don't know what they call this +new thing they were seeking to organize--it is in fact a branch of the +Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of the United States, a national +organization whose sole purpose is to fight and crush and beat labor. It +was in no sense a local movement because it started in Seattle and it was +organized by people from Seattle, and the purpose was to organize in +Centralia an organization of business men to combat this new labor +philosophy. Whether in the mouths of the I.W.W., or Nonpartisan League, or +the Socialists, it did not make any difference; to brand anybody as a +traitor, un-American, who sought to tell the truth about our industrial +conditions.</p> + +<h2>The Two Raids</h2> + +<p>In the fall of 1918, the I.W.W. had a hall two blocks and a half from +this hall, at the corner of First and B streets. There was a Red Cross +parade, and that hall was wrecked, just as was this hall. These +profiteering gentlemen never overlook an opportunity to capitalize on a +patriotic event, and so they capitalized the Red Cross parade that day +just as they capitalized the Armistice Day parade on November 11, and in +exactly the same way as on November 11.</p> + +<p>And that day, when the tail-end of the parade of the Red Cross passed +the main avenue, it broke off and went a block out of its way and attacked +the I.W.W. hall, a good two-story building. And they broke it into +splinters. The furniture, records, the literature that belongs to these +boys, everything was taken out into the street and burned.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">O. C. Bland</p> + +<p>Logger. American. Resident of Centralia for a number of years. Has +worked in woods and mills practically all his life. Has a wife and seven +children. Bland was in the Arnold hotel at the time of the raid. He was +armed but had cut his hand on broken glass before he had a chance to +shoot. Since his arrest and conviction his family has undergone severe +hardships. The defense is making an effort to raise enough funds to keep +the helpless wives and children of the convicted men in the comforts of +life.</p></div> + +<p>Now, what was contemplated on Armistice Day? The I.W.W. did as you +would do; it judged from experience.</p> + +<h2>Patience No Longer a Virtue</h2> + +<p>When the paraders smashed the door in, the I.W.W.'s, as every lover of +free speech and every respecter of his person--they had appealed to the +citizens, they had appealed to the officers, and some of their members had +been tarred and feathered, beaten up and hung--they said in thought: +"Patience has ceased to be a virtue." And if the law will not protect us, +and the people won't protect us, we will protect ourselves. And they +did.</p> + +<p>And in deciding this case, I want each of you, members of the jury, to +ask yourself what would you have done?</p> + +<p>There had been discussions of this character in the I.W.W. hall, and so +have there been discussions everywhere. There had never been a plot laid +to murder anybody, nor to shoot anybody in any parade. I want you to ask +yourself: "Why would anybody want to shoot anybody in a parade," and to +particularly ask yourself why anyone would want to shoot upon +soldiers?</p> + +<p>He who was a soldier himself, Wesley Everest, the man who did most of +the shooting, and the man whom they beat until he was unconscious and whom +they grabbed from the street and put a rope around his neck, the man whom +they nearly shot to pieces, and the man whom they hung, once dropping him +ten feet, and when what didn't kill him lengthened the rope to 15 feet and +dropped him again--why would one soldier want to kill another soldier, or +soldiers, who had never done him nor his fellows any harm?</p> + +<p>I exonerate the American Legion as an organization of the +responsibility of this. For I say they didn't know about it. The day will +come when they will realize that they have been mere catspaws in the hands +of the Centralia commercial interests. That is the story. I don't know +what the verdict will be today, but the verdict ten years hence will be +the verdict in the Lovejoy case; that these men were within their rights +and that they fought for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They +fought for these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers +of liberty stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of +our country.</p> + +<p>This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been +tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is +from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals +and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started +with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its +head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it.</p> + +<h2>Vanderveer's Closing Argument</h2> + +<p>There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who +was the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene +Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred?</p> + +<p>We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the +I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business +interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We +have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants +are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway +of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the +prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot.</p> + +<p>We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and +undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he +was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the +shooting.</p> + +<p>In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: +Who was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and +stand by it now.</p> + +<p>Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same +promise. So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who +has been so ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. +Cunningham, ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the +defense was piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. +hall by the paraders, Mr. Abel backed down.</p> + +<h2>Why Were the Shots Fired?</h2> + +<p>I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all +along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was +the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice +Day paraders were fired upon in cold blood while engaged in lawful and +peaceful action.</p> + +<p>What possible motive could these boys have had for firing upon innocent +marching soldiers? It is true that the marchers were fired upon; that +shots were fired by some of these defendants; but why were the shots +fired?</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">John Lamb</p> + +<p>Logger. American. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. +Lamb was in the Arnold Hotel with O.C. Bland during the raid on the hall. +Neither of them did any shooting. John Lamb has lived for years in +Centralia. He is married and has five children who are left dependent +since the conviction.</p></div> + +<p>There is only one reason why--they were defending their own legal +property against unlawful invasion and attack; they were defending the +dwelling place of Britt Smith, their secretary.</p> + +<p>And they had full right to defend their lives and that property and +that home against violence or destruction; they had a right to use force, +if necessary, to effect that defense. The law gives them that right; and +it accrues to them also from all of the wells of elementary justice.</p> + +<p>The law says that when a man or group of men have reason to fear attack +from superior numbers, they may provide whatever protection they may deem +necessary to repel such an attack. And it says also that if a man who is +in bad company when such an attack is made happens to be killed by the +defenders, those defenders are not to be considered guilty of that man's +death.</p> + +<p>So they had the troops come, to blow bugles and drill in the streets +where the jury could see; their power, however wielded, was great enough +to cause Governor Hart to send the soldiers here without consulting the +trial judge or the sheriff, whose function it was to preserve law and +order here--and you know, I am sure, that law and order were adequately +preserved here before the troops came.</p> + +<h2>"Fearful of the Truth"</h2> + +<p>They tried the moth-eaten device of arresting our witnesses for alleged +perjury, hoping to discredit those witnesses thus in your eyes because +they knew they couldn't discredit them in any regular nor legitimate +way.</p> + +<p>Fearful of the truth, the guilty ones at Centralia deliberately framed +up evidence to save themselves from blame--to throw the responsibility for +the Armistice Day horror onto other men. But they bungled the frame-up +badly. No bolder nor cruder fabrication has ever been attempted than the +ridiculous effort to fasten the killing of Warren Grimm upon Eugene +Barnett.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Court Room in which the Farcical "Trial" Took Place</p> + +<p>This garish room in the court house at Montesano was the scene of the +attempted "judicial murder" that followed the lynching. The judge always +entered his chambers through the door under the word "Transgression": the +jury always left through the door over which "Instruction" appears. In +this room the lumber trust attorneys attempted to build a gallows of +perjured testimony on which to break the necks of innocent men.</p></div> + +<p>These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall.</p> + +<p>These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall.</p> + +<p>Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she +had been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution. She would not +have told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was +obvious to everybody in this courtroom that day.</p> + +<p>You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a +murder trial, and not a labor trial. But they have been careful to ask all +our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to +any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on +trial for their lives. And when the answer to any of these questions was +yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief. Their +policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is +in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held +Centralia in its grasp.</p> + +<p>You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, +of the part F.R. Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at +Centralia. You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill +owned by Hubbard's corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is +a notorious non-union concern. And you have heard it said that W.A. Abel, +the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter +for years.</p> + +<p>Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia. Why did he want to +drive them out? He said they were a menace. And it is true that they were +a menace, and are a menace--to those who exploit the workers who produce +the wealth for the few to enjoy.</p> + +<h2>Why Were Ropes Carried?</h2> + +<p>Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting? Dr. Frank Bickford, a +reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had +sworn to at the coroner's inquest--that when the parade stopped, he +offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,--but that +others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came +from inside.</p> + +<p>And why did the Rev. H.W. Thompson have a rope? Thompson believes in +hanging men by the neck until they are dead. When the state Employers' +Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not +long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in +behalf of that law. And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W. +Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf? Or +what?</p> + +<p>Why did the prosecution need so many attorneys here, if it had the +facts straight? Why were scores of American Legion members imported here +to sit at the trial at a wage of $4 per day and expenses?</p> + +<p>They have told you this was a murder trial, and not a labor trial. But +vastly more than the lives of ten men are the stakes in the big gamble +here; for the right of workers to organize for the bettering of their own +condition is on trial; the right of free assemblage is on trial; democracy +and Americanism are on trial.</p> + +<p>In our opening statement, we promised to prove various facts; and we +have proven them, in the main; if there are any contentions about which +the evidence remains vague, this circumstance exists only because His +Honor has seen fit to rule out certain testimony which is vital to the +case, and we believed, and still believe, was entirely material and +properly admissible.</p> + +<p>But is there any doubt in your minds that there was a conspiracy to +raid the I.W.W. hall, and to run the Industrial Workers of the World out +of town? Even if the court will not allow you to read the handbill issued +by the I.W.W., asking protection from the citizens of Centralia have you +any doubt that the I.W.W. had reason to fear an attack from Warren Grimm +and his fellow marchers? And have you any doubt that there was a raid on +the hall?</p> + +<p>When I came into this case I knew that we were up against tremendous +odds. Terror was loose in Centralia; prejudice and hatred against the +I.W.W. was being systematically and sweepingly spread in Grays Harbor +county and throughout the whole Northwest; and intimidation or influence +of some sort was being employed against every possible witness and +talesman.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">George Vanderveer</p> + +<p>This man single handed opposed six high priced lumber trust prosecutors +in the famous trial at Montesano. Vanderveer is a man of wide experience +and deep social vision. He was at one time prosecuting attorney for King +County, Washington. The lumber trust has made countless threats to "get +him." "A lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a workingman with +brains."</p></div> + +<p>Not only were unlimited money and other resources of the Lewis County +commercial interests banded against us, but practically all the attorneys +up and down the Pacific coast had pledged themselves not to defend any +I.W.W., no matter how great nor how small the charge he faced. Our +investigators were arrested without warrant; solicitors for our defense +fund met with the same fate.</p> + +<p>And when the trial date approached, the judge before whom this case is +being heard admitted that a fair trial could not be had here, because of +the surging prejudice existent in this community. Then, five days later, +the court announced that the law would not permit a second change of +venue, and that the trial must go ahead in Montesano.</p> + +<p>In the face of these things, and in the face of all the atmosphere of +violence and bloodthirstiness which the prosecution has sought to throw +around these defendants, I am placing our case in your hands; I am +intrusting to you gentlemen to decide upon the fate of ten human +beings--whether they shall live or die or be shut away from their fellows +for months or years.</p> + +<p>But I am asking you much more than that--I am asking you to decide the +fate of organized labor in the Northwest; whether its fundamental rights +are to survive or be trampled underfoot.</p> + +<h2>The Lumber Trust Wins the Jury</h2> + +<p>On Saturday evening, March 13th, the jury brought in its final verdict +of guilty. In the face of the very evident ability of the lumber +interests, to satisfy its vengeance at will, any other verdict would have +been suicidal--for the jury.</p> + +<p>The prosecution was out for blood and nothing less than blood. Day by +day they had built the structure of gallows right there in the courtroom. +They built a scaffolding on which to hang ten loggers--built it of lies +and threats and perjury. Dozens of witnesses from the Chamber of Commerce +and the American Legion took the stand to braid a hangman's rope of +untruthful testimony. Some of these were members of the mob; on their +white hands the blood of Wesley Everest was hardly dry. And they were not +satisfied with sending their victims to prison for terms of from 25 to 40 +years, they wanted the pleasure of seeing their necks broken. But they +failed. Two verdicts were returned; his honor refused to accept the first; +no intelligent man can accept the second.</p> + +<p>Here is the way the two verdicts compare with each other: Elmer Smith +and Mike Sheehan were declared not guilty and Loren Roberts insane, in +both the first and second verdicts. Britt Smith, O.C. Bland, James +McInerney, Bert Bland and Ray Becker were found guilty of murder in the +second degree in both instances, but Eugene Barnett and John Lamb were at +first declared guilty of manslaughter, or murder "in the third degree" in +the jury's first findings, and guilty of second degree murder in the +second.</p> + +<p>The significant point is that the state made its strongest argument +against the four men whom the jury practically exonerated of the charge of +conspiring to murder. More significant is the fact that the whole verdict +completely upsets the charge of conspiracy to murder under which the men +were tried. The difference between first and second degree murder is that +the former, first degree, implies premeditation while the other, second +degree, means murder that is not premeditated. Now, how in the world can +men be found guilty of conspiring to murder without previous +premeditation? The verdict, brutal and stupid as it is, shows the weakness +and falsity of the state's charge more eloquently than anything the +defense has ever said about it.</p> + +<h2>But Labor Says, "Not Guilty!"</h2> + +<p>But another jury had been watching the trial. Their verdict came as a +surprise to those who had read the newspaper version of the case. No +sooner had the twelve bewildered and frightened men in the jury box paid +tribute to the power of the Lumber Trust with a ludicrous and tragic +verdict than the six workingmen of the Labor Jury returned their verdict +also. Those six men represented as many labor organizations in the Pacific +Northwest with a combined membership of many thousands of wage +earners.</p> + +<p>The last echoes of the prolonged legal battle had hardly died away when +these six men sojourned to Tacoma to ballot, deliberate and to reach their +decision about the disputed facts of the case. At the very moment when the +trust-controlled newspapers, frantic with disappointment, were again +raising the blood-cry of their pack, the frank and positive statement of +these six workers came like a thunderclap out of a clear sky,--"Not +Guilty!"</p> + +<p>The Labor Jury had studied the development of the case with earnest +attention from the beginning. Day by day they had watched with increasing +astonishment the efforts of the defense to present, and of the prosecution +and the judge to exclude, from the consideration of the trial jury, the +things everybody knew to be true about the tragedy at Centralia. Day by +day the sordid drama had been unfolded before their eyes. Day by day the +conviction had grown upon them that the loggers on trial for their lives +were being railroaded to the gallows by the legal hirelings of the Lumber +Trust. The Labor Jury was composed of men with experience in the labor +movement. They had eyes to see through a maze of red tape and legal +mummery to the simple truth that was being hidden or obscured. The Lumber +Trust did not fool these men and it could not intimidate them. They had +the courage to give the truth to the world just as they saw it. They were +convinced in their hearts and minds that the loggers on trial were +innocent. And they would have been just as honest and just as fearless had +their convictions been otherwise.</p> + +<p>It cannot be said that the Labor Jury was biased in favor of the +defendants or of the I.W.W. If anything, they were predisposed to believe +the defendants guilty and their union an outlaw organization. It must be +remembered that all the labor jury knew of the case was what it had read +in the capitalist newspapers prior to their arrival at the scene of the +trial. These men were not radicals but representative working men--members +of conservative unions--who had been instructed by their organizations to +observe impartially the progress of the trial and to report back to their +unions the result of their observations. Read their report:</p> + +<h2>Labor's Verdict</h2> + +<p>Labor Temple, Tacoma, March 15, 1920, 1:40 p.m.</p> + +<p>The Labor Jury met in the rooms of the Labor Temple and organized, +electing P. K. Mohr as foreman.</p> + +<p>Present: J.A. Craft, W.J. Beard, Otto Newman, Theodore Mayer, E.W. +Thrall and P.K. Mohr.</p> + +<p>1. On motion a secret ballot of guilty or not guilty was taken, the +count resulting in a unanimous "Not Guilty!"</p> + +<p>2. Shall we give our report to the press? Verdict, "Yes."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Labor's Silent Jury</p> + +<p>W.J. Beard, Central Labor Council, Tacoma: Paul K. Mohr, Central Labor +Council, Seattle: Theodore Meyer, Central Labor Council, Everett: E.W. +Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia: John A. Craft, Metal +Trades Council, Seattle.</p></div> + +<p>3. Was there a conspiracy to raid the I.W.W. hall on the part of the +business interests of Centralia? Verdict, "Yes."</p> + +<p>There was evidence offered by the defense to show that the business +interests held a meeting at the Elk's Club on October 20, 1919, at which +ways and means to deal with the I.W.W. situation were discussed. F.B. +Hubbard, Chief of Police Hughes and William Scales, commander of the +American Legion at Centralia, were present. Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +quoted as having said, "There is no law that would let you run the I.W.W. +out of town." Chief of Police Hughes said, "You cannot run the I.W.W. out +of town; they have violated no law." F.G. Hubbard said, "It's a damn +shame; if I was chief I would have them out of town in 24 hours." William +Scales, presiding at the meeting, said that although he was not in favor +of a raid, there was no American jury that would convict them if they did, +or words to that effect. He then announced that he would appoint a secret +committee to deal with the I.W.W. situation.</p> + +<p>4. Was the I.W.W. hall unlawfully raided? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence +introduced convinces us that an attack was made before a shot was +fired.</p> + +<p>5. Had the defendants a right to defend their hall. Verdict, "yes." On +a former occasion the I.W.W. hall was raided, furniture destroyed and +stolen, ropes placed around their necks and they were otherwise abused and +driven out of town by citizens, armed with pick handles.</p> + +<p>6. Was Warren O. Grimm a party to the conspiracy of raiding the I.W.W. +hall? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence introduced convinces us that Warren O. +Grimm participated in the raid of the I.W.W. hall.</p> + +<p>7. To our minds the most convincing evidence that Grimm was in front of +and raiding the I.W.W. hall with others, is the evidence of State Witness +Van Gilder who testified that he stood at the side of Grimm at the +intersection of Second street and Tower avenue, when, according to his +testimony, Grimm was shot. This testimony was refuted by five witnesses +who testified that they saw Grimm coming wounded from the direction of the +I.W.W. hall. It is not credible that Van Gilder, who was a personal and +intimate friend of Grimm, would leave him when he was mortally wounded, to +walk half a block alone and unaided.</p> + +<p>8. Did the defendants get a fair and impartial trial? Verdict, "No." +The most damaging evidence of a conspiracy by the business men of +Centralia, of a raid on the I.W.W. hall, was ruled out by the court and +not permitted to go to the jury. This was one of the principal issues that +the defense sought to establish.</p> + +<p>Also the calling of the federal troops by Prosecuting Attorney Allen +was for no other reason than to create atmosphere. On interviewing the +judge, sheriff and prosecuting attorney, the judge and the sheriff +informed us that in their opinion the troops were not needed and that they +were brought there without their consent or knowledge. In the interview +Mr. Allen promised to furnish the substance of the evidence which in his +opinion necessitated the presence of the troops the next morning, but on +the following day he declined the information. He, however, did say that +he did not fear the I.W.W., but was afraid of violence by the American +Legion. This confession came after he was shown by us the fallacy of the +I.W.W. coming armed to interfere with the verdict. Also the presence of +the American Legion in large numbers in court.</p> + +<p>Theodore Meyer, Everett Central Labor Council; John O. Craft, Seattle +Metal Trades Council; E.W. Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, +Centralia; W.J. Beard, Tacoma Central Labor Council; Otto Newman, Portland +Central Labor Council; P.K. Mohr, Seattle Central Labor Council.</p> + +<p>The above report speaks for itself. It was received with great +enthusiasm by the organizations of each of the jurymen when the verdict +was submitted. On March 17th, the Seattle Central Labor Council voted +unanimously to send the verdict to all of the Central Labor Assemblies of +the United States and Canada.</p> + +<p>Not only are the loggers vindicated in defending their property and +lives from the felonious assault of the Armistice Day mob, but the +conspiracy of the business interests to raid the hall and the raid itself +were established. The participation of Warren O. Grimm is also accepted as +proved beyond doubt. Doubly significant is the statement about the "fair +and impartial trial" that is supposed to be guaranteed all men under our +constitution.</p> + +<p>Nothing could more effectively stamp the seal of infamy upon the whole +sickening rape of justice than the manly outspoken statements of these six +labor jurors. Perhaps the personalities of these men might prove of +interest:</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">E. W. Thrall</span>, of the Brotherhood of +Railway Trainmen, Centralia, is an old time and trusted member of his +union. As will be noticed, he comes from Centralia, the scene of the +tragedy.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">Otto Newman</span>, of the Central Labor +Council, Portland, Oregon, has ably represented his union in the C.L.C. +for some time.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">W.J. Beard</span> is organizer for the Central +Labor Council in Tacoma, Washington. He is an old member of the Western +Federation of Miners and remembers the terrible times during the strikes +at Tulluride.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">John O. Craft</span> is president of Local 40, +International Union of Steam Operating Engineers, of which union he has +been a member for the last ten years. Mr. Craft has been actively +connected with unions affiliated with the A.F. of L. since 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">Theodore Meyer</span> was sent by the +Longshoremen of Everett, Washington. Since 1903 he has been a member of +the A.F. of L.; prior to that time being a member of the National Sailors +and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Sailors' +Union of Australia.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">P. K. Mohr</span> represents the Central Labor +Council of Seattle and is one of the oldest active members in the Seattle +unions. Mr. Mohr became a charter member of the first Bakers' Union in +1889 and was its first presiding officer. He was elected delegate to the +old Western Central Labor Council in 1890. At one time Mr. Mohr was +president of the Seattle Labor Council. At the present time he is +president of the Bakers' Union.</p> + +<p>Such are the men who have studied the travesty on justice in the great +labor trial at Montesano. "Not Guilty" is their verdict. Does it +mean anything to you?</p> + +<h2>Wesley Everest</h2> + +<p>Torn and defiant as a wind-lashed reed,<br /> +Wounded, he faced you as he stood at bay;<br /> +You dared not lynch him in the light of day,<br /> +But on your dungeon stones you let him bleed;<br /> +Night came ... and you black vigilants of Greed,...<br /> +Like human wolves, seized hand upon your prey,<br /> +Tortured and killed ... and, silent, slunk away<br /> +Without one qualm of horror at the deed.</p> + +<p>Once ... long ago ... do you remember how<br /> +You hailed Him king for soldiers to deride--<br /> +You placed a scroll above His bleeding brow<br /> +And spat upon Him, scourged Him, crucified...?<br /> +A rebel unto Caesar--then as now--<br /> +Alone, thorn-crowned, a spear wound in His side!</p> + +<p align="right">--R.C. in "N.Y. Call." </p> +<hr /> +<pre> + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + +******* This file should be named 10725-h.txt or 10725-h.zip ******* + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725</a> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/10725-h/cover.gif b/10725-h/cover.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..afc716f --- /dev/null +++ b/10725-h/cover.gif diff --git a/10725.txt b/10725.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..013bc8e --- /dev/null +++ b/10725.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4608 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Centralia Conspiracy, by Ralph Chaplin + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Centralia Conspiracy + +Author: Ralph Chaplin + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + + +E-text prepared by Curtis A. Weyant + + + +The Centralia Conspiracy + +By Ralph Chaplin + + + + + + + +[Illustration: cover] + + + + + + A Tongue of Flame + + The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of + flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house + enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates + through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last + aroused; reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all + her work is ruin. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is + undone.--Emerson. + + + + + + +Murder or Self-Defense? + + + +This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to +unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day +tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe +that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even +then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of +savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other +methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting. + +The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of +four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World +in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these +unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered +from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced +that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not +raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime. + +But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers +presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who +participated in the affair, testified at the coroner's inquest that the +Legion men were attempting to raid the union hall when they were killed. +Sworn testimony of various eyewitnesses has revealed the fact that some of +the "unoffending paraders" carried coils of rope and that others were +armed with such weapons as would work the demolition of the hall and +bodily injury to its occupants. These things throw an entirely different +light on the subject. If this is true it means that the union loggers +fired only in self-defense and not with the intention of committing wanton +and malicious murder as has been stated. Now, as at least two of the union +men who did the shooting were ex-soldiers, it appears that the tragedy +must have resulted from something more than a mere quarrel between loggers +and soldiers. There must be something back of it all that the public +generally doesn't know about. + +There is only one body of men in the Northwest who would hate a union hall +enough to have it raided--the lumber "interests." And now we get at the +kernel of the matter, which is the fact that the affair was the outgrowth +of a struggle between the lumber trust and its employees--between +Organized Capital and Organized Labor. + + + + +A Labor Case + + + +And so, after all, the famous trial at Montesano was not a murder trial +but a labor trial in the strict sense of the word. Under the law, it must +be remembered, a man is not committing murder in defending his life and +property from the felonious assault of a mob bent on killing and +destruction. There is no doubt whatever but what the lumber trust had +plotted to "make an example" of the loggers and destroy their hall on this +occasion. And this was not the first time that such atrocities had been +attempted and actually committed. Isn't it peculiar that, out of many +similar raids, you only heard of the one where the men defended +themselves? Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but the +preservation of its holy profits is the first law of the lumber trust. The +organized lumber workers were considered a menace to the super-prosperity +of a few profiteers--hence the attempted raid and the subsequent killing. + +What is more significant is the fact the raid had been carefully planned +weeks in advance. There is a great deal of evidence to prove this point. + +There is no question that the whole affair was the outcome of a +struggle--a class struggle, if you please--between the union loggers and +the lumber interests; the former seeking to organize the workers in the +woods and the latter fighting this movement with all the means at its +disposal. + +In this light the Centralia affair does not appear as an isolated incident +but rather an incident in an eventful industrial conflict, little known +and less understood, between the lumber barons and loggers of the Pacific +Northwest. This viewpoint will place Centralia in its proper perspective +and enable one to trace the tragedy back to the circumstances and +conditions that gave it birth. + +But was there a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to commit +murder and violence in an effort to drive organized labor from its domain? +Weeks of patient investigating in and around the scene or the occurrence +has convinced the present writer that such a conspiracy has existed. A +considerable amount of startling evidence has been unearthed that has +hitherto been suppressed. If you care to consider Labor's version of this +unfortunate incident you are urged to read the following truthful account +of this almost unbelievable piece of mediaeval intrigue and brutality. + +The facts will speak for themselves. Credit them or not, but read! + + + + +The Forests of the Northwest + + + +The Pacific Northwest is world famed for its timber. The first white +explorers to set foot upon its fertile soil were awed by the magnitude and +grandeur of its boundless stretches of virgin forests. Nature has never +endowed any section of our fair world with such an immensity of kingly +trees. Towering into the sky to unthinkable heights, they stand as living +monuments to the fecundity of natural life. Imagine, if you can, the vast +wide region of the West coast, hills, slopes and valleys, covered with +millions of fir, spruce and cedar trees, raising their verdant crests a +hundred, two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet into the air. + +When Columbus first landed on the uncharted continent these trees were +already ancient. There they stood, straight and majestic with green and +foam-flecked streams purling here and there at their feet, crowning the +rugged landscape with superlative beauty, overtopped only by the +snow-capped mountains--waiting for the hand of man to put them to the +multitudinous uses of modern civilization. Imagine, if you can, the first +explorer, gazing awe-stricken down those "calm cathedral isles," wondering +at the lavish bounty of our Mother Earth in supplying her children with +such inexhaustible resources. + +But little could the first explorer know that the criminal clutch of Greed +was soon to seize these mighty forests, guard them from the human race +with bayonets, hangman's ropes and legal statutes; and use them, +robber-baron like, to exact unimaginable tribute from the men and women of +the world who need them. Little did the first explorer dream that the day +would come when individuals would claim private ownership of that which +prolific nature had travailed through centuries to bestow upon mankind. + +But that day has come and with it the struggle between master and man that +was to result in Centralia--or possibly many Centralias. + + + + +Lumber--A Basic Industry + + + +It seems the most logical thing in the world to believe that the natural +resources of the Earth, upon which the race depends for food, clothing and +shelter, should be owned collectively by the race instead of being the +private property of a few social parasites. It seems that reason would +preclude the possibility of any other arrangement, and that it would be +considered as absurd for individuals to lay claim to forests, mines, +railroads and factories as it would be for individuals to lay claim to the +ownership of the sunlight that warms us or to the air we breathe. But the +poor human race, in its bungling efforts to learn how to live in our +beautiful world, appears destined to find out by bitter experience that +the private ownership of the means of life is both criminal and +disastrous. + +Lumber is one of the basic industries--one of the industries mankind never +could have done without. The whole structure of what we call civilization +is built upon wooden timbers, ax-hewn or machine finished as the case may +be. Without the product of the forests humanity would never have learned +the use of fire, the primitive bow and arrow or the bulging galleys of +ancient commerce. Without the firm and fibrous flesh of the mighty +monarchs of the forest men might never have had barges for fishing or +weapons for the chase; they would not have had carts for their oxen or +kilns for the fashioning of pottery; they would not have had dwellings, +temples or cities; they would not have had furniture nor fittings nor +roofs above their heads. Wood is one of the most primitive and +indispensable of human necessities. Without its use we would still be +groping in the gloom and misery of early savagery, suffering from the cold +of outer space and defenseless in the midst of a harsh and hostile +environment. + + + + +From Pioneer to Parasite + + + +So it happened that the first pioneers in the northern were forced to bare +their arms and match their strength with the wooded wilderness. At first +the subjugation of the forests was a social effort. The lives and future +prosperity of the settlers must be made secure from the raids of the +Indians and the inclemency of the elements. Manfully did these men labor +until their work was done. But this period did not last long, for the tide +of emigration was sweeping westward over the sun-baked prairies to the +promised land in the golden West. + +[Illustration: Fir and Spruce Trees + +The wood of the West coast abound with tall fir trees. Practically all +high grade spruce comes from this district also. Spruce was a war +necessity and the lumber trust profiteered unmercifully on the government. +U.S. prisons are full of loggers who struck for the 8 hour day in 1917.] + +Towns sprang up like magic, new trees were felled, sawmills erected and +huge logs in ever increasing numbers were driven down the foaming torrents +each year at spring time. The country was new, the market for lumber +constantly growing and expanding. But the monopolist was unknown and the +lynch-mobs of the lumber trust still sleeping in the womb of the Future. +So passed the not unhappy period when opportunity was open to everyone, +when freedom was dear to the hearts of all. It was at this time that the +spirit of real Americanism was born, when the clean, sturdy name "America" +spelled freedom, justice and independence. Patriotism in these days was +not a mask for profiteers and murderers were not permitted to hide their +bloody hands in the folds of their nation's flag. + +But modern capitalism was creeping like a black curse upon the land. +Stealing, coercing, cajoling, defrauding, it spread from its plague-center +in Wall St., leaving misery, class antagonism and resentment in its trial. +The old free America of our fathers was undergoing a profound change. +Equality of opportunity was doomed. A new social alignment was being +created. Monopoly was loosed upon the land. Fabulous fortunes were being +made as wealth was becoming centered into fewer and fewer hands. Modern +capitalism was entrenching itself for the final and inevitable struggle +for world domination. In due time the social parasites of the East, +foreseeing that the forests of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin could not +last forever, began to look to the woods of the Northwest with covetous +eyes. + +[Illustration: Cedar Trees of the Northwest + +With these giants the logger daily matches his strength and skill. The +profit-greedy lumber trust has wasted enough trees of smaller size to +supply the world with wood for years to come.] + + + + +Stealing the People's Forest Land + + + +The history of the acquisition of the forests of Washington, Montana, +Idaho, Oregon and California is a long, sordid story of thinly veiled +robbery and intrigue. The methods of the lumber barons in invading and +seizing its "holdings" did not differ greatly, however, from those of the +steel and oil kings, the railroad magnates or any of the other industrial +potentates who acquired great wealth by pilfering America and peonizing +its people. The whole sorry proceeding was disgraceful, high-handed and +treacherous, and only made possible by reason of the blindness of the +generous American people, drugged with the vanishing hope of "success" and +too confident of the continued possession of its blood-bought liberties. +And do the lumber barons were unhindered in their infamous work of +debauchery, bribery, murder and brazen fraud. + +As a result the monopoly of the Northwestern woods became an established +fact. The lumber trust came into "its own." The new social alignment was +complete, with the idle, absentee landlord at one end and the migratory +and possessionless lumber jack at the other. The parasites had +appropriated to themselves the standing timber of the Northwest; but the +brawny logger whose labor had made possible the development of the +industry was given, as his share of the spoils, a crumby "bindle" and a +rebellious heart. The masters had gained undisputed control of the timber +of the country, three quarters of which is located in the Northwest; but +the workers who felled the trees, drove the logs, dressed, finished and +loaded the lumber were left in the state of helpless dependency from which +they could only extricate themselves by means of organization. And it is +this effort to form a union and establish union headquarters that led to +the tragedy at Centralia. + +The lumber barons had not only achieved a monopoly of the woods but a +perfect feudal domination of the woods as well. Within their domain banks, +ships, railways and mills bore their private insignia-and politicians, +Employers' Associations, preachers, newspapers, fraternal orders and +judges and gun-men were always at their beck and call. The power they +wield is tremendous and their profits would ransom a kingdom. Naturally +they did not intend to permit either power or profits to be menaced by a +mass of weather-beaten slaves in stag shirts and overalls. And so the +struggle waxed fiercer just as the lumberjack learned to contend +successfully for living conditions and adequate remuneration. It was the +old, old conflict of human rights against property rights. Let us see how +they compared in strength. + + + + +The Triumph of Monopoly + + + +The following extract from a document entitled "The Lumber Industry," by +the Honorable Herbert Knox Smith and published by the U.S. Department of +Commerce (Bureau of Corporations) will give some idea of the holdings and +influence of the lumber trust: + +"Ten monopoly groups, aggregating only one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, monopolized one thousand, two hundred and eight billion eight +hundred million (1,208,800,000,000) board feet of standing timber--each a +foot square and an inch thick. These figures are so stupendous that they +are meaningless without a hackneyed device to bring their meaning home. +These one thousand, eight hundred and two timber business monopolists held +enough standing timber; an indispensable natural resource, to yield the +planks necessary (over and above manufacturing wastage) to make a floating +bridge more than two feet thick and more than five miles wide from New +York to Liverpool. It would supply one inch planks for a roof over France, +Germany and Italy. It would build a fence eleven miles high along our +entire coast line. All monopolized by one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, or interests more or less interlocked. One of those interests--a +grant of only three holders--monopolized at one time two hundred and +thirty-seven billion, five hundred million (237,500,000,000) feet which +would make a column one foot square and three million miles high. Although +controlled by only three holders, that interest comprised over eight +percent of all the standing timber in the United States at that time." + +The above illuminating figures, quoted from "The I.W.A. in the Lumber +Industry," by James Rowan, will give some idea of the magnitude and power +of the lumber trust. + +[Illustration: "Topping a Tree" + +After one of these huge trees is "topped" it is called a "spar tree"--very +necessary in a certain kind of logging operations. As soon as the +chopped-off portion falls, the trunk vibrates rapidly from side to side +sometimes shaking the logger to certain death below.] + +Opposing this colossal aggregation of wealth and cussedness were the +thousands of hard-driven and exploited lumberworkers in the woods and +sawmills. These had neither wealth nor influence--nothing but their hard, +bare hands and a growing sense of solidarity. And the masters of the +forests were more afraid of this solidarity than anything else in the +world--and they fought it more bitterly, as events will show. Centralia is +only one of the incidents of this struggle between owner and worker. But +let us see what this hated and indispensable logger-the productive and +human basis of the lumber industry, the man who made all these things +possible, is like. + + + + +The Human Element--"The Timber Beast" + + + +Lumber workers are, by nature of their employment, divided into two +categories--the saw-mill hand and the logger. The former, like his +brothers in the Eastern factories, is an indoor type while the latter is +essentially a man of the open air. Both types are necessary to the +production of finished lumber, and to both union organization is an +imperative necessity. + +Sawmill work is machine work--rapid, tedious and often dangerous. There is +the uninteresting repetition of the same act of motions day in and day +out. The sights, sounds and smells of the mill are never varied. The fact +that the mill is permanently located tends to keep mill workers grouped +about the place of their employment. Many of them, especially in the +shingle mills, have lost fingers or hands in feeding the lumber to the +screaming saws. It has been estimated that fully a half of these men are +married and remain settled in the mill communities. The other half, +however, are not nearly so migratory as the lumberjack. Sawmill workers +are not the "rough-necks" of the industry. They are of the more +conservative "home-guard" element and characterized by the psychology of +all factory workers. + +The logger, on the other hand, (and it is with him our narrative is +chiefly concerned), is accustomed to hard and hazardous work in the open +woods. His occupation makes him of necessity migratory. The camp, +following the uncut timber from place to place, makes it impossible for +him to acquire a family and settle down. Scarcely one out of ten has ever +dared assume the responsibility of matrimony. The necessity of shipping +from a central point in going from one job to another usually forces a +migratory existence upon the lumberjack in spite of his best intentions to +live otherwise. + + + + +What Is a Casual Laborer? + + + +The problem of the logger is that of the casual laborer in general. +Broadly speaking, there are three distinct classes of casual laborers: +First, the "harvest stiff" of the middle West who follows the ripening +crops from Kansas to the Dakotas, finding winter employment in the North, +Middle Western woods, in construction camps or on the ice fields. Then +there is the harvest worker of "the Coast" who garners the fruit, hops and +grain, and does the canning of California, Washington and Oregon, finding +out-of-season employment wherever possible. Finally there is the +Northwestern logger, whose work, unlike that of the Middle Western "jack" +is not seasonal, but who is compelled nevertheless to remain migratory. As +a rule, however, his habitat is confined, according to preference or force +of circumstances, to either the "long log" country of Western Washington +and Oregon as well as California, or to the "short log" country of Eastern +Washington and Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Minnesota, +Michigan, and Wisconsin are in what is called the "short log" region. + +[Illustration: A Logger of the Pacific Northwest + +This is a type of the men who work in the "long log" region of the West +coast. His is a man's sized job, and his efforts to organize and better +the working conditions in the lumber industry have been manly efforts--and +bitterly opposed.] + +As a rule the logger of the Northwest follows the woods to the exclusion +of all other employment. He is militantly a lumberjack and is inclined to +be a trifle "patriotic" and disputatious as to the relative importance of +his own particular branch of the industry. "Long loggers," for instance, +view with a suspicion of disdain the work of "short loggers" and vice +versa. + + + + +"Lumber-Jack" The Giant Killer + + + +But the lumber-jack is a casual worker and he is the finished product of +modern capitalism. He is the perfect proletarian type--possessionless, +homeless, and rebellious. He is the reverse side of the gilded medal of +present day society. On the one side is the third generation idle +rich--arrogant and parasitical, and on the other, the actual producer, +economically helpless and denied access to the means of production unless +he "beg his lordly fellow worm to give him leave to toil," as Robert Burns +has it. + +The logger of the Northwest has his faults. He is not any more perfect +than the rest of us. The years of degradation and struggle he has endured +in the woods have not failed to leave their mark upon him. But, as the +wage workers go, he is not the common but the uncommon type both as +regards physical strength and cleanliness and mental alertness. He is +generous to a fault and has all the qualities Lincoln and Whitman loved in +men. + +In the first place, whether as faller, rigging man or on the "drive," his +work is muscular and out of doors. He must at all times conquer the forest +and battle with the elements. There is a tang and adventure to his labor +in the impressive solitude of the woods that gives him a steady eye, a +strong arm and a clear brain. Being constantly close to the great green +heart of Nature, he acquires the dignity and independence of the savage +rather than the passive and unresisting submission of the factory worker. +The fact that he is free from family ties also tends to make him ready for +an industrial frolic or fight at any time. In daily matching his prowess +and skill with the products of the earth he feels in a way, that the woods +"belong" to him and develops a contempt for the unseen and unknown +employers who kindly permit him to enrich them with his labor. He is +constantly reminded of the glaring absurdity of the private ownership of +natural resources. Instinctively he becomes a rebel against the injustice +and contradictions of capitalist society. + +Dwarfed to ant-like insignificance by the verdant immensity around him, +the logger toils daily with ax, saw and cable. One after another forest +giants of dizzy height crash to the earth with a sound like thunder. In a +short time they are loaded on flat cars and hurried across the +stump-dotted clearing to the river, whence they are dispatched to the +noisy, ever-waiting saws at the mill. And always the logger knows in his +heart that this is not done that people may have lumber for their needs, +but rather that some overfed parasite may first add to his holy dividends. +Production for profit always strikes the logger with the full force of +objective observation. And is it any wonder, with the process of +exploitation thus naked always before his eyes, that he should have been +among the very first workers to challenge the flimsy title of the lumber +barons to the private ownership of the woods? + + + + +The Factory Worker and the Lumber-Jack + + + +Without wishing to disparage the ultimate worth of either; it might be +well to contrast for a moment the factory worker of the East with the +lumber-jack of the Pacific Northwest. To the factory hand the master's +claim to the exclusive title of the means of production is not so +evidently absurd. Around him are huge, smoking buildings filled with +roaring machinery--all man-made. As a rule he simply takes for granted +that his employers--whoever they are--own these just as he himself owns, +for instance, his pipe or his furniture. Only when he learns, from +thoughtful observation or study, that such things are the appropriated +products of the labor of himself and his kind, does the truth dawn upon +him that labor produces all and is entitled to its own. + +[Illustration: Logging Operations + +Look around you at the present moment and you will see wood used for many +different purposes. Have you ever stopped to think where the raw material +comes from or what the workers are like who produce it? Here is a scene +from a lumber camp showing the loggers at their daily tasks. The lumber +trust is willing that these men should work-but not organize.] + +It must be admitted that factory life tends to dispirit and cow the +workers who spend their lives in the gloomy confines of the modern mill or +shop. Obedient to the shrill whistle they pour out of their clustered grey +dwellings in the early morning. Out of the labor ghettos they swarm and +into their dismal slave-pens. Then the long monotonous, daily "grind," and +home again to repeat the identical proceeding on the following day. Almost +always, tired, trained to harsh discipline or content with low comfort; +they are all too liable to feel that capitalism is invincibly colossal and +that the possibility of a better day is hopelessly remote. Most of them +are unacquainted with their neighbors. They live in small family or +boarding house units and, having no common meeting place, realize only +with difficulty the mighty potency of their vast numbers. To them +organization appears desirable at times but unattainable. The dickering +conservatism of craft unionism appeals to their cautious natures. They act +only en masse, under awful compulsion and then their release of repressed +slave emotion is sudden and terrible. + +Not so with the weather-tanned husky of the Northwestern woods. His job +life is a group life. He walks to his daily task with his fellow workers. +He is seldom employed for long away from them. At a common table he eats +with them, and they all sleep in common bunk houses. The trees themselves +teach him to scorn his master's adventitious claim to exclusive ownership. +The circumstances of his daily occupation show him the need of class +solidarity. His strong body clamours constantly for the sweetness and +comforts of life that are denied him, his alert brain urges him to +organize and his independent spirit gives him the courage and tenacity to +achieve his aims. The union hall is often his only home and the One Big +Union his best-beloved. He is fond of reading and discussion. He resents +industrial slavery as an insult. He resented filth, overwork and poverty, +he resented being made to carry his own bundle of blankets from job to +job; he gritted his teeth together and fought until he had ground these +obnoxious things under his iron-caulked heel. The lumber trust hated him +just in proportion as he gained and used his industrial power; but neither +curses, promises nor blows could make him budge. He knew what he wanted +and he knew how to get what he wanted. And his boss didn't like it very +well. + +The lumber-jack is secretive and not given to expressed emotion--excepting +in his union songs. The bosses don't like his songs either. But the logger +isn't worried a bit. Working away in the woods every day, or in his bunk +at night, he dreams his dream of the world as he thinks it should be--that +"wild wobbly dream" that every passing day brings closer to +realization--and he wants all who work around him to share his vision and +his determination to win so that all will be ready and worthy to live in +the New Day that is dawning. + +In a word the Northwestern lumber-jack was too human and too stubborn ever +to repudiate his red-blooded manhood at the behest of his masters and +become a serf. His union meant to him all that he possessed or hoped to +gain. Is it any wonder that he endured the tortures of hell during the +period of the war rather than yield his Red Card--or that he is still +determined and still undefeated? Is it any wonder the lumber barons hated +him, and sought to break his spirit with brute force and legal cunning--or +that they conspired to murder it at Centralia with mob violence--and +failed? + + + + +Why the Loggers Organized + + + +The condition of the logger previous to the period of organization beggars +description. Modern industrial autocracy seemed with him to develop its +most inhuman characteristics. The evil plant of wage slavery appeared to +bear its most noxious blossoms in the woods. + +The hours of labor were unendurably long, ten hours being the general +rule--with the exception of the Grays Harbor district, where the eleven or +even twelve hour day prevailed. In addition to this men were compelled to +walk considerable distances to and from their work and meals through the +wet brush. + +Not infrequently the noon lunch was made almost impossible because of the +order to be back on the job when work commenced. A ten hour stretch of +arduous labor, in a climate where incessant rain is the rule for at least +six months of the year, was enough to try the strength and patience of +even the strongest. The wages too were pitiably inadequate. + +The camps themselves, always more or less temporary affairs, were inferior +to the cow-shed accommodations of a cattle ranch. The bunk house were +over-crowded, ill-smelling and unsanitary. In these ramshackle affairs the +loggers were packed like sardines. The bunks were arranged tier over tier +and nearly always without mattresses. They were uniformly vermin-infested +and sometimes of the "muzzle-loading" variety. No blankets were furnished, +each logger being compelled to supply his own. There were no facilities +for bathing or the washing and drying of sweaty clothing. Lighting and +ventilation were of course, always poor. + +In addition to these discomforts the unorganized logger was charged a +monthly hospital fee for imaginary medical service. Also it was nearly +always necessary to pay for the opportunity of enjoying these privileges +by purchasing employment from a "job shark" or securing the good graces of +a "man catcher." The former often had "business agreements" with the camp +foreman and, in many cases, a man could not get a job unless he had a +ticket from a labor agent in some shipping point. + +It may be said that the conditions just described were more prevalent in +some parts of the lumber country than in others. Nevertheless, these +prevailed pretty generally in all sections of the industry before the +workers attempted to better them by organizing. At all events such were +the conditions the lumber barons sought with all their power to preserve +and the loggers to change. + + + + +Organization and the Opening Struggle + + + +A few years before the birth of the Industrial workers of the World the +lumber workers had started to organize. By 1905, when the above mentioned +union was launched, lumber-workers were already united in considerable +numbers in the old Western afterwards the American Labor Union. This +organization took steps to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the +World and was thus among the very first to seek a larger share of life in +the ranks of that militant and maligned organization. Strike followed +strike with varying success and the conditions of the loggers began +perceptibly to improve. + +Scattered here and there in the cities of the Northwest were many locals +of the Industrial Workers of the World. Not until 1912, however, were +these consolidated into a real industrial unit. For the first time a +sufficient number of loggers and saw mill men were organized to be grouped +into an integral part of the One Big Union. This was done with reasonable +success. In the following year the American Federation of Labor attempted +a similar task but without lasting results, the loggers preferring the +industrial to the craft form of organization. Besides this, they were +predisposed to sympathize with the ideal of solidarity and Industrial +Democracy for which their own union had stood from the beginning. + +The "timber beast" was starting to reap the benefits of his organized +power. Also he was about to feel the force and hatred of the "interests" +arrayed against him. He was soon to learn that the path of labor unionism +is strewn with more rocks than roses. He was making an earnest effort to +emerge from the squalor and misery of peonage and was soon to see that his +overlords were satisfied to keep him right where he had always been. + +Strange to say, almost the first really important clash occurred in the +very heart of the lumber trust's domain, in the little city of Aberdeen, +Grays Harbor County--only a short distance from Centralia, of mob fame! + +[Illustration: Eugene Barnett + +(After the man-hunt) + +Coal miner. Born in North Carolina. Member of U.M.W.A. and I.W.W. Went to +work underground at the age of eight. Self educated, a student and +philosopher. Upon reaching home Barnett, fearful of the mob, took to the +woods with his rifle. He surrendered to the posse only after he had +convinced himself that their purpose was not to lynch him.] + +This was in 1912. A strike had started in the saw mills over demands of a +$2.50 daily wage. Some of the saw mill workers were members of the +Industrial Workers of the World. They were supported by the union loggers +of Western Washington. The struggle was bitterly contested and lasted for +several weeks. The lumber trust bared its fangs and struck viciously at +the workers in a manner that has since characterized its tactics in all +labor disputes. + +The jails of Aberdeen and adjoining towns were filled with strikers. +Picket lines were broken up and the pickets arrested. When the wives of +the strikers with babies in their arms, took the places of their +imprisoned husbands, the fire hose was turned on them with great force, in +many instances knocking them to the ground. Loggers and sawmill men alike +were unmercifully beaten. Many were slugged by mobs with pick handles, +taken to the outskirts of the city and told that their return would be the +occasion of a lynching. At one time an armed mob of business men dragged +nearly four hundred strikers from their homes or boarding houses, herded +them into waiting boxcars, sealed up the doors and were about to deport +them en masse. The sheriff, getting wind of this unheard-of proceeding, +stopped it at the last moment. Many men were badly scarred by beatings +they received. One logger was crippled for life by the brutal treatment +accorded him. + +But the strikers won their demands and conditions were materially +improved. The Industrial Workers of the World continued to grow in numbers +and prestige. This event may be considered the beginning of the labor +movement on Grays Harbor that the lumber trust sought finally to crush +with mob violence on a certain memorable day in Centralia seven years +later. + +Following the Aberdeen strike one or two minor clashes occurred. The +lumber workers were usually successful. During this period they were +quietly but effectually spreading One Big Union propaganda throughout the +camps and mills in the district. Also they were organizing their fellow +workers in increasing numbers into their union. The lumber trust, smarting +under its last defeat, was alarmed and alert. + +[Illustration: Bert Faulkner + +American. Logger. 21 years of age. Member of the Industrial Workers of the +World since 1917. Was in the hall when raid occurred. Faulkner personally +knew Grimm, McElfresh and a number of others who marched in the parade. He +is an ex-soldier himself. The prosecution used a great deal of pressure to +make this boy turn state's evidence. He refused stating that he would tell +nothing but the truth. At the last moment he was discharged from the case +after being held in jail four months.] + + + + +A Massacre and a New Law + + + +But no really important event occurred until 1916. At this time the union +loggers, organized in the Industrial Workers of the World, had started a +drive for membership around Puget Sound. Loggers and mill hands were eager +for the message of Industrial Unionism. Meetings were well attended and +the sentiment in favor of the organization was steadily growing. The A.F. +of L. shingle weavers and longshoremen were on strike and had asked the +I.W.W. to help them secure free speech in Everett. The ever-watchful +lumber interests decided the time to strike had again arrived. The events +of "Bloody Sunday" are too well known to need repeating here. Suffice to +say that after a summer replete with illegal beatings and jailings five +men were killed in cold blood and forty wounded in a final desperate +effort to drive the union out of the city of Everett, Washington. These +unarmed loggers were slaughtered and wounded by the gunfire of a gang of +business men and plug-uglies of the lumber interests. True to form, the +lumber trust had every union man in sight arrested and seventy-four +charged with the murder of a gunman who had been killed by the cross-fire +of his own comrades. None of the desperadoes who had done the actual +murdering was ever prosecuted or even reprimanded. The charge against the +members of the Industrial Workers of the World was pressed. The case was +tried in court and the Industrialists declared "not guilty." George +Vanderveer was attorney for the defense. + +The lumber interests were infuriated at their defeat, and from this time +on the struggle raged in deadly earnest. Almost everything from mob law to +open assassination had been tried without avail. The execrated One Big +Union idea was gaining members and power every day. The situation was +truly alarming. Their heretofore trustworthy "wage plugs" were showing +unmistakable symptoms of intelligence. Workingmen were waking up. They +were, in appalling numbers, demanding the right to live like men. +Something must be done something new and drastic--to split asunder this +on-coming phalanx of industrial power. + +But the gun-man-and-mob method was discarded, temporarily at least, in +favor of the machinations of lumber trust tools in the law making bodies. +Big Business can make laws as easily as it can break them--and with as +little impunity. So the notorious Washington "Criminal Syndicalism" law +was devised. This law, however, struck a snag. The honest-minded governor +of the state, recognizing its transparent character and far-reaching +effects, promptly vetoed the measure. After the death of Governor Lister +the criminal syndicalism law was passed, however, by the next State +Legislature. Since that time it has been used against the American +Federation of Labor, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Socialist +Party and even common citizens not affiliated with any of these +organizations. The criminal syndicalism law registers the high water mark +of reaction. It infringes more on the liberties of the people than any of +the labor-crushing laws that blackened Russia during the dynasty of the +Romanoffs. It would disgrace the anti-Celestial legislation of Hell. + + + + +The Eight Hour Day and "Treason" + + + +Nineteen hundred and seventeen was an eventful year. It was then the +greatest strike in the history of the lumber industry occurred-the strike +for the eight hour day. For years the logger and mill hand had fought +against the unrestrained greed of the lumber interests. Step by step, in +the face of fiercest opposition, they had fought for the right to live +like men; and step by step they had been gaining. Each failure or success +had shown them the weakness or the strength of their union. They had been +consolidating their forces as well as learning how to use them. The lumber +trust had been making huge profits the while, but the lumber workers were +still working ten hours or more and the logger was still packing his dirty +blankets from job to job. Dissatisfaction with conditions was wider and +more prevalent then ever before. Then came the war. + +As soon as this country had taken its stand with the allied imperialists +the price of lumber, needed for war purposes, was boosted to sky high +figures. From $16.00 to $116.00 per thousand feet is quite a jump; but +recent disclosures show that the Government paid as high as $1200.00 per +thousand for spruce that private concerns were purchasing for less than +one tenth of that sum. Gay parties with plenty of wild women and hard +drink are alleged to have been instrumental in enabling the "patriotic" +lumber trust to put these little deals across. Due to the duplicity of +this same bunch of predatory gentlemen the airplane and ship building +program of the United States turned out to be a scandal instead of a +success. Out of 21,000 feet of spruce delivered to a Massachusetts +factory, inspectors could only pass 400 feet as fit for use. Keep these +facts and figures in mind when you read about what happened to the +"disloyal" lumber workers during the war-and afterwards. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Elmer Smith and Baby Girl + +Mrs. Elmer Smith is the cultured daughter of a Washington judge. Since +Elmer Smith got into trouble many efforts have been made to induce his +wife to leave him. Mrs. Smith prefers, however, to stick with her rebel +lawyer whom she loves and admires.] + +Discontent had been smouldering in the woods for a long time. It was soon +fanned to a flame by the brazen profiteering of the lumber trust. The +loggers had been biding their time--rather sullenly it is true--for the +day when the wrongs they had endured so patiently and so long might be +rectified. Their quarrel with the lumber interests was an old one. The +time was becoming propitious. + +In the early summer of 1917 the strike started. Sweeping through the short +log country it spread like wild-fire over nearly all the Northwestern +lumber districts. The tie-up was practically complete. The industry was +paralyzed. The lumber trust, its mouth drooling in anticipation of the +many millions it was about to make in profits, shattered high heaven with +its cries of rage. Immediately its loyal henchmen in the Wilson +administration rushed to the rescue. Profiteering might be condoned, +moralized over or winked at, but militant labor unionism was a menace to +the government and the prosecution of the war. It must be crushed. For was +it not treacherous and treasonable for loggers to strike for living +conditions when Uncle Sam needed the wood and the lumber interests the +money? So Woodrow Wilson and his coterie of political troglodytes from the +slave-owning districts of the old South, started out to teach militant +labor a lesson. Corporation lawyers were assembled. Indictments were made +to order. The bloodhounds of the Department of "Justice" were unleashed. +Grand Juries of "patriotic" business men were impaneled and did their +expected work not wisely but too well. All the gun-men and stool-pigeons +of Big Business got busy. And the opera bouffe of "saving our form of +government" was staged. + + + + +Industrial Heretics and the White Terror + + + +For a time it seemed as though the strikers would surely be defeated. The +onslaught was terrific, but the loggers held out bravely. Workers were +beaten and jailed by the hundreds. Men were herded like cattle in +blistering "bull-pens," to be freed after months of misery, looking more +like skeletons than human beings. Ellensburg and Yakima will never be +forgotten in Washington. One logger was even burned to death while locked +in a small iron-barred shack that had been dignified with the title of +"jail." In the Northwest even the military were used and the bayonet of +the soldier could be seen glistening beside the cold steel of the hired +thug. Union halls were raided in all parts of the land. Thousands of +workers were deported. Dozens were tarred and feathered and mobbed. Some +were even taken out in the dead of night and hanged to railway bridges. +Hundreds were convicted of imaginary offenses and sent to prison for terms +from one to twenty years. Scores were held in filthy jails for as long as +twenty-six months awaiting trial. The Espionage Law, which never convicted +a spy, and the Criminal Syndicalism Laws, which never convicted a +criminal, were used savagely and with full force against the workers in +their struggle for better conditions. By means of newspaper-made war +hysteria the profiteers of Big Business entrenched themselves in public +opinion. By posing as "100% Americans" (how stale and trite the phrase has +become from their long misuse of it!) these social parasites sought to +convince the nation that they, and not the truly American unionists whose +backs they were trying to break, were working for the best interests of +the American people. Our form of government, forsooth, must be saved. Our +institutions must be rescued from the clutch of the "reds." Thus was the +war-frenzy of their dupes lashed to madness and the guarantees of the +constitution suspended as far as the working class was concerned. + +So all the good, wise and noisy men of the nation were induced by diverse +means to cry out against the strikers and their union. The worst passions +of the respectable people were appealed to. The hoarse blood-cry of the +mob was raised. It was echoed and re-echoed from press and pulpit. The +very air quivered from its reverberations. Lynching parties became +"respectable." Indictments were flourished. Hand-cuffs flashed. The +clinking feet of workers going to prison rivaled the sound of the soldiers +marching to war. And while all this was happening, a certain paunchy +little English Jew with moth-eaten hair and blotchy jowls the accredited +head of a great labor union glared through his thick spectacles and nodded +his perverse approval. But the lumber trust licked its fat lips and leered +at its swollen dividends. All was well and the world was being made "safe +for democracy!" + +[Illustration: Britt Smith + +American. Logger. 35 years old. Had followed the woods for twenty years. +Smith made his home in the hall that was raided and was secretary of the +Union. When the mob broke into the jail and seized Wesley Everest to +torture and lynch him they cried, "We've got Britt Smith!" Smith was the +man they wanted and it was to break his neck that ropes were carried in +the "parade." Not until Everest's body was brought back to the city jail +was it discovered that the mob had lynched the wrong man.] + + + + +Autocracy vs. Unionism + + + +This unprecedented struggle was really a test of strength between +industrial autocracy and militant unionism. The former was determined to +restore the palmy days of peonage for all time to come, the latter to +fight to the last ditch in spite of hell and high water. The lumber trust +sought to break the strike of the loggers and destroy their organization. +In the ensuing fracas the lumber barons came out only second best--and +they were bad losers. After the war-fever had died down--one year after +the signing of the Armistice--they were still trying in Centralia to +attain their ignoble ends by means of mob violence. + +But at this time the ranks of the strikers were unbroken. The heads of the +loggers were "bloody but unbowed." Even at last, when compelled to yield +to privation and brute force and return to work, they turned defeat to +victory by "carrying the strike onto the job." As a body they refused to +work more than eight hours. Secretary of War Baker and President Wilson +had both vainly urged the lumber interests to grant the eight hour day. +The determined industrialists gained this demand, after all else had +failed, by simply blowing a whistle when the time was up. Most of their +other demands were won as well. In spite of even the Disque despotism, +mattresses, clean linen and shower baths were reluctantly granted as the +fruits of victory. + +But even as these lines are written the jails and prisons of America are +filled to overflowing with men and women whose only crime is loyalty to +the working class. The war profiteers are still wallowing in luxury. None +has ever been placed behind the bars. Before he was lynched in Butte, +Frank Little had said, "I stand for the solidarity of labor." That was +enough. The vials of wrath were poured on his head for no other reason. +And for no other reason was the hatred of the employing class directed at +the valiant hundreds who now rot in prison for longer terms than those +meted out to felons. William Haywood and Eugene Debs are behind steel bars +today for the same cause. The boys at Centralia were conspired against +because they too stood "for the solidarity of labor." It is simply lying +and camouflage to attempt to trace such persecutions to any other source. +These are things America will be ashamed of when she comes to her senses. +Such gruesome events are paralleled in no country save the Germany of +Kaiser Wilhelm or the Russia of the Czar. + +This picture of labor persecution in free America--terrible but true--will +serve as a background for the dramatic history of the events leading up to +the climactic tragedy at Centralia on Armistice Day, 1919. + + + + +While in Washington... + + + +All over the state of Washington the mobbing, jailing and tar and +feathering of workers continued the order of the day until long after the +cessation of hostilities in Europe. The organization had always urged and +disciplined its members to avoid violence as an unworthy weapon. Usually +the loggers have left their halls to the mercy of the mobs when they knew +a raid was contemplated. Centralia is the one exception. Here the outrages +heaped upon them could be no longer endured. + +In Yakima and Sedro Woolley, among other places in 1918, union men were +stripped of their clothing, beaten with rope ends and hot tar applied to +the bleeding flesh. They were then driven half naked into the woods. A man +was hanged at night in South Montesano about this time and another had +been tarred and feathered. As a rule the men were taken unaware before +being treated in this manner. In one instance a stationary delegate of the +Industrial Workers of the World received word that he was to be +"decorated" and rode out of town on a rail. He slit a pillow open and +placed it in the window with a note attached stating that he knew of the +plan; would be ready for them, and would gladly supply his own feathers. +He did not leave town either on a rail or otherwise. + +In Seattle, Tacoma and many other towns, union halls and print shops were +raided and their contents destroyed or burned. In the former city in 1919, +men, women and children were knocked insensible by policemen and +detectives riding up and down the sidewalks in automobiles, striking to +right and left with "billy" and night stick as they went. These were +accompanied by auto trucks filled with hidden riflemen and an armored tank +bristling with machine guns. A peaceable meeting of union men was being +dispersed. + +[Illustration: Loren Roberts + +American. Logger. 19 years old. Loren's mother said of him at the trial: +"Loren was a good boy, he brought his money home regularly for three +years. After his father took sick he was the only support for his father +and me and the three younger ones." The father was a sawyer in a mill and +died of tuberculosis after an accident had broken his strength. This boy, +the weakest of the men on trial, was driven insane by the unspeakable +"third degree" administered in the city jail. One of the lumber trust +lawyers was in the jail at the time Roberts signed his so-called +"confession." "Tell him to quit stalling," said a prosecutor to +Vanderveer, when Roberts left the witness stand. "You cur!" replied the +defense attorney in a low voice, "you know who is responsible for this +boy's condition." Roberts was one of the loggers on Seminary Hill.] + +In Centralia, Aberdeen and Montesano, in Grays Harbor County, the struggle +was more local but not less intense. No fewer than twenty-five loggers on +different occasions were taken from their beds at night and treated to tar +and feathers. A great number were jailed for indefinite periods on +indefinite charges. As an additional punishment these were frequently +locked in their cells and the fire hose played on their drenched and +shivering bodies. "Breech of jail discipline" was the reason given for +this "cruel and unusual" form of lumber trust punishment. + +In Aberdeen and Montesano there were several raids and many deportations +of the tar and feather variety. In Aberdeen in the fall of 1917 during a +"patriotic" parade, the battered hall of the union loggers was again +forcibly entered in the absence of its owners. Furniture, office fixtures, +Victrola and books were dumped into the street and destroyed. In the town +of Centralia, about a year before the tragedy, the Union Secretary was +kidnapped and taken into the woods by a mob of well dressed business men. +He was made to "run the gauntlet" and severely beaten. There was a strong +sentiment in favor of lynching him on the spot, but one of the mob +objected saying it would be "too raw." The victim was then escorted to the +outskirts of the city and warned not to return under pain of usual +penalty. On more than one occasion loggers who had expressed themselves in +favor of the Industrial Workers of the World, were found in the morning +dangling from trees in the neighborhood. No explanation but that of +"suicide" was ever offered. The whole story of the atrocities perpetrated +during these days of the White Terror, in all probability, will never be +published. The criminals are all well known but their influence is too +powerful to ever make it expedient to expose their crimes. Besides, who +would care to get a gentleman in trouble for killing a mere "Wobbly"? The +few instances noted above will, however, give the reader some slight idea +of the gruesome events that were leading inevitably to that grim day in +Centralia in November, 1919. + + + + +Weathering the Storm + + + +Through it all the industrialists clung to their Red Cards and to the One +Big Union for which they had sacrificed so much. Time after time, with +incomparable patience, they would refurnish and reopen their beleaguered +halls, heal up the wounds of rope, tar or "billy" and proceed with the +work of organization as though nothing had happened. With union cards or +credentials hidden in their heavy shoes they would meet secretly in the +woods at night. Here they would consult about members who had been mobbed, +jailed or killed, about caring for their families--if they had any--about +carrying on the work of propaganda and laying plans for the future +progress of their union. Perhaps they would take time to chant a rebel +song or two in low voices. Then, back on the job again to "line up the +slaves for the New Society!" + +Through a veritable inferno of torment and persecution these men had +refused to be driven from the woods or to give up their union--the +Industrial Workers of the World. Between the two dreadful alternatives of +peonage or persecution they chose the latter--and the lesser. Can you +imagine what their peonage must have been like? + + + + +Sinister Centralia + + + +But Centralia was destined to be the scene of the most dramatic portion of +the struggle between the entrenched interests and the union loggers. Here +the long persecuted industrialists made a stand for their lives and fought +to defend their own, thus giving the glib-tongued lawyers of the +prosecution the opportunity of accusing them of "wantonly murdering +unoffending paraders" on Armistice Day. + +Centralia in appearance is a creditable small American city--the kind of +city smug people show their friends with pride from the rose-scented +tranquility of a super-six in passage. The streets are wide and clean, the +buildings comfortable, the lawns and shade trees attractive. Centralia is +somewhat of a coquette but she is as sinister and cowardly as she is +pretty. There is a shudder lurking in every corner and a nameless fear +sucks the sweetness out of every breeze. Song birds warble at the +outskirts of the town but one is always haunted by the cries of the human +beings who have been tortured and killed within her confines. + +A red-faced business man motors leisurely down the wet street. He shouts a +laughing greeting to a well dressed group at the curb who respond in kind. +But the roughly dressed lumberworkers drop their glances in passing one +another. The Fear is always upon them. As these lines are written several +hundred discontented shingle-weavers are threatened with deportation if +they dare to strike. They will not strike, for they know too well the +consequences. The man-hunt of a few months ago is not forgotten and the +terror of it grips their hearts whenever they think of opposing the will +of the Moloch that dominates their every move. + +Around Centralia are wooded hills; men have been beaten beneath them and +lynched from their limbs. The beautiful Chehalis River flows near by; +Wesley Everest was left dangling from one of its bridges. But Centralia is +provokingly pretty for all that. It is small wonder that the lumber trust +and its henchmen wish to keep it all for themselves. + +Well tended roads lead in every direction, bordered with clearings of +worked out camps and studded with occasional tree stumps of great age and +truly prodigious size. At intervals are busy saw mills with thousands of +feet of odorous lumber piled up in orderly rows. In all directions +stretches the pillared immensity of the forests. The vistas through the +trees seen enchanted rather than real--unbelievable green and of form and +depth that remind one of painted settings for a Maeterlinck fable rather +than matter-of-fact timber land. + + + + +The High Priests of Labor Hatred + + + +Practically all of this land is controlled by the trusts; much of it by +the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, of which F.B. Hubbard is the head. +The strike of 1917 almost ruined this worthy gentleman. He has always been +a strong advocate of the open shop, but during the last few years he has +permitted his rabid labor-hatred to reach the point of fanaticism. This +Hubbard figures prominently in Centralia's business, social and mob +circles. He is one of the moving spirits in the Centralia conspiracy. The +Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, besides large tracts of land, owns +saw-mills, coal mines and a railway. The Centralia newspapers are its +mouthpieces while the Chamber of Commerce and the Elks' Club are its +general headquarters. The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is its local +citadel of power. In charge of this bank is a sinister character, one +Uhlman, a German of the old school and a typical Prussian junker. At one +time he was an officer in the German army but at present is a "100% +American"--an easy metamorphosis for a Prussian in these days. His native +born "brother-at-arms" is George Dysart whose son led the posses in the +man-hunt that followed the shooting. In Centralia this bank and its Hun +dictator dominates the financial, political and social activities of the +community. Business men, lawyers, editors, doctors and local authorities +all kow-tow to the institution and its Prussian president. And woe be to +any who dare do otherwise! The power of the "interests" is a vengeful +power and will have no other power before it. Even the mighty arm of the +law becomes palsied in its presence. + +[Illustration: Lumberworkers Union Hall, Raided in 1918 + +The first of the two halls to be wrecked by Centralia's terrorists. This +picture was not permitted to be introduced as evidence of the conspiracy +to raid the new hall. Judge Wilson didn't want the jury to know anything +about this event.] + +The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is the local instrumentality of the +invisible government that holds the nation in its clutch. Kaiser Uhlman +has more influence than the city mayor and more power than the police +force. The law has always been a little thing to him and his clique. The +inscription on the shield of this bank is said to read "To hell with the +Constitution; this is Lewis County." As events will show, this inspiring +maxim has been faithfully adhered to. One of the mandates of this +delectable nest of highbinders is that no headquarters of the Union of the +lumber workers shall ever be permitted within the sacred precincts of the +city of Centralia. + + + + +The Loved and Hated Union Hall + + + +Now the loggers, being denied the luxury of home and family life, have but +three places they can call "home." The bunkhouse in the camp, the cheap +rooming house in town and the Union Hall. This latter is by far the best +loved of all. It is here the men can gather around a crackling wood fire, +smoke their pipes and warm their souls with the glow of comradeship. Here +they can, between jobs or after work, discuss the vicissitudes of their +daily lives, read their books and magazines and sing their songs of +solidarity, or merely listen to the "tinned" humor or harmony of the +much-prized Victrola. Also they here attend to affairs of their +Union--line up members, hold business and educational meetings and a +weekly "open forum." Once in awhile a rough and wholesome "smoker" is +given. The features of this great event are planned for weeks in advance +and sometimes talked about for months afterwards. + +[Illustration: The Scene of the Armistice Day Tragedy + +This is what was left of the Union hall the loggers tried to defend on +November 11th. Three of the raiders, Grimm, McElfresh and Cassagranda, +were killed in the immediate vicinity of the doorway. Several others were +wounded while attempting to rush the doors.] + +These halls are at all times open to the public and inducements are made +to get workers to come in and read a thoughtful treatise on Industrial +questions. The latch-string is always out for people who care to listen to +a lecture on economics or similar subjects. Inside the hall there is +usually a long reading-table littered with books, magazines or papers. In +a rack or case at the wall are to be found copies of the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Butte Daily Bulletin," "The New Solidarity," "The Industrial +Worker," "The Liberator," "The New Republic" and "The Nation." Always +there is a shelf of thumb-worn books on history, science, economics and +socialism. On the walls are lithographs or engravings of noted champions +of the cause of Labor, a few photographs of local interest and the monthly +Bulletins and Statements of the Union. Invariably there is a blackboard +with jobs, wages and hours written in chalk for the benefit of men seeking +employment. There are always a number of chairs in the room and a roll top +desk for the secretary. Sometimes at the end of the hall is a plank +rostrum--a modest altar to the Goddess of Free Speech and open discussion. +This is what the loved and hated I.W.W. Halls are like--the halls that +have been raided and destroyed by the hundreds during the last three +years. + +Remember, too, that in each of these raids the union men were not the +aggressors and that there was never any attempt at reprisal. In spite of +the fact that the lumber workers were within their legal right to keep +open their halls and to defend them from felonious attack, it had never +happened until November 11, that active resistance was offered the +marauders. This fact alone speaks volumes for the long-suffering patience +of the logger and for his desire to settle his problems by peaceable means +wherever possible. But the Centralia raid was the straw that broke the +camel's back. The lumber trust went a little too far on this occasion and +it got the surprise of its life. Four of its misguided dupes paid for +their lawlessness with their lives, and a number of others were wounded. +There has not since been a raid on a union hall in the Northwestern +District. + +It is well that workingmen and women throughout the country should +understand the truth about the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia and the +circumstances that led up to it. But in order to know why the hall was +raided it is necessary first to understand why this, and all similar +halls, are hated by the oligarchies of the woods. + +The issue contested is whether the loggers have the right to organize +themselves into a union, or whether they must remain chattels--mere hewers +of wood and helpless in the face of the rapacity of their industrial +overlords--or whether they have the right to keep open their halls and +peacefully to conduct the affairs of their union. The lumber workers +contend that they are entitled by law to do these things and the employers +assert that, law or no law, they shall not do so. In other words, it is a +question of whether labor organization shall retain its foothold in the +lumber industry or be "driven from the woods." + + + + +Pioneers of Unionism + + + +It is hard for workers in most of the other industries--especially in the +East--to understand the problems, struggles and aspirations of the husky +and unconquerable lumber workers of the Northwest. The reason is that the +average union man takes his union for granted. He goes to his union +meetings, discusses the affairs of his craft, industry or class, and he +carries his card--all as a matter of course. It seldom enters his mind +that the privileges and benefits that surround him and the protection he +enjoys are the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the nameless +thousands of pioneers that cleared the way. But these unknown heroes of +the great struggle of the classes did precede him with their loyal hearts +and strong hands; otherwise workers now organized would have to start the +long hard battle at the beginning and count their gains a step at a time, +just as did the early champions of industrial organization, or as the +loggers of the West Coast are now doing. + +The working class owes all honor and respect to the first men who planted +the standard of labor solidarity on the hostile frontier of unorganized +industry. They were the men who made possible all things that came after +and all things that are still to come. They were the trail blazers. It is +easier to follow them than to have gone before them--or with them. They +established the outposts of unionism in the wilderness of Industrial +autocracy. Their voices were the first to proclaim the burning message of +Labor's power, of Labor's mission and of Labor's ultimate emancipation. +Their breasts were the first to receive the blows of the enemy; their +unprotected bodies were shielding the countless thousands to follow. They +were the forerunners of the solidarity of Toil. They fought in a good and +great cause; for without solidarity, Labor would have attained nothing +yesterday, gained nothing today nor dare to hope for anything tomorrow. + +[Illustration: Seminary Hall + +The Union hall looks out on this hill, with Tower avenue and an alley +between. It is claimed that loggers, among others Loren Roberts, Bert +Bland and the missing Ole Hanson, fired at the attacking mob from this +position.] + + + + +The Block House and the Union Hall + + + +In the Northwest today the rebel lumberjack is a pioneer. Just as our +fathers had to face the enmity of the Indians, so are these men called +upon to face the fury of the predatory interests that have usurped the +richest timber resources of the richest nation in the world. Just outside +Centralia stands a weatherbeaten landmark. It is an old, brown dilapidated +block house of early days. In many ways it reminds one of the battered and +wrecked union halls to be found in the heart of the city. + +The evolution of industry has replaced the block house with the union hall +as the embattled center of assault and defense. The weapons are no longer +the rifle and the tomahawk but the boycott and the strike. The frontier is +no longer territorial but industrial. The new struggle is as portentous as +the old. The stakes are larger and the warfare even more bitter. + +The painted and be-feathered scalp-hunter of the Sioux or Iroquois were +not more heartless in maiming, mutilating and killing their victims than +the "respectable" profit-hunters of today--the type of men who conceived +the raid on the Union Hall in Centralia on Armistice Day--and who +fiendishly tortured and hanged Wesley Everest for the crime of defending +himself from their inhuman rage. It seems incredible that such deeds could +be possible in the twentieth century. It is incredible to those who have +not followed in the bloody trail of the lumber trust and who are not +familiar with its ruthlessness, its greed and its lust for power. + +As might be expected the I.W.W. Halls in Washington were hated by the +lumber barons with a deep and undying hatred. Union halls were a standing +challenge to their hitherto undisputed right to the complete domination of +the forests. Like the blockhouses of early days, these humble meeting +places were the outposts of a new and better order planted in the +stronghold of the old. And they were hated accordingly. The thieves who +had invaded the resources of the nation had long ago seized the woods and +still held them in a grip of steel. They were not going to tolerate the +encroachments of the One Big Union of the lumber workers. Events will +prove that they did not hesitate at anything to achieve their purposes. + + + + +The First Centralia Hall + + + +In the year 1918 a union hall stood on one of the side streets in +Centralia. It was similar to the halls that have just been described. This +was not, however, the hall in which the Armistice Day tragedy took place. +You must always remember that there were two halls raided in Centralia; +one in 1918 and another in 1919. The loggers did not defend the first hall +and many of them were manhandled by the mob that wrecked it. The loggers +did defend the second and were given as reward a hanging, a speedy, fair +and impartial conviction and sentences of from 25 to 40 years. No member +of the mob has ever been punished or even taken to task for this misdeed. +Their names are known to everybody. They kiss their wives and babies at +night and go to church on Sundays. People tip their hats to them on the +street. Yet they are a greater menace to the institutions of this country +than all the "reds" in the land. In a world where Mammon is king the king +can do no wrong. But the question of "right" or "wrong" did not concern +the lumber interests when they raided the Union hall in 1918. "Yes, we +raided the hall, what are you going to do about it," is the position they +take in the matter. + +During the 1917 strike the two lumber trust papers in Centralia, the "Hub" +and the "Chronicle" were bitter in their denunciation of the strikers. +Repeatedly they urged that most drastic and violent measures be taken by +the authorities and "citizens" to break the strike, smash the union and +punish the strikers. The war-frenzy was at its height and these miserable +sheets went about their work like Czarist papers inciting a pogrom. The +lumber workers were accused of "disloyalty," "treason," +"anarchy"--anything that would tend to make their cause unpopular. The +Abolitionists were spoken about in identical terms before the civil war. +As soon as the right atmosphere for their crime had been created the +employers struck and struck hard. + +It was in April, 1918. Like many other cities in the land Centralia was +conducting a Red Cross drive. Among the features of this event were a +bazaar and a parade. + +The profits of the lumber trust were soaring to dizzy heights at this time +and their patriotism was proportionately exalted. + +There was the usual brand of hypocritical and fervid speechmaking. The +flag was waved, the Government was lauded and the Constitution praised. +Then, after the war-like proclivities of the stay-at-home heroes had been +sufficiently worked upon; flag, Government and Constitution were forgotten +long enough for the gang to go down the street and raid the "wobbly" hall. + +Dominating the festivities was the figure of F.B. Hubbard, at that time +President of the Employers' Association of the State of Washington. This +is neither Hubbard's first nor last appearance as a terrorist and +mob-leader--usually behind the scenes, however, or putting in a last +minute appearance. + +[Illustration: Avalon Hotel, Centralia + +From this point Elsie Hornbeck claimed she identified Eugene Barnett in +the open window with a rifle. Afterwards she admitted that her +identification was based only on a photograph shown her by the +prosecution. This young lady nearly fainted on the witness stand while +trying to patch her absurd story together.] + + + + +The 1918 Raid + + + +It had been rumored about town that the Union Hall was to be wrecked on +this day but the loggers at the hall were of the opinion that the business +men, having driven their Secretary out of town a short time previously, +would not dare to perpetrate another atrocity so soon afterwards. In this +they were sadly mistaken. + +Down the street marched the parade, at first presenting no unusual +appearance. The Chief of Police, the Mayor and the Governor of the State +were given places of honor at the head of the procession. Company G of the +National Guard and a gang of broad-cloth hoodlums disguised as "Elks" made +up the main body of the marchers. But the crafty and unscrupulous Hubbard +had laid his plans in advance with characteristic cunning. The parade, +like a scorpion, carried its sting in the rear. + +Along the main avenue went the guardsmen and the gentlemen of the Elks +Club. So far nothing extraordinary had happened. Then the procession +swerved to a side street. This must be the right thing for the line of +march had been arranged by the Chamber of Commerce itself. A couple of +blocks more and the parade had reached the intersection of First Street +and Tower Avenue. What happened then the Mayor and Chief of Police +probably could not have stopped even had the Governor himself ordered them +to do so. From somewhere in the line of march a voice cried out, "Let's +raid the I.W.W. Hall!" And the crowd at the tail end of the procession +broke ranks and leaped to their work with a will. + +In a short time the intervening block that separated them from the Union +Hall was covered. The building was stormed with clubs and stones. Every +window was shattered and every door was smashed, the very sides of the +building were torn off by the mob in its blind fury. Inside the rioters +tore down the partitions and broke up chairs and pictures. The union men +were surrounded, beaten and driven to the street where they were forced to +watch furniture, records, typewriter and literature demolished and burned +before their eyes. An American flag hanging in the hall, was torn down and +destroyed. A Victrola and a desk were carried to the street with +considerable care. The former was auctioned off on the spot for the +benefit of the Red Cross. James Churchill, owner of a glove factory, won +the machine. He still boasts of its possession. The desk was appropriated +by F.B. Hubbard himself. This was turned over to an expressman and carted +to the Chamber of Commerce. A small boy picked up the typewriter case and +started to take it to a nearby hotel office. One of the terrorists +detected the act and gave warning. The mob seized the lad, took him to a +nearby light pole and threatened to lynch him if he did not tell them +where books and papers were secreted which somebody said had been carried +away by him. The boy denied having done this, but the hoodlums went into +the hotel, ransacked and overturned everything. Not finding what they +wanted, they left a notice that the proprietor would have to take the sign +down from his building in just twenty-four hours. Then the mob surged +around the unfortunate men who had been found in the Union hall. With +cuffs and blows these were dragged to waiting trucks where they were +lifted by the ears to the body of the machine and knocked prostrate one at +a time. Sometimes a man would be dropped to the ground just after he had +been lifted from his feet. Here he would lay with ear drums bursting and +writhing from the kicks and blows that had been freely given. Like all +similar mobs this one carried ropes, which were placed about the necks of +the loggers. "Here's and I.W.W." yelled someone. "What shall we do with +him?" A cry was given to "lynch him!" Some were taken to the city jail and +the rest were dumped unceremoniously on the other side of the county line. + +Since that time the wrecked hall has remained tenantless and unrepaired. +Grey and gaunt like a house in battle-scarred Belgium, it stands a mute +testimony of the labor-hating ferocity of the lumber trust. Repeated +efforts have since been made to destroy the remains with fire. The defense +had tried without avail to introduce a photograph of the ruin as evidence +to prove that the second hall was raided in a similar manner on Armistice +Day, 1919. Judge Wilson refused to permit the jury to see either the +photographs or the hall. But in case of another trial...? + +Evidently the lumber trust thought it better to have all traces of its +previous crime obliterated. + +The raid of 1918 did not weaken the lumber workers' Union in Centralia. On +the contrary it served to strengthen it. But not until more than a year +had passed were the loggers able to establish a new headquarters. This +hall was located next door to the Roderick Hotel on Tower Avenue, between +Second and Third Streets. Hardly was this hall opened when threats were +circulated by the Chamber of Commerce that it, like the previous one, was +marked for destruction. The business element was lined up solid in +denunciation of and opposition to the Union Hall and all that it stood +for. But other anti-labor matters took up their attention and it was some +time before the second raid was actually accomplished. + +There was one rift in the lute of lumber trust solidarity in Centralia. +Business and professional men had long been groveling in sycophantic +servility at the feet of "the clique." There was only one notable +exception. + + + + +A Lawyer--and a Man + + + +A young lawyer had settled in the city a few years previous to the +Armistice Day tragedy. Together with his parents and four brothers he had +left his home in Minnesota to seek fame and fortune in the woods of +Washington. He had worked his way through McAlester College and the Law +School of the University of Minnesota. He was young, ambitious, red-headed +and husky, a loving husband and the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. +Nature had endowed him with a dangerous combination of gifts,--a brilliant +mind and a kind heart. His name was just plain Smith--Elmer Smith--and he +came from the old rugged American stock. + +Smith started to practice law in Centralia, but unlike his brother +attorneys, he held to the assumption that all men are equal under the +law--even the hated I.W.W. In a short time his brilliant mind and kind +heart had won him as much hatred from the lumber barons as love from the +down-trodden,--which is saying a good deal. The "interests" studied the +young lawyer carefully for awhile and soon decided that he could be +neither bullied or bought. So they determined to either break his spirit +or to break his neck. Smith is at present in prison charged with murder. +This is how it happened: + +Smith established his office in the First Guarantee Bank Building which +was quite the proper thing to do. Then he began to handle law suits for +wage-earners, which was altogether the reverse. Caste rules in Centralia, +and Elmer Smith was violating its most sacred mandataries by giving the +"working trash" the benefit of his talents instead of people really worth +while. + +Warren O. Grimm, who was afterwards shot while trying to break into the +Union Hall with the mob, once cautioned Smith of the folly and danger of +such a course. "You'll get along all right," said he, "if you will come in +with us." Then he continued: + +"How would you feel if one of your clients would come up to you in public, +slap you on the back and say 'Hello, Elmer?'" + +"Very proud," answered the young lawyer. + +[Illustration: Elmer Smith + +Attorney at law. Old American stock--born on a homestead in North Dakota. +By championing the cause of the "under-dog" in Centralia Smith brought +down on himself the wrath of the lumber trust. He defended many union men +in the courts, and at one time sought to prosecute the kidnappers of Tom +Lassiter. Smith is the man Warren O. Grimm told would get along all right, +"if you come in with us." He bucked the lumber trust instead and landed in +prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Smith was found "not guilty" by the +jury, but immediately re-arrested on practically the same charge. He is +not related to Britt Smith.] + +[Illustration: Wesley Everest + +Logger. American (old Washington pioneer stock). Joined the Industrial +Workers of the World in 1917. A returned soldier. Earnest, sincere, quiet, +he was the "Jimmy Higgins" of the Centralia branch of the Lumberworkers +Union. Everest was mistaken for Britt Smith, the Union secretary, whom the +mob had started out to lynch. He was pursued by a gang of terrorists and +unmercifully manhandled. Later--at night--he was taken from the city jail +and hanged to a bridge. In the automobile, on the way to the lynching, he +was unsexed by a human fiend--a well known Centralia business man--who +used a razor on his helpless victim. Even the lynchers were forced to +admit that Everest was the most "dead game" man they had ever seen.] + +Some months previous Smith had taken a case for an I.W.W. logger. He won +it. Other cases in which workers needed legal advice came to him. He took +them. A young girl was working at the Centralia "Chronicle." She was +receiving a weekly wage of three dollars which is in defiance of the +minimum wage law of the state for women. Smith won the case. Also he +collected hundreds of dollars in back wages for workers whom the companies +had sought to defraud. Workers in the clutches of loan sharks were +extricated by means of the bankruptcy laws, hitherto only used by their +masters. An automobile firm was making a practice of replacing Ford +engines with old ones when a machine was brought in for repairs. One of +the victims brought his case to Smith. and a lawsuit followed. This was an +unheard-of proceeding, for heretofore such little business tricks had been +kept out of court by common understanding. + +A worker, formerly employed by a subsidiary of the Eastern Lumber & +Railway Company, had been deprived of his wages on a technicality of the +law by the corporation attorneys. This man had a large family and hard +circumstances were forced upon them by this misfortune. One of his little +girls died from what the doctor called malnutrition--plain starvation. +Smith filed suit and openly stated that the lawyers of the corporation +were responsible for the death of the child. The indignation of the +business and professional element blazed to white heat. A suit for libel +and disbarment proceedings were started against him. Nothing could be done +in this direction as Smith had not only justice but the law on his side. +His enemies were waiting with great impatience for a more favorable +opportunity to strike him down. Open threats were beginning to be heard +against him. + +A Union lecturer came to town. The meeting was well attended. A vigilance +committee of provocateurs and business men was in the audience. At the +close of the lecture those gentlemen started to pass the signal for +action. Elmer Smith sauntered down the aisle, shook hands with the speaker +and told him he would walk to the train with him. + +The following morning the door to Smith's office was ornamented with a +cardboard sign. It read: "Are you an American? You had better say so. +Citizens' Committee." This was lettered in lead pencil. Across the bottom +were scrawled these words: "No more I.W.W. meetings for you." + +In 1918 an event occurred which served further to tighten the noose about +the stubborn neck of the young lawyer. On this occasion the terrorists of +the city perpetrated another shameful crime against the working class--and +the law. + + + + +Blind Tom--A Blemish on America + + + +Tom Lassiter made his living by selling newspapers at a little stand on a +street corner. Tom is blind, a good soul and well liked by the loggers. +But Tom has vision enough to see that there is something wrong with the +hideous capitalist system we live under; and so he kept papers on sale +that would help enlighten the workers. Among these were the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Industrial Worker" and "Solidarity." To put it plainly, Tom +was a thorn in the side of the local respectability because of his modest +efforts to make people thing. And his doom had also been sealed. + +Early in June the newsstand was broken into and all his clothing, +literature and little personal belongings were taken to a vacant lot and +burned. A warning sign was left on a short pole stuck in the ashes. The +message, "You leave town in 24 hours, U.S. Soldiers, Sailors and Marines," +was left on the table in his room. + +With true Wobbly determination, Lassiter secured a new stock of papers and +immediately re-opened his little stand. About this time a Centralia +business man, J.H. Roberts by name, was heard to say "This man (Lassiter) +is within his legal rights and if we can't do anything by law we'll take +the law into our own hands." This is precisely what happened. + +On the afternoon of June 30th, Blind Tom was crossing Tower Avenue with +hesitating steps when, without warning, two business men seized his +groping arms and yelled in his ear, "We'll get you out of town this time!" +Lassiter called for help. The good Samaritan came along in the form of a +brute-faced creature known as W.R. Patton, a rich property owner of the +city. This Christian gentleman sneaked up behind the blind man and lunged +him forcibly into a waiting Oakland automobile. The machine is owned by +Cornelius McIntyre who is said to have been one of the kidnapping party. + +"Shut up or I'll smash your mouth so you can't yell," said one of his +assailants as Lassiter was forced, still screaming for help, into the car. +Turning to the driver one of the party said, "Step on her and let's get +out of here." About this time Constable Luther Patton appeared on the +scene. W.R. Patton walked over to where the constable stood and shouted to +the bystanders, "We'll arrest the first person that objects, interferes or +gets too loud." + +"A good smash on the jaw would do more good," suggested the kind-hearted +official. + +"Well, we got that one pretty slick and now there are two more we have to +get," stated W.R. Patton, a short time afterwards. + +Blind Tom was dropped helpless in a ditch just over the county line. He +was picked up by a passing car and eventually made his way to Olympia, +capital of the state. In about a week he was back in Centralia. But before +he could again resume his paper selling he was arrested on a charge of +"criminal syndicalism." He is now awaiting conviction at Chehalis. + +Before his arrest, however, Lassiter engaged Elmer Smith as his attorney. +Smith appealed to County Attorney Herman Allen for protection for his +client. After a half-hearted effort to locate the kidnappers--who were +known to everybody--this official gave up the task saying he was "Too busy +to bother with the affair, and, besides, the offense was only 'third +degree assault' which is punishable with a fine of but one dollar and +costs." The young lawyer did not waste any more time with the County +authorities. Instead he secured sworn statements of the facts in the case +and submitted them to the Governor. These were duly acknowledged and +placed on file in Olympia. But up to date no action has been taken by the +executive to prosecute the criminals who committed the crime. + +"Handle these I.W.W. cases if you want to," said a local attorney to Elmer +Smith, counsel for one of the banks, "but sooner or later they're all +going to be hanged or deported anyway." + +[Illustration: Where Barnett's Rifle Was Supposed to Have Been Found + +Eugene Barnett was said to have left his rifle under this sign-board as he +fled from the scene of the shooting. It would have been much easier to +hide a gun in the tall brush in the foreground. In reality Barnett did not +have a rifle on November 11th and was never within a mile of this place. +Prosecutor Cunningham said he had "been looking all over for that rifle" +when it was turned over to him by a stool pigeon. Strangely enough +Cunningham knew the number of the gun before he placed hands on it.] + +Smith was feathering a nest for himself--feathering it with steel and +stone and a possible coil of hempen rope. The shadow of the prison bars +was falling blacker on his red head with every passing moment. His +fearless championing of the cause of the "under dog" had won him the +implacable hatred of his own class. To them his acts of kindness and +humanity were nothing less than treason. Smith had been ungrateful to the +clique that had offered him every inducement to "come in with us". A +lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a working man with his brains. +Elmer Smith would be punished all right; it would just be a matter of +time. + +The indifference of the County and State authorities regarding the +kidnapping of blind Tom gave the terrorists renewed confidence in the +efficacy and "legality" of their methods. Also it gave them a hint as to +the form their future depredations were to take. And so, with the implied +approval of everyone worth considering, they went about their plotting +with still greater determination and a soothing sense of security. + + + + +The Conspiracy Develops + + + +The cessation of hostilities in Europe deprived the gangsters of the cloak +of "patriotism" as a cover for their crimes. But this cloak was too +convenient to be discarded so easily. "Let the man in uniform do it" was +an axiom that had been proved both profitable and safe. Then came the +organization of the local post of the American Legion and the now famous +Citizen's Protective League--of which more afterwards. + +With the signing of the Armistice, and the consequent almost imperceptible +lifting of the White Terror that dominated the country, the organization +of the loggers began daily to gather strength. The Chamber of Commerce +began to growl menacingly, the Employers' Association to threaten and the +lumber trust papers to incite open violence. And the American Legion began +to function as a "cats paw" for the men behind the scenes. + +Why should the beautiful city of Centralia tolerate the hated Union hall +any longer? Other halls had been raided, men had been tarred and feathered +and deported--no one had ever been punished! Why should the good citizens +of Centralia endure a lumberworkers headquarters and their despised union +itself right in the midst of their peaceful community? Why indeed! The +matter appeared simple enough from any angle. So then and there the +conspiracy was hatched that resulted in the tragedy on Armistice Day. But +the forces at work to bring about this unhappy conclusion were far from +local. Let us see what these were like before the actual details of the +conspiracy are recounted. + +There were three distinct phases of this campaign to "rid the woods of the +agitators." These three phases dovetail together perfectly. Each one is a +perfect part of a shrewdly calculated and mercilessly executed conspiracy +to commit constructive murder and unlawful entry. The diabolical plan +itself was designed to brush aside the laws of the land, trample the +Constitution underfoot and bring about an unparalleled orgy of unbridled +labor hatred and labor repression that would settle the question of +unionism for a long time. + + + + +The Conspiracy--And a Snag + + + +First of all comes the propaganda stage with the full force of the +editorial virulence of the trust-controlled newspapers directed against +labor in favor of "law and order," i.e., the lumber interests. All the +machinery of newspaper publicity was used to vilify the lumber worker and +to discredit his Union. Nothing was left unsaid that would tend to produce +intolerance and hatred or to incite mob violence. This is not only true of +Centralia, but of all the cities and towns located in the lumber district. +Centralia happened to be the place where the tree of anti-labor propaganda +first bore its ghastly fruit. Space does not permit us to quote the +countless horrible things the I.W.W. was supposed to stand for and to be +constantly planning to do. Statements from the lips of General Wood and +young Roosevelt to the effect that citizens should not argue with +Bolshevists but meet them "head on" were very conspicuously displayed on +all occasions. Any addle-headed mediocrity, in or out of uniform, who had +anything particularly atrocious to say against the labor movement in +general or the "radicals" in particular, was afforded every opportunity to +do so. The papers were vying with one another in devising effectual, if +somewhat informal, means of dealing with the "red menace." + +Supported by, and partly the result of this barrage of lies, +misrepresentation and incitation, came the period of attempted repression +by "law". This was probably the easiest thing of all because the grip of +Big Business upon the law-making and law-enforcing machinery of the nation +is incredible. At all events a state's "criminal syndicalism law" had been +conveniently passed and was being applied vigorously against union men, +A.F. of L. and I.W.W. alike, but chiefly against the Lumber Workers' +Industrial Union, No. 500, of the Industrial Workers of the World, the +basic lumber industry being the largest in the Northwest and the growing +power of the organized lumberjack being therefore more to be feared. + +[Illustration: His Uncle Planned It + +Dale Hubbard, killed in self-defense by Wesley Everest, Armistice Day, +1919. F. Hubbard, a lumber baron and uncle of the dead man, is held to +have been the instigator of the plot in which his nephew was shot. Hubbard +was martyrized by the lumber trust's determination "to let the men in +uniform do it."] + +No doubt the lumber interests had great hope that the execution of these +made-to-order laws would clear up the atmosphere so far as the lumber +situation was concerned. But they were doomed to a cruel and surprising +disappointment. + +A number of arrests were made in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and +even Nevada. Fifty or sixty men all told were arrested and their trials +rushed as test cases. During this period from April 25th to October 28th, +1919, the lumber trust saw with chagrin and dismay each of the state cases +in turn either won outright by the defendants or else dismissed in the +realization that it would be impossible to win them. By October 28th +George F. Vanderveer, chief attorney for the defense, declared there were +not a single member of the I.W.W. in custody in Washington, Idaho or +Montana under this charge. In Seattle, Washington, an injunction was +obtained restraining the mayor from closing down the new Union hall in +that city under the new law. Thus it appeared that the nefarious plan of +the employers and their subservient lawmaking adjuncts, to outlaw the +lumber workers Union and to penalize the activities of its members, was to +be doomed to an ignominious failure. + + + + +Renewed Efforts--Legal and Otherwise + + + +Furious at the realization of their own impotency the "interests" launched +forth upon a new campaign. This truly machiavellian scheme was devised to +make it impossible for accused men to secure legal defense of any kind. +All labor cases were to be tried simultaneously, thus making it impossible +for the defendants to secure adequate counsel. George F. Russell, +Secretary-Manager of the Washington Employers' Association, addressed +meetings over the state urging all Washington Prosecuting Attorneys to +organize that this end might be achieved. It is reported that Governor +Hart, of Washington, looked upon the scheme with favor when it was brought +to his personal attention by Mr. Russell. + +However, the fact remains that the lumber trust was losing and that it +would have to devise even more drastic measures if it were to hope to +escape the prospect of a very humiliating defeat. And, all the while the +organization of the lumber workers continued to grow. + +In Washington the situation was becoming more tense, momentarily. Many +towns in the heart of the lumber district had passed absurd criminal +syndicalism ordinances. These prohibited membership in the I.W.W.; made it +unlawful to rent premises to the organization or to circulate its +literature. The Employers' Association had boasted that it was due to its +efforts that these ordinances had been passed. But still they were faced +with the provocative and unforgettable fact, that the I.W.W. was no more +dead than the cat with the proverbial nine lives. Where halls had been +closed or raided the lumber workers were transacting their union affairs +right on the job or in the bunkhouses, just as though nothing had +happened. What was more deplorable a few Union halls were still open and +doing business at the same old stand. Centralia was one of these; drastic +measures must be applied at once or loggers in other localities might be +encouraged to open halls also. As events prove these measures were +taken--and they were drastic. + + + + +The Employers Show Their Fangs + + + +That the Employers' Association was assiduously preparing its members for +action suitable for the situation is evidenced by the following quotations +from the official bulletin addressed privately "to Members of the +Employers' Association of Washington". Note them carefully; they are +published as "suggestions to members" over the written signature of George +F. Russell Secretary-Manager: + +June 25th, 1918.--"Provide a penalty for idleness ... Common labor now +works a few days and then loafs to spend the money earned ... Active +prosecution of the I.W.W. and other radicals." + +April 30th, 1919.--"Keep business out of the control of radicals and +I.W.W.... Overcome agitation ... Closer co-operation between employers and +employees ... Suppress the agitators ... Hang the Bolshevists." + +May 31st, 1919.--"If the agitators were taken care of we would have very +little trouble ... Propaganda to counteract radicals and overcome +agitation ... Put the I.W.W. in jail." + +June 30th, 1919.--"Make some of the Seattle papers print the truth ... Get +rid of the I.W.W.'s." + +July 2nd, 1919.--"Educate along the line of the three R's and the golden +rule, economy and self denial ... Import Japanese labor ... Import Chinese +labor." + +July 31st, 1919.--"Deport about ten Russians in this community." + +August 31st, 1919.--"Personal contact between employer and employee, +stringent treatment of the I.W.W." + +October 15th, 1919. "There are many I.W.W.s--mostly in the +logging camps...." + +October 31st, 1919.--(A little over a week before the Centralia raid.) +"Run your business or quit ... Business men and tax payers of Vancouver, +Washington, have organized the Loyal Citizen's Protective League; opposed +to Bolsheviki and the Soviet form of government and in favor of the open +shop ... Jail the radicals and deport them ... Since the armistice these +radicals have started in again. ONLY TWO COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON ALLOW +I.W.W. HEADQUARTERS." (!!!) + +[Illustration: Arthur McElfresh + +A Centralia druggist. His wife warned him not to march to the union +headquarters because "she knew he'd get hurt." McElfresh is the man said +to have been shot inside the hall when the mob burst through the door.] + +December 31st, 1919. "Get rid of all the I.W.W. and all other un-American +organizations ... Deport the radicals or use the rope as at Centralia. +Until we get rid of the I.W.W. and radicals we don't expect to do much in +this country ... Keep cleaning up on the I.W.W.... Don't let it die down +... Keep up public sentiment..." + +These few choice significant morsels of one hundred percent (on the +dollar) Americanism are quoted almost at random from the private bulletins +of the officials of the Iron Heel in the state of Washington. Here you can +read their sentiments in their own words; you can see how dupes and +hirelings were coached to perpetrate the crime of Centralia, and as many +other similar crimes as they could get away with. Needless to say these +illuminating lines were not intended for the perusal of the working class. +But now that we have obtained them and placed them before your eyes you +can draw your own conclusion. There are many, many more records germane to +this case that we would like to place before you, but the Oligarchy has +closed its steel jaws upon them and they are at present inaccessible. Men +are still afraid to tell the truth in Centralia. Some day the workers may +learn the whole truth about the inside workings of the Centralia +conspiracy. Be that as it may the business interests of the Northwest +lumber country stand bloody handed and doubly damned, black with guilt and +foul with crime; convicted before the bar of public opinion, by their own +statements and their own acts. + + + + +Failure and Desperation + + + +Let us see for a moment how the conspiracy of the lumber barons operated +to achieve the unlawful ends for which it was designed. Let us see how +they were driven by their own failure at intrigue to adopt methods so +brutal that they would have disgraced the head-hunter; how they tried to +gain with murder-lust what they had failed to gain lawfully and with +public approval. + +The campaign of lies and slander inaugurated by their private newspapers +failed to convince the workers of the undesirability of labor +organization. In spite of the armies of editors and news-whelps assembled +to its aid, it served only to lash to a murderous frenzy the low instincts +of the anti-labor elements in the community. The campaign of legal +repression, admittedly instituted by the Employers' Association, failed +also in spite of the fact that all the machinery of the state from +dog-catcher down to Governor was at its beck and call on all occasions and +for all purposes. + +Having made a mess of things with these methods the lumber barons threw +all scruples to the winds--if they ever had any--threw aside all +pretension of living within the law. They started out, mad-dog like, to +rent, wreck and destroy the last vestige of labor organization from the +woods of the Northwest, and furthermore, to hunt down union men and +martyrize them with the club, the gun, the rope and the courthouse. + +It was to cover up their own crimes that the heartless beasts of Big +Business beat the tom-toms of the press in order to lash the "patriotism" +of their dupes and hirelings into hysteria. It was to hide their own +infamy that the loathsome war dance was started that developed perceptibly +from uncomprehending belligerency into the lawless tumult of mobs, raids +and lynching! And it will be an everlasting blot upon the fair name of +America that they were permitted to do so. + +The Centralia tragedy was the culmination of a long series of unpunished +atrocities against labor. What is expected of men who have been treated as +these men were treated and who were denied redress or protection under the +law? Every worker in the Northwest knows about the wrongs lumberworkers +have endured--they are matters of common knowledge. It was common +knowledge in Centralia and adjoining towns that the I.W.W. hall was to be +raided on Armistice Day. Yet eight loggers have been sentenced from +twenty-five to forty years in prison for the crime of defending themselves +from the mob that set out to murder them! But let us see how the +conspiracy was operating in Centralia to make the Armistice Day tragedy +inevitable. + + + + +The Maelstrom--And Four Men + + + +Centralia was fast becoming the vortex of the conspiracy that was rushing +to its inevitable conclusion. Event followed event in rapid succession, +straws indicating the main current of the flood tide of labor-hatred. The +Commercial Club was seething with intrigue like the court of old France +under Catherine de Medici; only this time it was Industrial Unionism +instead of Huguenots who were being Marked for a new night of St. +Bartholomew. The heresy to be uprooted was belief in industrial instead of +religious freedom; but the stake and the gibbet were awaiting the New Idea +just as they had the old. + +The actions of the lumber interests were now but thinly veiled and their +evil purpose all too manifest. The connection between the Employers' +Association of the state and its local representatives in Centralia had +become unmistakably evident. And behind these loomed the gigantic +silhouette of the Employers' Association of the nation--the colossal +"invisible government"--more powerful at times than the Government itself. +More and more stood out the naked brutal fact that the purpose of all this +plotting was to drive the union loggers from the city and to destroy their +hall. The names of the men actively interested in this movement came to +light in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them obscured. Four of these +stand out prominently in the light of the tragedy that followed: George F. +Russell, F.B. Hubbard, William Scales and last, but not least, Warren O. +Grimm. + +[Illustration: Warren O. Grimm + +Warren O. Grimm, killed at the beginning of the rush on the I.W.W. hall. +At another raid on an I.W.W. hall in 1918 Grimm was said by witnesses to +have been leading the mob, "holding two American flags and dancing like a +whirling dervish." His life-long friend, Frank Van Gilder, testified: "I +stood less than two feet from Grimm when he was shot. He doubled up, put +his hands to his stomach and said to me: 'My God, I'm shot.'" "What did you +do then?" "I turned and left him."] + +The first named, George F. Russell, is a hired Manager for the Washington +Employers' Association, whose membership employs between 75,000 and 80,000 +workers in the state. Russell is known to be a reactionary of the most +pronounced type. He is an avowed union smasher and a staunch upholder of +the open shop principle, which is widely advertised as the "American plan" +in Washington. Incidentally he is an advocate of the scheme to import +Chinese and Japanese cooley labor as a solution of the "high wage and +arrogant unionism" problem. + +F. B. Hubbard, is a small-bore Russell, differing from his chief only in +that his labor hatred is more fanatical and less discreet. Hubbard was +hard hit by the strike in 1917 which fact has evidently won him the +significant title of "a vicious little anti-labor reptile." He is the man +who helped to raid the 1918 Union Hall in Centralia and who appropriated +for himself the stolen desk of the Union Secretary. His nephew Dale +Hubbard was shot while trying to lynch Wesley Everest. + +William Scales is a Centralia business man and a virulent sycophant. He is +a parochial replica of the two persons mentioned above. Scales was in the +Quartermaster's Department down on the border during the trouble with +Mexico. Because he was making too much money out of Uncle Sam's groceries, +he was relieved of his duties quite suddenly and discharged from the +service. He was fortunate in making France instead of Fort Leavenworth, +however, and upon his return, became an ardent proselyte of Russell and +Hubbard and their worthy cause. Also he continued in the grocery business. + +[Illustration: Hizzoner, The Jedge + +In his black robe, like a bird of prey, he perched above the courtroom and +ruled always adversely to the cause of labor. Appointed to try men accused +of killing other men whom he had previously eulogized Judge John M. Wilson +did not disappoint those who appointed him. In open court Vanderveer told +him. In open court Vanderveer told this man: "There was a time when I +thought your rulings were due to ignorance of the law. That will no longer +explain them."] + +Warren O. Grimm came from a good family and was a small town aristocrat. +His brother is city attorney at Centralia. Grimm was a lawyer, a college +athlete and a social lion. He had been with the American forces in Siberia +and his chief bid for distinction was a noisy dislike for the Worker's +& Peasants' Republic of Russia, and the I.W.W. which he termed the +"American Bolsheviki". During the 1918 raid on the Centralia hall Grimm is +said to have been dancing around "like a whirling dervish" and waving the +American flag while the work of destruction was going on. Afterwards he +became prominent in the American Legion and was the chief "cat's paw" for +the lumber interests who were capitalizing the uniform to gain their own +unholy ends. Personally he was a clean-cut modern young man. + + + + +Shadows Cast Before + + + +On June 26th, the following notice appeared conspicuously on the first +page of the Centralia Hub: + + + + +Meeting of Business Men Called for Friday Evening + + + +"Business men and property owners of Centralia are urged to attend a +meeting tomorrow in the Chamber of Commerce rooms to meet the officers of +the Employers' Association of the state to discuss ways and means of +bettering the conditions which now confront the business and property +interests of the state. George F. Russell, Secretary-Manager, says in his +note to business men: 'We need your advice and your co-operation in +support of the movement for the defense of property and property rights. +It is the most important question before the public today.'" + +At this meeting Mr. Russell dwelt on the statement that the "radicals" +were better organized than the property interests. Also he pointed out the +need of a special organization to protect "rights of property" from the +encroachments of all "foes of the government". The Non-Partisan League, +the Triple Alliance and the A.F. of L. were duly condemned. The speaker +then launched out into a long tirade against the Industrial Workers of the +World which was characterized as the most dangerous organization in +America and the one most necessary for "good citizens" to crush. Needless +to state the address was chock full of 100% Americanism. It amply made up +in forcefulness anything it lacked in logic. + +So the "Citizens' Protective League" of Centralia was born. From the first +it was a law unto itself--murder lust wearing the smirk of +respectability--Judge Lynch dressed in a business suit. The advent of this +infamous league marks the final ascendancy of terrorism over the +Constitution in the city of Centralia. The only things still needed were a +secret committee, a coil of rope and an opportunity. + +F.B. Hubbard was the man selected to pull off the "rough stuff" and at the +same time keep the odium of crime from smirching the fair names of the +conspirators. He was told to "perfect his own organization". Hubbard was +eminently fitted for his position by reason of his intense labor-hatred +and his aptitude for intrigue. + +The following day the Centralia Daily Chronicle carried the following +significant news item: + +BUSINESS MEN OF COUNTY ORGANIZE + +Representatives From Many Communities Attend Meeting in +Chamber of Commerce, Presided Over Secretary of Employers' Association. + +"The labor situation was thoroughly discussed this afternoon at a meeting +held in the local Chamber of Commerce which was attended by representative +business men from various parts of Lewis County. + +"George F. Russell, Secretary of the Employers' Association, of +Washington, presided at the meeting. + +"A temporary organization was effected with F. B. Hubbard, President of +the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company, as chairman. He was empowered to +perfect his own organization. A similar meeting will be held in Chehalis +in connection with the noon luncheon of the Citizens' Club on that day." + +[Illustration: "Special Prosecutor" + +C.D. Cunningham, attorney for F.B. Hubbard and various lumber interests, +took charge of the prosecution immediately. He was the father of much of +the "third degree" methods used on witnesses. Vanderveer offered to prove +at the trial that Cunningham was at the jail when Wesley Everest was +dragged out, brutally mutilated and then lynched.] + +The city of Centralia became alive with gossip and speculation about this +new move on the part of the employers. Everybody knew that the whole thing +centered around the detested hall of the Union loggers. Curiosity seekers +began to come In from all parts of the county to have a peep at this hall +before it was wrecked. Business men were known to drive their friends from +the new to the old hall in order to show what the former would look like +in a short time. People in Centralia generally knew for a certainty that +the present hall would go the way of its predecessor. It was just a +question now as to the time and circumstances of the event. + +Warren O. Grimm had done his bit to work up sentiment against the union +loggers and their hall. Only a month previously--on Labor Day, 1919,--he +had delivered a "labor" speech that was received with great enthusiasm by +a local clique of business men. Posing as an authority on Bolshevism on +account of his Siberian service Grimm had elaborated on the dangers of +this pernicious doctrine. With a great deal of dramatic emphasis he had +urged his audience to beware of the sinister influence of "the American +Bolsheviki--the Industrial Workers of the World." + +A few days before the hall was raided Elmer Smith called at Grimm's office +on legal business. Grimm asked him, by the way, what he thought of his +Labor Day speech. Smith replied that he thought it was "rotten" and that +he couldn't agree with Grimm's anti-labor conception of Americanism. Smith +pointed to the deportation of Tom Lassiter as an example of the +"Americanism" he considered disgraceful. He said also that he thought free +speech was one of the fundamental rights of all citizens. + +"I can't agree with you," replied Grimm. "That's the proper way to treat +such a fellow." + + + + +The New Black Hundred + + + +On October 19th the Centralia Hub published an item headed "Employers +Called to Discuss Handling of 'Wobbly' Problem." This article urges all +employers to attend, states that the meeting will be held in the Elk's +Club and mentioned the wrecking of the Union Hall in 1918. On the +following day, October 20th, three weeks before the shooting, this meeting +was held at the hall of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks--the +now famous Elks' Club of Centralia. The avowed purpose of this meeting was +to "deal with the I.W.W. problem." The chairman was William Scales, at +that time Commander of the Centralia Post of the American Legion. The +I.W.W. Hall was the chief topic of discussion. F.B. Hubbard opened up by +saying that the I.W.W. was a menace and should be driven out of town. +Chief of Police Hughes, however, cautioned them against such a course. He +is reported to have said that "the I.W.W. is doing nothing wrong in +Centralia--is not violating any law--and you have no right to drive them +out of town in this manner." The Chief of Police then proceeded to tell +the audience that he had taken up the matter of legally evicting the +industrialists with City Attorney C.E. Grimm, a brother of Warren O. +Grimm, who is said to have told them, "Gentlemen, there is no law by which +you can drive the I.W.W. out of town." City Commissioner Saunders and +County Attorney Allen had spoken to the same effect. The latter, Allen, +had gone over the literature of the organization with regard to violence +and destruction and had voluntarily dismissed a "criminal syndicalist" +case without trial for want of evidence. + +[Illustration: Lewis County's Legal Prostitute + +Herman Allen, prosecuting attorney of Lewis County. He stood at the corner +during the raid and received papers stolen from the hall. There is no +record of his having protested against any illegal action. He turned over +his office to the special Prosecutors and acted as their tool throughout. +During the entire trial he never appeared as an active participant.] + +Hubbard was furious at this turn of affairs and shouted to Chief of Police +Hughes: "It's a damned outrage that these men should be permitted to +remain in town! Law or no law, if I were Chief of Police they wouldn't +stay here twenty-four hours." + +"I'm not in favor of raiding the hall myself," said Scales. "But I'm +certain that if anybody else wants to raid the I.W.W. Hall there is no +jury in the land will ever convict them." + +After considerable discussion the meeting started to elect a committee to +deal with the situation. First of all an effort was made to get a +workingman elected as a member to help camouflage its very evident +character and make people believe that "honest labor" was also desirous of +ridding the town of the hated I.W.W. Hall. A switchman named Henry, a +member of the Railway Brotherhood, was nominated. When he indignantly +declined, Hubbard, red in the face with rage, called him a "damned skunk." + + + + +The Inner Circle + + + +Scales then proceeded to tell the audience in general and the city +officials in particular that he would himself appoint a committee "whose +inner workings were secret," and see if he could not get around the matter +that way. The officers of the League were then elected. The President was +County Coroner David Livingstone, who afterwards helped to lynch Wesley +Everest. Dr. Livingstone made his money from union miners. William Scales +was vice president and Hubbard was treasurer. The secret committee was +then appointed by Hubbard. As its name implies it was an underground +affair, similar to the Black Hundreds of Old Russia. No record of any of +its proceedings has ever come to light, but according to best available +knowledge, Warren O. Grimm, Arthur McElfresh, B.S. Cromier and one or two +others who figured prominently in the raid, were members. At all events on +November 6th, five days before the shooting, Grimm was elected Commander +of the Centralia Post of the American Legion, taking the place of Scales, +who resigned in his favor. Scales evidently was of the opinion that a +Siberian veteran and athlete was better fitted to lead the "shock troops" +than a mere counter-jumper like himself. There is no doubt but the secret +committee had its members well placed in positions of strategic importance +for the coming event. + +The following day the Tacoma News Tribune carried a significant editorial +on the subject of the new organization: + +"At Centralia a committee of citizens has been formed that takes the mind +back to the old days of vigilance committees of the West, which did so +much to force law-abiding citizenship upon certain lawless elements. It is +called the Centralia Protective Association, and its object is to combat +I.W.W. activities in that city and the surrounding country. It invites to +membership all citizens who favor the enforcement of law and order ... It +is high time for the people who do believe in the lawful and orderly +conduct of affairs to take the upper hand ... Every city and town might, +with profit, follow Centralia's example." + +The reference to "law and orderly conduct of affairs" has taken a somewhat +ironical twist, now that Centralia has shown the world what she considers +such processes to be. + +No less significant was an editorial appearing on the same Date in the +Centralia Hub: + +"If the city is left open to this menace, we will soon find ourselves at +the mercy of an organized band of outlaws bent on destruction. What are we +going to do about it?" And, referring to the organization of the "secret +committee," the editorial stated: "It was decided that the inner workings +of the organization were to be kept secret, to more effectively combat a +body using similar tactics." The editorial reeks with lies; but it was +necessary that the mob spirit should be kept at white heat at all times. +Newspaper incitation has never been punished by law, yet it is directly +responsible for more murders, lynching and raids than any other one force +in America. + +[Illustration: The Stool Pigeon + +Tom Morgan, who turned state's evidence. There is an historical precedent +for Morgan. Judas acted similarly, but Judas later had the manhood to go +out and hang himself. Morgan left for "parts unknown."] + + + + +The Plot Leaks Out + + + +By degrees the story of the infamous secret committee and its diabolical +plan leaked out, adding positive confirmation to the many already credited +rumors in circulation. Some of the newspapers quite openly hinted that the +I.W.W. Hall was to be the object of the brewing storm. Chief of Police +Hughes told a member of the Lewis County Trades Council, William T. +Merriman by name, that the business men were organizing to raid the hall +and drive its members out of town. Merriman, in turn carried the statement +to many of his friends and brother unionists. Soon the prospective raid +was the subject of open discussion,--over the breakfast toast, on the +street corners, in the camps and mills--every place. + +So common was the knowledge in fact that many of the craft organizations +in Centralia began to discuss openly what they should do about it. They +realized that the matter was one which concerned labor and many members +wanted to protest and were urging their unions to try to do something. At +the Lewis County Trades Council the subject was brought up for discussion +by its president, L. F. Dickson. No way of helping the loggers was found, +however, if they would so stubbornly try to keep open their headquarters +in the face of such opposition. Harry Smith, a brother of Elmer Smith, the +attorney, was a delegate at this meeting and reported to his brother the +discussion that took place. + +Secretary Britt Smith and the loggers at the Union hall were not by any +means ignorant of the conspiracy being hatched against them. Day by day +they had followed the development of the plot with breathless interest and +not a little anxiety. They knew from bitter experience how union men were +handled when they were trapped in their halls. But they would not +entertain the idea of abandoning their principles and seeking personal +safety. Every logging camp for miles around knew of the danger also. The +loggers there had gone through the hell of the organization period and had +felt the wrath of the lumber barons. Some of them felt that the statement +of Secretary of Labor Wilson as to the attitude of the Industrial Workers +of the World towards "overthrowing the government," and "violence and +destruction" would discourage the terrorists from attempting such a +flagrant and brutal injustice as the one contemplated. + +[Illustration: "Oily" Abel + +Suave and slimy as a snake; without any of the kindlier traits of nature, +W.H. Abel, sounded the gamut of rottenness in his efforts to convict the +accused men without the semblance of a fair trial. Abel is notorious +throughout Washington as the hireling of the lumber interests. In 1917 he +prosecuted "without fee" all laboring men on strike and is attorney for +the Cosmopolis "penitentiary" so called on account of the brutality with +which it treats employes. Located in one of the small towns of the state +Abel has made a fortune prosecuting labor cases for the special +interests.] + +Regarding the deportation of I.W.W.'s for belonging to an organization +which advocates such things, Secretary of Labor Wilson had stated a short +time previously: "An exhaustive study into the by-laws and practices of +the I.W.W. has thus far failed to disclose anything that brings it within +the class of organizations referred to." + +Other of the loggers were buoyed up with the many victories won in the +courts on "criminal syndicalism" charges and felt that the raid would be +too "raw" a thing for the lumber interests even to consider. All were +secure in the knowledge and assurance that they were violating no law in +keeping open their hall. And they wanted that hall kept open. + +Of course the question of what was to be done was discussed at their +business meetings. When news reached them on November 4th of the +contemplated "parade" they decided to publish a leaflet telling the +Citizens of Centralia about the justice and legality of their position, +the aims of their organization and the real reason for the intense hatred +which the lumber trust harbored against them. Such leaflet was drawn up by +Secretary Britt Smith and approved by the membership. It was an honest, +outspoken appeal for public sympathy and support. This leaflet--word for +word as it was printed and circulated in Centralia--is reprinted below: + + + + +To the Citizens of Centralia We Must Appeal + + + +[Illustration: The Chief Fink + +Frank P. Christensen, who was the "fixer" for the prosecution. As +Assistant Attorney General he used his office to intimidate witnesses and +in the effort to cover up actions of the mob. He is reported to have been +responsible for the recovery and burial of Everest's body, saying: "We've +got to bring in that body and bury it. If the wobs ever find out what was +done and get it they'll raise hell and make capital of it."] + +"To the law abiding citizens of Centralia and to the working class in +general: We beg of you to read and carefully consider the following: + +"The profiteering class of Centralia have of late been waving the flag of +our country in an endeavor to incite the lawless element of our city to +raid our hall and club us out of town. For this purpose they have inspired +editorials in the Hub, falsely and viciously attacking the I.W.W., hoping +to gain public approval for such revolting criminality. These profiteers +are holding numerous secret meetings to that end, and covertly inviting +returned service men to do their bidding. In this work they are ably +assisted by the bankrupt lumber barons of southwest Washington who led the +mob that looted and burned the I.W.W. hall a year ago. + +"These criminal thugs call us a band of outlaws bent on destruction. This +they do in an attempt to hide their own dastardly work in burning our hall +and destroying our property. They say we are a menace; and we are a menace +to all mobocrats and pilfering thieves. Never did the I.W.W. burn public +or private halls, kidnap their fellow citizens, destroy their property, +club their fellows out of town, bootleg or act in any ways as +law-breakers. These patriotic profiteers throughout the country have +falsely and with out any foundation whatever charged the I.W.W. with every +crime on the statute books. For these alleged crimes thousands of us have +been jailed in foul and filthy cells throughout this country, often +without charge, for months and in some cases, years, and when released +re-arrested and again thrust in jail to await a trial that is never +called. The only convictions of the I.W.W. were those under the espionage +law, where we were forced to trial before jurors, all of whom were at +political and industrial enmity toward us, and in courts hostile to the +working class. This same class of handpicked courts and juries also +convicted many labor leaders, socialists, non-partisans, pacifists, guilty +of no crime save that of loyalty to the working class. + +"By such courts Jesus the Carpenter was slaughtered upon the charge that +'he stirreth up the people.' Only last month 25 I.W.W. were indicted in +Seattle as strike leaders, belonging to an unlawful organization, +attempting to overthrow the government and other vile things under the +syndicalist law passed by the last legislature. To exterminate the +'wobbly' both the court and jury have the lie to every charge. The court +held them a lawful organization and their literature was not disloyal nor +inciting to violence, though the government had combed the country from +Chicago to Seattle for witnesses, and used every pamphlet taken from their +hall in government raids. + +"In Spokane 13 members were indicted in the Superior Court for wearing the +I.W.W. button and displaying their emblem. The jury unanimously acquitted +them and the court held it no crime. + +"In test cases last month both in the Seattle and Everett Superior Courts, +the presiding judge declared the police had no authority in law to close +their halls and the padlocks were ordered off and the halls opened. + +"Many I.W.W. in and around Centralia went to France and fought and bled +for the democracy they never secured. They came home to be threatened with +mob violence by the law and order outfit that pilfered every nickel +possible from their mothers and fathers while they were fighting in the +trenches in the thickest of the fray. + +"Our only crime is solidarity, loyalty to the working class and justice to +the oppressed." + + + + +"Let the Men in Uniform Do It" + + + +On November 6th, the Centralia Post of the American Legion met with a +committee from the Chamber of Commerce to arrange for a parade-another +"patriotic" parade. The first anniversary of the signing of the armistice +was now but a few days distant and Centralia felt it incumbent upon +herself to celebrate. Of course the matter was brought up rather +circumspectly, but knowing smiles greeted the suggestion. One business man +made a motion that the brave boys wear their uniforms. This was agreed +upon. + +The line of march was also discussed. As the union hall was a little off +the customary parade route, Scales suggested that their course lead past +the hall "in order to show them how strong we are." It was intimated that +a command "eyes right" would be given as the legionaries and business men +passed the union headquarters. This was merely a poor excuse of the secret +committeemen to get the parade where they needed it. But many innocent men +were lured into a "lynching bee" without knowing that they were being led +to death by a hidden gang of broad-cloth conspirators who were plotting at +murder. Lieutenant Cormier, who afterwards blew the whistle that was the +signal for the raid, endorsed the proposal of Scales as did Grimm and +McElfresh--all three of them secret committeemen. + +Practically no other subject but the "parade" was discussed at this +meeting. The success of the project was now assured for it had placed into +the hands of the men who alone could arrange to "have the men in uniform +do it." The men in uniform had done it once before and people knew what to +expect. + +The day following this meeting the Centralia Hub published an announcement +of the coming event stating that the legionaires had "voted to wear +uniforms." The line of march was published for the first time. Any doubts +about the real purpose of the parade vanished when people read that the +precession was to march from the City Park to Third street and Tower +avenue and return. The union hall was on Tower between Second and Third +streets, practically at the end of the line of march and plainly the +objective of the demonstrators. + +[Illustration: Bridge from which Everest Was Hanged + +From this bridge, over the Chehalis river, Wesley Everest was left +dangling by a mob of business men. Automobile parties visited this spot at +different times during the night and played their headlights on the corpse +in order better to enjoy the spectacle.] + + + + +"Decent Labor"--Hands Off! + + + +A short time after the shooting a virulent leaflet was issued by the +Mayor's office stating that the "plot to kill had been laid two or three +weeks before the tragedy," and that "the attack (of the loggers) was +without justification or excuse." Both statements are bare faced lies. The +meeting was held the 6th and the line of march made public of the 7th. The +loggers could not possibly have planned a week and a half previously to +shoot into a parade they knew nothing about and whose line of march had +not yet been disclosed. It was proved in court that the union men armed +themselves at the very last moment, after everything else had failed and +they had been left helpless to face the alternative of being driven out of +town or being lynched. + +About this time eyewitnesses declare coils of rope were being purchased in +a local hardware store. This rope is all cut up into little pieces now and +most of it is dirty and stained. But many of Centralia's best families +prize their souvenir highly. They say it brings good luck to a family. + +A few days after the meeting just described William Dunning, vice +president of the Lewis County Trades and Labor Assembly, met Warren Grimm +on the street. Having fresh in his mind a recent talk about the raid in +the Labor Council meetings, and being well aware of Grimm's standing and +influence, Dunning broached the subject. + +"We've been discussing the threatened raid on the I.W.W. hall," he said. + +"Who are you, an I.W.W.?" asked Grimm. + +Dunning replied stating that he was vice president of the Labor Assembly +and proceeded to tell Grimm the feeling of his organization on the +subject. + +"Decent labor ought to keep its hands off," was Grimm's laconic reply. + +The Sunday before the raid a public meeting was held in the union hall. +About a hundred and fifty persons were in the audience, mostly working men +and women of Centralia. A number of loggers were present, dressed in the +invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes. John Foss, an +I.W.W. ship builder from Seattle, was the speaker. Secretary Britt Smith +was chairman. Walking up and down the isle, selling the union's pamphlets +and papers was a muscular and sun-burned young man with a rough, honest +face and a pair of clear hazel eyes in which a smile was always twinkling. +He wore a khaki army coat above stagged overalls of a slightly darker +shade,--Wesley Everest, the ex-soldier who was shortly to be mutilated and +lynched by the mob. + + + + +"I Hope to Jesus Nothing Happens" + + + +The atmosphere of the meeting was already tainted with the Terror. Nerves +were on edge. Every time any newcomer would enter the door the audience +would look over their shoulders with apprehensive glances. At the +conclusion of the meeting the loggers gathered around the secretary and +asked him the latest news about the contemplated raid. For reply Britt +Smith handed them copies of the leaflet "We Must Appeal" and told of the +efforts that had been made and were being made to secure legal protection +and to let the public know the real facts in the case. + +"If they raid the hall again as they did in 1918 the boys won't stand for +it," said a logger. + +"If the law won't protect us we've got a right to protect ourselves," +ventured another. + +"I hope to Jesus nothing happens," replied the secretary. + +Wesley Everest laid down his few unsold papers, rolled a brown paper +cigarette and smiled enigmatically over the empty seats in the general +direction of the new One Big Union label on the front window. His closest +friends say he was never afraid of anything in all his life. + +None of these men knew that loggers from nearby camps, having heard of the +purchase of the coils of rope, were watching the hall night and day to see +that "nothing happens." + +The next day, after talking things over with Britt Smith, Mrs. McAllister, +wife of the proprietor of the Roderick hotel from whom the loggers rented +the hall, went to see Chief of Police Hughes. This is how she told of the +interview: + +"I got worried and I went to the Chief. I says to him 'Are you going to +protect my property?' Hughes says, 'We'll do the best we can for you, but +as far as the wobblies are concerned they wouldn't last fifteen minutes if +the business men start after them. The business men don't want any +wobblies in this town.'" + +The day before the tragedy Elmer Smith dropped in at the Union hall to +warn his clients that nothing could now stop the raid. "Defend it if you +choose to do so," he told them. "The law gives you that right." + +It was on the strength of this remark, overheard by the stool-pigeon, +Morgan, and afterwards reported to the prosecution, that Elmer Smith was +hailed to prison charged with murder in the first degree. His enemies had +been certain all along that his incomprehensible delusion about the law +being the same for the poor man as the rich would bring its own +punishment. It did; there can no longer be any doubt on the subject. + +[Illustration: Carting Away Wesley Everest's Body for Burial + +After the mutilated body had been cut down in laid in the river for two +days. Then it was taken back to the city jail where it remained for two +days more--as an object lesson--in plain view of the comrades of the +murdered boy. Everest was taken from this building to be lynched. During +the first week after the tragedy this jail witnessed scenes of torture and +horror that equaled the worst days of the Spanish inquisition.] + + + + +The Scorpion's Sting + + + +November 11th was a raw, gray day; the cold sunlight barely penetrating +the mist that hung over the city and the distant tree-clad hills. The +"parade" assembled at the City Park. Lieutenant Cormier was marshal. +Warren Grimm was commander of the Centralia division. In a very short time +he had the various bodies arranged to his satisfaction. At the head of the +procession was the "two-fisted" Centralia bunch. This was followed by one +from Chehalis, the county seat, and where the parade would logically have +been held had its purpose been an honest one. Then came a few sailors and +marines and a large body of well dressed gentlemen from the Elks. The +school children who were to have marched did not appear. At the very end +were a couple of dozen boy scouts and an automobile carrying pretty girls +dressed in Red Cross uniforms. Evidently this parade, unlike the one of +1918, did not, like a scorpion, carry its sting in the rear. But wait +until you read how cleverly this part of it had been arranged! + +The marchers were unduly silent and those who knew nothing of the lawless +plan of the secret committee felt somehow that something must be wrong. +City Postmaster McCleary and a wicked-faced old man named Thompson were +seen carrying coils of rope. Thompson is a veteran of the Civil War and a +minister of God. On the witness stand he afterwards swore he picked up the +rope from the street and was carrying it "as a joke." It turned out that +the "joke" was on Wesley Everest. + +"Be ready for the command 'eyes right' or 'eyes left' when we pass the +'reviewing stand'," Grimm told the platoon commanders just as the parade +started. + +The procession covered most of the line of march without incident. When +the union hall was reached there was some craning of necks but no outburst +of any kind. A few of the out-of-town paraders looked at the place +curiously and several business men were seen pointing the hall out to +their friends. There were some dark glances and a few long noses but no +demonstration. + +"When do we reach the reviewing stand?" asked a parader, named Joe Smith, +of a man marching beside him. + +"Hell, there ain't any reviewing stand," was the reply. "We're going to +give the wobbly hall 'eyes right' on the way back." + +The head of the columns reached Third avenue and halted. A command of +'about face' was given and the procession again started to march past the +union hall going in the opposite direction. The loggers inside felt +greatly relieved as they saw the crowd once more headed for the city. But +the Centralia and Chehalis contingents, that had headed the parade, was +now in the rear--just where the "scorpion sting" of the 1918 parade had +been located! The danger was not yet over. + + + + +"Let's go! At 'em, boys!" + + + +The Chehalis division had marched past the hall and the Centralia division +was just in front of it when a sharp command was given. The latter stopped +squarely in front of the hall but the former continued to march. +Lieutenant Cormier of the secret committee was riding between the two +contingents on a bay horse. Suddenly he placed his fingers to his mouth +and gave a shrill whistle. Immediately there was a hoarse cry of "Let's +go-o-o! At 'em, boys!" About sixty feet separated the two contingents at +this time, the Chehalis men still continuing the march. Cromier spurred +his horse and overtook them. "Aren't you boys in on this?" he shouted. + +At the words "Let's go," the paraders from both ends and the middle of the +Centralia contingent broke ranks and started on the run for the union +headquarters. A crowd of soldiers surged against the door. There was a +crashing of glass and a splintering of wood as the door gave way. A few of +the marauders had actually forced their way into the hall. Then there was +a shot, three more shots ... and a small volley. From Seminary hill and +the Avalon hotel rifles began to crack. + +[Illustration: Elks Club, Centralia + +It was here that the Centralia conspiracy was hatched and the notorious +"secret committee" appointed to do the dirty work.] + +The mob stopped suddenly, astounded at the unexpected opposition. Out of +hundreds of halls that had been raided during the past two years this was +the first time the union men had attempted to defend themselves. It had +evidently been planned to stampede the entire contingent into the attack +by having the secret committeemen take the lead from both ends and the +middle. But before this could happen the crowd, frightened at the shots +started to scurry for cover. Two men were seen carrying the limp figure of +a soldier from the door of the hall. When the volley started they dropped +it and ran. The soldier was a handsome young man, named Arthur McElfresh. +He was left lying in front of the hall with his feet on the curb and his +head in the gutter. The whole thing had been a matter of seconds. + + + + +"I Had No Business Being There" + + + +Several men had been wounded. A pool of blood was widening in front of the +doorway. A big man in officer's uniform was seen to stagger away bent +almost double and holding his hands over his abdomen. "My God, I'm shot!" +he had cried to the soldier beside him. This was Warren O. Grimm; the +other was his friend, Frank Van Gilder. Grimm walked unassisted to the +rear of a nearby soft drink place from whence he was taken to a hospital. +He died a short time afterwards. Van Gilder swore on the witness stand +that Grimm and himself were standing at the head of the columns of +"unoffending paraders" when his friend was shot. He stated that Grimm had +been his life-long friend but admitted that when his "life-long friend" +received his mortal wound that he (Van Gilder), instead of acting like a +hero in no man's land, had deserted him in precipitate haste. Too many eye +witnesses had seen Grimm stagger wounded from the doorway of the hall to +suit the prosecution. Van Gilder knew at which place Grimm had been shot +but it was necessary that he be placed at a convenient distance from the +hall. It is reported on good authority that Grimm, just before he died in +the hospital, confessed to a person at his bedside: "It served me right, I +had no business being there." + +A workingman, John Patterson, had come down town on Armistice Day with his +three small children to watch the parade. He was standing thirty-five feet +from the door of the hall when the raid started. On the witness stand +Patterson told of being pushed out of the way by the rush before the +shooting began. He saw a couple of soldiers shot and saw Grimm stagger +away from the doorway wounded in the abdomen. The testimony of Dr. +Bickford at the corner's inquest under oath was as follows: + +"I spoke up and said I would lead if enough would follow, but before I +could take the lead there were many ahead of me. Someone next to me put +his foot against the door and forced it open, after which a shower of +bullets poured through the opening about us." Dr. Bickford is an A.E.F. +man and one of the very few legionaires who dared to tell the truth about +the shooting. The Centralia business element has since tried repeatedly to +ruin him. + +In trying to present the plea of self defense to the court, Defense +attorney Vanderveer stated: + +"There was a rush, men reached the hall under the command of Grimm, and +yet counsel asks to have shown a specific overt act of Grimm before we can +present the plea of self-defense. Would he have had the men wait with +their lives at stake? The fact is that Grimm was there and in defending +themselves these men shot. Grimm was killed because he was there. They +could not wait. Your honor, self defense isn't much good after a man is +dead." + +The prosecution sought to make a point of the fact that the loggers had +fired into a street in which there were innocent bystanders as well as +paraders. But the fact remains that the only men hit by bullets were those +who were in the forefront of the mob. + + + + +Through the Hall Window + + + +How the raid looked from the inside of the hall can best be described from +the viewpoint of one of the occupants, Bert Faulkner, a union logger and +ex-service man. Faulkner described how he had dropped in at the hall on +Armistice Day and stood watching the parade from the window. In words all +the more startling for their sheer artlessness he told of the events which +followed: First the grimacing faces of the business men, then as the +soldiers returned, a muffled order, the smashing of the window, with the +splinters of glass falling against the curtain, the crashing open of the +door ... and the shots that "made his ears ring," and made him run for +shelter to the rear of the hall, with the shoulder of his overcoat torn +with a bullet. Then how he found himself on the back stairs covered with +rifles and commanded to come down with his hands in the air. Finally how +he was frisked to the city jail in an automobile with a business man +standing over him armed with a piece of gas pipe. + +Eugene Barnett gave a graphic description of the raid as he saw it from +the office of the adjoining Roderick hotel. Barnett said he saw the line +go past the hotel. The business men were ahead of the soldiers and as this +detachment passed the hotel returning the soldiers still were going north. +The business men were looking at the hall and pointing it out to the +soldiers. Some of them had their thumbs to their noses and others were +saying various things. + +[Illustration: City Park, Centralia + +At this place the parade assembled that started out to raid the Union hall +and lynch its secretary.] + +"When the soldiers turned and came past I saw a man on horseback ride +past. He was giving orders which were repeated along the line by another. +As the rider passed the hotel he gave a command and the second man said: +'Bunch up, men!' + +"When this order came the men all rushed for the hall. I heard glass +break. I heard a door slam. There was another sound and then shooting +came. It started from inside the hall. + +"As I saw these soldiers rush the hall I jumped up and threw off my coat. +I thought there would be a fight and I was going to mix in. Then came the +shooting, and I knew I had no business there." + +Later Barnett went home and remained there until his arrest the next day. + +In the union hall, besides Bert Faulkner, were Wesley Everest, Roy Becker, +Britt Smith, Mike Sheehan, James McInerney and the "stool pigeon," these, +with the exception of Faulkner and Everest, remained in the hall until the +authorities came to place them under arrest. They had after the first +furious rush of their assailants, taken refuge in a big and long disused +ice box in the rear of the hall. Britt Smith was unarmed, his revolver +being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk. After their +arrest the loggers were taken to the city jail which was to be the scene +of an inquisition unparalleled in the history of the United States. After +this, as an additional punishment, they were compelled to face the farce +of a "fair trial" in a capitalistic court. + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +But Destiny had decided to spare one man the bitter irony of judicial +murder. Wesley Everest still had a pocket full of cartridges and a +forty-four automatic that could speak for itself. + +This soldier-lumberjack had done most of the shooting in the hall. He held +off the mob until the very last moment, and, instead of seeking refuge in +the refrigerator after the "paraders" had been dispersed, he ran out of +the back door, reloading his pistol as he went. It is believed by many +that Arthur McElfresh was killed inside the hall by a bullet fired by +Everest. + +In the yard at the rear of the hall the mob had already reorganized for an +attack from that direction. Before anyone knew what had happened Everest +had broken through their ranks and scaled the fence. "Don't follow me and +I won't shoot," he called to the crowd and displaying the still smoking +blue steel pistol in his hand. + +"There goes the secretary!" yelled someone, as the logger started at top +speed down the alley. The mob surged in pursuit, collapsing the board +fence before them with sheer force of numbers. There was a rope in the +crowd and the union secretary was the man they wanted. The chase that +followed probably saved the life, not only of Britt Smith, but the +remaining loggers in the hall as well. + +Running pell-mell down the alley the mob gave a shout of exaltation as +Everest slowed his pace and turned to face them. They stopped cold, +however, as a number of quick shots rang out and bullets whistled and +zipped around them. Everest turned in his tracks and was off again like a +flash, reloading his pistol as he ran. The mob again resumed the pursuit. +The logger ran through an open gateway, paused to turn and again fire at +his pursuers; then he ran between two frame dwellings to the open street. +When the mob again caught the trail they were evidently under the +impression that the logger's ammunition was exhausted. At all events they +took up the chase with redoubled energy. Some men in the mob had rifles +and now and then a pot-shot would be taken at the fleeing figure. The +marksmanship of both sides seems to have been poor for no one appears to +have been injured. + + + + +Dale Hubbard + + + +This kind of running fight was kept up until Everest reached the river. +Having kept off his pursuers thus far the boy started boldly for the +comparative security of the opposite shore, splashing the water violently +as he waded out into the stream. The mob was getting closer all the time. +Suddenly Everest seemed to change his mind and began to retrace his steps +to the shore. Here he stood dripping wet in the tangled grasses to await +the arrival of the mob bent on his destruction. Everest had lost his hat +and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. His gun was now so hot he could +hardly hold it and the last of his ammunition was in the magazine. Eye +witnesses declare his face still wore a quizzical, half bantering smile +when the mob overtook him. With the pistol held loosely in his rough hand +Everest stood at bay, ready to make a last stand for his life. Seeing him +thus, and no doubt thinking his last bullet had been expended, the mob +made a rush for its quarry. + +"Stand back!" he shouted. "If there are 'bulls' in the crowd, I'll submit +to arrest; otherwise lay off of me." + +[Illustration: Blind Tom Lassiter + +Tom Lassiter is the blind news dealer who Was kidnapped and deported out +of town in June, 1919, by a gang of business men. His stand was raided and +the contents burned in the street. He had been selling The Seattle Union +Record, The Industrial Worker and Solidarity. County attorney Allen said +he couldn't help to apprehend the criminals and would only charge them +with third degree assault if they were found. The fine would be one dollar +and costs! Lassiter is now in jail in Chehalis charged with "criminal +syndicalism."] + +No attention was paid to his words. Everest shot from the hip four +times,--then his gun stalled. A group of soldiers started to run in his +direction. Everest was tugging at the gun with both hands. Raising it +suddenly he took careful aim and fired. All the soldiers but one wavered +and stopped. Everest fired twice, both bullets taking effect. Two more +shots were fired almost point blank before the logger dropped his +assailant at his feet. Then he tossed away the empty gun and the mob +surged upon him. + +The legionaire who had been shot was Dale Hubbard, a nephew of F.B. +Hubbard, the lumber baron. He was a strong, brave and misguided young +man--worthy of a nobler death. + + + + +"Let's Finish the Job!" + + + +Everest attempted a fight with his fists but was overpowered and severely +beaten. A number of men clamoured for immediate lynching, but saner +council prevailed for the time and he was dragged through the streets +towards the city jail. When the mob was half a block from this place the +"hot heads" made another attempt to cheat the state executioner. A wave of +fury seemed here to sweep the crowd. Men fought with one another for a +chance to strike, kick or spit in the face of their victim. It was an orgy +of hatred and blood-lust. Everest's arms were pinioned, blows, kicks and +curses rained upon him from every side. One business man clawed strips of +bleeding flesh from his face. A woman slapped his battered cheek with a +well groomed hand. A soldier tried to lunge a hunting rifle at the +helpless logger; the crowd was too thick. He bumped them aside with the +butt of the gun to get room. Then he crashed the muzzle with full force +into Everest's mouth. Teeth were broken and blood flowed profusely. + +A rope appeared from somewhere. "Let's finish the job!" cried a voice. The +rope was placed about the neck of the logger. "You haven't got guts enough +to lynch a man in the daytime," was all he said. + +At this juncture a woman brushed through the crowd and took the rope from +Everest's neck. Looking into the distorted faces of the mob she cried +indignantly, "You are curs and cowards to treat a man like that!" + +There may be human beings in Centralia after all. + +Wesley Everest was taken to the city jail and thrown without ceremony upon +the cement floor of the "bull pen." In the surrounding cells were his +comrades who had been arrested in the union hall. Here he lay in a wet +heap, twitching with agony. A tiny bright stream of blood gathered at his +side and trailed slowly along the floor. Only an occasional quivering moan +escaped his torn lips as the hours slowly passed by. + + + + +"Here Is Your Man" + + + +Later, at night, when it was quite dark, the lights of the jail were +suddenly snapped off. At the same instant the entire city was plunged in +darkness. A clamour of voices was heard beyond the walls. There was a +hoarse shout as the panel of the outer door was smashed in. "Don't shoot, +men," said the policemen on guard, "Here is your man." It was night now, +and the business men had no further reason for not lynching the supposed +secretary. Everest heard their approaching foot steps in the dark. He +arose drunkenly to meet them. "Tell the boys I died for my class," he +whispered brokenly to the union men in the cells. These were the last +words he uttered in the jail. There were sounds of a short struggle and of +many blows. Then a door slammed and, in a short time the lights were +switched on. The darkened city was again illuminated at the same moment. +Outside three luxurious automobiles were purring them selves out of sight +in the darkness. + +The only man who had protested the lynching at the last moment was William +Scales. "Don't kill him, men," he is said to have begged of the mob. But +it was too late. "If you don't go through with this you're an I.W.W. too," +they told him. Scales could not calm the evil passions he had helped to +arouse. + +But how did it happen that the lights were turned out at such an opportune +time? Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove with the +lynch mob? + +Defense Attorney Vanderveer offered to prove to the court that such was +the case. He offered to prove this was a part of the greater conspiracy +against the union loggers and their hall,--offered to prove it point by +point from the very beginning. Incidentally Vanderveer offered to prove +that Earl Craft, electrician in charge of the city lighting plant, had +left the station at seven o'clock on Armistice day after securely locking +the door; and that while Craft was away the lights of the city were turned +off and Wesley Everest taken out and lynched. Furthermore, he offered to +prove that when Craft returned, the lights were again turned on and the +city electrician, his assistant and the Mayor of Centralia were in the +building with the door again locked. + +These offers were received by his honor with impassive judicial dignity, +but the faces of the lumber trust attorneys were wreathed with smiles at +the audacity of the suggestion. The corporation lawyers very politely +registered their objections which the judge as politely sustained. + + + + +The Night of Horrors + + + +After Everest had been taken away the jail became a nightmare--as full of +horrors as a madman's dream. The mob howled around the walls until late in +the night. Inside, a lumber trust lawyer and his official assistants were +administering the "third degree" to the arrested loggers, to make them +"confess." One at a time the men were taken to the torture chamber, and so +terrible was the ordeal of this American Inquisition that some were almost +broken--body and soul. Loren Roberts had the light in his brain snuffed +out. Today he is a shuffling wreck. He is not interested in things any +more. He is always looking around with horror-wide eyes, talking of +"voices" and "wires" that no one but himself knows anything about. There +is no telling what they did to the boy, but he signed the "confession." +Its most incriminating statement must have contained too much truth for +the prosecution. It was never used in court. + +When interviewed by Frank Walklin of the Seattle Union Record the loggers +told the story in their own way: + +"I have heard tales of cruelty," said James McInerney, "but I believe what +we boys went through on those nights can never be equaled. I thought it +was my last night on earth and had reconciled myself to an early death of +some kind, perhaps hanging. I was taken out once by the mob, and a rope +was placed around my neck and thrown over a cross-bar or something. + +"I waited for them to pull the rope. But they didn't. I heard voices in +the mob say, 'That's not him,' and then I was put back into the jail." + +John Hill Lamb, another defendant, related how several times a gun was +poked through his cell window by some one who was aching to get a pot shot +at him. Being ever watchful he hid under his bunk and close to the wall +where the would-be murderer could not see him. + +Britt Smith and Roy Becker told with bated breath about Everest as he lay +half-dead in the corridor, in plain sight of the prisoners in the cells on +both sides. The lights went out and Everest, unconscious and dying, was +taken out. The men inside could hear the shouts of the mob diminishing as +Everest was hurried to the Chehalis River bridge. + +[Illustration: Bert Bland + +Logger. American. (Brother of O.C. Bland.) One of the men who fired from +Seminary Hill. Bland has worked all his life in the woods. He joined the +Industrial Workers of the World during the great strike of 1917. Bert +Bland took to the hills after the shooting and was captured a week later +during the man hunt.] + +None of the prisoners was permitted to sleep that night; the fear of death +was kept upon them constantly, the voices outside the cell windows telling +of more lynchings to come. "Every time I heard a footstep or the clanking +of keys," said Britt Smith, "I thought the mob was coming after more of +us. I didn't sleep, couldn't sleep; all I could do was strain my ears for +the mob I felt sure was coming." Ray Becker, listening at Britt's side, +said: "Yes, that was one hell of a night." And the strain of that night +seems to linger in their faces; probably it always will remain--the +expression of a memory that can never be blotted out. + +When asked if they felt safer when the soldiers arrived to guard the +Centralia jail, there was a long pause, and finally the answer was "Yes." +"But you must remember," offered one, "that they took 'em out at Tulsa +from a supposedly guarded jail; and we couldn't know from where we were +what was going on outside." + +"For ten days we had no blankets," said Mike Sheehan. "It was cold +weather, and we had to sleep uncovered on concrete floors. In those ten +days I had no more than three hours sleep." + +"The mob and those who came after the mob wouldn't let us sleep. They +would come outside our windows and hurl curses at us, and tell each of us +it would be our turn next. They brought in Wesley Everest and laid him on +the corridor floor; he was bleeding from his ears and mouth and nose, was +curled in a heap and groaning. And men outside and inside kept up the din. +I tried to sleep; I was nearly mad; my temples kept pounding like +sledge-hammers. I don't know how a man can go through all that and +live--but we did." + +All through the night the prisoners could hear the voices of the mob under +their cell windows. "Well, we fixed that guy Everest all right," some one +would say. "Now we'll get Roberts." Then the lights would snap off, there +would be a shuffling, curses, a groan and the clanking of a steel door. +All the while they were being urged to "come clean" with a statement that +would clear the lumber trust of the crime and throw the blame onto its +victims. McInerney's neck was scraped raw by the rope of the mob but he +repeatedly told them to "go to hell!" Morgan, the stool-pigeon, escaped +the torture by immediate acquiescence. Someone has since paid his fare To +parts unknown. His "statement" didn't damage the defense. + +[Illustration: Ray Becker + +Logger, American born. Twenty-five years of age. Studied four years for +the ministry before going to work in the woods. His father and brother are +both preachers. Becker joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 +and has always been a strong believer in the cause of the solidarity of +Labor. He has the zeal of a prophet and the courage of a lion. Defended +himself inside the hall with an Ivor Johnson, 38, until his ammunition was +exhausted. He surrendered to the authorities--not the mob.] + + + + +The Human Fiend + + + +But with the young logger who had been taken out into the night things +were different. Wesley Everest was thrown, half unconscious, into the +bottom of an automobile. The hands of the men who had dragged him there +were sticky and red. Their pant legs were sodden from rubbing against the +crumpled figure at their feet. Through the dark streets sped the three +machines. The smooth asphalt became a rough road as the suburbs were +reached. Then came a stretch of open country, with the Chehalis river +bridge only a short distance ahead. The cars lurched over the uneven road +with increasing speed, their headlights playing on each other or on the +darkened highway. + +Wesley Everest stirred uneasily. Raising himself slowly on one elbow he +swung weakly with his free arm, striking one of his tormentors full in the +face. The other occupants immediately seized him and bound his hands and +feet with rope. It must have been the glancing blow from the fist of the +logger that gave one of the gentlemen his fiendish inspiration. Reaching +in his pocket he produced a razor. For a moment he fumbled over the now +limp figure in the bottom of the car. His companions looked on with stolid +acquiescence. Suddenly there was a piercing scream of pain. The figure +gave a convulsive shudder of agony. After a moment Wesley Everest said in +a weak voice: "For Christ's sake, men; shoot me--don't let me suffer like +this." + +On the way back to Centralia, after the parade rope had done Its deadly +work, the gentlemen of the razor alighted from the car in front of a +certain little building. He asked leave to wash his hands. They were as +red as a butcher's. Great clots of blood were adhering to his sleeves. +"That's about the nastiest job I ever had to do," was his casual remark as +he washed himself in the cool clear water of the Washington hills. The +name of this man is known to nearly everybody in Centralia. He is still at +large. + +The headlight of the foremost car was now playing on the slender steel +framework of the Chehalis river bridge. This machine crossed over and +stopped, the second one reached the middle of the bridge and stopped while +the third came to a halt when it had barely touched the plankwork on the +near side. The well-dressed occupants of the first and last cars alighted +and proceeded at once to patrol both approaches to the bridge. + + + + +Lynching--An American Institution + + + +Wesley Everest was dragged out of the middle machine. A rope was attached +to a girder with the other end tied in a noose around his neck. His almost +lifeless body was hauled to the side of the bridge. The headlights of two +of the machines threw a white light over the horrible scene. Just as the +lynchers let go of their victim the fingers of the half dead logger clung +convulsively to the planking of the bridge. A business man stamped on them +with a curse until the grip was broken. There was a swishing sound; then a +sudden crunching jerk and the rope tied to the girder began to writhe and +twist like a live thing. This lasted but a short time. The lynchers peered +over the railing into the darkness. Then they slowly pulled up the dead +body, attached a longer rope and repeated the performance. This did not +seem to suit them either, so they again dragged the corpse through the +railings and tied a still longer rope around the horribly broken neck of +the dead logger. The business men were evidently enjoying their work, and +besides, the more rope the more souvenirs for their friends, who would +prize them highly. + +This time the knot was tied by a young sailor. He knew how to tie a good +knot and was proud of the fact. He boasted of the stunt afterwards to a +man he thought as beastly as himself. In all probability he never dreamed +he was talking for publication. But he was. + +The rope had now been lengthened to about fifteen feet. The broken and +gory body was kicked through the railing for the last time. The knot on +the girder did not move any more. Then the lynchers returned to their +luxurious cars and procured their rifles. A headlight flashed the dangling +figure into ghastly relief. It was riddled with volley after volley. The +man who fired the first shot boasted of the deed afterwards to a brother +lodge member. He didn't know he was talking for publication either. + +On the following morning the corpse was cut down by an unknown hand. It +drifted away with the current. A few hours later Frank Christianson, a +tool of the lumber trust from the Attorney General's office, arrived in +Centralia. "We've got to get that body," this worthy official declared, +"or the wobs will find it and raise hell over its condition." + +The corpse was located after a search. It was not buried, however, but +carted back to the city jail, there to be used as a terrible object lesson +for the benefit of the incarcerated union men. The unrecognizable form was +placed in a cell between two of the loggers who had loved the lynched boy +as a comrade and a friend. Something must be done to make the union men +admit that they, and not the lumber interests, had conspired to commit +murder. This was the final act of ruthlessness. It was fruitful in +results. One "confession," one Judas and one shattered mind were the +result of their last deed of fiendish terrorism. + +[Illustration: The Burial of the Mob's Victim + +No undertaker would handle Everest's body. The autopsy was performed by a +man from Portland, who hung the body up by the heels and played a hose on +it. The men lowering the plank casket into the grave are Union loggers who +had been caught in the police drag net and taken from jail for this +purpose.] + +No undertaker could be found to bury Everest's body, so after two days it +was dropped into a hole in the ground by four union loggers who had been +arrested on suspicion and were released from jail for this purpose. The +"burial" is supposed to have taken place in the new cemetery; the body +being carried thither in an auto truck. The union loggers who really dug +the grave declare, however, that the interment took place at a desolate +spot "somewhere along a railroad track." Another body was seen, covered +with ashes in a cart, being taken away for burial on the morning of the +twelfth. There are persistent rumors that more than one man was lynched on +the eve of Armistice day. A guard of heavily armed soldiers had charge of +the funeral. The grave has since been obliterated. Rumor has it that the +body has since been removed to Camp Lewis. No one seems to know why or +when. + + + + +"As Comical as a Corner" + + + +An informal inquest was held in the city jail. A man from Portland +performed the autopsy, that is, he hung the body up by the heels and +played a water hose on it. Everest was reported by the corner's jury to +have met his death at the hands of parties unknown. It was here that Dr. +Bickford let slip the statement about the hall being raided before the +shooting started. This was the first inkling of truth to reach the public. +Coroner Livingstone, in a jocular mood, reported the inquest to a meeting +of gentlemen at the Elks' Club. In explaining the death of the union +logger, Dr. Livingstone stated that Wesley Everest had broken out of jail, +gone to the Chehalis river bridge and jumped off with a rope around his +neck. Finding the rope too short he climbed back and fastened on a longer +one; jumped off again, broke his neck and then shot himself full of holes. +Livingstone's audience, appreciative of his tact and levity, laughed long +and hearty. Business men still chuckle over the joke in Centralia. "As +funny as a funeral" is no longer the stock saying in this humorous little +town; "as comical as a coroner" is now the approved form. + + + + +The Man-Hunt + + + +Acting on the theory that "a strong offensive is the best defense," the +terrorists took immediate steps to conceal all traces of their crime and +to shift the blame onto the shoulders of their victims. The capitalist +press did yeoman service in this cause by deluging the nation with a +veritable avalanche of lies. + +For days the district around Centralia and the city itself were at the +mercy of a mob. The homes of all workers suspected of being sympathetic to +Labor were spied upon or surrounded and entered without warrant. Doors +were battered down at times, and women and children abused and insulted. +Heavily armed posses were sent out in all directions in search of "reds." +All roads were patrolled by armed business men in automobiles. A strict +mail and wire censorship was established. It was the open season for +"wobblies" and intimidation was the order of the day. The White Terror was +supreme. + +An Associated Press reporter was compelled to leave town hastily without +bag or baggage because he inadvertently published Dr. Bickford's +indiscreet remark about the starting of the trouble. Men and women did not +dare to think, much less think aloud. Some of them in the district are +still that way. + +To Eugene Barnett's little home came a posse armed to the teeth. They +asked for Barnett and were told by his young wife that he had gone up the +hill with his rifle. Placing a bayonet to her breast they demanded +entrance. The brave little woman refused to admit them until they had +shown a warrant. Barnett surrendered when he had made sure he was to be +arrested and not mobbed. + +O.C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb and Loren Roberts were also apprehended +in due time. Two loggers, John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson, who were said to +have also fired on the mob, have not yet been arrested. A vigorous search +is still being made for them in all parts of the country. It is believed +by many that one of these men was lynched like Everest on the night of +November 11th. + +[Illustration: Court House at Montesano--And a Little "Atmosphere" + +The trial was held on the third floor of the building as you look at the +picture. The soldiers were sent for over the head of the judge by one of +the lumber trust attorneys of the prosecution. Their only purpose was to +create the proper "atmosphere" for an unjust conviction.] + + + + +Hypocrisy and Terror + + + +The reign of terror was extended to cover the entire West coast. Over a +thousand men and women were arrested in the state of Washington alone. +Union halls were closed and kept that way. Labor papers were suppressed +and many men have been given sentences of from one to fourteen years for +having in their possession copies of periodicals which contained little +else but the truth about the Centralia tragedy. The Seattle Union Record +was temporarily closed down and its stock confiscated for daring to hint +that there were two sides to the story. During all this time the +capitalist press was given full rein to spread its infamous poison. The +general public, denied the true version of the affair, was shuddering over +its morning coffee at the thought of I.W.W. desperadoes shooting down +unoffending paraders from ambush. But the lumber interests were chortling +with glee and winking a suggestive eye at their high priced lawyers who +were making ready for the prosecution. Jurymen were shortly to be drawn +and things were "sitting pretty," as they say in poker. + +Adding a characteristic touch to the rotten hypocrisy of the situation +came a letter from Supreme Court Judge McIntosh to George Dysart, whose +son was in command of a posse during the manhunt. This remarkable document +is as follows: + + Kenneth Mackintosh, Judge + The Supreme Court, State of Washington + Olympia. + + George Dysart, Esq., + Centralia, Wash. + My Dear Dysart: + + November 13, 1919. + + I want to express to you my appreciation of the high character of + citizenship displayed by the people of Centralia in their agonizing + calamity. We are all shocked by the manifestation of barbarity on the + part of the outlaws, and are depressed by the loss of lives of brave + men, but at the same time are proud of the calm control and loyalty to + American ideals demonstrated by the returned soldiers and citizens. I am + proud to be an inhabitant of a state which contains a city with the + record which has been made for Centralia by its law-abiding citizens. + + Sincerely, + (Signed) Kenneth MacKintosh. + + + + +"Patriotic" Union Smashing + + + +Not to be outdone by this brazen example of judicial perversion, Attorney +General Thompson, after a secret conference of prosecuting attorneys, +issued a circular of advice to county prosecutors. In this document the +suggestion was made that officers and members of the Industrial Workers of +the World in Washington be arrested by the wholesale under the "criminal +syndicalism" law and brought to trial simultaneously so that they might +not be able to secure legal defense. The astounding recommendation was +also made that, owing to the fact that juries had been "reluctant to +convict," prosecutors and the Bar Association should co-operate in +examining jury panels so that "none but courageous and patriotic +Americans" secure places on the juries. + +This effectual if somewhat arbitrary plan was put into operation at once. +Since the tragedy at Centralia dozens of union workers have been convicted +by "courageous and patriotic" juries and sentenced to serve from one to +fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Hundreds more are awaiting +trial. The verdict at Montesano is now known to everyone. Truly the lives +of the four Legion boys which were sacrificed by the lumber interests in +furtherance of their own murderous designs, were well expended. The +investment was a profitable one and the results are no doubt highly +gratifying. + +But just the same the despicable plot of the Attorney General is an +obvious effort to defeat the purpose of the courts and obtain unjust +convictions by means of what is termed "jury fixing." There may be honor +among thieves but there is plainly none among the public servants they +have working for them! + +[Illustration: Mike Sheenan + +Born in Ireland. 64 years old. Has been a union man for over fifty years, +having joined his grandfather's union when he was only eight. Has been +through many strikes and has been repeatedly black-hated, beaten and even +exiled. He was a stoker in the Navy during the Spanish War. Mike Sheehan +was arrested in the Union hall, went through the horrible experience in +the city jail and was found "not guilty" by the jury. Like Elmer Smith, he +was re-arrested on another similar charge and thrown back in jail.] + +The only sane note sounded during these dark days, outside of the +startling statement of Dr. Bickford, came from Montana. Edward Bassett, +commander of the Butte Post of the American Legion and an over-seas +veteran, issued a statement to the labor press that was truly remarkable: + +"The I.W.W. in Centralia, Wash., who fired upon the men that were +attempting to raid the I.W.W. headquarters, were fully justified in their +act. + +"Mob rule in this country must be stopped, and when mobs attack the home +of a millionaire, of a laborer, or of the I.W.W., it is not only the right +but the duty of the occupants to resist with every means in their power. +If the officers of the law can not stop these raids, perhaps the +resistance of the raided may have that effect. + +"Whether the I.W.W. is a meritorious organization or not, whether it is +unpopular or otherwise, should have absolutely nothing to do with the +case. The reports of the evidence at the coroner's jury show that the +attack was made before the firing started. If that is true, I commend the +boys inside for the action that they took. + +"The fact that there were some American Legion men among the paraders who +everlastingly disgraced themselves by taking part in the raid, does not +affect my judgment in the least. Any one who becomes a party to a mob bent +upon unlawful violence, cannot expect the truly patriotic men of the +American Legion to condone his act." + + + + +Vanderveer's Opening Speech + + + +Defense Attorney George Vanderveer hurried across the continent from +Chicago to take up the legal battle for the eleven men who had been +arrested and charged with the murder of Warren O. Grimm. The lumber +interests had already selected six of their most trustworthy tools as +prosecutors. It is not the purpose of the present writer to give a +detailed story of this "trial"--possibly one of the greatest travesties on +justice ever staged. This incident was a very important part of the +Centralia conspiracy but a hasty sketch, such as might be portrayed in +these pages, would be an inadequate presentation at best. It might be +well, therefore, to permit Mr. Vanderveer to tell of the case as he told +it to the jury in his opening and closing arguments. Details of the trial +itself can be found in other booklets by more capable authors. +Vanderveer's opening address appears in part below: + +May it please the court and gentlemen of the jury:--As you have already +sensed from our examination of you and from a question which I propounded +to counsel at the close of his statement yesterday, the big question in +this case is, who was the aggressor, who started the battle? Was it on the +one side a deliberately planned murderous attack upon innocent marchers, +or was it on the other side a deliberately planned wicked attack upon the +I.W.W., which they merely resisted? That, I say, is the issue. I asked +counsel what his position would be in order that you might know it, and +that he said was his position, that he would stand and fall and be judged +by it, and I say to you now that is our position, and we will stand or +fall and be judged by that issue. + +In order that you may properly understand this situation, and the things +that led up to it, the motives underlying it, the manner in which it was +planned and executed, I want to go just a little way back of the +occurrence on November 11th, and state to you in rough outline the +situation that existed in Centralia, the objects that were involved in +this case, the things each are trying to accomplish and the way each went +about it. There has been some effort on the part of the state to make it +appear it is not an I.W.W. trial. I felt throughout that the I.W.W. issue +must come into this case, and now that they have made their opening +statement, I say unreservedly it is here in this case, not because we want +to drag it in here, but because it can't be left out. To conceal from you +gentlemen that it is an I.W.W. issue would be merely to conceal the truth +from you and we, on our part, don't want to do that now or at any time +hereafter. + +The I.W.W. is at the bottom of this. Not as an aggressor, however. It is a +labor organization, organized in Chicago in 1905, and it is because of the +philosophy for which it stands and because of certain tactics which it +evolves that this thing arose. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +Logger. Born in County Claire, Ireland. Joined the Industrial Workers of +the World in 1916. Was wounded on the steamer "Verona" when the lumber +trust tried to exterminate the union lumberworkers with bullets at +Everett, Washington. McInerney was one of those trapped in the hall. He +surrendered to officers of the law. While in the city jail his neck was +worn raw with a hangman's rope in an effort to make him "confess" that the +loggers and not the mob had started the trouble. McInerney told them to +"go to hell." He is Irish and an I.W.W. and proud of being both.] + + + + +A Labor Movement on Trial + + + +The I.W.W. is the representative in this country of the labor movement of +the rest of the world It is the representative in the United States of the +idea that capitalism is wrong: that no man has a right, moral or +otherwise, to exploit his fellow men, the idea that our industrial efforts +should be conducted not for the profits of any individual but should be +conducted for social service, for social welfare. So the I.W.W. says +first, that the wage system is wrong and that it means to abolish that +wage system. It says that it intends to do this, not by political action, +not by balloting, but by organization on the industrial or economical +field, precisely as employers, precisely as capital is organized on the +basis of the industry, not on the basis of the tool. The I.W.W. says +industrial evolution has progressed to that point there the tool no longer +enforces craftsmanship. In the place of a half dozen or dozen who were +employed, each a skilled artisan, employed to do the work, you have a +machine process to do that work and it resulted in the organization of the +industry on an industrial basis. You have the oil industry, controlled by +the Standard Oil; you have the lumber industry, controlled by the +Lumbermen's Association of the South and West, and you have the steel and +copper industry, all organized on an industrial basis resulting in a +fusing, or corporation, or trust of a lot of former owners. Now the I.W.W. +say if they are to compete with our employers, we must compete with our +employers as an organization, and as they are organized so we must protect +our organization, as they protect themselves. And so they propose to +organize into industrial unions; the steel workers and the coal miners, +and the transportation workers each into its own industrial unit. + +This plan of organization is extremely distasteful to the employers +because it is efficient; because it means a new order, a new system in the +labor world in this country. The meaning of this can be gathered, in some +measure, from the recent experiences in the steel strike of this country, +where they acted as an industrial unit; from the recent experiences in the +coal mining industry, where they acted as an industrial unit. Instead of +having two or three dozen other crafts, each working separately, they +acted as an industrial unit. When the strike occurred it paralyzed +industry and forced concessions to the demands of the workers. That is the +first thing the I.W.W. stands for and in some measure and in part explains +the attitude capital has taken all over the country towards it. + +In the next place it says that labor should organize on the basis of some +fundamental principle; and labor should organize for something more than a +mere bartering and dickering for fifty cents a day or for some shorter +time, something of that sort. It says that the system is fundamentally +wrong and must be fundamentally changed before you can look for some +improvement. Its philosophy is based upon government statistics which show +that in a few years in this country our important industries have crept +into more than two-thirds of our entire wealth. Seventy-five per cent of +the workers in the basic industry are unable to send their children to +school. Seventy-one per cent of the heads of the families in our basic +industries are unable to provide a decent living for their families +without the assistance of the other members. Twenty-nine per cent of our +laborers are able to live up to the myth that he is the head of the +family. The results of these evils are manifold. Our people are not being +raised in decent vicinities. They are not being raised and educated. Their +health is not being cared for; their morals are not being cared for. I +will show you that in certain of our industries where the wages are low +and the hours are long, that the children of the working people die at the +rate of 300 to 350 per thousand inhabitants under the age of one year +because of their undernourishment, lack of proper housing and lack of +proper medical attention and because the mothers of these children before +they are born and when the children are being carried in the mother's womb +that they are compelled to go into the industries and work and work and +work, and before the child can receive proper nourishment the mother is +compelled to go back into the industry and work again. The I.W.W.'s say +there must be a fundamental change and that fundamental change must be in +the line of reorganization of industry, for public service, so that the +purpose shall be that we will work to live and not merely live to work. +Work for service rather than work for profit. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +(After he had undergone the "Third degree".) + +McInerney had a rope around his neck nearly all night before this picture +was taken. One end of the rope had been pulled taut over a beam by his +tormentors. McInerney had told them to "go to hell." "It's no use trying +to get anything out of a man like that," was the final decision of the +inquisitors.] + + + + +To Kill an Ideal... + + + +Some time in September, counsel told you, the I.W.W., holding these +beliefs, opened a hall in Centralia. Back of that hall was a living room, +where Britt Smith lived, kept his clothes and belongings and made his +home. From then on the I.W.W. conducted a regular propaganda meeting every +Saturday night. These propaganda meetings were given over to a discussion +of these industrial problems and beliefs. From that district there were +dispatched into nearby lumber camps and wherever there were working people +to whom to carry this message--there were dispatched organizers who went +out, made the talks in the camps briefly and sought to organize them into +this union, at least to teach them the philosophy of this labor movement. + +Because that propaganda is fatal to those who live by other people's work, +who live by the profits they wring from labor, it excited intense +opposition on the part of employers and business people of Centralia and +about the time this hall was opened we will show you that people from +Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters for these labor fights, +came into Centralia and held meetings. I don't know what they call this +new thing they were seeking to organize--it is in fact a branch of the +Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of the United States, a national +organization whose sole purpose is to fight and crush and beat labor. It +was in no sense a local movement because it started in Seattle and it was +organized by people from Seattle, and the purpose was to organize in +Centralia an organization of business men to combat this new labor +philosophy. Whether in the mouths of the I.W.W., or Nonpartisan League, or +the Socialists, it did not make any difference; to brand anybody as a +traitor, un-American, who sought to tell the truth about our industrial +conditions. + + + + +The Two Raids + + + +In the fall of 1918, the I.W.W. had a hall two blocks and a half from this +hall, at the corner of First and B streets. There was a Red Cross parade, +and that hall was wrecked, just as was this hall. These profiteering +gentlemen never overlook an opportunity to capitalize on a patriotic +event, and so they capitalized the Red Cross parade that day just as they +capitalized the Armistice Day parade on November 11, and in exactly the +same way as on November 11. + +And that day, when the tail-end of the parade of the Red Cross passed the +main avenue, it broke off and went a block out of its way and attacked the +I.W.W. hall, a good two-story building. And they broke it into splinters. +The furniture, records, the literature that belongs to these boys, +everything was taken out into the street and burned. + +[Illustration: O. C. Bland + +Logger. American. Resident of Centralia for a number of years. Has worked +in woods and mills practically all his life. Has a wife and seven +children. Bland was in the Arnold hotel at the time of the raid. He was +armed but had cut his hand on broken glass before he had a chance to +shoot. Since his arrest and conviction his family has undergone severe +hardships. The defense is making an effort to raise enough funds to keep +the helpless wives and children of the convicted men in the comforts of +life.] + +Now, what was contemplated on Armistice Day? The I.W.W. did as you would +do; it judged from experience. + + + + +Patience No Longer a Virtue + + + +When the paraders smashed the door in, the I.W.W.'s, as every lover of +free speech and every respecter of his person--they had appealed to the +citizens, they had appealed to the officers, and some of their members had +been tarred and feathered, beaten up and hung--they said in thought: +"Patience has ceased to be a virtue." And if the law will not protect us, +and the people won't protect us, we will protect ourselves. And they did. + +And in deciding this case, I want each of you, members of the jury, to ask +yourself what would you have done? + +There had been discussions of this character in the I.W.W. hall, and so +have there been discussions everywhere. There had never been a plot laid +to murder anybody, nor to shoot anybody in any parade. I want you to ask +yourself: "Why would anybody want to shoot anybody in a parade," and to +particularly ask yourself why anyone would want to shoot upon soldiers? + +He who was a soldier himself, Wesley Everest, the man who did most of the +shooting, and the man whom they beat until he was unconscious and whom +they grabbed from the street and put a rope around his neck, the man whom +they nearly shot to pieces, and the man whom they hung, once dropping him +ten feet, and when what didn't kill him lengthened the rope to 15 feet and +dropped him again--why would one soldier want to kill another soldier, or +soldiers, who had never done him nor his fellows any harm? + +I exonerate the American Legion as an organization of the responsibility +of this. For I say they didn't know about it. The day will come when they +will realize that they have been mere catspaws in the hands of the +Centralia commercial interests. That is the story. I don't know what the +verdict will be today, but the verdict ten years hence will be the verdict +in the Lovejoy case; that these men were within their rights and that they +fought for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They fought for +these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers of liberty +stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of our country. + +This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been +tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is +from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals +and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started +with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its +head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it. + + + + +Vanderveer's Closing Argument + + + +There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who was +the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene +Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred? + +We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the +I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business +interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We +have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants +are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway +of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the +prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot. + +We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and +undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he +was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the +shooting. + +In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: Who +was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and +stand by it now. + +Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same promise. +So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who has been so +ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. Cunningham, +ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the defense was +piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. hall by the +paraders, Mr. Abel backed down. + + + + +Why Were the Shots Fired? + + + +I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all +along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was +the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice +Day paraders were fired upon in cold blood while engaged in lawful and +peaceful action. + +What possible motive could these boys have had for firing upon innocent +marching soldiers? It is true that the marchers were fired upon; that +shots were fired by some of these defendants; but why were the shots +fired? + +[Illustration: John Lamb + +Logger. American. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. Lamb +was in the Arnold Hotel with O.C. Bland during the raid on the hall. +Neither of them did any shooting. John Lamb has lived for years in +Centralia. He is married and has five children who are left dependent +since the conviction.] + +There is only one reason why--they were defending their own legal property +against unlawful invasion and attack; they were defending the dwelling +place of Britt Smith, their secretary. + +And they had full right to defend their lives and that property and that +home against violence or destruction; they had a right to use force, if +necessary, to effect that defense. The law gives them that right; and it +accrues to them also from all of the wells of elementary justice. + +The law says that when a man or group of men have reason to fear attack +from superior numbers, they may provide whatever protection they may deem +necessary to repel such an attack. And it says also that if a man who is +in bad company when such an attack is made happens to be killed by the +defenders, those defenders are not to be considered guilty of that man's +death. + +So they had the troops come, to blow bugles and drill in the streets where +the jury could see; their power, however wielded, was great enough to +cause Governor Hart to send the soldiers here without consulting the trial +judge or the sheriff, whose function it was to preserve law and order +here--and you know, I am sure, that law and order were adequately +preserved here before the troops came. + + + + +"Fearful of the Truth" + + + +They tried the moth-eaten device of arresting our witnesses for alleged +perjury, hoping to discredit those witnesses thus in your eyes because +they knew they couldn't discredit them in any regular nor legitimate way. + +Fearful of the truth, the guilty ones at Centralia deliberately framed up +evidence to save themselves from blame--to throw the responsibility for +the Armistice Day horror onto other men. But they bungled the frame-up +badly. No bolder nor cruder fabrication has ever been attempted than the +ridiculous effort to fasten the killing of Warren Grimm upon Eugene +Barnett. + +[Illustration: Court Room in which the Farcical "Trial" Took Place + +This garish room in the court house at Montesano was the scene of the +attempted "judicial murder" that followed the lynching. The judge always +entered his chambers through the door under the word "Transgression": the +jury always left through the door over which "Instruction" appears. In +this room the lumber trust attorneys attempted to build a gallows of +perjured testimony on which to break the necks of innocent men.] + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she had +been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution. She would not have +told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was obvious +to everybody in this courtroom that day. + +You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a +murder trial, and not a labor trial. But they have been careful to ask all +our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to +any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on +trial for their lives. And when the answer to any of these questions was +yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief. Their +policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is +in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held +Centralia in its grasp. + +You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, of +the part F.R. Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at Centralia. +You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill owned by +Hubbard's corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is a +notorious non-union concern. And you have heard it said that W.A. Abel, +the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter +for years. + +Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia. Why did he want to +drive them out? He said they were a menace. And it is true that they were +a menace, and are a menace--to those who exploit the workers who produce +the wealth for the few to enjoy. + + + + +Why Were Ropes Carried? + + + +Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting? Dr. Frank Bickford, a +reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had +sworn to at the coroner's inquest--that when the parade stopped, he +offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,--but that +others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came +from inside. + +And why did the Rev. H.W. Thompson have a rope? Thompson believes in +hanging men by the neck until they are dead. When the state Employers' +Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not +long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in +behalf of that law. And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W. +Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf? Or +what? + +Why did the prosecution need so many attorneys here, if it had the facts +straight? Why were scores of American Legion members imported here to sit +at the trial at a wage of $4 per day and expenses? + +They have told you this was a murder trial, and not a labor trial. But +vastly more than the lives of ten men are the stakes in the big gamble +here; for the right of workers to organize for the bettering of their own +condition is on trial; the right of free assemblage is on trial; democracy +and Americanism are on trial. + +In our opening statement, we promised to prove various facts; and we have +proven them, in the main; if there are any contentions about which the +evidence remains vague, this circumstance exists only because His Honor +has seen fit to rule out certain testimony which is vital to the case, and +we believed, and still believe, was entirely material and properly +admissible. + +But is there any doubt in your minds that there was a conspiracy to raid +the I.W.W. hall, and to run the Industrial Workers of the World out of +town? Even if the court will not allow you to read the handbill issued by +the I.W.W., asking protection from the citizens of Centralia have you any +doubt that the I.W.W. had reason to fear an attack from Warren Grimm and +his fellow marchers? And have you any doubt that there was a raid on the +hall? + +When I came into this case I knew that we were up against tremendous odds. +Terror was loose in Centralia; prejudice and hatred against the I.W.W. was +being systematically and sweepingly spread in Grays Harbor county and +throughout the whole Northwest; and intimidation or influence of some sort +was being employed against every possible witness and talesman. + +[Illustration: George Vanderveer + +This man single handed opposed six high priced lumber trust prosecutors in +the famous trial at Montesano. Vanderveer is a man of wide experience and +deep social vision. He was at one time prosecuting attorney for King +County, Washington. The lumber trust has made countless threats to "get +him." "A lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a workingman with +brains."] + +Not only were unlimited money and other resources of the Lewis County +commercial interests banded against us, but practically all the attorneys +up and down the Pacific coast had pledged themselves not to defend any +I.W.W., no matter how great nor how small the charge he faced. Our +investigators were arrested without warrant; solicitors for our defense +fund met with the same fate. + +And when the trial date approached, the judge before whom this case is +being heard admitted that a fair trial could not be had here, because of +the surging prejudice existent in this community. Then, five days later, +the court announced that the law would not permit a second change of +venue, and that the trial must go ahead in Montesano. + +In the face of these things, and in the face of all the atmosphere of +violence and bloodthirstiness which the prosecution has sought to throw +around these defendants, I am placing our case in your hands; I am +intrusting to you gentlemen to decide upon the fate of ten human +beings--whether they shall live or die or be shut away from their fellows +for months or years. + +But I am asking you much more than that--I am asking you to decide the +fate of organized labor in the Northwest; whether its fundamental rights +are to survive or be trampled underfoot. + + + + +The Lumber Trust Wins the Jury + + + +On Saturday evening, March 13th, the jury brought in its final verdict of +guilty. In the face of the very evident ability of the lumber interests, +to satisfy its vengeance at will, any other verdict would have been +suicidal--for the jury. + +The prosecution was out for blood and nothing less than blood. Day by day +they had built the structure of gallows right there in the courtroom. They +built a scaffolding on which to hang ten loggers--built it of lies and +threats and perjury. Dozens of witnesses from the Chamber of Commerce and +the American Legion took the stand to braid a hangman's rope of untruthful +testimony. Some of these were members of the mob; on their white hands the +blood of Wesley Everest was hardly dry. And they were not satisfied with +sending their victims to prison for terms of from 25 to 40 years, they +wanted the pleasure of seeing their necks broken. But they failed. Two +verdicts were returned; his honor refused to accept the first; no +intelligent man can accept the second. + +Here is the way the two verdicts compare with each other: Elmer Smith and +Mike Sheehan were declared not guilty and Loren Roberts insane, in both +the first and second verdicts. Britt Smith, O.C. Bland, James McInerney, +Bert Bland and Ray Becker were found guilty of murder in the second degree +in both instances, but Eugene Barnett and John Lamb were at first declared +guilty of manslaughter, or murder "in the third degree" in the jury's +first findings, and guilty of second degree murder in the second. + +The significant point is that the state made its strongest argument +against the four men whom the jury practically exonerated of the charge of +conspiring to murder. More significant is the fact that the whole verdict +completely upsets the charge of conspiracy to murder under which the men +were tried. The difference between first and second degree murder is that +the former, first degree, implies premeditation while the other, second +degree, means murder that is not premeditated. Now, how in the world can +men be found guilty of conspiring to murder without previous +premeditation? The verdict, brutal and stupid as it is, shows the weakness +and falsity of the state's charge more eloquently than anything the +defense has ever said about it. + + + + +But Labor Says, "Not Guilty!" + + + +But another jury had been watching the trial. Their verdict came as a +surprise to those who had read the newspaper version of the case. No +sooner had the twelve bewildered and frightened men in the jury box paid +tribute to the power of the Lumber Trust with a ludicrous and tragic +verdict than the six workingmen of the Labor Jury returned their verdict +also. Those six men represented as many labor organizations in the Pacific +Northwest with a combined membership of many thousands of wage earners. + +The last echoes of the prolonged legal battle had hardly died away when +these six men sojourned to Tacoma to ballot, deliberate and to reach their +decision about the disputed facts of the case. At the very moment when the +trust-controlled newspapers, frantic with disappointment, were again +raising the blood-cry of their pack, the frank and positive statement of +these six workers came like a thunderclap out of a clear sky,--"Not +Guilty!" + +The Labor Jury had studied the development of the case with earnest +attention from the beginning. Day by day they had watched with increasing +astonishment the efforts of the defense to present, and of the prosecution +and the judge to exclude, from the consideration of the trial jury, the +things everybody knew to be true about the tragedy at Centralia. Day by +day the sordid drama had been unfolded before their eyes. Day by day the +conviction had grown upon them that the loggers on trial for their lives +were being railroaded to the gallows by the legal hirelings of the Lumber +Trust. The Labor Jury was composed of men with experience in the labor +movement. They had eyes to see through a maze of red tape and legal +mummery to the simple truth that was being hidden or obscured. The Lumber +Trust did not fool these men and it could not intimidate them. They had +the courage to give the truth to the world just as they saw it. They were +convinced in their hearts and minds that the loggers on trial were +innocent. And they would have been just as honest and just as fearless had +their convictions been otherwise. + +It cannot be said that the Labor Jury was biased in favor of the +defendants or of the I.W.W. If anything, they were predisposed to believe +the defendants guilty and their union an outlaw organization. It must be +remembered that all the labor jury knew of the case was what it had read +in the capitalist newspapers prior to their arrival at the scene of the +trial. These men were not radicals but representative working men--members +of conservative unions--who had been instructed by their organizations to +observe impartially the progress of the trial and to report back to their +unions the result of their observations. Read their report: + + + + +Labor's Verdict + + + +Labor Temple, Tacoma, March 15, 1920, 1:40 p.m. + +The Labor Jury met in the rooms of the Labor Temple and organized, +electing P. K. Mohr as foreman. + +Present: J.A. Craft, W.J. Beard, Otto Newman, Theodore Mayer, E.W. Thrall +and P.K. Mohr. + +1. On motion a secret ballot of guilty or not guilty was taken, the count +resulting in a unanimous "Not Guilty!" + +2. Shall we give our report to the press? Verdict, "Yes." + +[Illustration: Labor's Silent Jury + +W.J. Beard, Central Labor Council, Tacoma: Paul K. Mohr, Central Labor +Council, Seattle: Theodore Meyer, Central Labor Council, Everett: E.W. +Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia: John A. Craft, Metal +Trades Council, Seattle.] + +3. Was there a conspiracy to raid the I.W.W. hall on the part of the +business interests of Centralia? Verdict, "Yes." + +There was evidence offered by the defense to show that the business +interests held a meeting at the Elk's Club on October 20, 1919, at which +ways and means to deal with the I.W.W. situation were discussed. F.B. +Hubbard, Chief of Police Hughes and William Scales, commander of the +American Legion at Centralia, were present. Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +quoted as having said, "There is no law that would let you run the I.W.W. +out of town." Chief of Police Hughes said, "You cannot run the I.W.W. out +of town; they have violated no law." F.G. Hubbard said, "It's a damn +shame; if I was chief I would have them out of town in 24 hours." William +Scales, presiding at the meeting, said that although he was not in favor +of a raid, there was no American jury that would convict them if they did, +or words to that effect. He then announced that he would appoint a secret +committee to deal with the I.W.W. situation. + +4. Was the I.W.W. hall unlawfully raided? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence +introduced convinces us that an attack was made before a shot was fired. + +5. Had the defendants a right to defend their hall. Verdict, "yes." On a +former occasion the I.W.W. hall was raided, furniture destroyed and +stolen, ropes placed around their necks and they were otherwise abused and +driven out of town by citizens, armed with pick handles. + +6. Was Warren O. Grimm a party to the conspiracy of raiding the I.W.W. +hall? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence introduced convinces us that Warren O. +Grimm participated in the raid of the I.W.W. hall. + +7. To our minds the most convincing evidence that Grimm was in front of +and raiding the I.W.W. hall with others, is the evidence of State Witness +Van Gilder who testified that he stood at the side of Grimm at the +intersection of Second street and Tower avenue, when, according to his +testimony, Grimm was shot. This testimony was refuted by five witnesses +who testified that they saw Grimm coming wounded from the direction of the +I.W.W. hall. It is not credible that Van Gilder, who was a personal and +intimate friend of Grimm, would leave him when he was mortally wounded, to +walk half a block alone and unaided. + +8. Did the defendants get a fair and impartial trial? Verdict, "No." The +most damaging evidence of a conspiracy by the business men of Centralia, +of a raid on the I.W.W. hall, was ruled out by the court and not permitted +to go to the jury. This was one of the principal issues that the defense +sought to establish. + +Also the calling of the federal troops by Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +for no other reason than to create atmosphere. On interviewing the judge, +sheriff and prosecuting attorney, the judge and the sheriff informed us +that in their opinion the troops were not needed and that they were +brought there without their consent or knowledge. In the interview Mr. +Allen promised to furnish the substance of the evidence which in his +opinion necessitated the presence of the troops the next morning, but on +the following day he declined the information. He, however, did say that +he did not fear the I.W.W., but was afraid of violence by the American +Legion. This confession came after he was shown by us the fallacy of the +I.W.W. coming armed to interfere with the verdict. Also the presence of +the American Legion in large numbers in court. + +Theodore Meyer, Everett Central Labor Council; John O. Craft, Seattle +Metal Trades Council; E.W. Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, +Centralia; W.J. Beard, Tacoma Central Labor Council; Otto Newman, Portland +Central Labor Council; P.K. Mohr, Seattle Central Labor Council. + +The above report speaks for itself. It was received with great enthusiasm +by the organizations of each of the jurymen when the verdict was +submitted. On March 17th, the Seattle Central Labor Council voted +unanimously to send the verdict to all of the Central Labor Assemblies of +the United States and Canada. + +Not only are the loggers vindicated in defending their property and lives +from the felonious assault of the Armistice Day mob, but the conspiracy of +the business interests to raid the hall and the raid itself were +established. The participation of Warren O. Grimm is also accepted as +proved beyond doubt. Doubly significant is the statement about the "fair +and impartial trial" that is supposed to be guaranteed all men under our +constitution. + +Nothing could more effectively stamp the seal of infamy upon the whole +sickening rape of justice than the manly outspoken statements of these six +labor jurors. Perhaps the personalities of these men might prove of +interest: + +E. W. Thrall, of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia, is an old +time and trusted member of his union. As will be noticed, he comes from +Centralia, the scene of the tragedy. + +Otto Newman, of the Central Labor Council, Portland, Oregon, has ably +represented his union in the C.L.C. for some time. + +W.J. Beard is organizer for the Central Labor Council in Tacoma, +Washington. He is an old member of the Western Federation of Miners and +remembers the terrible times during the strikes at Tulluride. + +John O. Craft is president of Local 40, International Union of Steam +Operating Engineers, of which union he has been a member for the last ten +years. Mr. Craft has been actively connected with unions affiliated with +the A.F. of L. since 1898. + +Theodore Meyer was sent by the Longshoremen of Everett, Washington. Since +1903 he has been a member of the A.F. of L.; prior to that time being a +member of the National Sailors and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and +Ireland, and of the Sailors' Union of Australia. + +P. K. Mohr represents the Central Labor Council of Seattle and is one of +the oldest active members in the Seattle unions. Mr. Mohr became a charter +member of the first Bakers' Union in 1889 and was its first presiding +officer. He was elected delegate to the old Western Central Labor Council +in 1890. At one time Mr. Mohr was president of the Seattle Labor Council. +At the present time he is president of the Bakers' Union. + +Such are the men who have studied the travesty on justice in the great +labor trial at Montesano. "Not Guilty" is their verdict. Does it mean +anything to you? + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +Torn and defiant as a wind-lashed reed, +Wounded, he faced you as he stood at bay; +You dared not lynch him in the light of day, +But on your dungeon stones you let him bleed; +Night came ... and you black vigilants of Greed,... +Like human wolves, seized hand upon your prey, +Tortured and killed ... and, silent, slunk away +Without one qualm of horror at the deed. + +Once ... long ago ... do you remember how +You hailed Him king for soldiers to deride-- +You placed a scroll above His bleeding brow +And spat upon Him, scourged Him, crucified...? +A rebel unto Caesar--then as now-- +Alone, thorn-crowned, a spear wound in His side! + +--R.C. in "N.Y. Call." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + + +******* This file should be named 10725.txt or 10725.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: The Centralia Conspiracy + +Author: Ralph Chaplin + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: utf-8 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + +</pre> +<center><font face="Times New Roman"><b>E-text prepared by Curtis A. Weyant</b></font></center> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> + +<p align="center"><img src="cover.gif" alt="Cover image" /></p> + +<h1 class="title">The Centralia Conspiracy</h1> + +<h2 class="author">By Ralph Chaplin</h2> + +<blockquote> +<h2>A Tongue of Flame</h2> + +<p>The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of +flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house +enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates +through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last aroused; +reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all her work is +ruin. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is undone.--Emerson.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h1 class="title">The Centralia Conspiracy</h1> + +<h2>Murder or Self-Defense?</h2> + +<p>This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to +unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day +tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe +that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even +then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of +savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other +methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting.</p> + +<p>The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of +four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World +in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these +unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered +from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced +that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not +raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime.</p> + +<p>But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers +presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who +participated in the affair, testified at the coroner's inquest that the +Legion men were attempting to raid the union hall when they were killed. +Sworn testimony of various eyewitnesses has revealed the fact that some of +the "unoffending paraders" carried coils of rope and that others were +armed with such weapons as would work the demolition of the hall and +bodily injury to its occupants. These things throw an entirely different +light on the subject. If this is true it means that the union loggers +fired only in self-defense and not with the intention of committing wanton +and malicious murder as has been stated. Now, as at least two of the union +men who did the shooting were ex-soldiers, it appears that the tragedy +must have resulted from something more than a mere quarrel between loggers +and soldiers. There must be something back of it all that the public +generally doesn't know about.</p> + +<p>There is only one body of men in the Northwest who would hate a union +hall enough to have it raided--the lumber "interests." And now we get at +the kernel of the matter, which is the fact that the affair was the +outgrowth of a struggle between the lumber trust and its employees--between +Organized Capital and Organized Labor.</p> + +<h2>A Labor Case</h2> + +<p>And so, after all, the famous trial at Montesano was not a murder trial +but a labor trial in the strict sense of the word. Under the law, it must +be remembered, a man is not committing murder in defending his life and +property from the felonious assault of a mob bent on killing and +destruction. There is no doubt whatever but what the lumber trust had +plotted to "make an example" of the loggers and destroy their hall on this +occasion. And this was not the first time that such atrocities had been +attempted and actually committed. Isn't it peculiar that, out of many +similar raids, you only heard of the one where the men defended +themselves? Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but the +preservation of its holy profits is the first law of the lumber trust. The +organized lumber workers were considered a menace to the super-prosperity +of a few profiteers--hence the attempted raid and the subsequent +killing.</p> + +<p>What is more significant is the fact the raid had been carefully +planned weeks in advance. There is a great deal of evidence to prove this +point.</p> + +<p>There is no question that the whole affair was the outcome of a +struggle--a class struggle, if you please--between the union loggers and the +lumber interests; the former seeking to organize the workers in the woods +and the latter fighting this movement with all the means at its +disposal.</p> + +<p>In this light the Centralia affair does not appear as an isolated +incident but rather an incident in an eventful industrial conflict, little +known and less understood, between the lumber barons and loggers of the +Pacific Northwest. This viewpoint will place Centralia in its proper +perspective and enable one to trace the tragedy back to the circumstances +and conditions that gave it birth.</p> + +<p>But was there a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to +commit murder and violence in an effort to drive organized labor from its +domain? Weeks of patient investigating in and around the scene or the +occurrence has convinced the present writer that such a conspiracy has +existed. A considerable amount of startling evidence has been unearthed +that has hitherto been suppressed. If you care to consider Labor's version +of this unfortunate incident you are urged to read the following truthful +account of this almost unbelievable piece of mediaeval intrigue and +brutality.</p> + +<p>The facts will speak for themselves. Credit them or not, but read!</p> + +<h2>The Forests of the Northwest</h2> + +<p>The Pacific Northwest is world famed for its timber. The first white +explorers to set foot upon its fertile soil were awed by the magnitude and +grandeur of its boundless stretches of virgin forests. Nature has never +endowed any section of our fair world with such an immensity of kingly +trees. Towering into the sky to unthinkable heights, they stand as living +monuments to the fecundity of natural life. Imagine, if you can, the vast +wide region of the West coast, hills, slopes and valleys, covered with +millions of fir, spruce and cedar trees, raising their verdant crests a +hundred, two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet into the air.</p> + +<p>When Columbus first landed on the uncharted continent these trees were +already ancient. There they stood, straight and majestic with green and +foam-flecked streams purling here and there at their feet, crowning the +rugged landscape with superlative beauty, overtopped only by the +snow-capped mountains--waiting for the hand of man to put them to the +multitudinous uses of modern civilization. Imagine, if you can, the first +explorer, gazing awe-stricken down those "calm cathedral isles," wondering +at the lavish bounty of our Mother Earth in supplying her children with +such inexhaustible resources.</p> + +<p>But little could the first explorer know that the criminal clutch of +Greed was soon to seize these mighty forests, guard them from the human +race with bayonets, hangman's ropes and legal statutes; and use them, +robber-baron like, to exact unimaginable tribute from the men and women of +the world who need them. Little did the first explorer dream that the day +would come when individuals would claim private ownership of that which +prolific nature had travailed through centuries to bestow upon +mankind.</p> + +<p>But that day has come and with it the struggle between master and man +that was to result in Centralia--or possibly many Centralias.</p> + +<h2>Lumber--A Basic Industry</h2> + +<p>It seems the most logical thing in the world to believe that the +natural resources of the Earth, upon which the race depends for food, +clothing and shelter, should be owned collectively by the race instead of +being the private property of a few social parasites. It seems that reason +would preclude the possibility of any other arrangement, and that it would +be considered as absurd for individuals to lay claim to forests, mines, +railroads and factories as it would be for individuals to lay claim to the +ownership of the sunlight that warms us or to the air we breathe. But the +poor human race, in its bungling efforts to learn how to live in our +beautiful world, appears destined to find out by bitter experience that +the private ownership of the means of life is both criminal and +disastrous.</p> + +<p>Lumber is one of the basic industries--one of the industries mankind +never could have done without. The whole structure of what we call +civilization is built upon wooden timbers, ax-hewn or machine finished as +the case may be. Without the product of the forests humanity would never +have learned the use of fire, the primitive bow and arrow or the bulging +galleys of ancient commerce. Without the firm and fibrous flesh of the +mighty monarchs of the forest men might never have had barges for fishing +or weapons for the chase; they would not have had carts for their oxen or +kilns for the fashioning of pottery; they would not have had dwellings, +temples or cities; they would not have had furniture nor fittings nor +roofs above their heads. Wood is one of the most primitive and +indispensable of human necessities. Without its use we would still be +groping in the gloom and misery of early savagery, suffering from the cold +of outer space and defenseless in the midst of a harsh and hostile +environment.</p> + +<h2>From Pioneer to Parasite</h2> + +<p>So it happened that the first pioneers in the northern were forced to +bare their arms and match their strength with the wooded wilderness. At +first the subjugation of the forests was a social effort. The lives and +future prosperity of the settlers must be made secure from the raids of +the Indians and the inclemency of the elements. Manfully did these men +labor until their work was done. But this period did not last long, for +the tide of emigration was sweeping westward over the sun-baked prairies +to the promised land in the golden West.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Fir and Spruce Trees</p> + +<p>The wood of the West coast abound with tall fir trees. Practically all +high grade spruce comes from this district also. Spruce was a war +necessity and the lumber trust profiteered unmercifully on the government. +U.S. prisons are full of loggers who struck for the 8 hour day in +1917.</p></div> + +<p>Towns sprang up like magic, new trees were felled, sawmills erected and +huge logs in ever increasing numbers were driven down the foaming torrents +each year at spring time. The country was new, the market for lumber +constantly growing and expanding. But the monopolist was unknown and the +lynch-mobs of the lumber trust still sleeping in the womb of the Future. +So passed the not unhappy period when opportunity was open to everyone, +when freedom was dear to the hearts of all. It was at this time that the +spirit of real Americanism was born, when the clean, sturdy name "America" +spelled freedom, justice and independence. Patriotism in these days was +not a mask for profiteers and murderers were not permitted to hide their +bloody hands in the folds of their nation's flag.</p> + +<p>But modern capitalism was creeping like a black curse upon the land. +Stealing, coercing, cajoling, defrauding, it spread from its plague-center +in Wall St., leaving misery, class antagonism and resentment in its trial. +The old free America of our fathers was undergoing a profound change. +Equality of opportunity was doomed. A new social alignment was being +created. Monopoly was loosed upon the land. Fabulous fortunes were being +made as wealth was becoming centered into fewer and fewer hands. Modern +capitalism was entrenching itself for the final and inevitable struggle +for world domination. In due time the social parasites of the East, +foreseeing that the forests of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin could not +last forever, began to look to the woods of the Northwest with covetous +eyes.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Cedar Trees of the Northwest</p> + +<p>With these giants the logger daily matches his strength and skill. The +profit-greedy lumber trust has wasted enough trees of smaller size to +supply the world with wood for years to come.</p></div> + +<h2>Stealing the People's Forest Land</h2> + +<p>The history of the acquisition of the forests of Washington, Montana, +Idaho, Oregon and California is a long, sordid story of thinly veiled +robbery and intrigue. The methods of the lumber barons in invading and +seizing its "holdings" did not differ greatly, however, from those of the +steel and oil kings, the railroad magnates or any of the other industrial +potentates who acquired great wealth by pilfering America and peonizing +its people. The whole sorry proceeding was disgraceful, high-handed and +treacherous, and only made possible by reason of the blindness of the +generous American people, drugged with the vanishing hope of "success" and +too confident of the continued possession of its blood-bought liberties. +And do the lumber barons were unhindered in their infamous work of +debauchery, bribery, murder and brazen fraud.</p> + +<p>As a result the monopoly of the Northwestern woods became an +established fact. The lumber trust came into "its own." The new social +alignment was complete, with the idle, absentee landlord at one end and +the migratory and possessionless lumber jack at the other. The parasites +had appropriated to themselves the standing timber of the Northwest; but +the brawny logger whose labor had made possible the development of the +industry was given, as his share of the spoils, a crumby "bindle" and a +rebellious heart. The masters had gained undisputed control of the timber +of the country, three quarters of which is located in the Northwest; but +the workers who felled the trees, drove the logs, dressed, finished and +loaded the lumber were left in the state of helpless dependency from which +they could only extricate themselves by means of organization. And it is +this effort to form a union and establish union headquarters that led to +the tragedy at Centralia.</p> + +<p>The lumber barons had not only achieved a monopoly of the woods but a +perfect feudal domination of the woods as well. Within their domain banks, +ships, railways and mills bore their private insignia-and politicians, +Employers' Associations, preachers, newspapers, fraternal orders and +judges and gun-men were always at their beck and call. The power they +wield is tremendous and their profits would ransom a kingdom. Naturally +they did not intend to permit either power or profits to be menaced by a +mass of weather-beaten slaves in stag shirts and overalls. And so the +struggle waxed fiercer just as the lumberjack learned to contend +successfully for living conditions and adequate remuneration. It was the +old, old conflict of human rights against property rights. Let us see how +they compared in strength.</p> + +<h2>The Triumph of Monopoly</h2> + +<p>The following extract from a document entitled "The Lumber Industry," +by the Honorable Herbert Knox Smith and published by the U.S. Department +of Commerce (Bureau of Corporations) will give some idea of the holdings +and influence of the lumber trust:</p> + +<p>"Ten monopoly groups, aggregating only one thousand, eight hundred and +two holders, monopolized one thousand, two hundred and eight billion eight +hundred million (1,208,800,000,000) board feet of standing timber--each a +foot square and an inch thick. These figures are so stupendous that they +are meaningless without a hackneyed device to bring their meaning home. +These one thousand, eight hundred and two timber business monopolists held +enough standing timber; an indispensable natural resource, to yield the +planks necessary (over and above manufacturing wastage) to make a floating +bridge more than two feet thick and more than five miles wide from New +York to Liverpool. It would supply one inch planks for a roof over France, +Germany and Italy. It would build a fence eleven miles high along our +entire coast line. All monopolized by one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, or interests more or less interlocked. One of those interests--a +grant of only three holders--monopolized at one time two hundred and +thirty-seven billion, five hundred million (237,500,000,000) feet which +would make a column one foot square and three million miles high. Although +controlled by only three holders, that interest comprised over eight +percent of all the standing timber in the United States at that time."</p> + +<p>The above illuminating figures, quoted from "The I.W.A. in the Lumber +Industry," by James Rowan, will give some idea of the magnitude and power +of the lumber trust.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Topping a Tree"</p> + +<p>After one of these huge trees is "topped" it is called a "spar +tree"--very necessary in a certain kind of logging operations. As soon as +the chopped-off portion falls, the trunk vibrates rapidly from side to +side sometimes shaking the logger to certain death below.</p></div> + +<p>Opposing this colossal aggregation of wealth and cussedness were the +thousands of hard-driven and exploited lumberworkers in the woods and +sawmills. These had neither wealth nor influence--nothing but their hard, +bare hands and a growing sense of solidarity. And the masters of the +forests were more afraid of this solidarity than anything else in the +world--and they fought it more bitterly, as events will show. Centralia is +only one of the incidents of this struggle between owner and worker. But +let us see what this hated and indispensable logger-the productive and +human basis of the lumber industry, the man who made all these things +possible, is like.</p> + +<h2>The Human Element--"The Timber Beast"</h2> + +<p>Lumber workers are, by nature of their employment, divided into two +categories--the saw-mill hand and the logger. The former, like his brothers +in the Eastern factories, is an indoor type while the latter is +essentially a man of the open air. Both types are necessary to the +production of finished lumber, and to both union organization is an +imperative necessity.</p> + +<p>Sawmill work is machine work--rapid, tedious and often dangerous. There +is the uninteresting repetition of the same act of motions day in and day +out. The sights, sounds and smells of the mill are never varied. The fact +that the mill is permanently located tends to keep mill workers grouped +about the place of their employment. Many of them, especially in the +shingle mills, have lost fingers or hands in feeding the lumber to the +screaming saws. It has been estimated that fully a half of these men are +married and remain settled in the mill communities. The other half, +however, are not nearly so migratory as the lumberjack. Sawmill workers +are not the "rough-necks" of the industry. They are of the more +conservative "home-guard" element and characterized by the psychology of +all factory workers.</p> + +<p>The logger, on the other hand, (and it is with him our narrative is +chiefly concerned), is accustomed to hard and hazardous work in the open +woods. His occupation makes him of necessity migratory. The camp, +following the uncut timber from place to place, makes it impossible for +him to acquire a family and settle down. Scarcely one out of ten has ever +dared assume the responsibility of matrimony. The necessity of shipping +from a central point in going from one job to another usually forces a +migratory existence upon the lumberjack in spite of his best intentions to +live otherwise.</p> + +<h2>What Is a Casual Laborer?</h2> + +<p>The problem of the logger is that of the casual laborer in general. +Broadly speaking, there are three distinct classes of casual laborers: +First, the "harvest stiff" of the middle West who follows the ripening +crops from Kansas to the Dakotas, finding winter employment in the North, +Middle Western woods, in construction camps or on the ice fields. Then +there is the harvest worker of "the Coast" who garners the fruit, hops and +grain, and does the canning of California, Washington and Oregon, finding +out-of-season employment wherever possible. Finally there is the +Northwestern logger, whose work, unlike that of the Middle Western "jack" +is not seasonal, but who is compelled nevertheless to remain migratory. As +a rule, however, his habitat is confined, according to preference or force +of circumstances, to either the "long log" country of Western Washington +and Oregon as well as California, or to the "short log" country of Eastern +Washington and Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Minnesota, +Michigan, and Wisconsin are in what is called the "short log" region.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">A Logger of the Pacific Northwest</p> + +<p>This is a type of the men who work in the "long log" region of the West +coast. His is a man's sized job, and his efforts to organize and better +the working conditions in the lumber industry have been manly efforts--and +bitterly opposed.</p></div> + +<p>As a rule the logger of the Northwest follows the woods to the +exclusion of all other employment. He is militantly a lumberjack and is +inclined to be a trifle "patriotic" and disputatious as to the relative +importance of his own particular branch of the industry. "Long loggers," +for instance, view with a suspicion of disdain the work of "short loggers" +and vice versa.</p> + +<h2>"Lumber-Jack" The Giant Killer</h2> + +<p>But the lumber-jack is a casual worker and he is the finished product +of modern capitalism. He is the perfect proletarian type--possessionless, +homeless, and rebellious. He is the reverse side of the gilded medal of +present day society. On the one side is the third generation idle +rich--arrogant and parasitical, and on the other, the actual producer, +economically helpless and denied access to the means of production unless +he "beg his lordly fellow worm to give him leave to toil," as Robert Burns +has it.</p> + +<p>The logger of the Northwest has his faults. He is not any more perfect +than the rest of us. The years of degradation and struggle he has endured +in the woods have not failed to leave their mark upon him. But, as the +wage workers go, he is not the common but the uncommon type both as +regards physical strength and cleanliness and mental alertness. He is +generous to a fault and has all the qualities Lincoln and Whitman loved in +men.</p> + +<p>In the first place, whether as faller, rigging man or on the "drive," +his work is muscular and out of doors. He must at all times conquer the +forest and battle with the elements. There is a tang and adventure to his +labor in the impressive solitude of the woods that gives him a steady eye, +a strong arm and a clear brain. Being constantly close to the great green +heart of Nature, he acquires the dignity and independence of the savage +rather than the passive and unresisting submission of the factory worker. +The fact that he is free from family ties also tends to make him ready for +an industrial frolic or fight at any time. In daily matching his prowess +and skill with the products of the earth he feels in a way, that the woods +"belong" to him and develops a contempt for the unseen and unknown +employers who kindly permit him to enrich them with his labor. He is +constantly reminded of the glaring absurdity of the private ownership of +natural resources. Instinctively he becomes a rebel against the injustice +and contradictions of capitalist society.</p> + +<p>Dwarfed to ant-like insignificance by the verdant immensity around him, +the logger toils daily with ax, saw and cable. One after another forest +giants of dizzy height crash to the earth with a sound like thunder. In a +short time they are loaded on flat cars and hurried across the +stump-dotted clearing to the river, whence they are dispatched to the +noisy, ever-waiting saws at the mill. And always the logger knows in his +heart that this is not done that people may have lumber for their needs, +but rather that some overfed parasite may first add to his holy dividends. +Production for profit always strikes the logger with the full force of +objective observation. And is it any wonder, with the process of +exploitation thus naked always before his eyes, that he should have been +among the very first workers to challenge the flimsy title of the lumber +barons to the private ownership of the woods?</p> + +<h2>The Factory Worker and the Lumber-Jack</h2> + +<p>Without wishing to disparage the ultimate worth of either; it might be +well to contrast for a moment the factory worker of the East with the +lumber-jack of the Pacific Northwest. To the factory hand the master's +claim to the exclusive title of the means of production is not so +evidently absurd. Around him are huge, smoking buildings filled with +roaring machinery--all man-made. As a rule he simply takes for granted that +his employers--whoever they are--own these just as he himself owns, for +instance, his pipe or his furniture. Only when he learns, from thoughtful +observation or study, that such things are the appropriated products of +the labor of himself and his kind, does the truth dawn upon him that labor +produces all and is entitled to its own.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Logging Operations</p> + +<p>Look around you at the present moment and you will see wood used for +many different purposes. Have you ever stopped to think where the raw +material comes from or what the workers are like who produce it? Here is a +scene from a lumber camp showing the loggers at their daily tasks. The +lumber trust is willing that these men should work-but not organize.</p></div> + +<p>It must be admitted that factory life tends to dispirit and cow the +workers who spend their lives in the gloomy confines of the modern mill or +shop. Obedient to the shrill whistle they pour out of their clustered grey +dwellings in the early morning. Out of the labor ghettos they swarm and +into their dismal slave-pens. Then the long monotonous, daily "grind," and +home again to repeat the identical proceeding on the following day. Almost +always, tired, trained to harsh discipline or content with low comfort; +they are all too liable to feel that capitalism is invincibly colossal and +that the possibility of a better day is hopelessly remote. Most of them +are unacquainted with their neighbors. They live in small family or +boarding house units and, having no common meeting place, realize only +with difficulty the mighty potency of their vast numbers. To them +organization appears desirable at times but unattainable. The dickering +conservatism of craft unionism appeals to their cautious natures. They act +only en masse, under awful compulsion and then their release of repressed +slave emotion is sudden and terrible.</p> + +<p>Not so with the weather-tanned husky of the Northwestern woods. His job +life is a group life. He walks to his daily task with his fellow workers. +He is seldom employed for long away from them. At a common table he eats +with them, and they all sleep in common bunk houses. The trees themselves +teach him to scorn his master's adventitious claim to exclusive ownership. +The circumstances of his daily occupation show him the need of class +solidarity. His strong body clamours constantly for the sweetness and +comforts of life that are denied him, his alert brain urges him to +organize and his independent spirit gives him the courage and tenacity to +achieve his aims. The union hall is often his only home and the One Big +Union his best-beloved. He is fond of reading and discussion. He resents +industrial slavery as an insult. He resented filth, overwork and poverty, +he resented being made to carry his own bundle of blankets from job to +job; he gritted his teeth together and fought until he had ground these +obnoxious things under his iron-caulked heel. The lumber trust hated him +just in proportion as he gained and used his industrial power; but neither +curses, promises nor blows could make him budge. He knew what he wanted +and he knew how to get what he wanted. And his boss didn't like it very +well.</p> + +<p>The lumber-jack is secretive and not given to expressed +emotion--excepting in his union songs. The bosses don't like his songs +either. But the logger isn't worried a bit. Working away in the woods +every day, or in his bunk at night, he dreams his dream of the world as he +thinks it should be--that "wild wobbly dream" that every passing day brings +closer to realization--and he wants all who work around him to share his +vision and his determination to win so that all will be ready and worthy +to live in the New Day that is dawning.</p> + +<p>In a word the Northwestern lumber-jack was too human and too stubborn +ever to repudiate his red-blooded manhood at the behest of his masters and +become a serf. His union meant to him all that he possessed or hoped to +gain. Is it any wonder that he endured the tortures of hell during the +period of the war rather than yield his Red Card--or that he is still +determined and still undefeated? Is it any wonder the lumber barons hated +him, and sought to break his spirit with brute force and legal cunning--or +that they conspired to murder it at Centralia with mob violence--and +failed?</p> + +<h2>Why the Loggers Organized</h2> + +<p>The condition of the logger previous to the period of organization +beggars description. Modern industrial autocracy seemed with him to +develop its most inhuman characteristics. The evil plant of wage slavery +appeared to bear its most noxious blossoms in the woods.</p> + +<p>The hours of labor were unendurably long, ten hours being the general +rule--with the exception of the Grays Harbor district, where the eleven or +even twelve hour day prevailed. In addition to this men were compelled to +walk considerable distances to and from their work and meals through the +wet brush.</p> + +<p>Not infrequently the noon lunch was made almost impossible because of +the order to be back on the job when work commenced. A ten hour stretch of +arduous labor, in a climate where incessant rain is the rule for at least +six months of the year, was enough to try the strength and patience of +even the strongest. The wages too were pitiably inadequate.</p> + +<p>The camps themselves, always more or less temporary affairs, were +inferior to the cow-shed accommodations of a cattle ranch. The bunk house +were over-crowded, ill-smelling and unsanitary. In these ramshackle +affairs the loggers were packed like sardines. The bunks were arranged +tier over tier and nearly always without mattresses. They were uniformly +vermin-infested and sometimes of the "muzzle-loading" variety. No blankets +were furnished, each logger being compelled to supply his own. There were +no facilities for bathing or the washing and drying of sweaty clothing. +Lighting and ventilation were of course, always poor.</p> + +<p>In addition to these discomforts the unorganized logger was charged a +monthly hospital fee for imaginary medical service. Also it was nearly +always necessary to pay for the opportunity of enjoying these privileges +by purchasing employment from a "job shark" or securing the good graces of +a "man catcher." The former often had "business agreements" with the camp +foreman and, in many cases, a man could not get a job unless he had a +ticket from a labor agent in some shipping point.</p> + +<p>It may be said that the conditions just described were more prevalent +in some parts of the lumber country than in others. Nevertheless, these +prevailed pretty generally in all sections of the industry before the +workers attempted to better them by organizing. At all events such were +the conditions the lumber barons sought with all their power to preserve +and the loggers to change.</p> + +<h2>Organization and the Opening Struggle</h2> + +<p>A few years before the birth of the Industrial workers of the World the +lumber workers had started to organize. By 1905, when the above mentioned +union was launched, lumber-workers were already united in considerable +numbers in the old Western afterwards the American Labor Union. This +organization took steps to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the +World and was thus among the very first to seek a larger share of life in +the ranks of that militant and maligned organization. Strike followed +strike with varying success and the conditions of the loggers began +perceptibly to improve.</p> + +<p>Scattered here and there in the cities of the Northwest were many +locals of the Industrial Workers of the World. Not until 1912, however, +were these consolidated into a real industrial unit. For the first time a +sufficient number of loggers and saw mill men were organized to be grouped +into an integral part of the One Big Union. This was done with reasonable +success. In the following year the American Federation of Labor attempted +a similar task but without lasting results, the loggers preferring the +industrial to the craft form of organization. Besides this, they were +predisposed to sympathize with the ideal of solidarity and Industrial +Democracy for which their own union had stood from the beginning.</p> + +<p>The "timber beast" was starting to reap the benefits of his organized +power. Also he was about to feel the force and hatred of the "interests" +arrayed against him. He was soon to learn that the path of labor unionism +is strewn with more rocks than roses. He was making an earnest effort to +emerge from the squalor and misery of peonage and was soon to see that his +overlords were satisfied to keep him right where he had always been.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, almost the first really important clash occurred in the +very heart of the lumber trust's domain, in the little city of Aberdeen, +Grays Harbor County--only a short distance from Centralia, of mob fame!</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Eugene Barnett</p> + +<p align="center">(After the man-hunt)</p> + +<p>Coal miner. Born in North Carolina. Member of U.M.W.A. and I.W.W. Went +to work underground at the age of eight. Self educated, a student and +philosopher. Upon reaching home Barnett, fearful of the mob, took to the +woods with his rifle. He surrendered to the posse only after he had +convinced himself that their purpose was not to lynch him.</p></div> + +<p>This was in 1912. A strike had started in the saw mills over demands of +a $2.50 daily wage. Some of the saw mill workers were members of the +Industrial Workers of the World. They were supported by the union loggers +of Western Washington. The struggle was bitterly contested and lasted for +several weeks. The lumber trust bared its fangs and struck viciously at +the workers in a manner that has since characterized its tactics in all +labor disputes.</p> + +<p>The jails of Aberdeen and adjoining towns were filled with strikers. +Picket lines were broken up and the pickets arrested. When the wives of +the strikers with babies in their arms, took the places of their +imprisoned husbands, the fire hose was turned on them with great force, in +many instances knocking them to the ground. Loggers and sawmill men alike +were unmercifully beaten. Many were slugged by mobs with pick handles, +taken to the outskirts of the city and told that their return would be the +occasion of a lynching. At one time an armed mob of business men dragged +nearly four hundred strikers from their homes or boarding houses, herded +them into waiting boxcars, sealed up the doors and were about to deport +them en masse. The sheriff, getting wind of this unheard-of proceeding, +stopped it at the last moment. Many men were badly scarred by beatings +they received. One logger was crippled for life by the brutal treatment +accorded him.</p> + +<p>But the strikers won their demands and conditions were materially +improved. The Industrial Workers of the World continued to grow in numbers +and prestige. This event may be considered the beginning of the labor +movement on Grays Harbor that the lumber trust sought finally to crush +with mob violence on a certain memorable day in Centralia seven years +later.</p> + +<p>Following the Aberdeen strike one or two minor clashes occurred. The +lumber workers were usually successful. During this period they were +quietly but effectually spreading One Big Union propaganda throughout the +camps and mills in the district. Also they were organizing their fellow +workers in increasing numbers into their union. The lumber trust, smarting +under its last defeat, was alarmed and alert.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bert Faulkner</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 21 years of age. Member of the Industrial Workers of +the World since 1917. Was in the hall when raid occurred. Faulkner +personally knew Grimm, McElfresh and a number of others who marched in the +parade. He is an ex-soldier himself. The prosecution used a great deal of +pressure to make this boy turn state's evidence. He refused stating that +he would tell nothing but the truth. At the last moment he was discharged +from the case after being held in jail four months.</p></div> + +<h2>A Massacre and a New Law</h2> + +<p>But no really important event occurred until 1916. At this time the +union loggers, organized in the Industrial Workers of the World, had +started a drive for membership around Puget Sound. Loggers and mill hands +were eager for the message of Industrial Unionism. Meetings were well +attended and the sentiment in favor of the organization was steadily +growing. The A.F. of L. shingle weavers and longshoremen were on strike +and had asked the I.W.W. to help them secure free speech in Everett. The +ever-watchful lumber interests decided the time to strike had again +arrived. The events of "Bloody Sunday" are too well known to need +repeating here. Suffice to say that after a summer replete with illegal +beatings and jailings five men were killed in cold blood and forty wounded +in a final desperate effort to drive the union out of the city of Everett, +Washington. These unarmed loggers were slaughtered and wounded by the +gunfire of a gang of business men and plug-uglies of the lumber interests. +True to form, the lumber trust had every union man in sight arrested and +seventy-four charged with the murder of a gunman who had been killed by +the cross-fire of his own comrades. None of the desperadoes who had done +the actual murdering was ever prosecuted or even reprimanded. The charge +against the members of the Industrial Workers of the World was pressed. +The case was tried in court and the Industrialists declared "not guilty." +George Vanderveer was attorney for the defense.</p> + +<p>The lumber interests were infuriated at their defeat, and from this +time on the struggle raged in deadly earnest. Almost everything from mob +law to open assassination had been tried without avail. The execrated One +Big Union idea was gaining members and power every day. The situation was +truly alarming. Their heretofore trustworthy "wage plugs" were showing +unmistakable symptoms of intelligence. Workingmen were waking up. They +were, in appalling numbers, demanding the right to live like men. +Something must be done something new and drastic--to split asunder this +on-coming phalanx of industrial power.</p> + +<p>But the gun-man-and-mob method was discarded, temporarily at least, in +favor of the machinations of lumber trust tools in the law making bodies. +Big Business can make laws as easily as it can break them--and with as +little impunity. So the notorious Washington "Criminal Syndicalism" law +was devised. This law, however, struck a snag. The honest-minded governor +of the state, recognizing its transparent character and far-reaching +effects, promptly vetoed the measure. After the death of Governor Lister +the criminal syndicalism law was passed, however, by the next State +Legislature. Since that time it has been used against the American +Federation of Labor, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Socialist +Party and even common citizens not affiliated with any of these +organizations. The criminal syndicalism law registers the high water mark +of reaction. It infringes more on the liberties of the people than any of +the labor-crushing laws that blackened Russia during the dynasty of the +Romanoffs. It would disgrace the anti-Celestial legislation of Hell.</p> + +<h2>The Eight Hour Day and "Treason"</h2> + +<p>Nineteen hundred and seventeen was an eventful year. It was then the +greatest strike in the history of the lumber industry occurred-the strike +for the eight hour day. For years the logger and mill hand had fought +against the unrestrained greed of the lumber interests. Step by step, in +the face of fiercest opposition, they had fought for the right to live +like men; and step by step they had been gaining. Each failure or success +had shown them the weakness or the strength of their union. They had been +consolidating their forces as well as learning how to use them. The lumber +trust had been making huge profits the while, but the lumber workers were +still working ten hours or more and the logger was still packing his dirty +blankets from job to job. Dissatisfaction with conditions was wider and +more prevalent then ever before. Then came the war.</p> + +<p>As soon as this country had taken its stand with the allied +imperialists the price of lumber, needed for war purposes, was boosted to +sky high figures. From $16.00 to $116.00 per thousand feet is quite a +jump; but recent disclosures show that the Government paid as high as +$1200.00 per thousand for spruce that private concerns were purchasing for +less than one tenth of that sum. Gay parties with plenty of wild women and +hard drink are alleged to have been instrumental in enabling the +"patriotic" lumber trust to put these little deals across. Due to the +duplicity of this same bunch of predatory gentlemen the airplane and ship +building program of the United States turned out to be a scandal instead +of a success. Out of 21,000 feet of spruce delivered to a Massachusetts +factory, inspectors could only pass 400 feet as fit for use. Keep these +facts and figures in mind when you read about what happened to the +"disloyal" lumber workers during the war-and afterwards.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Mrs. Elmer Smith and Baby Girl</p> + +<p>Mrs. Elmer Smith is the cultured daughter of a Washington judge. Since +Elmer Smith got into trouble many efforts have been made to induce his +wife to leave him. Mrs. Smith prefers, however, to stick with her rebel +lawyer whom she loves and admires.</p></div> + +<p>Discontent had been smouldering in the woods for a long time. It was +soon fanned to a flame by the brazen profiteering of the lumber trust. The +loggers had been biding their time--rather sullenly it is true--for the day +when the wrongs they had endured so patiently and so long might be +rectified. Their quarrel with the lumber interests was an old one. The +time was becoming propitious.</p> + +<p>In the early summer of 1917 the strike started. Sweeping through the +short log country it spread like wild-fire over nearly all the +Northwestern lumber districts. The tie-up was practically complete. The +industry was paralyzed. The lumber trust, its mouth drooling in +anticipation of the many millions it was about to make in profits, +shattered high heaven with its cries of rage. Immediately its loyal +henchmen in the Wilson administration rushed to the rescue. Profiteering +might be condoned, moralized over or winked at, but militant labor +unionism was a menace to the government and the prosecution of the war. It +must be crushed. For was it not treacherous and treasonable for loggers to +strike for living conditions when Uncle Sam needed the wood and the lumber +interests the money? So Woodrow Wilson and his coterie of political +troglodytes from the slave-owning districts of the old South, started out +to teach militant labor a lesson. Corporation lawyers were assembled. +Indictments were made to order. The bloodhounds of the Department of +"Justice" were unleashed. Grand Juries of "patriotic" business men were +impaneled and did their expected work not wisely but too well. All the +gun-men and stool-pigeons of Big Business got busy. And the opera bouffe +of "saving our form of government" was staged.</p> + +<h2>Industrial Heretics and the White Terror</h2> + +<p>For a time it seemed as though the strikers would surely be defeated. +The onslaught was terrific, but the loggers held out bravely. Workers were +beaten and jailed by the hundreds. Men were herded like cattle in +blistering "bull-pens," to be freed after months of misery, looking more +like skeletons than human beings. Ellensburg and Yakima will never be +forgotten in Washington. One logger was even burned to death while locked +in a small iron-barred shack that had been dignified with the title of +"jail." In the Northwest even the military were used and the bayonet of +the soldier could be seen glistening beside the cold steel of the hired +thug. Union halls were raided in all parts of the land. Thousands of +workers were deported. Dozens were tarred and feathered and mobbed. Some +were even taken out in the dead of night and hanged to railway bridges. +Hundreds were convicted of imaginary offenses and sent to prison for terms +from one to twenty years. Scores were held in filthy jails for as long as +twenty-six months awaiting trial. The Espionage Law, which never convicted +a spy, and the Criminal Syndicalism Laws, which never convicted a +criminal, were used savagely and with full force against the workers in +their struggle for better conditions. By means of newspaper-made war +hysteria the profiteers of Big Business entrenched themselves in public +opinion. By posing as "100% Americans" (how stale and trite the phrase has +become from their long misuse of it!) these social parasites sought to +convince the nation that they, and not the truly American unionists whose +backs they were trying to break, were working for the best interests of +the American people. Our form of government, forsooth, must be saved. Our +institutions must be rescued from the clutch of the "reds." Thus was the +war-frenzy of their dupes lashed to madness and the guarantees of the +constitution suspended as far as the working class was concerned.</p> + +<p>So all the good, wise and noisy men of the nation were induced by +diverse means to cry out against the strikers and their union. The worst +passions of the respectable people were appealed to. The hoarse blood-cry +of the mob was raised. It was echoed and re-echoed from press and pulpit. +The very air quivered from its reverberations. Lynching parties became +"respectable." Indictments were flourished. Hand-cuffs flashed. The +clinking feet of workers going to prison rivaled the sound of the soldiers +marching to war. And while all this was happening, a certain paunchy +little English Jew with moth-eaten hair and blotchy jowls the accredited +head of a great labor union glared through his thick spectacles and nodded +his perverse approval. But the lumber trust licked its fat lips and leered +at its swollen dividends. All was well and the world was being made "safe +for democracy!"</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Britt Smith</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 35 years old. Had followed the woods for twenty +years. Smith made his home in the hall that was raided and was secretary +of the Union. When the mob broke into the jail and seized Wesley Everest +to torture and lynch him they cried, "We've got Britt Smith!" Smith was +the man they wanted and it was to break his neck that ropes were carried +in the "parade." Not until Everest's body was brought back to the city +jail was it discovered that the mob had lynched the wrong man.</p></div> + +<h2>Autocracy vs. Unionism</h2> + +<p>This unprecedented struggle was really a test of strength between +industrial autocracy and militant unionism. The former was determined to +restore the palmy days of peonage for all time to come, the latter to +fight to the last ditch in spite of hell and high water. The lumber trust +sought to break the strike of the loggers and destroy their organization. +In the ensuing fracas the lumber barons came out only second best--and they +were bad losers. After the war-fever had died down--one year after the +signing of the Armistice--they were still trying in Centralia to attain +their ignoble ends by means of mob violence.</p> + +<p>But at this time the ranks of the strikers were unbroken. The heads of +the loggers were "bloody but unbowed." Even at last, when compelled to +yield to privation and brute force and return to work, they turned defeat +to victory by "carrying the strike onto the job." As a body they refused +to work more than eight hours. Secretary of War Baker and President Wilson +had both vainly urged the lumber interests to grant the eight hour day. +The determined industrialists gained this demand, after all else had +failed, by simply blowing a whistle when the time was up. Most of their +other demands were won as well. In spite of even the Disque despotism, +mattresses, clean linen and shower baths were reluctantly granted as the +fruits of victory.</p> + +<p>But even as these lines are written the jails and prisons of America +are filled to overflowing with men and women whose only crime is loyalty +to the working class. The war profiteers are still wallowing in luxury. +None has ever been placed behind the bars. Before he was lynched in Butte, +Frank Little had said, "I stand for the solidarity of labor." That was +enough. The vials of wrath were poured on his head for no other reason. +And for no other reason was the hatred of the employing class directed at +the valiant hundreds who now rot in prison for longer terms than those +meted out to felons. William Haywood and Eugene Debs are behind steel bars +today for the same cause. The boys at Centralia were conspired against +because they too stood "for the solidarity of labor." It is simply lying +and camouflage to attempt to trace such persecutions to any other source. +These are things America will be ashamed of when she comes to her senses. +Such gruesome events are paralleled in no country save the Germany of +Kaiser Wilhelm or the Russia of the Czar.</p> + +<p>This picture of labor persecution in free America--terrible but +true--will serve as a background for the dramatic history of the events +leading up to the climactic tragedy at Centralia on Armistice Day, +1919.</p> + +<h2>While in Washington...</h2> + +<p>All over the state of Washington the mobbing, jailing and tar and +feathering of workers continued the order of the day until long after the +cessation of hostilities in Europe. The organization had always urged and +disciplined its members to avoid violence as an unworthy weapon. Usually +the loggers have left their halls to the mercy of the mobs when they knew +a raid was contemplated. Centralia is the one exception. Here the outrages +heaped upon them could be no longer endured.</p> + +<p>In Yakima and Sedro Woolley, among other places in 1918, union men were +stripped of their clothing, beaten with rope ends and hot tar applied to +the bleeding flesh. They were then driven half naked into the woods. A man +was hanged at night in South Montesano about this time and another had +been tarred and feathered. As a rule the men were taken unaware before +being treated in this manner. In one instance a stationary delegate of the +Industrial Workers of the World received word that he was to be +"decorated" and rode out of town on a rail. He slit a pillow open and +placed it in the window with a note attached stating that he knew of the +plan; would be ready for them, and would gladly supply his own feathers. +He did not leave town either on a rail or otherwise.</p> + +<p>In Seattle, Tacoma and many other towns, union halls and print shops +were raided and their contents destroyed or burned. In the former city in +1919, men, women and children were knocked insensible by policemen and +detectives riding up and down the sidewalks in automobiles, striking to +right and left with "billy" and night stick as they went. These were +accompanied by auto trucks filled with hidden riflemen and an armored tank +bristling with machine guns. A peaceable meeting of union men was being +dispersed.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Loren Roberts</p> + +<p>American. Logger. 19 years old. Loren's mother said of him at the +trial: "Loren was a good boy, he brought his money home regularly for +three years. After his father took sick he was the only support for his +father and me and the three younger ones." The father was a sawyer in a +mill and died of tuberculosis after an accident had broken his strength. +This boy, the weakest of the men on trial, was driven insane by the +unspeakable "third degree" administered in the city jail. One of the +lumber trust lawyers was in the jail at the time Roberts signed his +so-called "confession." "Tell him to quit stalling," said a prosecutor to +Vanderveer, when Roberts left the witness stand. "You cur!" replied the +defense attorney in a low voice, "you know who is responsible for this +boy's condition." Roberts was one of the loggers on Seminary Hill.</p></div> + +<p>In Centralia, Aberdeen and Montesano, in Grays Harbor County, the +struggle was more local but not less intense. No fewer than twenty-five +loggers on different occasions were taken from their beds at night and +treated to tar and feathers. A great number were jailed for indefinite +periods on indefinite charges. As an additional punishment these were +frequently locked in their cells and the fire hose played on their +drenched and shivering bodies. "Breech of jail discipline" was the reason +given for this "cruel and unusual" form of lumber trust punishment.</p> + +<p>In Aberdeen and Montesano there were several raids and many +deportations of the tar and feather variety. In Aberdeen in the fall of +1917 during a "patriotic" parade, the battered hall of the union loggers +was again forcibly entered in the absence of its owners. Furniture, office +fixtures, Victrola and books were dumped into the street and destroyed. In +the town of Centralia, about a year before the tragedy, the Union +Secretary was kidnapped and taken into the woods by a mob of well dressed +business men. He was made to "run the gauntlet" and severely beaten. There +was a strong sentiment in favor of lynching him on the spot, but one of +the mob objected saying it would be "too raw." The victim was then +escorted to the outskirts of the city and warned not to return under pain +of usual penalty. On more than one occasion loggers who had expressed +themselves in favor of the Industrial Workers of the World, were found in +the morning dangling from trees in the neighborhood. No explanation but +that of "suicide" was ever offered. The whole story of the atrocities +perpetrated during these days of the White Terror, in all probability, +will never be published. The criminals are all well known but their +influence is too powerful to ever make it expedient to expose their +crimes. Besides, who would care to get a gentleman in trouble for killing +a mere "Wobbly"? The few instances noted above will, however, give the +reader some slight idea of the gruesome events that were leading +inevitably to that grim day in Centralia in November, 1919.</p> + +<h2>Weathering the Storm</h2> + +<p>Through it all the industrialists clung to their Red Cards and to the +One Big Union for which they had sacrificed so much. Time after time, with +incomparable patience, they would refurnish and reopen their beleaguered +halls, heal up the wounds of rope, tar or "billy" and proceed with the +work of organization as though nothing had happened. With union cards or +credentials hidden in their heavy shoes they would meet secretly in the +woods at night. Here they would consult about members who had been mobbed, +jailed or killed, about caring for their families--if they had any--about +carrying on the work of propaganda and laying plans for the future +progress of their union. Perhaps they would take time to chant a rebel +song or two in low voices. Then, back on the job again to "line up the +slaves for the New Society!"</p> + +<p>Through a veritable inferno of torment and persecution these men had +refused to be driven from the woods or to give up their union--the +Industrial Workers of the World. Between the two dreadful alternatives of +peonage or persecution they chose the latter--and the lesser. Can you +imagine what their peonage must have been like?</p> + +<h2>Sinister Centralia</h2> + +<p>But Centralia was destined to be the scene of the most dramatic portion +of the struggle between the entrenched interests and the union loggers. +Here the long persecuted industrialists made a stand for their lives and +fought to defend their own, thus giving the glib-tongued lawyers of the +prosecution the opportunity of accusing them of "wantonly murdering +unoffending paraders" on Armistice Day.</p> + +<p>Centralia in appearance is a creditable small American city--the kind +of city smug people show their friends with pride from the rose-scented +tranquility of a super-six in passage. The streets are wide and clean, the +buildings comfortable, the lawns and shade trees attractive. Centralia is +somewhat of a coquette but she is as sinister and cowardly as she is +pretty. There is a shudder lurking in every corner and a nameless fear +sucks the sweetness out of every breeze. Song birds warble at the +outskirts of the town but one is always haunted by the cries of the human +beings who have been tortured and killed within her confines.</p> + +<p>A red-faced business man motors leisurely down the wet street. He +shouts a laughing greeting to a well dressed group at the curb who respond +in kind. But the roughly dressed lumberworkers drop their glances in +passing one another. The Fear is always upon them. As these lines are +written several hundred discontented shingle-weavers are threatened with +deportation if they dare to strike. They will not strike, for they know +too well the consequences. The man-hunt of a few months ago is not +forgotten and the terror of it grips their hearts whenever they think of +opposing the will of the Moloch that dominates their every move.</p> + +<p>Around Centralia are wooded hills; men have been beaten beneath them +and lynched from their limbs. The beautiful Chehalis River flows near by; +Wesley Everest was left dangling from one of its bridges. But Centralia is +provokingly pretty for all that. It is small wonder that the lumber trust +and its henchmen wish to keep it all for themselves.</p> + +<p>Well tended roads lead in every direction, bordered with clearings of +worked out camps and studded with occasional tree stumps of great age and +truly prodigious size. At intervals are busy saw mills with thousands of +feet of odorous lumber piled up in orderly rows. In all directions +stretches the pillared immensity of the forests. The vistas through the +trees seen enchanted rather than real--unbelievable green and of form and +depth that remind one of painted settings for a Maeterlinck fable rather +than matter-of-fact timber land.</p> + +<h2>The High Priests of Labor Hatred</h2> + +<p>Practically all of this land is controlled by the trusts; much of it by +the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, of which F.B. Hubbard is the head. +The strike of 1917 almost ruined this worthy gentleman. He has always been +a strong advocate of the open shop, but during the last few years he has +permitted his rabid labor-hatred to reach the point of fanaticism. This +Hubbard figures prominently in Centralia's business, social and mob +circles. He is one of the moving spirits in the Centralia conspiracy. The +Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, besides large tracts of land, owns +saw-mills, coal mines and a railway. The Centralia newspapers are its +mouthpieces while the Chamber of Commerce and the Elks' Club are its +general headquarters. The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is its local +citadel of power. In charge of this bank is a sinister character, one +Uhlman, a German of the old school and a typical Prussian junker. At one +time he was an officer in the German army but at present is a "100% +American"--an easy metamorphosis for a Prussian in these days. His native +born "brother-at-arms" is George Dysart whose son led the posses in the +man-hunt that followed the shooting. In Centralia this bank and its Hun +dictator dominates the financial, political and social activities of the +community. Business men, lawyers, editors, doctors and local authorities +all kow-tow to the institution and its Prussian president. And woe be to +any who dare do otherwise! The power of the "interests" is a vengeful +power and will have no other power before it. Even the mighty arm of the +law becomes palsied in its presence.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Lumberworkers Union Hall, Raided in 1918</p> + +<p>The first of the two halls to be wrecked by Centralia's terrorists. +This picture was not permitted to be introduced as evidence of the +conspiracy to raid the new hall. Judge Wilson didn't want the jury to know +anything about this event.</p></div> + +<p>The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is the local instrumentality of the +invisible government that holds the nation in its clutch. Kaiser Uhlman +has more influence than the city mayor and more power than the police +force. The law has always been a little thing to him and his clique. The +inscription on the shield of this bank is said to read "To hell with the +Constitution; this is Lewis County." As events will show, this inspiring +maxim has been faithfully adhered to. One of the mandates of this +delectable nest of highbinders is that no headquarters of the Union of the +lumber workers shall ever be permitted within the sacred precincts of the +city of Centralia.</p> + +<h2>The Loved and Hated Union Hall</h2> + +<p>Now the loggers, being denied the luxury of home and family life, have +but three places they can call "home." The bunkhouse in the camp, the +cheap rooming house in town and the Union Hall. This latter is by far the +best loved of all. It is here the men can gather around a crackling wood +fire, smoke their pipes and warm their souls with the glow of comradeship. +Here they can, between jobs or after work, discuss the vicissitudes of +their daily lives, read their books and magazines and sing their songs of +solidarity, or merely listen to the "tinned" humor or harmony of the +much-prized Victrola. Also they here attend to affairs of their +Union--line up members, hold business and educational meetings and a +weekly "open forum." Once in awhile a rough and wholesome "smoker" is +given. The features of this great event are planned for weeks in advance +and sometimes talked about for months afterwards.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Scene of the Armistice Day Tragedy</p> + +<p>This is what was left of the Union hall the loggers tried to defend on +November 11th. Three of the raiders, Grimm, McElfresh and Cassagranda, +were killed in the immediate vicinity of the doorway. Several others were +wounded while attempting to rush the doors.</p></div> + +<p>These halls are at all times open to the public and inducements are +made to get workers to come in and read a thoughtful treatise on +Industrial questions. The latch-string is always out for people who care +to listen to a lecture on economics or similar subjects. Inside the hall +there is usually a long reading-table littered with books, magazines or +papers. In a rack or case at the wall are to be found copies of the +"Seattle Union Record," "The Butte Daily Bulletin," "The New Solidarity," +"The Industrial Worker," "The Liberator," "The New Republic" and "The +Nation." Always there is a shelf of thumb-worn books on history, science, +economics and socialism. On the walls are lithographs or engravings of +noted champions of the cause of Labor, a few photographs of local interest +and the monthly Bulletins and Statements of the Union. Invariably there is +a blackboard with jobs, wages and hours written in chalk for the benefit +of men seeking employment. There are always a number of chairs in the room +and a roll top desk for the secretary. Sometimes at the end of the hall is +a plank rostrum--a modest altar to the Goddess of Free Speech and open +discussion. This is what the loved and hated I.W.W. Halls are like--the +halls that have been raided and destroyed by the hundreds during the last +three years.</p> + +<p>Remember, too, that in each of these raids the union men were not the +aggressors and that there was never any attempt at reprisal. In spite of +the fact that the lumber workers were within their legal right to keep +open their halls and to defend them from felonious attack, it had never +happened until November 11, that active resistance was offered the +marauders. This fact alone speaks volumes for the long-suffering patience +of the logger and for his desire to settle his problems by peaceable means +wherever possible. But the Centralia raid was the straw that broke the +camel's back. The lumber trust went a little too far on this occasion and +it got the surprise of its life. Four of its misguided dupes paid for +their lawlessness with their lives, and a number of others were wounded. +There has not since been a raid on a union hall in the Northwestern +District.</p> + +<p>It is well that workingmen and women throughout the country should +understand the truth about the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia and the +circumstances that led up to it. But in order to know why the hall was +raided it is necessary first to understand why this, and all similar +halls, are hated by the oligarchies of the woods.</p> + +<p>The issue contested is whether the loggers have the right to organize +themselves into a union, or whether they must remain chattels--mere hewers +of wood and helpless in the face of the rapacity of their industrial +overlords--or whether they have the right to keep open their halls and +peacefully to conduct the affairs of their union. The lumber workers +contend that they are entitled by law to do these things and the employers +assert that, law or no law, they shall not do so. In other words, it is a +question of whether labor organization shall retain its foothold in the +lumber industry or be "driven from the woods."</p> + +<h2>Pioneers of Unionism</h2> + +<p>It is hard for workers in most of the other industries--especially in +the East--to understand the problems, struggles and aspirations of the +husky and unconquerable lumber workers of the Northwest. The reason is +that the average union man takes his union for granted. He goes to his +union meetings, discusses the affairs of his craft, industry or class, and +he carries his card--all as a matter of course. It seldom enters his mind +that the privileges and benefits that surround him and the protection he +enjoys are the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the nameless +thousands of pioneers that cleared the way. But these unknown heroes of +the great struggle of the classes did precede him with their loyal hearts +and strong hands; otherwise workers now organized would have to start the +long hard battle at the beginning and count their gains a step at a time, +just as did the early champions of industrial organization, or as the +loggers of the West Coast are now doing.</p> + +<p>The working class owes all honor and respect to the first men who +planted the standard of labor solidarity on the hostile frontier of +unorganized industry. They were the men who made possible all things that +came after and all things that are still to come. They were the trail +blazers. It is easier to follow them than to have gone before them--or +with them. They established the outposts of unionism in the wilderness of +Industrial autocracy. Their voices were the first to proclaim the burning +message of Labor's power, of Labor's mission and of Labor's ultimate +emancipation. Their breasts were the first to receive the blows of the +enemy; their unprotected bodies were shielding the countless thousands to +follow. They were the forerunners of the solidarity of Toil. They fought +in a good and great cause; for without solidarity, Labor would have +attained nothing yesterday, gained nothing today nor dare to hope for +anything tomorrow.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Seminary Hall</p> + +<p>The Union hall looks out on this hill, with Tower avenue and an alley +between. It is claimed that loggers, among others Loren Roberts, Bert +Bland and the missing Ole Hanson, fired at the attacking mob from this +position.</p></div> + +<h2>The Block House and the Union Hall</h2> + +<p>In the Northwest today the rebel lumberjack is a pioneer. Just as our +fathers had to face the enmity of the Indians, so are these men called +upon to face the fury of the predatory interests that have usurped the +richest timber resources of the richest nation in the world. Just outside +Centralia stands a weatherbeaten landmark. It is an old, brown dilapidated +block house of early days. In many ways it reminds one of the battered and +wrecked union halls to be found in the heart of the city.</p> + +<p>The evolution of industry has replaced the block house with the union +hall as the embattled center of assault and defense. The weapons are no +longer the rifle and the tomahawk but the boycott and the strike. The +frontier is no longer territorial but industrial. The new struggle is as +portentous as the old. The stakes are larger and the warfare even more +bitter.</p> + +<p>The painted and be-feathered scalp-hunter of the Sioux or Iroquois were +not more heartless in maiming, mutilating and killing their victims than +the "respectable" profit-hunters of today--the type of men who conceived +the raid on the Union Hall in Centralia on Armistice Day--and who +fiendishly tortured and hanged Wesley Everest for the crime of defending +himself from their inhuman rage. It seems incredible that such deeds could +be possible in the twentieth century. It is incredible to those who have +not followed in the bloody trail of the lumber trust and who are not +familiar with its ruthlessness, its greed and its lust for power.</p> + +<p>As might be expected the I.W.W. Halls in Washington were hated by the +lumber barons with a deep and undying hatred. Union halls were a standing +challenge to their hitherto undisputed right to the complete domination of +the forests. Like the blockhouses of early days, these humble meeting +places were the outposts of a new and better order planted in the +stronghold of the old. And they were hated accordingly. The thieves who +had invaded the resources of the nation had long ago seized the woods and +still held them in a grip of steel. They were not going to tolerate the +encroachments of the One Big Union of the lumber workers. Events will +prove that they did not hesitate at anything to achieve their +purposes.</p> + +<h2>The First Centralia Hall</h2> + +<p>In the year 1918 a union hall stood on one of the side streets in +Centralia. It was similar to the halls that have just been described. This +was not, however, the hall in which the Armistice Day tragedy took place. +You must always remember that there were two halls raided in Centralia; +one in 1918 and another in 1919. The loggers did not defend the first hall +and many of them were manhandled by the mob that wrecked it. The loggers +did defend the second and were given as reward a hanging, a speedy, fair +and impartial conviction and sentences of from 25 to 40 years. No member +of the mob has ever been punished or even taken to task for this misdeed. +Their names are known to everybody. They kiss their wives and babies at +night and go to church on Sundays. People tip their hats to them on the +street. Yet they are a greater menace to the institutions of this country +than all the "reds" in the land. In a world where Mammon is king the king +can do no wrong. But the question of "right" or "wrong" did not concern +the lumber interests when they raided the Union hall in 1918. "Yes, we +raided the hall, what are you going to do about it," is the position they +take in the matter.</p> + +<p>During the 1917 strike the two lumber trust papers in Centralia, the +"Hub" and the "Chronicle" were bitter in their denunciation of the +strikers. Repeatedly they urged that most drastic and violent measures be +taken by the authorities and "citizens" to break the strike, smash the +union and punish the strikers. The war-frenzy was at its height and these +miserable sheets went about their work like Czarist papers inciting a +pogrom. The lumber workers were accused of "disloyalty," "treason," +"anarchy"--anything that would tend to make their cause unpopular. The +Abolitionists were spoken about in identical terms before the civil war. +As soon as the right atmosphere for their crime had been created the +employers struck and struck hard.</p> + +<p>It was in April, 1918. Like many other cities in the land Centralia was +conducting a Red Cross drive. Among the features of this event were a +bazaar and a parade.</p> + +<p>The profits of the lumber trust were soaring to dizzy heights at this +time and their patriotism was proportionately exalted.</p> + +<p>There was the usual brand of hypocritical and fervid speechmaking. The +flag was waved, the Government was lauded and the Constitution praised. +Then, after the war-like proclivities of the stay-at-home heroes had been +sufficiently worked upon; flag, Government and Constitution were forgotten +long enough for the gang to go down the street and raid the "wobbly" +hall.</p> + +<p>Dominating the festivities was the figure of F.B. Hubbard, at that time +President of the Employers' Association of the State of Washington. This +is neither Hubbard's first nor last appearance as a terrorist and +mob-leader--usually behind the scenes, however, or putting in a last +minute appearance.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Avalon Hotel, Centralia</p> + +<p>From this point Elsie Hornbeck claimed she identified Eugene Barnett in +the open window with a rifle. Afterwards she admitted that her +identification was based only on a photograph shown her by the +prosecution. This young lady nearly fainted on the witness stand while +trying to patch her absurd story together.</p></div> + +<h2>The 1918 Raid</h2> + +<p>It had been rumored about town that the Union Hall was to be wrecked on +this day but the loggers at the hall were of the opinion that the business +men, having driven their Secretary out of town a short time previously, +would not dare to perpetrate another atrocity so soon afterwards. In this +they were sadly mistaken.</p> + +<p>Down the street marched the parade, at first presenting no unusual +appearance. The Chief of Police, the Mayor and the Governor of the State +were given places of honor at the head of the procession. Company G of the +National Guard and a gang of broad-cloth hoodlums disguised as "Elks" made +up the main body of the marchers. But the crafty and unscrupulous Hubbard +had laid his plans in advance with characteristic cunning. The parade, +like a scorpion, carried its sting in the rear.</p> + +<p>Along the main avenue went the guardsmen and the gentlemen of the Elks +Club. So far nothing extraordinary had happened. Then the procession +swerved to a side street. This must be the right thing for the line of +march had been arranged by the Chamber of Commerce itself. A couple of +blocks more and the parade had reached the intersection of First Street +and Tower Avenue. What happened then the Mayor and Chief of Police +probably could not have stopped even had the Governor himself ordered them +to do so. From somewhere in the line of march a voice cried out, "Let's +raid the I.W.W. Hall!" And the crowd at the tail end of the procession +broke ranks and leaped to their work with a will.</p> + +<p>In a short time the intervening block that separated them from the +Union Hall was covered. The building was stormed with clubs and stones. +Every window was shattered and every door was smashed, the very sides of +the building were torn off by the mob in its blind fury. Inside the +rioters tore down the partitions and broke up chairs and pictures. The +union men were surrounded, beaten and driven to the street where they were +forced to watch furniture, records, typewriter and literature demolished +and burned before their eyes. An American flag hanging in the hall, was +torn down and destroyed. A Victrola and a desk were carried to the street +with considerable care. The former was auctioned off on the spot for the +benefit of the Red Cross. James Churchill, owner of a glove factory, won +the machine. He still boasts of its possession. The desk was appropriated +by F.B. Hubbard himself. This was turned over to an expressman and carted +to the Chamber of Commerce. A small boy picked up the typewriter case and +started to take it to a nearby hotel office. One of the terrorists +detected the act and gave warning. The mob seized the lad, took him to a +nearby light pole and threatened to lynch him if he did not tell them +where books and papers were secreted which somebody said had been carried +away by him. The boy denied having done this, but the hoodlums went into +the hotel, ransacked and overturned everything. Not finding what they +wanted, they left a notice that the proprietor would have to take the sign +down from his building in just twenty-four hours. Then the mob surged +around the unfortunate men who had been found in the Union hall. With +cuffs and blows these were dragged to waiting trucks where they were +lifted by the ears to the body of the machine and knocked prostrate one at +a time. Sometimes a man would be dropped to the ground just after he had +been lifted from his feet. Here he would lay with ear drums bursting and +writhing from the kicks and blows that had been freely given. Like all +similar mobs this one carried ropes, which were placed about the necks of +the loggers. "Here's and I.W.W." yelled someone. "What shall we do with +him?" A cry was given to "lynch him!" Some were taken to the city jail and +the rest were dumped unceremoniously on the other side of the county +line.</p> + +<p>Since that time the wrecked hall has remained tenantless and +unrepaired. Grey and gaunt like a house in battle-scarred Belgium, it +stands a mute testimony of the labor-hating ferocity of the lumber trust. +Repeated efforts have since been made to destroy the remains with fire. +The defense had tried without avail to introduce a photograph of the ruin +as evidence to prove that the second hall was raided in a similar manner +on Armistice Day, 1919. Judge Wilson refused to permit the jury to see +either the photographs or the hall. But in case of another trial...?</p> + +<p>Evidently the lumber trust thought it better to have all traces of its +previous crime obliterated.</p> + +<p>The raid of 1918 did not weaken the lumber workers' Union in Centralia. +On the contrary it served to strengthen it. But not until more than a year +had passed were the loggers able to establish a new headquarters. This +hall was located next door to the Roderick Hotel on Tower Avenue, between +Second and Third Streets. Hardly was this hall opened when threats were +circulated by the Chamber of Commerce that it, like the previous one, was +marked for destruction. The business element was lined up solid in +denunciation of and opposition to the Union Hall and all that it stood +for. But other anti-labor matters took up their attention and it was some +time before the second raid was actually accomplished.</p> + +<p>There was one rift in the lute of lumber trust solidarity in Centralia. +Business and professional men had long been groveling in sycophantic +servility at the feet of "the clique." There was only one notable +exception.</p> + +<h2>A Lawyer--and a Man</h2> + +<p>A young lawyer had settled in the city a few years previous to the +Armistice Day tragedy. Together with his parents and four brothers he had +left his home in Minnesota to seek fame and fortune in the woods of +Washington. He had worked his way through McAlester College and the Law +School of the University of Minnesota. He was young, ambitious, red-headed +and husky, a loving husband and the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. +Nature had endowed him with a dangerous combination of gifts,--a brilliant +mind and a kind heart. His name was just plain Smith--Elmer Smith--and he +came from the old rugged American stock.</p> + +<p>Smith started to practice law in Centralia, but unlike his brother +attorneys, he held to the assumption that all men are equal under the +law--even the hated I.W.W. In a short time his brilliant mind and kind +heart had won him as much hatred from the lumber barons as love from the +down-trodden,--which is saying a good deal. The "interests" studied the +young lawyer carefully for awhile and soon decided that he could be +neither bullied or bought. So they determined to either break his spirit +or to break his neck. Smith is at present in prison charged with murder. +This is how it happened:</p> + +<p>Smith established his office in the First Guarantee Bank Building which +was quite the proper thing to do. Then he began to handle law suits for +wage-earners, which was altogether the reverse. Caste rules in Centralia, +and Elmer Smith was violating its most sacred mandataries by giving the +"working trash" the benefit of his talents instead of people really worth +while.</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm, who was afterwards shot while trying to break into the +Union Hall with the mob, once cautioned Smith of the folly and danger of +such a course. "You'll get along all right," said he, "if you will come in +with us." Then he continued:</p> + +<p>"How would you feel if one of your clients would come up to you in +public, slap you on the back and say 'Hello, Elmer?'"</p> + +<p>"Very proud," answered the young lawyer.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Elmer Smith</p> + +<p>Attorney at law. Old American stock--born on a homestead in North +Dakota. By championing the cause of the "under-dog" in Centralia Smith +brought down on himself the wrath of the lumber trust. He defended many +union men in the courts, and at one time sought to prosecute the +kidnappers of Tom Lassiter. Smith is the man Warren O. Grimm told would +get along all right, "if you come in with us." He bucked the lumber trust +instead and landed in prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Smith was +found "not guilty" by the jury, but immediately re-arrested on practically +the same charge. He is not related to Britt Smith.</p> + +<p class="title">Wesley Everest</p> + +<p>Logger. American (old Washington pioneer stock). Joined the Industrial +Workers of the World in 1917. A returned soldier. Earnest, sincere, quiet, +he was the "Jimmy Higgins" of the Centralia branch of the Lumberworkers +Union. Everest was mistaken for Britt Smith, the Union secretary, whom the +mob had started out to lynch. He was pursued by a gang of terrorists and +unmercifully manhandled. Later--at night--he was taken from the city jail +and hanged to a bridge. In the automobile, on the way to the lynching, he +was unsexed by a human fiend--a well known Centralia business man--who +used a razor on his helpless victim. Even the lynchers were forced to +admit that Everest was the most "dead game" man they had ever seen.</p></div> + +<p>Some months previous Smith had taken a case for an I.W.W. logger. He +won it. Other cases in which workers needed legal advice came to him. He +took them. A young girl was working at the Centralia "Chronicle." She was +receiving a weekly wage of three dollars which is in defiance of the +minimum wage law of the state for women. Smith won the case. Also he +collected hundreds of dollars in back wages for workers whom the companies +had sought to defraud. Workers in the clutches of loan sharks were +extricated by means of the bankruptcy laws, hitherto only used by their +masters. An automobile firm was making a practice of replacing Ford +engines with old ones when a machine was brought in for repairs. One of +the victims brought his case to Smith. and a lawsuit followed. This was an +unheard-of proceeding, for heretofore such little business tricks had been +kept out of court by common understanding.</p> + +<p>A worker, formerly employed by a subsidiary of the Eastern Lumber & +Railway Company, had been deprived of his wages on a technicality of the +law by the corporation attorneys. This man had a large family and hard +circumstances were forced upon them by this misfortune. One of his little +girls died from what the doctor called malnutrition--plain starvation. +Smith filed suit and openly stated that the lawyers of the corporation +were responsible for the death of the child. The indignation of the +business and professional element blazed to white heat. A suit for libel +and disbarment proceedings were started against him. Nothing could be done +in this direction as Smith had not only justice but the law on his side. +His enemies were waiting with great impatience for a more favorable +opportunity to strike him down. Open threats were beginning to be heard +against him.</p> + +<p>A Union lecturer came to town. The meeting was well attended. A +vigilance committee of provocateurs and business men was in the audience. +At the close of the lecture those gentlemen started to pass the signal for +action. Elmer Smith sauntered down the aisle, shook hands with the speaker +and told him he would walk to the train with him.</p> + +<p>The following morning the door to Smith's office was ornamented with a +cardboard sign. It read: "Are you an American? You had better say so. +Citizens' Committee." This was lettered in lead pencil. Across the bottom +were scrawled these words: "No more I.W.W. meetings for you."</p> + +<p>In 1918 an event occurred which served further to tighten the noose +about the stubborn neck of the young lawyer. On this occasion the +terrorists of the city perpetrated another shameful crime against the +working class--and the law.</p> + +<h2>Blind Tom--A Blemish on America</h2> + +<p>Tom Lassiter made his living by selling newspapers at a little stand on +a street corner. Tom is blind, a good soul and well liked by the loggers. +But Tom has vision enough to see that there is something wrong with the +hideous capitalist system we live under; and so he kept papers on sale +that would help enlighten the workers. Among these were the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Industrial Worker" and "Solidarity." To put it plainly, Tom +was a thorn in the side of the local respectability because of his modest +efforts to make people thing. And his doom had also been sealed.</p> + +<p>Early in June the newsstand was broken into and all his clothing, +literature and little personal belongings were taken to a vacant lot and +burned. A warning sign was left on a short pole stuck in the ashes. The +message, "You leave town in 24 hours, U.S. Soldiers, Sailors and Marines," +was left on the table in his room.</p> + +<p>With true Wobbly determination, Lassiter secured a new stock of papers +and immediately re-opened his little stand. About this time a Centralia +business man, J.H. Roberts by name, was heard to say "This man (Lassiter) +is within his legal rights and if we can't do anything by law we'll take +the law into our own hands." This is precisely what happened.</p> + +<p>On the afternoon of June 30th, Blind Tom was crossing Tower Avenue with +hesitating steps when, without warning, two business men seized his +groping arms and yelled in his ear, "We'll get you out of town this time!" +Lassiter called for help. The good Samaritan came along in the form of a +brute-faced creature known as W.R. Patton, a rich property owner of the +city. This Christian gentleman sneaked up behind the blind man and lunged +him forcibly into a waiting Oakland automobile. The machine is owned by +Cornelius McIntyre who is said to have been one of the kidnapping +party.</p> + +<p>"Shut up or I'll smash your mouth so you can't yell," said one of his +assailants as Lassiter was forced, still screaming for help, into the car. +Turning to the driver one of the party said, "Step on her and let's get +out of here." About this time Constable Luther Patton appeared on the +scene. W.R. Patton walked over to where the constable stood and shouted to +the bystanders, "We'll arrest the first person that objects, interferes or +gets too loud."</p> + +<p>"A good smash on the jaw would do more good," suggested the +kind-hearted official.</p> + +<p>"Well, we got that one pretty slick and now there are two more we have +to get," stated W.R. Patton, a short time afterwards.</p> + +<p>Blind Tom was dropped helpless in a ditch just over the county line. He +was picked up by a passing car and eventually made his way to Olympia, +capital of the state. In about a week he was back in Centralia. But before +he could again resume his paper selling he was arrested on a charge of +"criminal syndicalism." He is now awaiting conviction at Chehalis.</p> + +<p>Before his arrest, however, Lassiter engaged Elmer Smith as his +attorney. Smith appealed to County Attorney Herman Allen for protection +for his client. After a half-hearted effort to locate the kidnappers--who +were known to everybody--this official gave up the task saying he was "Too +busy to bother with the affair, and, besides, the offense was only 'third +degree assault' which is punishable with a fine of but one dollar and +costs." The young lawyer did not waste any more time with the County +authorities. Instead he secured sworn statements of the facts in the case +and submitted them to the Governor. These were duly acknowledged and +placed on file in Olympia. But up to date no action has been taken by the +executive to prosecute the criminals who committed the crime.</p> + +<p>"Handle these I.W.W. cases if you want to," said a local attorney to +Elmer Smith, counsel for one of the banks, "but sooner or later they're +all going to be hanged or deported anyway."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Where Barnett's Rifle Was Supposed to Have Been Found</p> + +<p>Eugene Barnett was said to have left his rifle under this sign-board as +he fled from the scene of the shooting. It would have been much easier to +hide a gun in the tall brush in the foreground. In reality Barnett did not +have a rifle on November 11th and was never within a mile of this place. +Prosecutor Cunningham said he had "been looking all over for that rifle" +when it was turned over to him by a stool pigeon. Strangely enough +Cunningham knew the number of the gun before he placed hands on it.</p></div> + +<p>Smith was feathering a nest for himself--feathering it with steel and +stone and a possible coil of hempen rope. The shadow of the prison bars +was falling blacker on his red head with every passing moment. His +fearless championing of the cause of the "under dog" had won him the +implacable hatred of his own class. To them his acts of kindness and +humanity were nothing less than treason. Smith had been ungrateful to the +clique that had offered him every inducement to "come in with us". A +lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a working man with his brains. +Elmer Smith would be punished all right; it would just be a matter of +time.</p> + +<p>The indifference of the County and State authorities regarding the +kidnapping of blind Tom gave the terrorists renewed confidence in the +efficacy and "legality" of their methods. Also it gave them a hint as to +the form their future depredations were to take. And so, with the implied +approval of everyone worth considering, they went about their plotting +with still greater determination and a soothing sense of security.</p> + +<h2>The Conspiracy Develops</h2> + +<p>The cessation of hostilities in Europe deprived the gangsters of the +cloak of "patriotism" as a cover for their crimes. But this cloak was too +convenient to be discarded so easily. "Let the man in uniform do it" was +an axiom that had been proved both profitable and safe. Then came the +organization of the local post of the American Legion and the now famous +Citizen's Protective League--of which more afterwards.</p> + +<p>With the signing of the Armistice, and the consequent almost +imperceptible lifting of the White Terror that dominated the country, the +organization of the loggers began daily to gather strength. The Chamber of +Commerce began to growl menacingly, the Employers' Association to threaten +and the lumber trust papers to incite open violence. And the American +Legion began to function as a "cats paw" for the men behind the +scenes.</p> + +<p>Why should the beautiful city of Centralia tolerate the hated Union +hall any longer? Other halls had been raided, men had been tarred and +feathered and deported--no one had ever been punished! Why should the good +citizens of Centralia endure a lumberworkers headquarters and their +despised union itself right in the midst of their peaceful community? Why +indeed! The matter appeared simple enough from any angle. So then and +there the conspiracy was hatched that resulted in the tragedy on Armistice +Day. But the forces at work to bring about this unhappy conclusion were +far from local. Let us see what these were like before the actual details +of the conspiracy are recounted.</p> + +<p>There were three distinct phases of this campaign to "rid the woods of +the agitators." These three phases dovetail together perfectly. Each one +is a perfect part of a shrewdly calculated and mercilessly executed +conspiracy to commit constructive murder and unlawful entry. The +diabolical plan itself was designed to brush aside the laws of the land, +trample the Constitution underfoot and bring about an unparalleled orgy of +unbridled labor hatred and labor repression that would settle the question +of unionism for a long time.</p> + +<h2>The Conspiracy--And a Snag</h2> + +<p>First of all comes the propaganda stage with the full force of the +editorial virulence of the trust-controlled newspapers directed against +labor in favor of "law and order," i.e., the lumber interests. All the +machinery of newspaper publicity was used to vilify the lumber worker and +to discredit his Union. Nothing was left unsaid that would tend to produce +intolerance and hatred or to incite mob violence. This is not only true of +Centralia, but of all the cities and towns located in the lumber district. +Centralia happened to be the place where the tree of anti-labor propaganda +first bore its ghastly fruit. Space does not permit us to quote the +countless horrible things the I.W.W. was supposed to stand for and to be +constantly planning to do. Statements from the lips of General Wood and +young Roosevelt to the effect that citizens should not argue with +Bolshevists but meet them "head on" were very conspicuously displayed on +all occasions. Any addle-headed mediocrity, in or out of uniform, who had +anything particularly atrocious to say against the labor movement in +general or the "radicals" in particular, was afforded every opportunity to +do so. The papers were vying with one another in devising effectual, if +somewhat informal, means of dealing with the "red menace."</p> + +<p>Supported by, and partly the result of this barrage of lies, +misrepresentation and incitation, came the period of attempted repression +by "law". This was probably the easiest thing of all because the grip of +Big Business upon the law-making and law-enforcing machinery of the nation +is incredible. At all events a state's "criminal syndicalism law" had been +conveniently passed and was being applied vigorously against union men, +A.F. of L. and I.W.W. alike, but chiefly against the Lumber Workers' +Industrial Union, No. 500, of the Industrial Workers of the World, the +basic lumber industry being the largest in the Northwest and the growing +power of the organized lumberjack being therefore more to be feared.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">His Uncle Planned It</p> + +<p>Dale Hubbard, killed in self-defense by Wesley Everest, Armistice Day, +1919. F. Hubbard, a lumber baron and uncle of the dead man, is held to +have been the instigator of the plot in which his nephew was shot. Hubbard +was martyrized by the lumber trust's determination "to let the men in +uniform do it."</p></div> + +<p>No doubt the lumber interests had great hope that the execution of +these made-to-order laws would clear up the atmosphere so far as the +lumber situation was concerned. But they were doomed to a cruel and +surprising disappointment.</p> + +<p>A number of arrests were made in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and +even Nevada. Fifty or sixty men all told were arrested and their trials +rushed as test cases. During this period from April 25th to October 28th, +1919, the lumber trust saw with chagrin and dismay each of the state cases +in turn either won outright by the defendants or else dismissed in the +realization that it would be impossible to win them. By October 28th +George F. Vanderveer, chief attorney for the defense, declared there were +not a single member of the I.W.W. in custody in Washington, Idaho or +Montana under this charge. In Seattle, Washington, an injunction was +obtained restraining the mayor from closing down the new Union hall in +that city under the new law. Thus it appeared that the nefarious plan of +the employers and their subservient lawmaking adjuncts, to outlaw the +lumber workers Union and to penalize the activities of its members, was to +be doomed to an ignominious failure.</p> + +<h2>Renewed Efforts--Legal and Otherwise</h2> + +<p>Furious at the realization of their own impotency the "interests" +launched forth upon a new campaign. This truly machiavellian scheme was +devised to make it impossible for accused men to secure legal defense of +any kind. All labor cases were to be tried simultaneously, thus making it +impossible for the defendants to secure adequate counsel. George F. +Russell, Secretary-Manager of the Washington Employers' Association, +addressed meetings over the state urging all Washington Prosecuting +Attorneys to organize that this end might be achieved. It is reported that +Governor Hart, of Washington, looked upon the scheme with favor when it +was brought to his personal attention by Mr. Russell.</p> + +<p>However, the fact remains that the lumber trust was losing and that it +would have to devise even more drastic measures if it were to hope to +escape the prospect of a very humiliating defeat. And, all the while the +organization of the lumber workers continued to grow.</p> + +<p>In Washington the situation was becoming more tense, momentarily. Many +towns in the heart of the lumber district had passed absurd criminal +syndicalism ordinances. These prohibited membership in the I.W.W.; made it +unlawful to rent premises to the organization or to circulate its +literature. The Employers' Association had boasted that it was due to its +efforts that these ordinances had been passed. But still they were faced +with the provocative and unforgettable fact, that the I.W.W. was no more +dead than the cat with the proverbial nine lives. Where halls had been +closed or raided the lumber workers were transacting their union affairs +right on the job or in the bunkhouses, just as though nothing had +happened. What was more deplorable a few Union halls were still open and +doing business at the same old stand. Centralia was one of these; drastic +measures must be applied at once or loggers in other localities might be +encouraged to open halls also. As events prove these measures were +taken--and they were drastic.</p> + +<h2>The Employers Show Their Fangs</h2> + +<p>That the Employers' Association was assiduously preparing its members +for action suitable for the situation is evidenced by the following +quotations from the official bulletin addressed privately "to Members of +the Employers' Association of Washington". Note them carefully; they are +published as "suggestions to members" over the written signature of George +F. Russell Secretary-Manager:</p> + +<p>June 25th, 1918.--"Provide a penalty for idleness ... Common +labor now works a few days and then loafs to spend the money +earned ... Active prosecution of the I.W.W. and other radicals."</p> + +<p>April 30th, 1919.--"Keep business out of the control of +radicals and I.W.W.... Overcome agitation ... Closer co-operation between +employers and employees ... Suppress the agitators ... Hang the +Bolshevists."</p> + +<p>May 31st, 1919.--"If the agitators were taken care of we +would have very little trouble ... Propaganda to counteract radicals and +overcome agitation ... Put the I.W.W. in jail."</p> + +<p>June 30th, 1919.--"Make some of the Seattle papers print the +truth ... Get rid of the I.W.W.'s."</p> + +<p>July 2nd, 1919.--"Educate along the line of the three R's and +the golden rule, economy and self denial ... Import Japanese labor ... Import +Chinese labor."</p> + +<p>July 31st, 1919.--"Deport about ten Russians in this +community."</p> + +<p>August 31st, 1919.--"Personal contact between employer and +employee, stringent treatment of the I.W.W."</p> + +<p>October 15th, 1919. "There are many I.W.W.s--mostly in the +logging camps...."</p> + +<p>October 31st, 1919.--(A little over a week before the +Centralia raid.) "Run your business or quit ... Business men and tax payers +of Vancouver, Washington, have organized the Loyal Citizen's Protective +League; opposed to Bolsheviki and the Soviet form of government and in +favor of the open shop ... Jail the radicals and deport them ... Since the +armistice these radicals have started in again. ONLY TWO COMMUNITIES IN +WASHINGTON ALLOW I.W.W. HEADQUARTERS." (!!!)</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Arthur McElfresh</p> + +<p>A Centralia druggist. His wife warned him not to march to the union +headquarters because "she knew he'd get hurt." McElfresh is the +man said to have been shot inside the hall when the mob burst through the +door.</p></div> + +<p>December 31st, 1919. "Get rid of all the I.W.W. and all +other un-American organizations ... Deport the radicals or use the rope as +at Centralia. Until we get rid of the I.W.W. and radicals we don't expect +to do much in this country ... Keep cleaning up on the I.W.W.... Don't let it +die down ... Keep up public sentiment..."</p> + +<p>These few choice significant morsels of one hundred percent (on the +dollar) Americanism are quoted almost at random from the private bulletins +of the officials of the Iron Heel in the state of Washington. Here you can +read their sentiments in their own words; you can see how dupes and +hirelings were coached to perpetrate the crime of Centralia, and as many +other similar crimes as they could get away with. Needless to say these +illuminating lines were not intended for the perusal of the working class. +But now that we have obtained them and placed them before your eyes you +can draw your own conclusion. There are many, many more records germane to +this case that we would like to place before you, but the Oligarchy has +closed its steel jaws upon them and they are at present inaccessible. Men +are still afraid to tell the truth in Centralia. Some day the workers may +learn the whole truth about the inside workings of the Centralia +conspiracy. Be that as it may the business interests of the Northwest +lumber country stand bloody handed and doubly damned, black with guilt and +foul with crime; convicted before the bar of public opinion, by their own +statements and their own acts.</p> + +<h2>Failure and Desperation</h2> + +<p>Let us see for a moment how the conspiracy of the lumber barons +operated to achieve the unlawful ends for which it was designed. Let us +see how they were driven by their own failure at intrigue to adopt methods +so brutal that they would have disgraced the head-hunter; how they tried +to gain with murder-lust what they had failed to gain lawfully and with +public approval.</p> + +<p>The campaign of lies and slander inaugurated by their private +newspapers failed to convince the workers of the undesirability of labor +organization. In spite of the armies of editors and news-whelps assembled +to its aid, it served only to lash to a murderous frenzy the low instincts +of the anti-labor elements in the community. The campaign of legal +repression, admittedly instituted by the Employers' Association, failed +also in spite of the fact that all the machinery of the state from +dog-catcher down to Governor was at its beck and call on all occasions and +for all purposes.</p> + +<p>Having made a mess of things with these methods the lumber barons threw +all scruples to the winds--if they ever had any--threw aside all +pretension of living within the law. They started out, mad-dog like, to +rent, wreck and destroy the last vestige of labor organization from the +woods of the Northwest, and furthermore, to hunt down union men and +martyrize them with the club, the gun, the rope and the courthouse.</p> + +<p>It was to cover up their own crimes that the heartless beasts of Big +Business beat the tom-toms of the press in order to lash the "patriotism" +of their dupes and hirelings into hysteria. It was to hide their own +infamy that the loathsome war dance was started that developed perceptibly +from uncomprehending belligerency into the lawless tumult of mobs, raids +and lynching! And it will be an everlasting blot upon the fair name of +America that they were permitted to do so.</p> + +<p>The Centralia tragedy was the culmination of a long series of +unpunished atrocities against labor. What is expected of men who have been +treated as these men were treated and who were denied redress or +protection under the law? Every worker in the Northwest knows about the +wrongs lumberworkers have endured--they are matters of common knowledge. +It was common knowledge in Centralia and adjoining towns that the I.W.W. +hall was to be raided on Armistice Day. Yet eight loggers have been +sentenced from twenty-five to forty years in prison for the crime of +defending themselves from the mob that set out to murder them! But let us +see how the conspiracy was operating in Centralia to make the Armistice +Day tragedy inevitable.</p> + +<h2>The Maelstrom--And Four Men</h2> + +<p>Centralia was fast becoming the vortex of the conspiracy that was +rushing to its inevitable conclusion. Event followed event in rapid +succession, straws indicating the main current of the flood tide of +labor-hatred. The Commercial Club was seething with intrigue like the +court of old France under Catherine de Medici; only this time it was +Industrial Unionism instead of Huguenots who were being Marked for a new +night of St. Bartholomew. The heresy to be uprooted was belief in +industrial instead of religious freedom; but the stake and the gibbet were +awaiting the New Idea just as they had the old.</p> + +<p>The actions of the lumber interests were now but thinly veiled and +their evil purpose all too manifest. The connection between the Employers' +Association of the state and its local representatives in Centralia had +become unmistakably evident. And behind these loomed the gigantic +silhouette of the Employers' Association of the nation--the colossal +"invisible government"--more powerful at times than the Government itself. +More and more stood out the naked brutal fact that the purpose of all this +plotting was to drive the union loggers from the city and to destroy their +hall. The names of the men actively interested in this movement came to +light in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them obscured. Four of these +stand out prominently in the light of the tragedy that followed: George F. +Russell, F.B. Hubbard, William Scales and last, but not least, Warren O. +Grimm.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Warren O. Grimm</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm, killed at the beginning of the rush on the I.W.W. +hall. At another raid on an I.W.W. hall in 1918 Grimm was said by +witnesses to have been leading the mob, "holding two American flags and +dancing like a whirling dervish." His life-long friend, Frank Van Gilder, +testified: "I stood less than two feet from Grimm when he was shot. He +doubled up, put his hands to his stomach and said to me: 'My God, I'm +shot." "What did you do then?" "I turned and left him."</p></div> + +<p>The first named, George F. Russell, is a hired Manager for the +Washington Employers' Association, whose membership employs between 75,000 +and 80,000 workers in the state. Russell is known to be a reactionary of +the most pronounced type. He is an avowed union smasher and a staunch +upholder of the open shop principle, which is widely advertised as the +"American plan" in Washington. Incidentally he is an advocate of the +scheme to import Chinese and Japanese cooley labor as a solution of the +"high wage and arrogant unionism" problem.</p> + +<p>F. B. Hubbard, is a small-bore Russell, differing from his chief only +in that his labor hatred is more fanatical and less discreet. Hubbard was +hard hit by the strike in 1917 which fact has evidently won him the +significant title of "a vicious little anti-labor reptile." He is the man +who helped to raid the 1918 Union Hall in Centralia and who appropriated +for himself the stolen desk of the Union Secretary. His nephew Dale +Hubbard was shot while trying to lynch Wesley Everest.</p> + +<p>William Scales is a Centralia business man and a virulent sycophant. He +is a parochial replica of the two persons mentioned above. Scales was in +the Quartermaster's Department down on the border during the trouble with +Mexico. Because he was making too much money out of Uncle Sam's groceries, +he was relieved of his duties quite suddenly and discharged from the +service. He was fortunate in making France instead of Fort Leavenworth, +however, and upon his return, became an ardent proselyte of Russell and +Hubbard and their worthy cause. Also he continued in the grocery +business.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Hizzoner, The Jedge</p> + +<p>In his black robe, like a bird of prey, he perched above the courtroom +and ruled always adversely to the cause of labor. Appointed to try men +accused of killing other men whom he had previously eulogized Judge John +M. Wilson did not disappoint those who appointed him. In open court +Vanderveer told him. In open court Vanderveer told this man: "There was a +time when I thought your rulings were due to ignorance of the law. That +will no longer explain them."</p></div> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm came from a good family and was a small town +aristocrat. His brother is city attorney at Centralia. Grimm was a lawyer, +a college athlete and a social lion. He had been with the American forces +in Siberia and his chief bid for distinction was a noisy dislike for the +Worker's & Peasants' Republic of Russia, and the I.W.W. which he +termed the "American Bolsheviki". During the 1918 raid on the Centralia +hall Grimm is said to have been dancing around "like a whirling dervish" +and waving the American flag while the work of destruction was going on. +Afterwards he became prominent in the American Legion and was the chief +"cat's paw" for the lumber interests who were capitalizing the uniform to +gain their own unholy ends. Personally he was a clean-cut modern young +man.</p> + +<h2>Shadows Cast Before</h2> + +<p>On June 26th, the following notice appeared conspicuously on the first +page of the Centralia Hub:</p> + +<h2>Meeting of Business Men Called for Friday Evening</h2> + +<p>"Business men and property owners of Centralia are urged to attend a +meeting tomorrow in the Chamber of Commerce rooms to meet the officers of +the Employers' Association of the state to discuss ways and means of +bettering the conditions which now confront the business and property +interests of the state. George F. Russell, Secretary-Manager, says in his +note to business men: 'We need your advice and your co-operation in +support of the movement for the defense of property and property rights. +It is the most important question before the public today.'"</p> + +<p>At this meeting Mr. Russell dwelt on the statement that the "radicals" +were better organized than the property interests. Also he pointed out the +need of a special organization to protect "rights of property" from the +encroachments of all "foes of the government". The Non-Partisan League, +the Triple Alliance and the A.F. of L. were duly condemned. The speaker +then launched out into a long tirade against the Industrial Workers of the +World which was characterized as the most dangerous organization in +America and the one most necessary for "good citizens" to crush. Needless +to state the address was chock full of 100% Americanism. It amply made up +in forcefulness anything it lacked in logic.</p> + +<p>So the "Citizens' Protective League" of Centralia was born. From the +first it was a law unto itself--murder lust wearing the smirk of +respectability--Judge Lynch dressed in a business suit. The advent of this +infamous league marks the final ascendancy of terrorism over the +Constitution in the city of Centralia. The only things still needed were a +secret committee, a coil of rope and an opportunity.</p> + +<p>F.B. Hubbard was the man selected to pull off the "rough stuff" and at +the same time keep the odium of crime from smirching the fair names of the +conspirators. He was told to "perfect his own organization". Hubbard was +eminently fitted for his position by reason of his intense labor-hatred +and his aptitude for intrigue.</p> + +<p>The following day the Centralia Daily Chronicle carried the following +significant news item:</p> + +<p align="center">BUSINESS MEN OF COUNTY ORGANIZE</p> + +<p align="center">Representatives From Many Communities Attend Meeting in Chamber of +Commerce, Presided Over Secretary of Employers' Association.</p> + +<p>"The labor situation was thoroughly discussed this afternoon at a +meeting held in the local Chamber of Commerce which was attended by +representative business men from various parts of Lewis County.</p> + +<p>"George F. Russell, Secretary of the Employers' Association, of +Washington, presided at the meeting.</p> + +<p>"A temporary organization was effected with F. B. Hubbard, President of +the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company, as chairman. He was empowered to +perfect his own organization. A similar meeting will be held in Chehalis +in connection with the noon luncheon of the Citizens' Club on that +day."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Special Prosecutor"</p> + +<p>C.D. Cunningham, attorney for F.B. Hubbard and various lumber +interests, took charge of the prosecution immediately. He was the father +of much of the "third degree" methods used on witnesses. Vanderveer +offered to prove at the trial that Cunningham was at the jail when Wesley +Everest was dragged out, brutally mutilated and then lynched.</p></div> + +<p>The city of Centralia became alive with gossip and speculation about +this new move on the part of the employers. Everybody knew that the whole +thing centered around the detested hall of the Union loggers. Curiosity +seekers began to come In from all parts of the county to have a peep at +this hall before it was wrecked. Business men were known to drive their +friends from the new to the old hall in order to show what the former +would look like in a short time. People in Centralia generally knew for a +certainty that the present hall would go the way of its predecessor. It +was just a question now as to the time and circumstances of the event.</p> + +<p>Warren O. Grimm had done his bit to work up sentiment against the union +loggers and their hall. Only a month previously--on Labor Day, 1919,--he +had delivered a "labor" speech that was received with great enthusiasm by +a local clique of business men. Posing as an authority on Bolshevism on +account of his Siberian service Grimm had elaborated on the dangers of +this pernicious doctrine. With a great deal of dramatic emphasis he had +urged his audience to beware of the sinister influence of "the American +Bolsheviki--the Industrial Workers of the World."</p> + +<p>A few days before the hall was raided Elmer Smith called at Grimm's +office on legal business. Grimm asked him, by the way, what he thought of +his Labor Day speech. Smith replied that he thought it was "rotten" and +that he couldn't agree with Grimm's anti-labor conception of Americanism. +Smith pointed to the deportation of Tom Lassiter as an example of the +"Americanism" he considered disgraceful. He said also that he thought free +speech was one of the fundamental rights of all citizens.</p> + +<p>"I can't agree with you," replied Grimm. "That's the proper way to +treat such a fellow."</p> + +<h2>The New Black Hundred</h2> + +<p>On October 19th the Centralia Hub published an item headed "Employers +Called to Discuss Handling of 'Wobbly' Problem." This article urges all +employers to attend, states that the meeting will be held in the Elk's +Club and mentioned the wrecking of the Union Hall in 1918. On the +following day, October 20th, three weeks before the shooting, this meeting +was held at the hall of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks--the +now famous Elks' Club of Centralia. The avowed purpose of this meeting was +to "deal with the I.W.W. problem." The chairman was William Scales, at +that time Commander of the Centralia Post of the American Legion. The +I.W.W. Hall was the chief topic of discussion. F.B. Hubbard opened up by +saying that the I.W.W. was a menace and should be driven out of town. +Chief of Police Hughes, however, cautioned them against such a course. He +is reported to have said that "the I.W.W. is doing nothing wrong in +Centralia--is not violating any law--and you have no right to drive them +out of town in this manner." The Chief of Police then proceeded to tell +the audience that he had taken up the matter of legally evicting the +industrialists with City Attorney C.E. Grimm, a brother of Warren O. +Grimm, who is said to have told them, "Gentlemen, there is no law by which +you can drive the I.W.W. out of town." City Commissioner Saunders and +County Attorney Allen had spoken to the same effect. The latter, Allen, +had gone over the literature of the organization with regard to violence +and destruction and had voluntarily dismissed a "criminal syndicalist" +case without trial for want of evidence.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Lewis County's Legal Prostitute</p> + +<p>Herman Allen, prosecuting attorney of Lewis County. He stood at the +corner during the raid and received papers stolen from the hall. There is +no record of his having protested against any illegal action. He turned +over his office to the special Prosecutors and acted as their tool +throughout. During the entire trial he never appeared as an active +participant.</p></div> + +<p>Hubbard was furious at this turn of affairs and shouted to Chief of +Police Hughes: "It's a damned outrage that these men should be permitted +to remain in town! Law or no law, if I were Chief of Police they wouldn't +stay here twenty-four hours."</p> + +<p>"I'm not in favor of raiding the hall myself," said Scales. "But I'm +certain that if anybody else wants to raid the I.W.W. Hall there is no +jury in the land will ever convict them."</p> + +<p>After considerable discussion the meeting started to elect a committee +to deal with the situation. First of all an effort was made to get a +workingman elected as a member to help camouflage its very evident +character and make people believe that "honest labor" was also desirous of +ridding the town of the hated I.W.W. Hall. A switchman named Henry, a +member of the Railway Brotherhood, was nominated. When he indignantly +declined, Hubbard, red in the face with rage, called him a "damned +skunk."</p> + +<h2>The Inner Circle</h2> + +<p>Scales then proceeded to tell the audience in general and the city +officials in particular that he would himself appoint a committee "whose +inner workings were secret," and see if he could not get around the matter +that way. The officers of the League were then elected. The President was +County Coroner David Livingstone, who afterwards helped to lynch Wesley +Everest. Dr. Livingstone made his money from union miners. William Scales +was vice president and Hubbard was treasurer. The secret committee was +then appointed by Hubbard. As its name implies it was an underground +affair, similar to the Black Hundreds of Old Russia. No record of any of +its proceedings has ever come to light, but according to best available +knowledge, Warren O. Grimm, Arthur McElfresh, B.S. Cromier and one or two +others who figured prominently in the raid, were members. At all events on +November 6th, five days before the shooting, Grimm was elected Commander +of the Centralia Post of the American Legion, taking the place of Scales, +who resigned in his favor. Scales evidently was of the opinion that a +Siberian veteran and athlete was better fitted to lead the "shock troops" +than a mere counter-jumper like himself. There is no doubt but the secret +committee had its members well placed in positions of strategic importance +for the coming event.</p> + +<p>The following day the Tacoma News Tribune carried a significant +editorial on the subject of the new organization:</p> + +<p>"At Centralia a committee of citizens has been formed that takes the +mind back to the old days of vigilance committees of the West, which did +so much to force law-abiding citizenship upon certain lawless elements. It +is called the Centralia Protective Association, and its object is to +combat I.W.W. activities in that city and the surrounding country. It +invites to membership all citizens who favor the enforcement of law and +order ... It is high time for the people who do believe in the lawful and +orderly conduct of affairs to take the upper hand ... Every city and town +might, with profit, follow Centralia's example."</p> + +<p>The reference to "law and orderly conduct of affairs" has taken a +somewhat ironical twist, now that Centralia has shown the world what she +considers such processes to be.</p> + +<p>No less significant was an editorial appearing on the same Date in the +Centralia Hub:</p> + +<p>"If the city is left open to this menace, we will soon find ourselves +at the mercy of an organized band of outlaws bent on destruction. What are +we going to do about it?" And, referring to the organization of the +"secret committee," the editorial stated: "It was decided that the inner +workings of the organization were to be kept secret, to more effectively +combat a body using similar tactics." The editorial reeks with lies; but +it was necessary that the mob spirit should be kept at white heat at all +times. Newspaper incitation has never been punished by law, yet it is +directly responsible for more murders, lynching and raids than any other +one force in America.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Stool Pigeon</p> + +<p>Tom Morgan, who turned state's evidence. There is an historical +precedent for Morgan. Judas acted similarly, but Judas later had the +manhood to go out and hang himself. Morgan left for "parts unknown."</p></div> + +<h2>The Plot Leaks Out</h2> + +<p>By degrees the story of the infamous secret committee and its +diabolical plan leaked out, adding positive confirmation to the many +already credited rumors in circulation. Some of the newspapers quite +openly hinted that the I.W.W. Hall was to be the object of the brewing +storm. Chief of Police Hughes told a member of the Lewis County Trades +Council, William T. Merriman by name, that the business men were +organizing to raid the hall and drive its members out of town. Merriman, +in turn carried the statement to many of his friends and brother +unionists. Soon the prospective raid was the subject of open +discussion,--over the breakfast toast, on the street corners, in the camps +and mills--every place.</p> + +<p>So common was the knowledge in fact that many of the craft +organizations in Centralia began to discuss openly what they should do +about it. They realized that the matter was one which concerned labor and +many members wanted to protest and were urging their unions to try to do +something. At the Lewis County Trades Council the subject was brought up +for discussion by its president, L. F. Dickson. No way of helping the +loggers was found, however, if they would so stubbornly try to keep open +their headquarters in the face of such opposition. Harry Smith, a brother +of Elmer Smith, the attorney, was a delegate at this meeting and reported +to his brother the discussion that took place.</p> + +<p>Secretary Britt Smith and the loggers at the Union hall were not by any +means ignorant of the conspiracy being hatched against them. Day by day +they had followed the development of the plot with breathless interest and +not a little anxiety. They knew from bitter experience how union men were +handled when they were trapped in their halls. But they would not +entertain the idea of abandoning their principles and seeking personal +safety. Every logging camp for miles around knew of the danger also. The +loggers there had gone through the hell of the organization period and had +felt the wrath of the lumber barons. Some of them felt that the statement +of Secretary of Labor Wilson as to the attitude of the Industrial Workers +of the World towards "overthrowing the government," and "violence and +destruction" would discourage the terrorists from attempting such a +flagrant and brutal injustice as the one contemplated.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">"Oily" Abel</p> + +<p>Suave and slimy as a snake; without any of the kindlier traits of +nature, W.H. Abel, sounded the gamut of rottenness in his efforts to +convict the accused men without the semblance of a fair trial. Abel is +notorious throughout Washington as the hireling of the lumber interests. +In 1917 he prosecuted "without fee" all laboring men on strike and is +attorney for the Cosmopolis "penitentiary" so called on account of the +brutality with which it treats employes. Located in one of the small towns +of the state Abel has made a fortune prosecuting labor cases for the +special interests.</p></div> + +<p>Regarding the deportation of I.W.W.'s for belonging to an organization +which advocates such things, Secretary of Labor Wilson had stated a short +time previously: "An exhaustive study into the by-laws and practices of +the I.W.W. has thus far failed to disclose anything that brings it within +the class of organizations referred to."</p> + +<p>Other of the loggers were buoyed up with the many victories won in the +courts on "criminal syndicalism" charges and felt that the raid would be +too "raw" a thing for the lumber interests even to consider. All were +secure in the knowledge and assurance that they were violating no law in +keeping open their hall. And they wanted that hall kept open.</p> + +<p>Of course the question of what was to be done was discussed at their +business meetings. When news reached them on November 4th of the +contemplated "parade" they decided to publish a leaflet telling the +Citizens of Centralia about the justice and legality of their position, +the aims of their organization and the real reason for the intense hatred +which the lumber trust harbored against them. Such leaflet was drawn up by +Secretary Britt Smith and approved by the membership. It was an honest, +outspoken appeal for public sympathy and support. This leaflet--word for +word as it was printed and circulated in Centralia--is reprinted below:</p> + +<h2>To the Citizens of Centralia We Must Appeal</h2> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Chief Fink</p> + +<p>Frank P. Christensen, who was the "fixer" for the prosecution. As +Assistant Attorney General he used his office to intimidate witnesses and +in the effort to cover up actions of the mob. He is reported to have been +responsible for the recovery and burial of Everest's body, saying: "We've +got to bring in that body and bury it. If the wobs ever find out what was +done and get it they'll raise hell and make capital of it."</p></div> + +<p>"To the law abiding citizens of Centralia and to the working class in +general: We beg of you to read and carefully consider the following:</p> + +<p>"The profiteering class of Centralia have of late been waving the flag +of our country in an endeavor to incite the lawless element of our city to +raid our hall and club us out of town. For this purpose they have inspired +editorials in the Hub, falsely and viciously attacking the I.W.W., hoping +to gain public approval for such revolting criminality. These profiteers +are holding numerous secret meetings to that end, and covertly inviting +returned service men to do their bidding. In this work they are ably +assisted by the bankrupt lumber barons of southwest Washington who led the +mob that looted and burned the I.W.W. hall a year ago.</p> + +<p>"These criminal thugs call us a band of outlaws bent on destruction. +This they do in an attempt to hide their own dastardly work in burning our +hall and destroying our property. They say we are a menace; and we are a +menace to all mobocrats and pilfering thieves. Never did the I.W.W. burn +public or private halls, kidnap their fellow citizens, destroy their +property, club their fellows out of town, bootleg or act in any ways as +law-breakers. These patriotic profiteers throughout the country have +falsely and with out any foundation whatever charged the I.W.W. with every +crime on the statute books. For these alleged crimes thousands of us have +been jailed in foul and filthy cells throughout this country, often +without charge, for months and in some cases, years, and when released +re-arrested and again thrust in jail to await a trial that is never +called. The only convictions of the I.W.W. were those under the espionage +law, where we were forced to trial before jurors, all of whom were at +political and industrial enmity toward us, and in courts hostile to the +working class. This same class of handpicked courts and juries also +convicted many labor leaders, socialists, non-partisans, pacifists, guilty +of no crime save that of loyalty to the working class.</p> + +<p>"By such courts Jesus the Carpenter was slaughtered upon the charge +that 'he stirreth up the people.' Only last month 25 I.W.W. were indicted +in Seattle as strike leaders, belonging to an unlawful organization, +attempting to overthrow the government and other vile things under the +syndicalist law passed by the last legislature. To exterminate the +'wobbly' both the court and jury have the lie to every charge. The court +held them a lawful organization and their literature was not disloyal nor +inciting to violence, though the government had combed the country from +Chicago to Seattle for witnesses, and used every pamphlet taken from their +hall in government raids.</p> + +<p>"In Spokane 13 members were indicted in the Superior Court for wearing +the I.W.W. button and displaying their emblem. The jury unanimously +acquitted them and the court held it no crime.</p> + +<p>"In test cases last month both in the Seattle and Everett Superior +Courts, the presiding judge declared the police had no authority in law to +close their halls and the padlocks were ordered off and the halls +opened.</p> + +<p>"Many I.W.W. in and around Centralia went to France and fought and bled +for the democracy they never secured. They came home to be threatened with +mob violence by the law and order outfit that pilfered every nickel +possible from their mothers and fathers while they were fighting in the +trenches in the thickest of the fray.</p> + +<p>"Our only crime is solidarity, loyalty to the working class and justice +to the oppressed."</p> + +<h2>"Let the Men in Uniform Do It"</h2> + +<p>On November 6th, the Centralia Post of the American Legion met with a +committee from the Chamber of Commerce to arrange for a parade-another +"patriotic" parade. The first anniversary of the signing of the armistice +was now but a few days distant and Centralia felt it incumbent upon +herself to celebrate. Of course the matter was brought up rather +circumspectly, but knowing smiles greeted the suggestion. One business man +made a motion that the brave boys wear their uniforms. This was agreed +upon.</p> + +<p>The line of march was also discussed. As the union hall was a little +off the customary parade route, Scales suggested that their course lead +past the hall "in order to show them how strong we are." It was intimated +that a command "eyes right" would be given as the legionaries and business +men passed the union headquarters. This was merely a poor excuse of the +secret committeemen to get the parade where they needed it. But many +innocent men were lured into a "lynching bee" without knowing that they +were being led to death by a hidden gang of broad-cloth conspirators who +were plotting at murder. Lieutenant Cormier, who afterwards blew the +whistle that was the signal for the raid, endorsed the proposal of Scales +as did Grimm and McElfresh--all three of them secret committeemen.</p> + +<p>Practically no other subject but the "parade" was discussed at this +meeting. The success of the project was now assured for it had placed into +the hands of the men who alone could arrange to "have the men in uniform +do it." The men in uniform had done it once before and people knew what to +expect.</p> + +<p>The day following this meeting the Centralia Hub published an +announcement of the coming event stating that the legionaires had "voted +to wear uniforms." The line of march was published for the first time. Any +doubts about the real purpose of the parade vanished when people read that +the precession was to march from the City Park to Third street and Tower +avenue and return. The union hall was on Tower between Second and Third +streets, practically at the end of the line of march and plainly the +objective of the demonstrators.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bridge from which Everest Was Hanged</p> + +<p>From this bridge, over the Chehalis river, Wesley Everest was left +dangling by a mob of business men. Automobile parties visited this spot at +different times during the night and played their headlights on the corpse +in order better to enjoy the spectacle.</p></div> + +<h2>"Decent Labor"--Hands Off!</h2> + +<p>A short time after the shooting a virulent leaflet was issued by the +Mayor's office stating that the "plot to kill had been laid two or three +weeks before the tragedy," and that "the attack (of the loggers) was +without justification or excuse." Both statements are bare faced lies. The +meeting was held the 6th and the line of march made public of the 7th. The +loggers could not possibly have planned a week and a half previously to +shoot into a parade they knew nothing about and whose line of march had +not yet been disclosed. It was proved in court that the union men armed +themselves at the very last moment, after everything else had failed and +they had been left helpless to face the alternative of being driven out of +town or being lynched.</p> + +<p>About this time eyewitnesses declare coils of rope were being purchased +in a local hardware store. This rope is all cut up into little pieces now +and most of it is dirty and stained. But many of Centralia's best families +prize their souvenir highly. They say it brings good luck to a family.</p> + +<p>A few days after the meeting just described William Dunning, vice +president of the Lewis County Trades and Labor Assembly, met Warren Grimm +on the street. Having fresh in his mind a recent talk about the raid in +the Labor Council meetings, and being well aware of Grimm's standing and +influence, Dunning broached the subject.</p> + +<p>"We've been discussing the threatened raid on the I.W.W. hall," he +said.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, an I.W.W.?" asked Grimm.</p> + +<p>Dunning replied stating that he was vice president of the Labor +Assembly and proceeded to tell Grimm the feeling of his organization on +the subject.</p> + +<p>"Decent labor ought to keep its hands off," was Grimm's laconic +reply.</p> + +<p>The Sunday before the raid a public meeting was held in the union hall. +About a hundred and fifty persons were in the audience, mostly working men +and women of Centralia. A number of loggers were present, dressed in the +invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes. John Foss, an +I.W.W. ship builder from Seattle, was the speaker. Secretary Britt Smith +was chairman. Walking up and down the isle, selling the union's pamphlets +and papers was a muscular and sun-burned young man with a rough, honest +face and a pair of clear hazel eyes in which a smile was always twinkling. +He wore a khaki army coat above stagged overalls of a slightly darker +shade,--Wesley Everest, the ex-soldier who was shortly to be mutilated and +lynched by the mob.</p> + +<h2>"I Hope to Jesus Nothing Happens"</h2> + +<p>The atmosphere of the meeting was already tainted with the Terror. +Nerves were on edge. Every time any newcomer would enter the door the +audience would look over their shoulders with apprehensive glances. At the +conclusion of the meeting the loggers gathered around the secretary and +asked him the latest news about the contemplated raid. For reply Britt +Smith handed them copies of the leaflet "We Must Appeal" and told of the +efforts that had been made and were being made to secure legal protection +and to let the public know the real facts in the case.</p> + +<p>"If they raid the hall again as they did in 1918 the boys won't stand +for it," said a logger.</p> + +<p>"If the law won't protect us we've got a right to protect ourselves," +ventured another.</p> + +<p>"I hope to Jesus nothing happens," replied the secretary.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest laid down his few unsold papers, rolled a brown paper +cigarette and smiled enigmatically over the empty seats in the general +direction of the new One Big Union label on the front window. His closest +friends say he was never afraid of anything in all his life.</p> + +<p>None of these men knew that loggers from nearby camps, having heard of +the purchase of the coils of rope, were watching the hall night and day to +see that "nothing happens."</p> + +<p>The next day, after talking things over with Britt Smith, Mrs. +McAllister, wife of the proprietor of the Roderick hotel from whom the +loggers rented the hall, went to see Chief of Police Hughes. This is how +she told of the interview:</p> + +<p>"I got worried and I went to the Chief. I says to him 'Are you +going to protect my property?' Hughes says, 'We'll do the best we can +for you, but as far as the wobblies are concerned they wouldn't last +fifteen minutes if the business men start after them. The business men +don't want any wobblies in this town.'"</p> + +<p>The day before the tragedy Elmer Smith dropped in at the Union hall to +warn his clients that nothing could now stop the raid. "Defend it if you +choose to do so," he told them. "The law gives you that right."</p> + +<p>It was on the strength of this remark, overheard by the stool-pigeon, +Morgan, and afterwards reported to the prosecution, that Elmer Smith was +hailed to prison charged with murder in the first degree. His enemies had +been certain all along that his incomprehensible delusion about the law +being the same for the poor man as the rich would bring its own +punishment. It did; there can no longer be any doubt on the subject.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Carting Away Wesley Everest's Body for Burial</p> + +<p>After the mutilated body had been cut down in laid in the river for two +days. Then it was taken back to the city jail where it remained for two +days more--as an object lesson--in plain view of the comrades of the +murdered boy. Everest was taken from this building to be lynched. During +the first week after the tragedy this jail witnessed scenes of torture and +horror that equaled the worst days of the Spanish inquisition.</p></div> + +<h2>The Scorpion's Sting</h2> + +<p>November 11th was a raw, gray day; the cold sunlight barely +penetrating the mist that hung over the city and the distant tree-clad +hills. The "parade" assembled at the City Park. Lieutenant Cormier was +marshal. Warren Grimm was commander of the Centralia division. In a very +short time he had the various bodies arranged to his satisfaction. At the +head of the procession was the "two-fisted" Centralia bunch. This was +followed by one from Chehalis, the county seat, and where the parade would +logically have been held had its purpose been an honest one. Then came a +few sailors and marines and a large body of well dressed gentlemen from +the Elks. The school children who were to have marched did not appear. At +the very end were a couple of dozen boy scouts and an automobile carrying +pretty girls dressed in Red Cross uniforms. Evidently this parade, unlike +the one of 1918, did not, like a scorpion, carry its sting in the rear. +But wait until you read how cleverly this part of it had been +arranged!</p> + +<p>The marchers were unduly silent and those who knew nothing of the +lawless plan of the secret committee felt somehow that something must be +wrong. City Postmaster McCleary and a wicked-faced old man named Thompson +were seen carrying coils of rope. Thompson is a veteran of the Civil War +and a minister of God. On the witness stand he afterwards swore he picked +up the rope from the street and was carrying it "as a joke." It turned out +that the "joke" was on Wesley Everest.</p> + +<p>"Be ready for the command 'eyes right' or 'eyes left' when we pass the +'reviewing stand'," Grimm told the platoon commanders just as the parade +started.</p> + +<p>The procession covered most of the line of march without incident. When +the union hall was reached there was some craning of necks but no outburst +of any kind. A few of the out-of-town paraders looked at the place +curiously and several business men were seen pointing the hall out to +their friends. There were some dark glances and a few long noses but no +demonstration.</p> + +<p>"When do we reach the reviewing stand?" asked a parader, named Joe +Smith, of a man marching beside him.</p> + +<p>"Hell, there ain't any reviewing stand," was the reply. "We're going to +give the wobbly hall 'eyes right' on the way back."</p> + +<p>The head of the columns reached Third avenue and halted. A command of +'about face' was given and the procession again started to march past the +union hall going in the opposite direction. The loggers inside felt +greatly relieved as they saw the crowd once more headed for the city. But +the Centralia and Chehalis contingents, that had headed the parade, was +now in the rear--just where the "scorpion sting" of the 1918 parade had +been located! The danger was not yet over.</p> + +<h2>"Let's go! At 'em, boys!"</h2> + +<p>The Chehalis division had marched past the hall and the Centralia +division was just in front of it when a sharp command was given. The +latter stopped squarely in front of the hall but the former continued to +march. Lieutenant Cormier of the secret committee was riding between the +two contingents on a bay horse. Suddenly he placed his fingers to his +mouth and gave a shrill whistle. Immediately there was a hoarse cry of +"Let's go-o-o! At 'em, boys!" About sixty feet separated the two +contingents at this time, the Chehalis men still continuing the march. +Cromier spurred his horse and overtook them. "Aren't you boys in on this?" +he shouted.</p> + +<p>At the words "Let's go," the paraders from both ends and the middle of +the Centralia contingent broke ranks and started on the run for the union +headquarters. A crowd of soldiers surged against the door. There was a +crashing of glass and a splintering of wood as the door gave way. A few of +the marauders had actually forced their way into the hall. Then there was +a shot, three more shots ... and a small volley. From Seminary hill and the +Avalon hotel rifles began to crack.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Elks Club, Centralia</p> + +<p>It was here that the Centralia conspiracy was hatched and the notorious +"secret committee" appointed to do the dirty work.</p></div> + +<p>The mob stopped suddenly, astounded at the unexpected opposition. Out +of hundreds of halls that had been raided during the past two years this +was the first time the union men had attempted to defend themselves. It +had evidently been planned to stampede the entire contingent into the +attack by having the secret committeemen take the lead from both ends and +the middle. But before this could happen the crowd, frightened at the +shots started to scurry for cover. Two men were seen carrying the limp +figure of a soldier from the door of the hall. When the volley started +they dropped it and ran. The soldier was a handsome young man, named +Arthur McElfresh. He was left lying in front of the hall with his feet on +the curb and his head in the gutter. The whole thing had been a matter of +seconds.</p> + +<h2>"I Had No Business Being There"</h2> + +<p>Several men had been wounded. A pool of blood was widening in front of +the doorway. A big man in officer's uniform was seen to stagger away bent +almost double and holding his hands over his abdomen. "My God, I'm shot!" +he had cried to the soldier beside him. This was Warren O. Grimm; the +other was his friend, Frank Van Gilder. Grimm walked unassisted to the +rear of a nearby soft drink place from whence he was taken to a hospital. +He died a short time afterwards. Van Gilder swore on the witness stand +that Grimm and himself were standing at the head of the columns of +"unoffending paraders" when his friend was shot. He stated that Grimm had +been his life-long friend but admitted that when his "life-long friend" +received his mortal wound that he (Van Gilder), instead of acting like a +hero in no man's land, had deserted him in precipitate haste. Too many eye +witnesses had seen Grimm stagger wounded from the doorway of the hall to +suit the prosecution. Van Gilder knew at which place Grimm had been shot +but it was necessary that he be placed at a convenient distance from the +hall. It is reported on good authority that Grimm, just before he died in +the hospital, confessed to a person at his bedside: "It served me right, I +had no business being there."</p> + +<p>A workingman, John Patterson, had come down town on Armistice Day with +his three small children to watch the parade. He was standing thirty-five +feet from the door of the hall when the raid started. On the witness stand +Patterson told of being pushed out of the way by the rush before the +shooting began. He saw a couple of soldiers shot and saw Grimm stagger +away from the doorway wounded in the abdomen. The testimony of Dr. +Bickford at the corner's inquest under oath was as follows:</p> + +<p>"I spoke up and said I would lead if enough would follow, but before I +could take the lead there were many ahead of me. Someone next to me put +his foot against the door and forced it open, after which a shower of +bullets poured through the opening about us." Dr. Bickford is an A.E.F. +man and one of the very few legionaires who dared to tell the truth about +the shooting. The Centralia business element has since tried repeatedly to +ruin him.</p> + +<p>In trying to present the plea of self defense to the court, Defense +attorney Vanderveer stated:</p> + +<p>"There was a rush, men reached the hall under the command of Grimm, and +yet counsel asks to have shown a specific overt act of Grimm before we can +present the plea of self-defense. Would he have had the men wait with +their lives at stake? The fact is that Grimm was there and in defending +themselves these men shot. Grimm was killed because he was there. They +could not wait. Your honor, self defense isn't much good after a man is +dead."</p> + +<p>The prosecution sought to make a point of the fact that the loggers had +fired into a street in which there were innocent bystanders as well as +paraders. But the fact remains that the only men hit by bullets were those +who were in the forefront of the mob.</p> + +<h2>Through the Hall Window</h2> + +<p>How the raid looked from the inside of the hall can best be described +from the viewpoint of one of the occupants, Bert Faulkner, a union logger +and ex-service man. Faulkner described how he had dropped in at the hall +on Armistice Day and stood watching the parade from the window. In words +all the more startling for their sheer artlessness he told of the events +which followed: First the grimacing faces of the business men, then as the +soldiers returned, a muffled order, the smashing of the window, with the +splinters of glass falling against the curtain, the crashing open of the +door ... and the shots that "made his ears ring," and made him run for +shelter to the rear of the hall, with the shoulder of his overcoat torn +with a bullet. Then how he found himself on the back stairs covered with +rifles and commanded to come down with his hands in the air. Finally how +he was frisked to the city jail in an automobile with a business man +standing over him armed with a piece of gas pipe.</p> + +<p>Eugene Barnett gave a graphic description of the raid as he saw it from +the office of the adjoining Roderick hotel. Barnett said he saw the line +go past the hotel. The business men were ahead of the soldiers and as this +detachment passed the hotel returning the soldiers still were going north. +The business men were looking at the hall and pointing it out to the +soldiers. Some of them had their thumbs to their noses and others were +saying various things.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">City Park, Centralia</p> + +<p>At this place the parade assembled that started out to raid the Union +hall and lynch its secretary.</p></div> + +<p>"When the soldiers turned and came past I saw a man on horseback ride +past. He was giving orders which were repeated along the line by another. +As the rider passed the hotel he gave a command and the second man said: +'Bunch up, men!'</p> + +<p>"When this order came the men all rushed for the hall. I heard glass +break. I heard a door slam. There was another sound and then shooting +came. It started from inside the hall.</p> + +<p>"As I saw these soldiers rush the hall I jumped up and threw off my +coat. I thought there would be a fight and I was going to mix in. Then +came the shooting, and I knew I had no business there."</p> + +<p>Later Barnett went home and remained there until his arrest the next +day.</p> + +<p>In the union hall, besides Bert Faulkner, were Wesley Everest, Roy +Becker, Britt Smith, Mike Sheehan, James McInerney and the "stool pigeon," +these, with the exception of Faulkner and Everest, remained in the hall +until the authorities came to place them under arrest. They had after the +first furious rush of their assailants, taken refuge in a big and long +disused ice box in the rear of the hall. Britt Smith was unarmed, his +revolver being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk. After +their arrest the loggers were taken to the city jail which was to be the +scene of an inquisition unparalleled in the history of the United States. +After this, as an additional punishment, they were compelled to face the +farce of a "fair trial" in a capitalistic court.</p> + +<h2>Wesley Everest</h2> + +<p>But Destiny had decided to spare one man the bitter irony of judicial +murder. Wesley Everest still had a pocket full of cartridges and a +forty-four automatic that could speak for itself.</p> + +<p>This soldier-lumberjack had done most of the shooting in the hall. He +held off the mob until the very last moment, and, instead of seeking +refuge in the refrigerator after the "paraders" had been dispersed, he ran +out of the back door, reloading his pistol as he went. It is believed by +many that Arthur McElfresh was killed inside the hall by a bullet fired by +Everest.</p> + +<p>In the yard at the rear of the hall the mob had already reorganized for +an attack from that direction. Before anyone knew what had happened +Everest had broken through their ranks and scaled the fence. "Don't follow +me and I won't shoot," he called to the crowd and displaying the still +smoking blue steel pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>"There goes the secretary!" yelled someone, as the logger started at +top speed down the alley. The mob surged in pursuit, collapsing the board +fence before them with sheer force of numbers. There was a rope in the +crowd and the union secretary was the man they wanted. The chase that +followed probably saved the life, not only of Britt Smith, but the +remaining loggers in the hall as well.</p> + +<p>Running pell-mell down the alley the mob gave a shout of exaltation as +Everest slowed his pace and turned to face them. They stopped cold, +however, as a number of quick shots rang out and bullets whistled and +zipped around them. Everest turned in his tracks and was off again like a +flash, reloading his pistol as he ran. The mob again resumed the pursuit. +The logger ran through an open gateway, paused to turn and again fire at +his pursuers; then he ran between two frame dwellings to the open street. +When the mob again caught the trail they were evidently under the +impression that the logger's ammunition was exhausted. At all events they +took up the chase with redoubled energy. Some men in the mob had rifles +and now and then a pot-shot would be taken at the fleeing figure. The +marksmanship of both sides seems to have been poor for no one appears to +have been injured.</p> + +<h2>Dale Hubbard</h2> + +<p>This kind of running fight was kept up until Everest reached the river. +Having kept off his pursuers thus far the boy started boldly for the +comparative security of the opposite shore, splashing the water violently +as he waded out into the stream. The mob was getting closer all the time. +Suddenly Everest seemed to change his mind and began to retrace his steps +to the shore. Here he stood dripping wet in the tangled grasses to await +the arrival of the mob bent on his destruction. Everest had lost his hat +and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. His gun was now so hot he could +hardly hold it and the last of his ammunition was in the magazine. Eye +witnesses declare his face still wore a quizzical, half bantering smile +when the mob overtook him. With the pistol held loosely in his rough hand +Everest stood at bay, ready to make a last stand for his life. Seeing him +thus, and no doubt thinking his last bullet had been expended, the mob +made a rush for its quarry.</p> + +<p>"Stand back!" he shouted. "If there are 'bulls' in the crowd, I'll +submit to arrest; otherwise lay off of me."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Blind Tom Lassiter</p> + +<p>Tom Lassiter is the blind news dealer who Was kidnapped and deported +out of town in June, 1919, by a gang of business men. His stand was raided +and the contents burned in the street. He had been selling The Seattle +Union Record, The Industrial Worker and Solidarity. County attorney Allen +said he couldn't help to apprehend the criminals and would only charge +them with third degree assault if they were found. The fine would be one +dollar and costs! Lassiter is now in jail in Chehalis charged with +"criminal syndicalism."</p></div> + +<p>No attention was paid to his words. Everest shot from the hip four +times,--then his gun stalled. A group of soldiers started to run in his +direction. Everest was tugging at the gun with both hands. Raising it +suddenly he took careful aim and fired. All the soldiers but one wavered +and stopped. Everest fired twice, both bullets taking effect. Two more +shots were fired almost point blank before the logger dropped his +assailant at his feet. Then he tossed away the empty gun and the mob +surged upon him.</p> + +<p>The legionaire who had been shot was Dale Hubbard, a nephew of F.B. +Hubbard, the lumber baron. He was a strong, brave and misguided young +man--worthy of a nobler death.</p> + +<h2>"Let's Finish the Job!"</h2> + +<p>Everest attempted a fight with his fists but was overpowered and +severely beaten. A number of men clamoured for immediate lynching, but +saner council prevailed for the time and he was dragged through the +streets towards the city jail. When the mob was half a block from this +place the "hot heads" made another attempt to cheat the state executioner. +A wave of fury seemed here to sweep the crowd. Men fought with one another +for a chance to strike, kick or spit in the face of their victim. It was +an orgy of hatred and blood-lust. Everest's arms were pinioned, blows, +kicks and curses rained upon him from every side. One business man clawed +strips of bleeding flesh from his face. A woman slapped his battered cheek +with a well groomed hand. A soldier tried to lunge a hunting rifle at the +helpless logger; the crowd was too thick. He bumped them aside with the +butt of the gun to get room. Then he crashed the muzzle with full force +into Everest's mouth. Teeth were broken and blood flowed profusely.</p> + +<p>A rope appeared from somewhere. "Let's finish the job!" cried a voice. +The rope was placed about the neck of the logger. "You haven't got guts +enough to lynch a man in the daytime," was all he said.</p> + +<p>At this juncture a woman brushed through the crowd and took the rope +from Everest's neck. Looking into the distorted faces of the mob she cried +indignantly, "You are curs and cowards to treat a man like that!"</p> + +<p>There may be human beings in Centralia after all.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest was taken to the city jail and thrown without ceremony +upon the cement floor of the "bull pen." In the surrounding cells were his +comrades who had been arrested in the union hall. Here he lay in a wet +heap, twitching with agony. A tiny bright stream of blood gathered at his +side and trailed slowly along the floor. Only an occasional quivering moan +escaped his torn lips as the hours slowly passed by.</p> + +<h2>"Here Is Your Man"</h2> + +<p>Later, at night, when it was quite dark, the lights of the jail were +suddenly snapped off. At the same instant the entire city was plunged in +darkness. A clamour of voices was heard beyond the walls. There was a +hoarse shout as the panel of the outer door was smashed in. "Don't shoot, +men," said the policemen on guard, "Here is your man." It was night now, +and the business men had no further reason for not lynching the supposed +secretary. Everest heard their approaching foot steps in the dark. He +arose drunkenly to meet them. "Tell the boys I died for my class," he +whispered brokenly to the union men in the cells. These were the last +words he uttered in the jail. There were sounds of a short struggle and of +many blows. Then a door slammed and, in a short time the lights were +switched on. The darkened city was again illuminated at the same moment. +Outside three luxurious automobiles were purring them selves out of sight +in the darkness.</p> + +<p>The only man who had protested the lynching at the last moment was +William Scales. "Don't kill him, men," he is said to have begged of the +mob. But it was too late. "If you don't go through with this you're an +I.W.W. too," they told him. Scales could not calm the evil passions he had +helped to arouse.</p> + +<p>But how did it happen that the lights were turned out at such an +opportune time? Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove +with the lynch mob?</p> + +<p>Defense Attorney Vanderveer offered to prove to the court that such was +the case. He offered to prove this was a part of the greater conspiracy +against the union loggers and their hall,--offered to prove it point by +point from the very beginning. Incidentally Vanderveer offered to prove +that Earl Craft, electrician in charge of the city lighting plant, had +left the station at seven o'clock on Armistice day after securely locking +the door; and that while Craft was away the lights of the city were turned +off and Wesley Everest taken out and lynched. Furthermore, he offered to +prove that when Craft returned, the lights were again turned on and the +city electrician, his assistant and the Mayor of Centralia were in the +building with the door again locked.</p> + +<p>These offers were received by his honor with impassive judicial +dignity, but the faces of the lumber trust attorneys were wreathed with +smiles at the audacity of the suggestion. The corporation lawyers very +politely registered their objections which the judge as politely +sustained.</p> + +<h2>The Night of Horrors</h2> + +<p>After Everest had been taken away the jail became a nightmare--as full +of horrors as a madman's dream. The mob howled around the walls until late +in the night. Inside, a lumber trust lawyer and his official assistants +were administering the "third degree" to the arrested loggers, to make +them "confess." One at a time the men were taken to the torture chamber, +and so terrible was the ordeal of this American Inquisition that some were +almost broken--body and soul. Loren Roberts had the light in his brain +snuffed out. Today he is a shuffling wreck. He is not interested in things +any more. He is always looking around with horror-wide eyes, talking of +"voices" and "wires" that no one but himself knows anything about. There +is no telling what they did to the boy, but he signed the "confession." +Its most incriminating statement must have contained too much truth for +the prosecution. It was never used in court.</p> + +<p>When interviewed by Frank Walklin of the Seattle Union Record the +loggers told the story in their own way:</p> + +<p>"I have heard tales of cruelty," said James McInerney, "but I believe +what we boys went through on those nights can never be equaled. I thought +it was my last night on earth and had reconciled myself to an early death +of some kind, perhaps hanging. I was taken out once by the mob, and a rope +was placed around my neck and thrown over a cross-bar or something.</p> + +<p>"I waited for them to pull the rope. But they didn't. I heard voices in +the mob say, 'That's not him,' and then I was put back into the jail."</p> + +<p>John Hill Lamb, another defendant, related how several times a gun was +poked through his cell window by some one who was aching to get a pot shot +at him. Being ever watchful he hid under his bunk and close to the wall +where the would-be murderer could not see him.</p> + +<p>Britt Smith and Roy Becker told with bated breath about Everest as he +lay half-dead in the corridor, in plain sight of the prisoners in the +cells on both sides. The lights went out and Everest, unconscious and +dying, was taken out. The men inside could hear the shouts of the mob +diminishing as Everest was hurried to the Chehalis River bridge.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Bert Bland</p> + +<p>Logger. American. (Brother of O.C. Bland.) One of the men who fired +from Seminary Hill. Bland has worked all his life in the woods. He joined +the Industrial Workers of the World during the great strike of 1917. Bert +Bland took to the hills after the shooting and was captured a week later +during the man hunt.</p></div> + +<p>None of the prisoners was permitted to sleep that night; the fear of +death was kept upon them constantly, the voices outside the cell windows +telling of more lynchings to come. "Every time I heard a footstep or the +clanking of keys," said Britt Smith, "I thought the mob was coming after +more of us. I didn't sleep, couldn't sleep; all I could do was strain my +ears for the mob I felt sure was coming." Ray Becker, listening at Britt's +side, said: "Yes, that was one hell of a night." And the strain of that +night seems to linger in their faces; probably it always will remain--the +expression of a memory that can never be blotted out.</p> + +<p>When asked if they felt safer when the soldiers arrived to guard the +Centralia jail, there was a long pause, and finally the answer was "Yes." +"But you must remember," offered one, "that they took 'em out at Tulsa +from a supposedly guarded jail; and we couldn't know from where we were +what was going on outside."</p> + +<p>"For ten days we had no blankets," said Mike Sheehan. "It was cold +weather, and we had to sleep uncovered on concrete floors. In those ten +days I had no more than three hours sleep."</p> + +<p>"The mob and those who came after the mob wouldn't let us sleep. They +would come outside our windows and hurl curses at us, and tell each of us +it would be our turn next. They brought in Wesley Everest and laid him on +the corridor floor; he was bleeding from his ears and mouth and nose, was +curled in a heap and groaning. And men outside and inside kept up the din. +I tried to sleep; I was nearly mad; my temples kept pounding like +sledge-hammers. I don't know how a man can go through all that and +live--but we did."</p> + +<p>All through the night the prisoners could hear the voices of the mob +under their cell windows. "Well, we fixed that guy Everest all right," +some one would say. "Now we'll get Roberts." Then the lights would snap +off, there would be a shuffling, curses, a groan and the clanking of a +steel door. All the while they were being urged to "come clean" with a +statement that would clear the lumber trust of the crime and throw the +blame onto its victims. McInerney's neck was scraped raw by the rope of +the mob but he repeatedly told them to "go to hell!" Morgan, the +stool-pigeon, escaped the torture by immediate acquiescence. Someone has +since paid his fare To parts unknown. His "statement" didn't damage the +defense.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Ray Becker</p> + +<p>Logger, American born. Twenty-five years of age. Studied four years for +the ministry before going to work in the woods. His father and brother are +both preachers. Becker joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 +and has always been a strong believer in the cause of the solidarity of +Labor. He has the zeal of a prophet and the courage of a lion. Defended +himself inside the hall with an Ivor Johnson, 38, until his ammunition was +exhausted. He surrendered to the authorities--not the mob.</p></div> + +<h2>The Human Fiend</h2> + +<p>But with the young logger who had been taken out into the night things +were different. Wesley Everest was thrown, half unconscious, into the +bottom of an automobile. The hands of the men who had dragged him there +were sticky and red. Their pant legs were sodden from rubbing against the +crumpled figure at their feet. Through the dark streets sped the three +machines. The smooth asphalt became a rough road as the suburbs were +reached. Then came a stretch of open country, with the Chehalis river +bridge only a short distance ahead. The cars lurched over the uneven road +with increasing speed, their headlights playing on each other or on the +darkened highway.</p> + +<p>Wesley Everest stirred uneasily. Raising himself slowly on one elbow he +swung weakly with his free arm, striking one of his tormentors full in the +face. The other occupants immediately seized him and bound his hands and +feet with rope. It must have been the glancing blow from the fist of the +logger that gave one of the gentlemen his fiendish inspiration. Reaching +in his pocket he produced a razor. For a moment he fumbled over the now +limp figure in the bottom of the car. His companions looked on with stolid +acquiescence. Suddenly there was a piercing scream of pain. The figure +gave a convulsive shudder of agony. After a moment Wesley Everest said in +a weak voice: "For Christ's sake, men; shoot me--don't let me suffer like +this."</p> + +<p>On the way back to Centralia, after the parade rope had done Its deadly +work, the gentlemen of the razor alighted from the car in front of a +certain little building. He asked leave to wash his hands. They were as +red as a butcher's. Great clots of blood were adhering to his sleeves. +"That's about the nastiest job I ever had to do," was his casual remark as +he washed himself in the cool clear water of the Washington hills. The +name of this man is known to nearly everybody in Centralia. He is still at +large.</p> + +<p>The headlight of the foremost car was now playing on the slender steel +framework of the Chehalis river bridge. This machine crossed over and +stopped, the second one reached the middle of the bridge and stopped while +the third came to a halt when it had barely touched the plankwork on the +near side. The well-dressed occupants of the first and last cars alighted +and proceeded at once to patrol both approaches to the bridge.</p> + +<h2>Lynching--An American Institution</h2> + +<p>Wesley Everest was dragged out of the middle machine. A rope was +attached to a girder with the other end tied in a noose around his neck. +His almost lifeless body was hauled to the side of the bridge. The +headlights of two of the machines threw a white light over the horrible +scene. Just as the lynchers let go of their victim the fingers of the half +dead logger clung convulsively to the planking of the bridge. A business +man stamped on them with a curse until the grip was broken. There was a +swishing sound; then a sudden crunching jerk and the rope tied to the +girder began to writhe and twist like a live thing. This lasted but a +short time. The lynchers peered over the railing into the darkness. Then +they slowly pulled up the dead body, attached a longer rope and repeated +the performance. This did not seem to suit them either, so they again +dragged the corpse through the railings and tied a still longer rope +around the horribly broken neck of the dead logger. The business men were +evidently enjoying their work, and besides, the more rope the more +souvenirs for their friends, who would prize them highly.</p> + +<p>This time the knot was tied by a young sailor. He knew how to tie a +good knot and was proud of the fact. He boasted of the stunt afterwards to +a man he thought as beastly as himself. In all probability he never +dreamed he was talking for publication. But he was.</p> + +<p>The rope had now been lengthened to about fifteen feet. The broken and +gory body was kicked through the railing for the last time. The knot on +the girder did not move any more. Then the lynchers returned to their +luxurious cars and procured their rifles. A headlight flashed the dangling +figure into ghastly relief. It was riddled with volley after volley. The +man who fired the first shot boasted of the deed afterwards to a brother +lodge member. He didn't know he was talking for publication either.</p> + +<p>On the following morning the corpse was cut down by an unknown hand. It +drifted away with the current. A few hours later Frank Christianson, a +tool of the lumber trust from the Attorney General's office, arrived in +Centralia. "We've got to get that body," this worthy official declared, +"or the wobs will find it and raise hell over its condition."</p> + +<p>The corpse was located after a search. It was not buried, however, but +carted back to the city jail, there to be used as a terrible object lesson +for the benefit of the incarcerated union men. The unrecognizable form was +placed in a cell between two of the loggers who had loved the lynched boy +as a comrade and a friend. Something must be done to make the union men +admit that they, and not the lumber interests, had conspired to commit +murder. This was the final act of ruthlessness. It was fruitful in +results. One "confession," one Judas and one shattered mind were the +result of their last deed of fiendish terrorism.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">The Burial of the Mob's Victim</p> + +<p>No undertaker would handle Everest's body. The autopsy was performed by +a man from Portland, who hung the body up by the heels and played a hose +on it. The men lowering the plank casket into the grave are Union loggers +who had been caught in the police drag net and taken from jail for this +purpose.</p></div> + +<p>No undertaker could be found to bury Everest's body, so after two days +it was dropped into a hole in the ground by four union loggers who had +been arrested on suspicion and were released from jail for this purpose. +The "burial" is supposed to have taken place in the new cemetery; the body +being carried thither in an auto truck. The union loggers who really dug +the grave declare, however, that the interment took place at a desolate +spot "somewhere along a railroad track." Another body was seen, covered +with ashes in a cart, being taken away for burial on the morning of the +twelfth. There are persistent rumors that more than one man was lynched on +the eve of Armistice day. A guard of heavily armed soldiers had charge of +the funeral. The grave has since been obliterated. Rumor has it that the +body has since been removed to Camp Lewis. No one seems to know why or +when.</p> + +<h2>"As Comical as a Corner"</h2> + +<p>An informal inquest was held in the city jail. A man from Portland +performed the autopsy, that is, he hung the body up by the heels and +played a water hose on it. Everest was reported by the corner's jury to +have met his death at the hands of parties unknown. It was here that Dr. +Bickford let slip the statement about the hall being raided before the +shooting started. This was the first inkling of truth to reach the public. +Coroner Livingstone, in a jocular mood, reported the inquest to a meeting +of gentlemen at the Elks' Club. In explaining the death of the union +logger, Dr. Livingstone stated that Wesley Everest had broken out of jail, +gone to the Chehalis river bridge and jumped off with a rope around his +neck. Finding the rope too short he climbed back and fastened on a longer +one; jumped off again, broke his neck and then shot himself full of holes. +Livingstone's audience, appreciative of his tact and levity, laughed long +and hearty. Business men still chuckle over the joke in Centralia. "As +funny as a funeral" is no longer the stock saying in this humorous little +town; "as comical as a coroner" is now the approved form.</p> + +<h2>The Man-Hunt</h2> + +<p>Acting on the theory that "a strong offensive is the best defense," the +terrorists took immediate steps to conceal all traces of their crime and +to shift the blame onto the shoulders of their victims. The capitalist +press did yeoman service in this cause by deluging the nation with a +veritable avalanche of lies.</p> + +<p>For days the district around Centralia and the city itself were at the +mercy of a mob. The homes of all workers suspected of being sympathetic to +Labor were spied upon or surrounded and entered without warrant. Doors +were battered down at times, and women and children abused and insulted. +Heavily armed posses were sent out in all directions in search of "reds." +All roads were patrolled by armed business men in automobiles. A strict +mail and wire censorship was established. It was the open season for +"wobblies" and intimidation was the order of the day. The White Terror was +supreme.</p> + +<p>An Associated Press reporter was compelled to leave town hastily +without bag or baggage because he inadvertently published Dr. Bickford's +indiscreet remark about the starting of the trouble. Men and women did not +dare to think, much less think aloud. Some of them in the district are +still that way.</p> + +<p>To Eugene Barnett's little home came a posse armed to the teeth. They +asked for Barnett and were told by his young wife that he had gone up the +hill with his rifle. Placing a bayonet to her breast they demanded +entrance. The brave little woman refused to admit them until they had +shown a warrant. Barnett surrendered when he had made sure he was to be +arrested and not mobbed.</p> + +<p>O.C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb and Loren Roberts were also +apprehended in due time. Two loggers, John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson, who +were said to have also fired on the mob, have not yet been arrested. A +vigorous search is still being made for them in all parts of the country. +It is believed by many that one of these men was lynched like Everest on +the night of November 11th.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Court House at Montesano--And a Little "Atmosphere"</p> + +<p>The trial was held on the third floor of the building as you look at +the picture. The soldiers were sent for over the head of the judge by one +of the lumber trust attorneys of the prosecution. Their only purpose was +to create the proper "atmosphere" for an unjust conviction.</p></div> + +<h2>Hypocrisy and Terror</h2> + +<p>The reign of terror was extended to cover the entire West coast. Over a +thousand men and women were arrested in the state of Washington alone. +Union halls were closed and kept that way. Labor papers were suppressed +and many men have been given sentences of from one to fourteen years for +having in their possession copies of periodicals which contained little +else but the truth about the Centralia tragedy. The Seattle Union Record +was temporarily closed down and its stock confiscated for daring to hint +that there were two sides to the story. During all this time the +capitalist press was given full rein to spread its infamous poison. The +general public, denied the true version of the affair, was shuddering over +its morning coffee at the thought of I.W.W. desperadoes shooting down +unoffending paraders from ambush. But the lumber interests were chortling +with glee and winking a suggestive eye at their high priced lawyers who +were making ready for the prosecution. Jurymen were shortly to be drawn +and things were "sitting pretty," as they say in poker.</p> + +<p>Adding a characteristic touch to the rotten hypocrisy of the situation +came a letter from Supreme Court Judge McIntosh to George Dysart, whose +son was in command of a posse during the manhunt. This remarkable document +is as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p align="center">Kenneth Mackintosh, Judge<br /> +The Supreme Court, State of Washington<br /> +Olympia.</p> + +<p>George Dysart, Esq.,<br /> +Centralia, Wash.<br /> +My Dear Dysart:</p> + +<p>November 13, 1919.</p> + +<p>I want to express to you my appreciation of the high character of +citizenship displayed by the people of Centralia in their agonizing +calamity. We are all shocked by the manifestation of barbarity on the part +of the outlaws, and are depressed by the loss of lives of brave men, but +at the same time are proud of the calm control and loyalty to American +ideals demonstrated by the returned soldiers and citizens. I am proud to +be an inhabitant of a state which contains a city with the record which +has been made for Centralia by its law-abiding citizens.</p> + +<p style="text-align: right"> Sincerely,<br /> +(Signed) Kenneth MacKintosh.</p> +</blockquote> + +<h2>"Patriotic" Union Smashing</h2> + +<p>Not to be outdone by this brazen example of judicial perversion, +Attorney General Thompson, after a secret conference of prosecuting +attorneys, issued a circular of advice to county prosecutors. In this +document the suggestion was made that officers and members of the +Industrial Workers of the World in Washington be arrested by the wholesale +under the "criminal syndicalism" law and brought to trial simultaneously +so that they might not be able to secure legal defense. The astounding +recommendation was also made that, owing to the fact that juries had been +"reluctant to convict," prosecutors and the Bar Association should +co-operate in examining jury panels so that "none but courageous and +patriotic Americans" secure places on the juries.</p> + +<p>This effectual if somewhat arbitrary plan was put into operation at +once. Since the tragedy at Centralia dozens of union workers have been +convicted by "courageous and patriotic" juries and sentenced to serve from +one to fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Hundreds more are +awaiting trial. The verdict at Montesano is now known to everyone. Truly +the lives of the four Legion boys which were sacrificed by the lumber +interests in furtherance of their own murderous designs, were well +expended. The investment was a profitable one and the results are no doubt +highly gratifying.</p> + +<p>But just the same the despicable plot of the Attorney General is an +obvious effort to defeat the purpose of the courts and obtain unjust +convictions by means of what is termed "jury fixing." There may be honor +among thieves but there is plainly none among the public servants they +have working for them!</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Mike Sheenan</p> + +<p>Born in Ireland. 64 years old. Has been a union man for over fifty +years, having joined his grandfather's union when he was only eight. Has +been through many strikes and has been repeatedly black-hated, beaten and +even exiled. He was a stoker in the Navy during the Spanish War. Mike +Sheehan was arrested in the Union hall, went through the horrible +experience in the city jail and was found "not guilty" by the jury. Like +Elmer Smith, he was re-arrested on another similar charge and thrown back +in jail.</p></div> + +<p>The only sane note sounded during these dark days, outside of the +startling statement of Dr. Bickford, came from Montana. Edward Bassett, +commander of the Butte Post of the American Legion and an over-seas +veteran, issued a statement to the labor press that was truly +remarkable:</p> + +<p>"The I.W.W. in Centralia, Wash., who fired upon the men that were +attempting to raid the I.W.W. headquarters, were fully justified in their +act.</p> + +<p>"Mob rule in this country must be stopped, and when mobs attack the +home of a millionaire, of a laborer, or of the I.W.W., it is not only the +right but the duty of the occupants to resist with every means in their +power. If the officers of the law can not stop these raids, perhaps the +resistance of the raided may have that effect.</p> + +<p>"Whether the I.W.W. is a meritorious organization or not, whether it is +unpopular or otherwise, should have absolutely nothing to do with the +case. The reports of the evidence at the coroner's jury show that the +attack was made before the firing started. If that is true, I commend the +boys inside for the action that they took.</p> + +<p>"The fact that there were some American Legion men among the paraders +who everlastingly disgraced themselves by taking part in the raid, does +not affect my judgment in the least. Any one who becomes a party to a mob +bent upon unlawful violence, cannot expect the truly patriotic men of the +American Legion to condone his act."</p> + +<h2>Vanderveer's Opening Speech</h2> + +<p>Defense Attorney George Vanderveer hurried across the continent from +Chicago to take up the legal battle for the eleven men who had been +arrested and charged with the murder of Warren O. Grimm. The lumber +interests had already selected six of their most trustworthy tools as +prosecutors. It is not the purpose of the present writer to give a +detailed story of this "trial"--possibly one of the greatest travesties on +justice ever staged. This incident was a very important part of the +Centralia conspiracy but a hasty sketch, such as might be portrayed in +these pages, would be an inadequate presentation at best. It might be +well, therefore, to permit Mr. Vanderveer to tell of the case as he told +it to the jury in his opening and closing arguments. Details of the trial +itself can be found in other booklets by more capable authors. +Vanderveer's opening address appears in part below:</p> + +<p>May it please the court and gentlemen of the jury:--As you have already +sensed from our examination of you and from a question which I propounded +to counsel at the close of his statement yesterday, the big question in +this case is, who was the aggressor, who started the battle? Was it on the +one side a deliberately planned murderous attack upon innocent marchers, +or was it on the other side a deliberately planned wicked attack upon the +I.W.W., which they merely resisted? That, I say, is the issue. I asked +counsel what his position would be in order that you might know it, and +that he said was his position, that he would stand and fall and be judged +by it, and I say to you now that is our position, and we will stand or +fall and be judged by that issue.</p> + +<p>In order that you may properly understand this situation, and the +things that led up to it, the motives underlying it, the manner in which +it was planned and executed, I want to go just a little way back of the +occurrence on November 11th, and state to you in rough outline the +situation that existed in Centralia, the objects that were involved in +this case, the things each are trying to accomplish and the way each went +about it. There has been some effort on the part of the state to make it +appear it is not an I.W.W. trial. I felt throughout that the I.W.W. issue +must come into this case, and now that they have made their opening +statement, I say unreservedly it is here in this case, not because we want +to drag it in here, but because it can't be left out. To conceal from you +gentlemen that it is an I.W.W. issue would be merely to conceal the truth +from you and we, on our part, don't want to do that now or at any time +hereafter.</p> + +<p>The I.W.W. is at the bottom of this. Not as an aggressor, however. It +is a labor organization, organized in Chicago in 1905, and it is because +of the philosophy for which it stands and because of certain tactics which +it evolves that this thing arose.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">James McInerney</p> + +<p>Logger. Born in County Claire, Ireland. Joined the Industrial Workers +of the World in 1916. Was wounded on the steamer "Verona" when the lumber +trust tried to exterminate the union lumberworkers with bullets at +Everett, Washington. McInerney was one of those trapped in the hall. He +surrendered to officers of the law. While in the city jail his neck was +worn raw with a hangman's rope in an effort to make him "confess" that the +loggers and not the mob had started the trouble. McInerney told them to +"go to hell." He is Irish and an I.W.W. and proud of being both.</p></div> + +<h2>A Labor Movement on Trial</h2> + +<p>The I.W.W. is the representative in this country of the labor movement +of the rest of the world It is the representative in the United States of +the idea that capitalism is wrong: that no man has a right, moral or +otherwise, to exploit his fellow men, the idea that our industrial efforts +should be conducted not for the profits of any individual but should be +conducted for social service, for social welfare. So the I.W.W. says +first, that the wage system is wrong and that it means to abolish that +wage system. It says that it intends to do this, not by political action, +not by balloting, but by organization on the industrial or economical +field, precisely as employers, precisely as capital is organized on the +basis of the industry, not on the basis of the tool. The I.W.W. says +industrial evolution has progressed to that point there the tool no longer +enforces craftsmanship. In the place of a half dozen or dozen who were +employed, each a skilled artisan, employed to do the work, you have a +machine process to do that work and it resulted in the organization of the +industry on an industrial basis. You have the oil industry, controlled by +the Standard Oil; you have the lumber industry, controlled by the +Lumbermen's Association of the South and West, and you have the steel and +copper industry, all organized on an industrial basis resulting in a +fusing, or corporation, or trust of a lot of former owners. Now the I.W.W. +say if they are to compete with our employers, we must compete with our +employers as an organization, and as they are organized so we must protect +our organization, as they protect themselves. And so they propose to +organize into industrial unions; the steel workers and the coal miners, +and the transportation workers each into its own industrial unit.</p> + +<p>This plan of organization is extremely distasteful to the employers +because it is efficient; because it means a new order, a new system in the +labor world in this country. The meaning of this can be gathered, in some +measure, from the recent experiences in the steel strike of this country, +where they acted as an industrial unit; from the recent experiences in the +coal mining industry, where they acted as an industrial unit. Instead of +having two or three dozen other crafts, each working separately, they +acted as an industrial unit. When the strike occurred it paralyzed +industry and forced concessions to the demands of the workers. That is the +first thing the I.W.W. stands for and in some measure and in part explains +the attitude capital has taken all over the country towards it.</p> + +<p>In the next place it says that labor should organize on the basis of +some fundamental principle; and labor should organize for something more +than a mere bartering and dickering for fifty cents a day or for some +shorter time, something of that sort. It says that the system is +fundamentally wrong and must be fundamentally changed before you can look +for some improvement. Its philosophy is based upon government statistics +which show that in a few years in this country our important industries +have crept into more than two-thirds of our entire wealth. Seventy-five +per cent of the workers in the basic industry are unable to send their +children to school. Seventy-one per cent of the heads of the families in +our basic industries are unable to provide a decent living for their +families without the assistance of the other members. Twenty-nine per cent +of our laborers are able to live up to the myth that he is the head of the +family. The results of these evils are manifold. Our people are not being +raised in decent vicinities. They are not being raised and educated. Their +health is not being cared for; their morals are not being cared for. I +will show you that in certain of our industries where the wages are low +and the hours are long, that the children of the working people die at the +rate of 300 to 350 per thousand inhabitants under the age of one year +because of their undernourishment, lack of proper housing and lack of +proper medical attention and because the mothers of these children before +they are born and when the children are being carried in the mother's womb +that they are compelled to go into the industries and work and work and +work, and before the child can receive proper nourishment the mother is +compelled to go back into the industry and work again. The I.W.W.'s say +there must be a fundamental change and that fundamental change must be in +the line of reorganization of industry, for public service, so that the +purpose shall be that we will work to live and not merely live to work. +Work for service rather than work for profit.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">James McInerney</p> + +<p align="center">(After he had undergone the "Third degree".)</p> + +<p>McInerney had a rope around his neck nearly all night before this +picture was taken. One end of the rope had been pulled taut over a beam by +his tormentors. McInerney had told them to "go to hell." "It's no use +trying to get anything out of a man like that," was the final decision of +the inquisitors.</p></div> + +<h2>To Kill an Ideal...</h2> + +<p>Some time in September, counsel told you, the I.W.W., holding these +beliefs, opened a hall in Centralia. Back of that hall was a living room, +where Britt Smith lived, kept his clothes and belongings and made his +home. From then on the I.W.W. conducted a regular propaganda meeting every +Saturday night. These propaganda meetings were given over to a discussion +of these industrial problems and beliefs. From that district there were +dispatched into nearby lumber camps and wherever there were working people +to whom to carry this message--there were dispatched organizers who went +out, made the talks in the camps briefly and sought to organize them into +this union, at least to teach them the philosophy of this labor +movement.</p> + +<p>Because that propaganda is fatal to those who live by other people's +work, who live by the profits they wring from labor, it excited intense +opposition on the part of employers and business people of Centralia and +about the time this hall was opened we will show you that people from +Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters for these labor fights, +came into Centralia and held meetings. I don't know what they call this +new thing they were seeking to organize--it is in fact a branch of the +Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of the United States, a national +organization whose sole purpose is to fight and crush and beat labor. It +was in no sense a local movement because it started in Seattle and it was +organized by people from Seattle, and the purpose was to organize in +Centralia an organization of business men to combat this new labor +philosophy. Whether in the mouths of the I.W.W., or Nonpartisan League, or +the Socialists, it did not make any difference; to brand anybody as a +traitor, un-American, who sought to tell the truth about our industrial +conditions.</p> + +<h2>The Two Raids</h2> + +<p>In the fall of 1918, the I.W.W. had a hall two blocks and a half from +this hall, at the corner of First and B streets. There was a Red Cross +parade, and that hall was wrecked, just as was this hall. These +profiteering gentlemen never overlook an opportunity to capitalize on a +patriotic event, and so they capitalized the Red Cross parade that day +just as they capitalized the Armistice Day parade on November 11, and in +exactly the same way as on November 11.</p> + +<p>And that day, when the tail-end of the parade of the Red Cross passed +the main avenue, it broke off and went a block out of its way and attacked +the I.W.W. hall, a good two-story building. And they broke it into +splinters. The furniture, records, the literature that belongs to these +boys, everything was taken out into the street and burned.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">O. C. Bland</p> + +<p>Logger. American. Resident of Centralia for a number of years. Has +worked in woods and mills practically all his life. Has a wife and seven +children. Bland was in the Arnold hotel at the time of the raid. He was +armed but had cut his hand on broken glass before he had a chance to +shoot. Since his arrest and conviction his family has undergone severe +hardships. The defense is making an effort to raise enough funds to keep +the helpless wives and children of the convicted men in the comforts of +life.</p></div> + +<p>Now, what was contemplated on Armistice Day? The I.W.W. did as you +would do; it judged from experience.</p> + +<h2>Patience No Longer a Virtue</h2> + +<p>When the paraders smashed the door in, the I.W.W.'s, as every lover of +free speech and every respecter of his person--they had appealed to the +citizens, they had appealed to the officers, and some of their members had +been tarred and feathered, beaten up and hung--they said in thought: +"Patience has ceased to be a virtue." And if the law will not protect us, +and the people won't protect us, we will protect ourselves. And they +did.</p> + +<p>And in deciding this case, I want each of you, members of the jury, to +ask yourself what would you have done?</p> + +<p>There had been discussions of this character in the I.W.W. hall, and so +have there been discussions everywhere. There had never been a plot laid +to murder anybody, nor to shoot anybody in any parade. I want you to ask +yourself: "Why would anybody want to shoot anybody in a parade," and to +particularly ask yourself why anyone would want to shoot upon +soldiers?</p> + +<p>He who was a soldier himself, Wesley Everest, the man who did most of +the shooting, and the man whom they beat until he was unconscious and whom +they grabbed from the street and put a rope around his neck, the man whom +they nearly shot to pieces, and the man whom they hung, once dropping him +ten feet, and when what didn't kill him lengthened the rope to 15 feet and +dropped him again--why would one soldier want to kill another soldier, or +soldiers, who had never done him nor his fellows any harm?</p> + +<p>I exonerate the American Legion as an organization of the +responsibility of this. For I say they didn't know about it. The day will +come when they will realize that they have been mere catspaws in the hands +of the Centralia commercial interests. That is the story. I don't know +what the verdict will be today, but the verdict ten years hence will be +the verdict in the Lovejoy case; that these men were within their rights +and that they fought for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They +fought for these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers +of liberty stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of +our country.</p> + +<p>This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been +tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is +from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals +and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started +with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its +head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it.</p> + +<h2>Vanderveer's Closing Argument</h2> + +<p>There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who +was the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene +Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred?</p> + +<p>We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the +I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business +interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We +have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants +are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway +of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the +prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot.</p> + +<p>We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and +undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he +was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the +shooting.</p> + +<p>In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: +Who was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and +stand by it now.</p> + +<p>Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same +promise. So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who +has been so ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. +Cunningham, ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the +defense was piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. +hall by the paraders, Mr. Abel backed down.</p> + +<h2>Why Were the Shots Fired?</h2> + +<p>I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all +along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was +the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice +Day paraders were fired upon in cold blood while engaged in lawful and +peaceful action.</p> + +<p>What possible motive could these boys have had for firing upon innocent +marching soldiers? It is true that the marchers were fired upon; that +shots were fired by some of these defendants; but why were the shots +fired?</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">John Lamb</p> + +<p>Logger. American. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. +Lamb was in the Arnold Hotel with O.C. Bland during the raid on the hall. +Neither of them did any shooting. John Lamb has lived for years in +Centralia. He is married and has five children who are left dependent +since the conviction.</p></div> + +<p>There is only one reason why--they were defending their own legal +property against unlawful invasion and attack; they were defending the +dwelling place of Britt Smith, their secretary.</p> + +<p>And they had full right to defend their lives and that property and +that home against violence or destruction; they had a right to use force, +if necessary, to effect that defense. The law gives them that right; and +it accrues to them also from all of the wells of elementary justice.</p> + +<p>The law says that when a man or group of men have reason to fear attack +from superior numbers, they may provide whatever protection they may deem +necessary to repel such an attack. And it says also that if a man who is +in bad company when such an attack is made happens to be killed by the +defenders, those defenders are not to be considered guilty of that man's +death.</p> + +<p>So they had the troops come, to blow bugles and drill in the streets +where the jury could see; their power, however wielded, was great enough +to cause Governor Hart to send the soldiers here without consulting the +trial judge or the sheriff, whose function it was to preserve law and +order here--and you know, I am sure, that law and order were adequately +preserved here before the troops came.</p> + +<h2>"Fearful of the Truth"</h2> + +<p>They tried the moth-eaten device of arresting our witnesses for alleged +perjury, hoping to discredit those witnesses thus in your eyes because +they knew they couldn't discredit them in any regular nor legitimate +way.</p> + +<p>Fearful of the truth, the guilty ones at Centralia deliberately framed +up evidence to save themselves from blame--to throw the responsibility for +the Armistice Day horror onto other men. But they bungled the frame-up +badly. No bolder nor cruder fabrication has ever been attempted than the +ridiculous effort to fasten the killing of Warren Grimm upon Eugene +Barnett.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Court Room in which the Farcical "Trial" Took Place</p> + +<p>This garish room in the court house at Montesano was the scene of the +attempted "judicial murder" that followed the lynching. The judge always +entered his chambers through the door under the word "Transgression": the +jury always left through the door over which "Instruction" appears. In +this room the lumber trust attorneys attempted to build a gallows of +perjured testimony on which to break the necks of innocent men.</p></div> + +<p>These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall.</p> + +<p>These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall.</p> + +<p>Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she +had been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution. She would not +have told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was +obvious to everybody in this courtroom that day.</p> + +<p>You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a +murder trial, and not a labor trial. But they have been careful to ask all +our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to +any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on +trial for their lives. And when the answer to any of these questions was +yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief. Their +policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is +in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held +Centralia in its grasp.</p> + +<p>You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, +of the part F.R. Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at +Centralia. You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill +owned by Hubbard's corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is +a notorious non-union concern. And you have heard it said that W.A. Abel, +the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter +for years.</p> + +<p>Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia. Why did he want to +drive them out? He said they were a menace. And it is true that they were +a menace, and are a menace--to those who exploit the workers who produce +the wealth for the few to enjoy.</p> + +<h2>Why Were Ropes Carried?</h2> + +<p>Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting? Dr. Frank Bickford, a +reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had +sworn to at the coroner's inquest--that when the parade stopped, he +offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,--but that +others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came +from inside.</p> + +<p>And why did the Rev. H.W. Thompson have a rope? Thompson believes in +hanging men by the neck until they are dead. When the state Employers' +Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not +long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in +behalf of that law. And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W. +Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf? Or +what?</p> + +<p>Why did the prosecution need so many attorneys here, if it had the +facts straight? Why were scores of American Legion members imported here +to sit at the trial at a wage of $4 per day and expenses?</p> + +<p>They have told you this was a murder trial, and not a labor trial. But +vastly more than the lives of ten men are the stakes in the big gamble +here; for the right of workers to organize for the bettering of their own +condition is on trial; the right of free assemblage is on trial; democracy +and Americanism are on trial.</p> + +<p>In our opening statement, we promised to prove various facts; and we +have proven them, in the main; if there are any contentions about which +the evidence remains vague, this circumstance exists only because His +Honor has seen fit to rule out certain testimony which is vital to the +case, and we believed, and still believe, was entirely material and +properly admissible.</p> + +<p>But is there any doubt in your minds that there was a conspiracy to +raid the I.W.W. hall, and to run the Industrial Workers of the World out +of town? Even if the court will not allow you to read the handbill issued +by the I.W.W., asking protection from the citizens of Centralia have you +any doubt that the I.W.W. had reason to fear an attack from Warren Grimm +and his fellow marchers? And have you any doubt that there was a raid on +the hall?</p> + +<p>When I came into this case I knew that we were up against tremendous +odds. Terror was loose in Centralia; prejudice and hatred against the +I.W.W. was being systematically and sweepingly spread in Grays Harbor +county and throughout the whole Northwest; and intimidation or influence +of some sort was being employed against every possible witness and +talesman.</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">George Vanderveer</p> + +<p>This man single handed opposed six high priced lumber trust prosecutors +in the famous trial at Montesano. Vanderveer is a man of wide experience +and deep social vision. He was at one time prosecuting attorney for King +County, Washington. The lumber trust has made countless threats to "get +him." "A lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a workingman with +brains."</p></div> + +<p>Not only were unlimited money and other resources of the Lewis County +commercial interests banded against us, but practically all the attorneys +up and down the Pacific coast had pledged themselves not to defend any +I.W.W., no matter how great nor how small the charge he faced. Our +investigators were arrested without warrant; solicitors for our defense +fund met with the same fate.</p> + +<p>And when the trial date approached, the judge before whom this case is +being heard admitted that a fair trial could not be had here, because of +the surging prejudice existent in this community. Then, five days later, +the court announced that the law would not permit a second change of +venue, and that the trial must go ahead in Montesano.</p> + +<p>In the face of these things, and in the face of all the atmosphere of +violence and bloodthirstiness which the prosecution has sought to throw +around these defendants, I am placing our case in your hands; I am +intrusting to you gentlemen to decide upon the fate of ten human +beings--whether they shall live or die or be shut away from their fellows +for months or years.</p> + +<p>But I am asking you much more than that--I am asking you to decide the +fate of organized labor in the Northwest; whether its fundamental rights +are to survive or be trampled underfoot.</p> + +<h2>The Lumber Trust Wins the Jury</h2> + +<p>On Saturday evening, March 13th, the jury brought in its final verdict +of guilty. In the face of the very evident ability of the lumber +interests, to satisfy its vengeance at will, any other verdict would have +been suicidal--for the jury.</p> + +<p>The prosecution was out for blood and nothing less than blood. Day by +day they had built the structure of gallows right there in the courtroom. +They built a scaffolding on which to hang ten loggers--built it of lies +and threats and perjury. Dozens of witnesses from the Chamber of Commerce +and the American Legion took the stand to braid a hangman's rope of +untruthful testimony. Some of these were members of the mob; on their +white hands the blood of Wesley Everest was hardly dry. And they were not +satisfied with sending their victims to prison for terms of from 25 to 40 +years, they wanted the pleasure of seeing their necks broken. But they +failed. Two verdicts were returned; his honor refused to accept the first; +no intelligent man can accept the second.</p> + +<p>Here is the way the two verdicts compare with each other: Elmer Smith +and Mike Sheehan were declared not guilty and Loren Roberts insane, in +both the first and second verdicts. Britt Smith, O.C. Bland, James +McInerney, Bert Bland and Ray Becker were found guilty of murder in the +second degree in both instances, but Eugene Barnett and John Lamb were at +first declared guilty of manslaughter, or murder "in the third degree" in +the jury's first findings, and guilty of second degree murder in the +second.</p> + +<p>The significant point is that the state made its strongest argument +against the four men whom the jury practically exonerated of the charge of +conspiring to murder. More significant is the fact that the whole verdict +completely upsets the charge of conspiracy to murder under which the men +were tried. The difference between first and second degree murder is that +the former, first degree, implies premeditation while the other, second +degree, means murder that is not premeditated. Now, how in the world can +men be found guilty of conspiring to murder without previous +premeditation? The verdict, brutal and stupid as it is, shows the weakness +and falsity of the state's charge more eloquently than anything the +defense has ever said about it.</p> + +<h2>But Labor Says, "Not Guilty!"</h2> + +<p>But another jury had been watching the trial. Their verdict came as a +surprise to those who had read the newspaper version of the case. No +sooner had the twelve bewildered and frightened men in the jury box paid +tribute to the power of the Lumber Trust with a ludicrous and tragic +verdict than the six workingmen of the Labor Jury returned their verdict +also. Those six men represented as many labor organizations in the Pacific +Northwest with a combined membership of many thousands of wage +earners.</p> + +<p>The last echoes of the prolonged legal battle had hardly died away when +these six men sojourned to Tacoma to ballot, deliberate and to reach their +decision about the disputed facts of the case. At the very moment when the +trust-controlled newspapers, frantic with disappointment, were again +raising the blood-cry of their pack, the frank and positive statement of +these six workers came like a thunderclap out of a clear sky,--"Not +Guilty!"</p> + +<p>The Labor Jury had studied the development of the case with earnest +attention from the beginning. Day by day they had watched with increasing +astonishment the efforts of the defense to present, and of the prosecution +and the judge to exclude, from the consideration of the trial jury, the +things everybody knew to be true about the tragedy at Centralia. Day by +day the sordid drama had been unfolded before their eyes. Day by day the +conviction had grown upon them that the loggers on trial for their lives +were being railroaded to the gallows by the legal hirelings of the Lumber +Trust. The Labor Jury was composed of men with experience in the labor +movement. They had eyes to see through a maze of red tape and legal +mummery to the simple truth that was being hidden or obscured. The Lumber +Trust did not fool these men and it could not intimidate them. They had +the courage to give the truth to the world just as they saw it. They were +convinced in their hearts and minds that the loggers on trial were +innocent. And they would have been just as honest and just as fearless had +their convictions been otherwise.</p> + +<p>It cannot be said that the Labor Jury was biased in favor of the +defendants or of the I.W.W. If anything, they were predisposed to believe +the defendants guilty and their union an outlaw organization. It must be +remembered that all the labor jury knew of the case was what it had read +in the capitalist newspapers prior to their arrival at the scene of the +trial. These men were not radicals but representative working men--members +of conservative unions--who had been instructed by their organizations to +observe impartially the progress of the trial and to report back to their +unions the result of their observations. Read their report:</p> + +<h2>Labor's Verdict</h2> + +<p>Labor Temple, Tacoma, March 15, 1920, 1:40 p.m.</p> + +<p>The Labor Jury met in the rooms of the Labor Temple and organized, +electing P. K. Mohr as foreman.</p> + +<p>Present: J.A. Craft, W.J. Beard, Otto Newman, Theodore Mayer, E.W. +Thrall and P.K. Mohr.</p> + +<p>1. On motion a secret ballot of guilty or not guilty was taken, the +count resulting in a unanimous "Not Guilty!"</p> + +<p>2. Shall we give our report to the press? Verdict, "Yes."</p> + +<div class="image"><p class="title">Labor's Silent Jury</p> + +<p>W.J. Beard, Central Labor Council, Tacoma: Paul K. Mohr, Central Labor +Council, Seattle: Theodore Meyer, Central Labor Council, Everett: E.W. +Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia: John A. Craft, Metal +Trades Council, Seattle.</p></div> + +<p>3. Was there a conspiracy to raid the I.W.W. hall on the part of the +business interests of Centralia? Verdict, "Yes."</p> + +<p>There was evidence offered by the defense to show that the business +interests held a meeting at the Elk's Club on October 20, 1919, at which +ways and means to deal with the I.W.W. situation were discussed. F.B. +Hubbard, Chief of Police Hughes and William Scales, commander of the +American Legion at Centralia, were present. Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +quoted as having said, "There is no law that would let you run the I.W.W. +out of town." Chief of Police Hughes said, "You cannot run the I.W.W. out +of town; they have violated no law." F.G. Hubbard said, "It's a damn +shame; if I was chief I would have them out of town in 24 hours." William +Scales, presiding at the meeting, said that although he was not in favor +of a raid, there was no American jury that would convict them if they did, +or words to that effect. He then announced that he would appoint a secret +committee to deal with the I.W.W. situation.</p> + +<p>4. Was the I.W.W. hall unlawfully raided? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence +introduced convinces us that an attack was made before a shot was +fired.</p> + +<p>5. Had the defendants a right to defend their hall. Verdict, "yes." On +a former occasion the I.W.W. hall was raided, furniture destroyed and +stolen, ropes placed around their necks and they were otherwise abused and +driven out of town by citizens, armed with pick handles.</p> + +<p>6. Was Warren O. Grimm a party to the conspiracy of raiding the I.W.W. +hall? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence introduced convinces us that Warren O. +Grimm participated in the raid of the I.W.W. hall.</p> + +<p>7. To our minds the most convincing evidence that Grimm was in front of +and raiding the I.W.W. hall with others, is the evidence of State Witness +Van Gilder who testified that he stood at the side of Grimm at the +intersection of Second street and Tower avenue, when, according to his +testimony, Grimm was shot. This testimony was refuted by five witnesses +who testified that they saw Grimm coming wounded from the direction of the +I.W.W. hall. It is not credible that Van Gilder, who was a personal and +intimate friend of Grimm, would leave him when he was mortally wounded, to +walk half a block alone and unaided.</p> + +<p>8. Did the defendants get a fair and impartial trial? Verdict, "No." +The most damaging evidence of a conspiracy by the business men of +Centralia, of a raid on the I.W.W. hall, was ruled out by the court and +not permitted to go to the jury. This was one of the principal issues that +the defense sought to establish.</p> + +<p>Also the calling of the federal troops by Prosecuting Attorney Allen +was for no other reason than to create atmosphere. On interviewing the +judge, sheriff and prosecuting attorney, the judge and the sheriff +informed us that in their opinion the troops were not needed and that they +were brought there without their consent or knowledge. In the interview +Mr. Allen promised to furnish the substance of the evidence which in his +opinion necessitated the presence of the troops the next morning, but on +the following day he declined the information. He, however, did say that +he did not fear the I.W.W., but was afraid of violence by the American +Legion. This confession came after he was shown by us the fallacy of the +I.W.W. coming armed to interfere with the verdict. Also the presence of +the American Legion in large numbers in court.</p> + +<p>Theodore Meyer, Everett Central Labor Council; John O. Craft, Seattle +Metal Trades Council; E.W. Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, +Centralia; W.J. Beard, Tacoma Central Labor Council; Otto Newman, Portland +Central Labor Council; P.K. Mohr, Seattle Central Labor Council.</p> + +<p>The above report speaks for itself. It was received with great +enthusiasm by the organizations of each of the jurymen when the verdict +was submitted. On March 17th, the Seattle Central Labor Council voted +unanimously to send the verdict to all of the Central Labor Assemblies of +the United States and Canada.</p> + +<p>Not only are the loggers vindicated in defending their property and +lives from the felonious assault of the Armistice Day mob, but the +conspiracy of the business interests to raid the hall and the raid itself +were established. The participation of Warren O. Grimm is also accepted as +proved beyond doubt. Doubly significant is the statement about the "fair +and impartial trial" that is supposed to be guaranteed all men under our +constitution.</p> + +<p>Nothing could more effectively stamp the seal of infamy upon the whole +sickening rape of justice than the manly outspoken statements of these six +labor jurors. Perhaps the personalities of these men might prove of +interest:</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">E. W. Thrall</span>, of the Brotherhood of +Railway Trainmen, Centralia, is an old time and trusted member of his +union. As will be noticed, he comes from Centralia, the scene of the +tragedy.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">Otto Newman</span>, of the Central Labor +Council, Portland, Oregon, has ably represented his union in the C.L.C. +for some time.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">W.J. Beard</span> is organizer for the Central +Labor Council in Tacoma, Washington. He is an old member of the Western +Federation of Miners and remembers the terrible times during the strikes +at Tulluride.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">John O. Craft</span> is president of Local 40, +International Union of Steam Operating Engineers, of which union he has +been a member for the last ten years. Mr. Craft has been actively +connected with unions affiliated with the A.F. of L. since 1898.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">Theodore Meyer</span> was sent by the +Longshoremen of Everett, Washington. Since 1903 he has been a member of +the A.F. of L.; prior to that time being a member of the National Sailors +and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Sailors' +Union of Australia.</p> + +<p><span class="smallcaps">P. K. Mohr</span> represents the Central Labor +Council of Seattle and is one of the oldest active members in the Seattle +unions. Mr. Mohr became a charter member of the first Bakers' Union in +1889 and was its first presiding officer. He was elected delegate to the +old Western Central Labor Council in 1890. At one time Mr. Mohr was +president of the Seattle Labor Council. At the present time he is +president of the Bakers' Union.</p> + +<p>Such are the men who have studied the travesty on justice in the great +labor trial at Montesano. "Not Guilty" is their verdict. Does it +mean anything to you?</p> + +<h2>Wesley Everest</h2> + +<p>Torn and defiant as a wind-lashed reed,<br /> +Wounded, he faced you as he stood at bay;<br /> +You dared not lynch him in the light of day,<br /> +But on your dungeon stones you let him bleed;<br /> +Night came ... and you black vigilants of Greed,...<br /> +Like human wolves, seized hand upon your prey,<br /> +Tortured and killed ... and, silent, slunk away<br /> +Without one qualm of horror at the deed.</p> + +<p>Once ... long ago ... do you remember how<br /> +You hailed Him king for soldiers to deride--<br /> +You placed a scroll above His bleeding brow<br /> +And spat upon Him, scourged Him, crucified...?<br /> +A rebel unto Caesar--then as now--<br /> +Alone, thorn-crowned, a spear wound in His side!</p> + +<p align="right">--R.C. in "N.Y. Call." </p> +<hr /> +<pre> + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + +******* This file should be named 10725-h.txt or 10725-h.zip ******* + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725</a> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/10725-h/cover.gif b/old/10725-h/cover.gif Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..afc716f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10725-h/cover.gif diff --git a/old/10725.txt b/old/10725.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..013bc8e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10725.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4608 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Centralia Conspiracy, by Ralph Chaplin + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Centralia Conspiracy + +Author: Ralph Chaplin + +Release Date: January 16, 2004 [eBook #10725] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + + +E-text prepared by Curtis A. Weyant + + + +The Centralia Conspiracy + +By Ralph Chaplin + + + + + + + +[Illustration: cover] + + + + + + A Tongue of Flame + + The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of + flame; every prison a more illustrious abode; every burned book or house + enlightens the world; every suppressed or expunged word reverberates + through the earth from side to side. The minds of men are at last + aroused; reason looks out and justifies her own, and malice finds all + her work is ruin. It is the whipper who is whipped and the tyrant who is + undone.--Emerson. + + + + + + +Murder or Self-Defense? + + + +This booklet is not an apology for murder. It is an honest effort to +unravel the tangled mesh of circumstances that led up to the Armistice Day +tragedy in Centralia, Washington. The writer is one of those who believe +that the taking of human life is justifiable only in self-defense. Even +then the act is a horrible reversion to the brute--to the low plane of +savagery. Civilization, to be worthy of the name, must afford other +methods of settling human differences than those of blood letting. + +The nation was shocked on November 11, 1919, to read of the killing of +four American Legion men by members of the Industrial Workers of the World +in Centralia. The capitalist newspapers announced to the world that these +unoffending paraders were killed in cold blood--that they were murdered +from ambush without provocation of any kind. If the author were convinced +that there was even a slight possibility of this being true, he would not +raise his voice to defend the perpetrators of such a cowardly crime. + +But there are two sides to every question and perhaps the newspapers +presented only one of these. Dr. Frank Bickford, an ex-service man who +participated in the affair, testified at the coroner's inquest that the +Legion men were attempting to raid the union hall when they were killed. +Sworn testimony of various eyewitnesses has revealed the fact that some of +the "unoffending paraders" carried coils of rope and that others were +armed with such weapons as would work the demolition of the hall and +bodily injury to its occupants. These things throw an entirely different +light on the subject. If this is true it means that the union loggers +fired only in self-defense and not with the intention of committing wanton +and malicious murder as has been stated. Now, as at least two of the union +men who did the shooting were ex-soldiers, it appears that the tragedy +must have resulted from something more than a mere quarrel between loggers +and soldiers. There must be something back of it all that the public +generally doesn't know about. + +There is only one body of men in the Northwest who would hate a union hall +enough to have it raided--the lumber "interests." And now we get at the +kernel of the matter, which is the fact that the affair was the outgrowth +of a struggle between the lumber trust and its employees--between +Organized Capital and Organized Labor. + + + + +A Labor Case + + + +And so, after all, the famous trial at Montesano was not a murder trial +but a labor trial in the strict sense of the word. Under the law, it must +be remembered, a man is not committing murder in defending his life and +property from the felonious assault of a mob bent on killing and +destruction. There is no doubt whatever but what the lumber trust had +plotted to "make an example" of the loggers and destroy their hall on this +occasion. And this was not the first time that such atrocities had been +attempted and actually committed. Isn't it peculiar that, out of many +similar raids, you only heard of the one where the men defended +themselves? Self-preservation is the first law of nature, but the +preservation of its holy profits is the first law of the lumber trust. The +organized lumber workers were considered a menace to the super-prosperity +of a few profiteers--hence the attempted raid and the subsequent killing. + +What is more significant is the fact the raid had been carefully planned +weeks in advance. There is a great deal of evidence to prove this point. + +There is no question that the whole affair was the outcome of a +struggle--a class struggle, if you please--between the union loggers and +the lumber interests; the former seeking to organize the workers in the +woods and the latter fighting this movement with all the means at its +disposal. + +In this light the Centralia affair does not appear as an isolated incident +but rather an incident in an eventful industrial conflict, little known +and less understood, between the lumber barons and loggers of the Pacific +Northwest. This viewpoint will place Centralia in its proper perspective +and enable one to trace the tragedy back to the circumstances and +conditions that gave it birth. + +But was there a conspiracy on the part of the lumber interests to commit +murder and violence in an effort to drive organized labor from its domain? +Weeks of patient investigating in and around the scene or the occurrence +has convinced the present writer that such a conspiracy has existed. A +considerable amount of startling evidence has been unearthed that has +hitherto been suppressed. If you care to consider Labor's version of this +unfortunate incident you are urged to read the following truthful account +of this almost unbelievable piece of mediaeval intrigue and brutality. + +The facts will speak for themselves. Credit them or not, but read! + + + + +The Forests of the Northwest + + + +The Pacific Northwest is world famed for its timber. The first white +explorers to set foot upon its fertile soil were awed by the magnitude and +grandeur of its boundless stretches of virgin forests. Nature has never +endowed any section of our fair world with such an immensity of kingly +trees. Towering into the sky to unthinkable heights, they stand as living +monuments to the fecundity of natural life. Imagine, if you can, the vast +wide region of the West coast, hills, slopes and valleys, covered with +millions of fir, spruce and cedar trees, raising their verdant crests a +hundred, two hundred or two hundred and fifty feet into the air. + +When Columbus first landed on the uncharted continent these trees were +already ancient. There they stood, straight and majestic with green and +foam-flecked streams purling here and there at their feet, crowning the +rugged landscape with superlative beauty, overtopped only by the +snow-capped mountains--waiting for the hand of man to put them to the +multitudinous uses of modern civilization. Imagine, if you can, the first +explorer, gazing awe-stricken down those "calm cathedral isles," wondering +at the lavish bounty of our Mother Earth in supplying her children with +such inexhaustible resources. + +But little could the first explorer know that the criminal clutch of Greed +was soon to seize these mighty forests, guard them from the human race +with bayonets, hangman's ropes and legal statutes; and use them, +robber-baron like, to exact unimaginable tribute from the men and women of +the world who need them. Little did the first explorer dream that the day +would come when individuals would claim private ownership of that which +prolific nature had travailed through centuries to bestow upon mankind. + +But that day has come and with it the struggle between master and man that +was to result in Centralia--or possibly many Centralias. + + + + +Lumber--A Basic Industry + + + +It seems the most logical thing in the world to believe that the natural +resources of the Earth, upon which the race depends for food, clothing and +shelter, should be owned collectively by the race instead of being the +private property of a few social parasites. It seems that reason would +preclude the possibility of any other arrangement, and that it would be +considered as absurd for individuals to lay claim to forests, mines, +railroads and factories as it would be for individuals to lay claim to the +ownership of the sunlight that warms us or to the air we breathe. But the +poor human race, in its bungling efforts to learn how to live in our +beautiful world, appears destined to find out by bitter experience that +the private ownership of the means of life is both criminal and +disastrous. + +Lumber is one of the basic industries--one of the industries mankind never +could have done without. The whole structure of what we call civilization +is built upon wooden timbers, ax-hewn or machine finished as the case may +be. Without the product of the forests humanity would never have learned +the use of fire, the primitive bow and arrow or the bulging galleys of +ancient commerce. Without the firm and fibrous flesh of the mighty +monarchs of the forest men might never have had barges for fishing or +weapons for the chase; they would not have had carts for their oxen or +kilns for the fashioning of pottery; they would not have had dwellings, +temples or cities; they would not have had furniture nor fittings nor +roofs above their heads. Wood is one of the most primitive and +indispensable of human necessities. Without its use we would still be +groping in the gloom and misery of early savagery, suffering from the cold +of outer space and defenseless in the midst of a harsh and hostile +environment. + + + + +From Pioneer to Parasite + + + +So it happened that the first pioneers in the northern were forced to bare +their arms and match their strength with the wooded wilderness. At first +the subjugation of the forests was a social effort. The lives and future +prosperity of the settlers must be made secure from the raids of the +Indians and the inclemency of the elements. Manfully did these men labor +until their work was done. But this period did not last long, for the tide +of emigration was sweeping westward over the sun-baked prairies to the +promised land in the golden West. + +[Illustration: Fir and Spruce Trees + +The wood of the West coast abound with tall fir trees. Practically all +high grade spruce comes from this district also. Spruce was a war +necessity and the lumber trust profiteered unmercifully on the government. +U.S. prisons are full of loggers who struck for the 8 hour day in 1917.] + +Towns sprang up like magic, new trees were felled, sawmills erected and +huge logs in ever increasing numbers were driven down the foaming torrents +each year at spring time. The country was new, the market for lumber +constantly growing and expanding. But the monopolist was unknown and the +lynch-mobs of the lumber trust still sleeping in the womb of the Future. +So passed the not unhappy period when opportunity was open to everyone, +when freedom was dear to the hearts of all. It was at this time that the +spirit of real Americanism was born, when the clean, sturdy name "America" +spelled freedom, justice and independence. Patriotism in these days was +not a mask for profiteers and murderers were not permitted to hide their +bloody hands in the folds of their nation's flag. + +But modern capitalism was creeping like a black curse upon the land. +Stealing, coercing, cajoling, defrauding, it spread from its plague-center +in Wall St., leaving misery, class antagonism and resentment in its trial. +The old free America of our fathers was undergoing a profound change. +Equality of opportunity was doomed. A new social alignment was being +created. Monopoly was loosed upon the land. Fabulous fortunes were being +made as wealth was becoming centered into fewer and fewer hands. Modern +capitalism was entrenching itself for the final and inevitable struggle +for world domination. In due time the social parasites of the East, +foreseeing that the forests of Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin could not +last forever, began to look to the woods of the Northwest with covetous +eyes. + +[Illustration: Cedar Trees of the Northwest + +With these giants the logger daily matches his strength and skill. The +profit-greedy lumber trust has wasted enough trees of smaller size to +supply the world with wood for years to come.] + + + + +Stealing the People's Forest Land + + + +The history of the acquisition of the forests of Washington, Montana, +Idaho, Oregon and California is a long, sordid story of thinly veiled +robbery and intrigue. The methods of the lumber barons in invading and +seizing its "holdings" did not differ greatly, however, from those of the +steel and oil kings, the railroad magnates or any of the other industrial +potentates who acquired great wealth by pilfering America and peonizing +its people. The whole sorry proceeding was disgraceful, high-handed and +treacherous, and only made possible by reason of the blindness of the +generous American people, drugged with the vanishing hope of "success" and +too confident of the continued possession of its blood-bought liberties. +And do the lumber barons were unhindered in their infamous work of +debauchery, bribery, murder and brazen fraud. + +As a result the monopoly of the Northwestern woods became an established +fact. The lumber trust came into "its own." The new social alignment was +complete, with the idle, absentee landlord at one end and the migratory +and possessionless lumber jack at the other. The parasites had +appropriated to themselves the standing timber of the Northwest; but the +brawny logger whose labor had made possible the development of the +industry was given, as his share of the spoils, a crumby "bindle" and a +rebellious heart. The masters had gained undisputed control of the timber +of the country, three quarters of which is located in the Northwest; but +the workers who felled the trees, drove the logs, dressed, finished and +loaded the lumber were left in the state of helpless dependency from which +they could only extricate themselves by means of organization. And it is +this effort to form a union and establish union headquarters that led to +the tragedy at Centralia. + +The lumber barons had not only achieved a monopoly of the woods but a +perfect feudal domination of the woods as well. Within their domain banks, +ships, railways and mills bore their private insignia-and politicians, +Employers' Associations, preachers, newspapers, fraternal orders and +judges and gun-men were always at their beck and call. The power they +wield is tremendous and their profits would ransom a kingdom. Naturally +they did not intend to permit either power or profits to be menaced by a +mass of weather-beaten slaves in stag shirts and overalls. And so the +struggle waxed fiercer just as the lumberjack learned to contend +successfully for living conditions and adequate remuneration. It was the +old, old conflict of human rights against property rights. Let us see how +they compared in strength. + + + + +The Triumph of Monopoly + + + +The following extract from a document entitled "The Lumber Industry," by +the Honorable Herbert Knox Smith and published by the U.S. Department of +Commerce (Bureau of Corporations) will give some idea of the holdings and +influence of the lumber trust: + +"Ten monopoly groups, aggregating only one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, monopolized one thousand, two hundred and eight billion eight +hundred million (1,208,800,000,000) board feet of standing timber--each a +foot square and an inch thick. These figures are so stupendous that they +are meaningless without a hackneyed device to bring their meaning home. +These one thousand, eight hundred and two timber business monopolists held +enough standing timber; an indispensable natural resource, to yield the +planks necessary (over and above manufacturing wastage) to make a floating +bridge more than two feet thick and more than five miles wide from New +York to Liverpool. It would supply one inch planks for a roof over France, +Germany and Italy. It would build a fence eleven miles high along our +entire coast line. All monopolized by one thousand, eight hundred and two +holders, or interests more or less interlocked. One of those interests--a +grant of only three holders--monopolized at one time two hundred and +thirty-seven billion, five hundred million (237,500,000,000) feet which +would make a column one foot square and three million miles high. Although +controlled by only three holders, that interest comprised over eight +percent of all the standing timber in the United States at that time." + +The above illuminating figures, quoted from "The I.W.A. in the Lumber +Industry," by James Rowan, will give some idea of the magnitude and power +of the lumber trust. + +[Illustration: "Topping a Tree" + +After one of these huge trees is "topped" it is called a "spar tree"--very +necessary in a certain kind of logging operations. As soon as the +chopped-off portion falls, the trunk vibrates rapidly from side to side +sometimes shaking the logger to certain death below.] + +Opposing this colossal aggregation of wealth and cussedness were the +thousands of hard-driven and exploited lumberworkers in the woods and +sawmills. These had neither wealth nor influence--nothing but their hard, +bare hands and a growing sense of solidarity. And the masters of the +forests were more afraid of this solidarity than anything else in the +world--and they fought it more bitterly, as events will show. Centralia is +only one of the incidents of this struggle between owner and worker. But +let us see what this hated and indispensable logger-the productive and +human basis of the lumber industry, the man who made all these things +possible, is like. + + + + +The Human Element--"The Timber Beast" + + + +Lumber workers are, by nature of their employment, divided into two +categories--the saw-mill hand and the logger. The former, like his +brothers in the Eastern factories, is an indoor type while the latter is +essentially a man of the open air. Both types are necessary to the +production of finished lumber, and to both union organization is an +imperative necessity. + +Sawmill work is machine work--rapid, tedious and often dangerous. There is +the uninteresting repetition of the same act of motions day in and day +out. The sights, sounds and smells of the mill are never varied. The fact +that the mill is permanently located tends to keep mill workers grouped +about the place of their employment. Many of them, especially in the +shingle mills, have lost fingers or hands in feeding the lumber to the +screaming saws. It has been estimated that fully a half of these men are +married and remain settled in the mill communities. The other half, +however, are not nearly so migratory as the lumberjack. Sawmill workers +are not the "rough-necks" of the industry. They are of the more +conservative "home-guard" element and characterized by the psychology of +all factory workers. + +The logger, on the other hand, (and it is with him our narrative is +chiefly concerned), is accustomed to hard and hazardous work in the open +woods. His occupation makes him of necessity migratory. The camp, +following the uncut timber from place to place, makes it impossible for +him to acquire a family and settle down. Scarcely one out of ten has ever +dared assume the responsibility of matrimony. The necessity of shipping +from a central point in going from one job to another usually forces a +migratory existence upon the lumberjack in spite of his best intentions to +live otherwise. + + + + +What Is a Casual Laborer? + + + +The problem of the logger is that of the casual laborer in general. +Broadly speaking, there are three distinct classes of casual laborers: +First, the "harvest stiff" of the middle West who follows the ripening +crops from Kansas to the Dakotas, finding winter employment in the North, +Middle Western woods, in construction camps or on the ice fields. Then +there is the harvest worker of "the Coast" who garners the fruit, hops and +grain, and does the canning of California, Washington and Oregon, finding +out-of-season employment wherever possible. Finally there is the +Northwestern logger, whose work, unlike that of the Middle Western "jack" +is not seasonal, but who is compelled nevertheless to remain migratory. As +a rule, however, his habitat is confined, according to preference or force +of circumstances, to either the "long log" country of Western Washington +and Oregon as well as California, or to the "short log" country of Eastern +Washington and Oregon, Northern Idaho and Western Montana. Minnesota, +Michigan, and Wisconsin are in what is called the "short log" region. + +[Illustration: A Logger of the Pacific Northwest + +This is a type of the men who work in the "long log" region of the West +coast. His is a man's sized job, and his efforts to organize and better +the working conditions in the lumber industry have been manly efforts--and +bitterly opposed.] + +As a rule the logger of the Northwest follows the woods to the exclusion +of all other employment. He is militantly a lumberjack and is inclined to +be a trifle "patriotic" and disputatious as to the relative importance of +his own particular branch of the industry. "Long loggers," for instance, +view with a suspicion of disdain the work of "short loggers" and vice +versa. + + + + +"Lumber-Jack" The Giant Killer + + + +But the lumber-jack is a casual worker and he is the finished product of +modern capitalism. He is the perfect proletarian type--possessionless, +homeless, and rebellious. He is the reverse side of the gilded medal of +present day society. On the one side is the third generation idle +rich--arrogant and parasitical, and on the other, the actual producer, +economically helpless and denied access to the means of production unless +he "beg his lordly fellow worm to give him leave to toil," as Robert Burns +has it. + +The logger of the Northwest has his faults. He is not any more perfect +than the rest of us. The years of degradation and struggle he has endured +in the woods have not failed to leave their mark upon him. But, as the +wage workers go, he is not the common but the uncommon type both as +regards physical strength and cleanliness and mental alertness. He is +generous to a fault and has all the qualities Lincoln and Whitman loved in +men. + +In the first place, whether as faller, rigging man or on the "drive," his +work is muscular and out of doors. He must at all times conquer the forest +and battle with the elements. There is a tang and adventure to his labor +in the impressive solitude of the woods that gives him a steady eye, a +strong arm and a clear brain. Being constantly close to the great green +heart of Nature, he acquires the dignity and independence of the savage +rather than the passive and unresisting submission of the factory worker. +The fact that he is free from family ties also tends to make him ready for +an industrial frolic or fight at any time. In daily matching his prowess +and skill with the products of the earth he feels in a way, that the woods +"belong" to him and develops a contempt for the unseen and unknown +employers who kindly permit him to enrich them with his labor. He is +constantly reminded of the glaring absurdity of the private ownership of +natural resources. Instinctively he becomes a rebel against the injustice +and contradictions of capitalist society. + +Dwarfed to ant-like insignificance by the verdant immensity around him, +the logger toils daily with ax, saw and cable. One after another forest +giants of dizzy height crash to the earth with a sound like thunder. In a +short time they are loaded on flat cars and hurried across the +stump-dotted clearing to the river, whence they are dispatched to the +noisy, ever-waiting saws at the mill. And always the logger knows in his +heart that this is not done that people may have lumber for their needs, +but rather that some overfed parasite may first add to his holy dividends. +Production for profit always strikes the logger with the full force of +objective observation. And is it any wonder, with the process of +exploitation thus naked always before his eyes, that he should have been +among the very first workers to challenge the flimsy title of the lumber +barons to the private ownership of the woods? + + + + +The Factory Worker and the Lumber-Jack + + + +Without wishing to disparage the ultimate worth of either; it might be +well to contrast for a moment the factory worker of the East with the +lumber-jack of the Pacific Northwest. To the factory hand the master's +claim to the exclusive title of the means of production is not so +evidently absurd. Around him are huge, smoking buildings filled with +roaring machinery--all man-made. As a rule he simply takes for granted +that his employers--whoever they are--own these just as he himself owns, +for instance, his pipe or his furniture. Only when he learns, from +thoughtful observation or study, that such things are the appropriated +products of the labor of himself and his kind, does the truth dawn upon +him that labor produces all and is entitled to its own. + +[Illustration: Logging Operations + +Look around you at the present moment and you will see wood used for many +different purposes. Have you ever stopped to think where the raw material +comes from or what the workers are like who produce it? Here is a scene +from a lumber camp showing the loggers at their daily tasks. The lumber +trust is willing that these men should work-but not organize.] + +It must be admitted that factory life tends to dispirit and cow the +workers who spend their lives in the gloomy confines of the modern mill or +shop. Obedient to the shrill whistle they pour out of their clustered grey +dwellings in the early morning. Out of the labor ghettos they swarm and +into their dismal slave-pens. Then the long monotonous, daily "grind," and +home again to repeat the identical proceeding on the following day. Almost +always, tired, trained to harsh discipline or content with low comfort; +they are all too liable to feel that capitalism is invincibly colossal and +that the possibility of a better day is hopelessly remote. Most of them +are unacquainted with their neighbors. They live in small family or +boarding house units and, having no common meeting place, realize only +with difficulty the mighty potency of their vast numbers. To them +organization appears desirable at times but unattainable. The dickering +conservatism of craft unionism appeals to their cautious natures. They act +only en masse, under awful compulsion and then their release of repressed +slave emotion is sudden and terrible. + +Not so with the weather-tanned husky of the Northwestern woods. His job +life is a group life. He walks to his daily task with his fellow workers. +He is seldom employed for long away from them. At a common table he eats +with them, and they all sleep in common bunk houses. The trees themselves +teach him to scorn his master's adventitious claim to exclusive ownership. +The circumstances of his daily occupation show him the need of class +solidarity. His strong body clamours constantly for the sweetness and +comforts of life that are denied him, his alert brain urges him to +organize and his independent spirit gives him the courage and tenacity to +achieve his aims. The union hall is often his only home and the One Big +Union his best-beloved. He is fond of reading and discussion. He resents +industrial slavery as an insult. He resented filth, overwork and poverty, +he resented being made to carry his own bundle of blankets from job to +job; he gritted his teeth together and fought until he had ground these +obnoxious things under his iron-caulked heel. The lumber trust hated him +just in proportion as he gained and used his industrial power; but neither +curses, promises nor blows could make him budge. He knew what he wanted +and he knew how to get what he wanted. And his boss didn't like it very +well. + +The lumber-jack is secretive and not given to expressed emotion--excepting +in his union songs. The bosses don't like his songs either. But the logger +isn't worried a bit. Working away in the woods every day, or in his bunk +at night, he dreams his dream of the world as he thinks it should be--that +"wild wobbly dream" that every passing day brings closer to +realization--and he wants all who work around him to share his vision and +his determination to win so that all will be ready and worthy to live in +the New Day that is dawning. + +In a word the Northwestern lumber-jack was too human and too stubborn ever +to repudiate his red-blooded manhood at the behest of his masters and +become a serf. His union meant to him all that he possessed or hoped to +gain. Is it any wonder that he endured the tortures of hell during the +period of the war rather than yield his Red Card--or that he is still +determined and still undefeated? Is it any wonder the lumber barons hated +him, and sought to break his spirit with brute force and legal cunning--or +that they conspired to murder it at Centralia with mob violence--and +failed? + + + + +Why the Loggers Organized + + + +The condition of the logger previous to the period of organization beggars +description. Modern industrial autocracy seemed with him to develop its +most inhuman characteristics. The evil plant of wage slavery appeared to +bear its most noxious blossoms in the woods. + +The hours of labor were unendurably long, ten hours being the general +rule--with the exception of the Grays Harbor district, where the eleven or +even twelve hour day prevailed. In addition to this men were compelled to +walk considerable distances to and from their work and meals through the +wet brush. + +Not infrequently the noon lunch was made almost impossible because of the +order to be back on the job when work commenced. A ten hour stretch of +arduous labor, in a climate where incessant rain is the rule for at least +six months of the year, was enough to try the strength and patience of +even the strongest. The wages too were pitiably inadequate. + +The camps themselves, always more or less temporary affairs, were inferior +to the cow-shed accommodations of a cattle ranch. The bunk house were +over-crowded, ill-smelling and unsanitary. In these ramshackle affairs the +loggers were packed like sardines. The bunks were arranged tier over tier +and nearly always without mattresses. They were uniformly vermin-infested +and sometimes of the "muzzle-loading" variety. No blankets were furnished, +each logger being compelled to supply his own. There were no facilities +for bathing or the washing and drying of sweaty clothing. Lighting and +ventilation were of course, always poor. + +In addition to these discomforts the unorganized logger was charged a +monthly hospital fee for imaginary medical service. Also it was nearly +always necessary to pay for the opportunity of enjoying these privileges +by purchasing employment from a "job shark" or securing the good graces of +a "man catcher." The former often had "business agreements" with the camp +foreman and, in many cases, a man could not get a job unless he had a +ticket from a labor agent in some shipping point. + +It may be said that the conditions just described were more prevalent in +some parts of the lumber country than in others. Nevertheless, these +prevailed pretty generally in all sections of the industry before the +workers attempted to better them by organizing. At all events such were +the conditions the lumber barons sought with all their power to preserve +and the loggers to change. + + + + +Organization and the Opening Struggle + + + +A few years before the birth of the Industrial workers of the World the +lumber workers had started to organize. By 1905, when the above mentioned +union was launched, lumber-workers were already united in considerable +numbers in the old Western afterwards the American Labor Union. This +organization took steps to affiliate with the Industrial Workers of the +World and was thus among the very first to seek a larger share of life in +the ranks of that militant and maligned organization. Strike followed +strike with varying success and the conditions of the loggers began +perceptibly to improve. + +Scattered here and there in the cities of the Northwest were many locals +of the Industrial Workers of the World. Not until 1912, however, were +these consolidated into a real industrial unit. For the first time a +sufficient number of loggers and saw mill men were organized to be grouped +into an integral part of the One Big Union. This was done with reasonable +success. In the following year the American Federation of Labor attempted +a similar task but without lasting results, the loggers preferring the +industrial to the craft form of organization. Besides this, they were +predisposed to sympathize with the ideal of solidarity and Industrial +Democracy for which their own union had stood from the beginning. + +The "timber beast" was starting to reap the benefits of his organized +power. Also he was about to feel the force and hatred of the "interests" +arrayed against him. He was soon to learn that the path of labor unionism +is strewn with more rocks than roses. He was making an earnest effort to +emerge from the squalor and misery of peonage and was soon to see that his +overlords were satisfied to keep him right where he had always been. + +Strange to say, almost the first really important clash occurred in the +very heart of the lumber trust's domain, in the little city of Aberdeen, +Grays Harbor County--only a short distance from Centralia, of mob fame! + +[Illustration: Eugene Barnett + +(After the man-hunt) + +Coal miner. Born in North Carolina. Member of U.M.W.A. and I.W.W. Went to +work underground at the age of eight. Self educated, a student and +philosopher. Upon reaching home Barnett, fearful of the mob, took to the +woods with his rifle. He surrendered to the posse only after he had +convinced himself that their purpose was not to lynch him.] + +This was in 1912. A strike had started in the saw mills over demands of a +$2.50 daily wage. Some of the saw mill workers were members of the +Industrial Workers of the World. They were supported by the union loggers +of Western Washington. The struggle was bitterly contested and lasted for +several weeks. The lumber trust bared its fangs and struck viciously at +the workers in a manner that has since characterized its tactics in all +labor disputes. + +The jails of Aberdeen and adjoining towns were filled with strikers. +Picket lines were broken up and the pickets arrested. When the wives of +the strikers with babies in their arms, took the places of their +imprisoned husbands, the fire hose was turned on them with great force, in +many instances knocking them to the ground. Loggers and sawmill men alike +were unmercifully beaten. Many were slugged by mobs with pick handles, +taken to the outskirts of the city and told that their return would be the +occasion of a lynching. At one time an armed mob of business men dragged +nearly four hundred strikers from their homes or boarding houses, herded +them into waiting boxcars, sealed up the doors and were about to deport +them en masse. The sheriff, getting wind of this unheard-of proceeding, +stopped it at the last moment. Many men were badly scarred by beatings +they received. One logger was crippled for life by the brutal treatment +accorded him. + +But the strikers won their demands and conditions were materially +improved. The Industrial Workers of the World continued to grow in numbers +and prestige. This event may be considered the beginning of the labor +movement on Grays Harbor that the lumber trust sought finally to crush +with mob violence on a certain memorable day in Centralia seven years +later. + +Following the Aberdeen strike one or two minor clashes occurred. The +lumber workers were usually successful. During this period they were +quietly but effectually spreading One Big Union propaganda throughout the +camps and mills in the district. Also they were organizing their fellow +workers in increasing numbers into their union. The lumber trust, smarting +under its last defeat, was alarmed and alert. + +[Illustration: Bert Faulkner + +American. Logger. 21 years of age. Member of the Industrial Workers of the +World since 1917. Was in the hall when raid occurred. Faulkner personally +knew Grimm, McElfresh and a number of others who marched in the parade. He +is an ex-soldier himself. The prosecution used a great deal of pressure to +make this boy turn state's evidence. He refused stating that he would tell +nothing but the truth. At the last moment he was discharged from the case +after being held in jail four months.] + + + + +A Massacre and a New Law + + + +But no really important event occurred until 1916. At this time the union +loggers, organized in the Industrial Workers of the World, had started a +drive for membership around Puget Sound. Loggers and mill hands were eager +for the message of Industrial Unionism. Meetings were well attended and +the sentiment in favor of the organization was steadily growing. The A.F. +of L. shingle weavers and longshoremen were on strike and had asked the +I.W.W. to help them secure free speech in Everett. The ever-watchful +lumber interests decided the time to strike had again arrived. The events +of "Bloody Sunday" are too well known to need repeating here. Suffice to +say that after a summer replete with illegal beatings and jailings five +men were killed in cold blood and forty wounded in a final desperate +effort to drive the union out of the city of Everett, Washington. These +unarmed loggers were slaughtered and wounded by the gunfire of a gang of +business men and plug-uglies of the lumber interests. True to form, the +lumber trust had every union man in sight arrested and seventy-four +charged with the murder of a gunman who had been killed by the cross-fire +of his own comrades. None of the desperadoes who had done the actual +murdering was ever prosecuted or even reprimanded. The charge against the +members of the Industrial Workers of the World was pressed. The case was +tried in court and the Industrialists declared "not guilty." George +Vanderveer was attorney for the defense. + +The lumber interests were infuriated at their defeat, and from this time +on the struggle raged in deadly earnest. Almost everything from mob law to +open assassination had been tried without avail. The execrated One Big +Union idea was gaining members and power every day. The situation was +truly alarming. Their heretofore trustworthy "wage plugs" were showing +unmistakable symptoms of intelligence. Workingmen were waking up. They +were, in appalling numbers, demanding the right to live like men. +Something must be done something new and drastic--to split asunder this +on-coming phalanx of industrial power. + +But the gun-man-and-mob method was discarded, temporarily at least, in +favor of the machinations of lumber trust tools in the law making bodies. +Big Business can make laws as easily as it can break them--and with as +little impunity. So the notorious Washington "Criminal Syndicalism" law +was devised. This law, however, struck a snag. The honest-minded governor +of the state, recognizing its transparent character and far-reaching +effects, promptly vetoed the measure. After the death of Governor Lister +the criminal syndicalism law was passed, however, by the next State +Legislature. Since that time it has been used against the American +Federation of Labor, the Industrial Workers of the World, the Socialist +Party and even common citizens not affiliated with any of these +organizations. The criminal syndicalism law registers the high water mark +of reaction. It infringes more on the liberties of the people than any of +the labor-crushing laws that blackened Russia during the dynasty of the +Romanoffs. It would disgrace the anti-Celestial legislation of Hell. + + + + +The Eight Hour Day and "Treason" + + + +Nineteen hundred and seventeen was an eventful year. It was then the +greatest strike in the history of the lumber industry occurred-the strike +for the eight hour day. For years the logger and mill hand had fought +against the unrestrained greed of the lumber interests. Step by step, in +the face of fiercest opposition, they had fought for the right to live +like men; and step by step they had been gaining. Each failure or success +had shown them the weakness or the strength of their union. They had been +consolidating their forces as well as learning how to use them. The lumber +trust had been making huge profits the while, but the lumber workers were +still working ten hours or more and the logger was still packing his dirty +blankets from job to job. Dissatisfaction with conditions was wider and +more prevalent then ever before. Then came the war. + +As soon as this country had taken its stand with the allied imperialists +the price of lumber, needed for war purposes, was boosted to sky high +figures. From $16.00 to $116.00 per thousand feet is quite a jump; but +recent disclosures show that the Government paid as high as $1200.00 per +thousand for spruce that private concerns were purchasing for less than +one tenth of that sum. Gay parties with plenty of wild women and hard +drink are alleged to have been instrumental in enabling the "patriotic" +lumber trust to put these little deals across. Due to the duplicity of +this same bunch of predatory gentlemen the airplane and ship building +program of the United States turned out to be a scandal instead of a +success. Out of 21,000 feet of spruce delivered to a Massachusetts +factory, inspectors could only pass 400 feet as fit for use. Keep these +facts and figures in mind when you read about what happened to the +"disloyal" lumber workers during the war-and afterwards. + +[Illustration: Mrs. Elmer Smith and Baby Girl + +Mrs. Elmer Smith is the cultured daughter of a Washington judge. Since +Elmer Smith got into trouble many efforts have been made to induce his +wife to leave him. Mrs. Smith prefers, however, to stick with her rebel +lawyer whom she loves and admires.] + +Discontent had been smouldering in the woods for a long time. It was soon +fanned to a flame by the brazen profiteering of the lumber trust. The +loggers had been biding their time--rather sullenly it is true--for the +day when the wrongs they had endured so patiently and so long might be +rectified. Their quarrel with the lumber interests was an old one. The +time was becoming propitious. + +In the early summer of 1917 the strike started. Sweeping through the short +log country it spread like wild-fire over nearly all the Northwestern +lumber districts. The tie-up was practically complete. The industry was +paralyzed. The lumber trust, its mouth drooling in anticipation of the +many millions it was about to make in profits, shattered high heaven with +its cries of rage. Immediately its loyal henchmen in the Wilson +administration rushed to the rescue. Profiteering might be condoned, +moralized over or winked at, but militant labor unionism was a menace to +the government and the prosecution of the war. It must be crushed. For was +it not treacherous and treasonable for loggers to strike for living +conditions when Uncle Sam needed the wood and the lumber interests the +money? So Woodrow Wilson and his coterie of political troglodytes from the +slave-owning districts of the old South, started out to teach militant +labor a lesson. Corporation lawyers were assembled. Indictments were made +to order. The bloodhounds of the Department of "Justice" were unleashed. +Grand Juries of "patriotic" business men were impaneled and did their +expected work not wisely but too well. All the gun-men and stool-pigeons +of Big Business got busy. And the opera bouffe of "saving our form of +government" was staged. + + + + +Industrial Heretics and the White Terror + + + +For a time it seemed as though the strikers would surely be defeated. The +onslaught was terrific, but the loggers held out bravely. Workers were +beaten and jailed by the hundreds. Men were herded like cattle in +blistering "bull-pens," to be freed after months of misery, looking more +like skeletons than human beings. Ellensburg and Yakima will never be +forgotten in Washington. One logger was even burned to death while locked +in a small iron-barred shack that had been dignified with the title of +"jail." In the Northwest even the military were used and the bayonet of +the soldier could be seen glistening beside the cold steel of the hired +thug. Union halls were raided in all parts of the land. Thousands of +workers were deported. Dozens were tarred and feathered and mobbed. Some +were even taken out in the dead of night and hanged to railway bridges. +Hundreds were convicted of imaginary offenses and sent to prison for terms +from one to twenty years. Scores were held in filthy jails for as long as +twenty-six months awaiting trial. The Espionage Law, which never convicted +a spy, and the Criminal Syndicalism Laws, which never convicted a +criminal, were used savagely and with full force against the workers in +their struggle for better conditions. By means of newspaper-made war +hysteria the profiteers of Big Business entrenched themselves in public +opinion. By posing as "100% Americans" (how stale and trite the phrase has +become from their long misuse of it!) these social parasites sought to +convince the nation that they, and not the truly American unionists whose +backs they were trying to break, were working for the best interests of +the American people. Our form of government, forsooth, must be saved. Our +institutions must be rescued from the clutch of the "reds." Thus was the +war-frenzy of their dupes lashed to madness and the guarantees of the +constitution suspended as far as the working class was concerned. + +So all the good, wise and noisy men of the nation were induced by diverse +means to cry out against the strikers and their union. The worst passions +of the respectable people were appealed to. The hoarse blood-cry of the +mob was raised. It was echoed and re-echoed from press and pulpit. The +very air quivered from its reverberations. Lynching parties became +"respectable." Indictments were flourished. Hand-cuffs flashed. The +clinking feet of workers going to prison rivaled the sound of the soldiers +marching to war. And while all this was happening, a certain paunchy +little English Jew with moth-eaten hair and blotchy jowls the accredited +head of a great labor union glared through his thick spectacles and nodded +his perverse approval. But the lumber trust licked its fat lips and leered +at its swollen dividends. All was well and the world was being made "safe +for democracy!" + +[Illustration: Britt Smith + +American. Logger. 35 years old. Had followed the woods for twenty years. +Smith made his home in the hall that was raided and was secretary of the +Union. When the mob broke into the jail and seized Wesley Everest to +torture and lynch him they cried, "We've got Britt Smith!" Smith was the +man they wanted and it was to break his neck that ropes were carried in +the "parade." Not until Everest's body was brought back to the city jail +was it discovered that the mob had lynched the wrong man.] + + + + +Autocracy vs. Unionism + + + +This unprecedented struggle was really a test of strength between +industrial autocracy and militant unionism. The former was determined to +restore the palmy days of peonage for all time to come, the latter to +fight to the last ditch in spite of hell and high water. The lumber trust +sought to break the strike of the loggers and destroy their organization. +In the ensuing fracas the lumber barons came out only second best--and +they were bad losers. After the war-fever had died down--one year after +the signing of the Armistice--they were still trying in Centralia to +attain their ignoble ends by means of mob violence. + +But at this time the ranks of the strikers were unbroken. The heads of the +loggers were "bloody but unbowed." Even at last, when compelled to yield +to privation and brute force and return to work, they turned defeat to +victory by "carrying the strike onto the job." As a body they refused to +work more than eight hours. Secretary of War Baker and President Wilson +had both vainly urged the lumber interests to grant the eight hour day. +The determined industrialists gained this demand, after all else had +failed, by simply blowing a whistle when the time was up. Most of their +other demands were won as well. In spite of even the Disque despotism, +mattresses, clean linen and shower baths were reluctantly granted as the +fruits of victory. + +But even as these lines are written the jails and prisons of America are +filled to overflowing with men and women whose only crime is loyalty to +the working class. The war profiteers are still wallowing in luxury. None +has ever been placed behind the bars. Before he was lynched in Butte, +Frank Little had said, "I stand for the solidarity of labor." That was +enough. The vials of wrath were poured on his head for no other reason. +And for no other reason was the hatred of the employing class directed at +the valiant hundreds who now rot in prison for longer terms than those +meted out to felons. William Haywood and Eugene Debs are behind steel bars +today for the same cause. The boys at Centralia were conspired against +because they too stood "for the solidarity of labor." It is simply lying +and camouflage to attempt to trace such persecutions to any other source. +These are things America will be ashamed of when she comes to her senses. +Such gruesome events are paralleled in no country save the Germany of +Kaiser Wilhelm or the Russia of the Czar. + +This picture of labor persecution in free America--terrible but true--will +serve as a background for the dramatic history of the events leading up to +the climactic tragedy at Centralia on Armistice Day, 1919. + + + + +While in Washington... + + + +All over the state of Washington the mobbing, jailing and tar and +feathering of workers continued the order of the day until long after the +cessation of hostilities in Europe. The organization had always urged and +disciplined its members to avoid violence as an unworthy weapon. Usually +the loggers have left their halls to the mercy of the mobs when they knew +a raid was contemplated. Centralia is the one exception. Here the outrages +heaped upon them could be no longer endured. + +In Yakima and Sedro Woolley, among other places in 1918, union men were +stripped of their clothing, beaten with rope ends and hot tar applied to +the bleeding flesh. They were then driven half naked into the woods. A man +was hanged at night in South Montesano about this time and another had +been tarred and feathered. As a rule the men were taken unaware before +being treated in this manner. In one instance a stationary delegate of the +Industrial Workers of the World received word that he was to be +"decorated" and rode out of town on a rail. He slit a pillow open and +placed it in the window with a note attached stating that he knew of the +plan; would be ready for them, and would gladly supply his own feathers. +He did not leave town either on a rail or otherwise. + +In Seattle, Tacoma and many other towns, union halls and print shops were +raided and their contents destroyed or burned. In the former city in 1919, +men, women and children were knocked insensible by policemen and +detectives riding up and down the sidewalks in automobiles, striking to +right and left with "billy" and night stick as they went. These were +accompanied by auto trucks filled with hidden riflemen and an armored tank +bristling with machine guns. A peaceable meeting of union men was being +dispersed. + +[Illustration: Loren Roberts + +American. Logger. 19 years old. Loren's mother said of him at the trial: +"Loren was a good boy, he brought his money home regularly for three +years. After his father took sick he was the only support for his father +and me and the three younger ones." The father was a sawyer in a mill and +died of tuberculosis after an accident had broken his strength. This boy, +the weakest of the men on trial, was driven insane by the unspeakable +"third degree" administered in the city jail. One of the lumber trust +lawyers was in the jail at the time Roberts signed his so-called +"confession." "Tell him to quit stalling," said a prosecutor to +Vanderveer, when Roberts left the witness stand. "You cur!" replied the +defense attorney in a low voice, "you know who is responsible for this +boy's condition." Roberts was one of the loggers on Seminary Hill.] + +In Centralia, Aberdeen and Montesano, in Grays Harbor County, the struggle +was more local but not less intense. No fewer than twenty-five loggers on +different occasions were taken from their beds at night and treated to tar +and feathers. A great number were jailed for indefinite periods on +indefinite charges. As an additional punishment these were frequently +locked in their cells and the fire hose played on their drenched and +shivering bodies. "Breech of jail discipline" was the reason given for +this "cruel and unusual" form of lumber trust punishment. + +In Aberdeen and Montesano there were several raids and many deportations +of the tar and feather variety. In Aberdeen in the fall of 1917 during a +"patriotic" parade, the battered hall of the union loggers was again +forcibly entered in the absence of its owners. Furniture, office fixtures, +Victrola and books were dumped into the street and destroyed. In the town +of Centralia, about a year before the tragedy, the Union Secretary was +kidnapped and taken into the woods by a mob of well dressed business men. +He was made to "run the gauntlet" and severely beaten. There was a strong +sentiment in favor of lynching him on the spot, but one of the mob +objected saying it would be "too raw." The victim was then escorted to the +outskirts of the city and warned not to return under pain of usual +penalty. On more than one occasion loggers who had expressed themselves in +favor of the Industrial Workers of the World, were found in the morning +dangling from trees in the neighborhood. No explanation but that of +"suicide" was ever offered. The whole story of the atrocities perpetrated +during these days of the White Terror, in all probability, will never be +published. The criminals are all well known but their influence is too +powerful to ever make it expedient to expose their crimes. Besides, who +would care to get a gentleman in trouble for killing a mere "Wobbly"? The +few instances noted above will, however, give the reader some slight idea +of the gruesome events that were leading inevitably to that grim day in +Centralia in November, 1919. + + + + +Weathering the Storm + + + +Through it all the industrialists clung to their Red Cards and to the One +Big Union for which they had sacrificed so much. Time after time, with +incomparable patience, they would refurnish and reopen their beleaguered +halls, heal up the wounds of rope, tar or "billy" and proceed with the +work of organization as though nothing had happened. With union cards or +credentials hidden in their heavy shoes they would meet secretly in the +woods at night. Here they would consult about members who had been mobbed, +jailed or killed, about caring for their families--if they had any--about +carrying on the work of propaganda and laying plans for the future +progress of their union. Perhaps they would take time to chant a rebel +song or two in low voices. Then, back on the job again to "line up the +slaves for the New Society!" + +Through a veritable inferno of torment and persecution these men had +refused to be driven from the woods or to give up their union--the +Industrial Workers of the World. Between the two dreadful alternatives of +peonage or persecution they chose the latter--and the lesser. Can you +imagine what their peonage must have been like? + + + + +Sinister Centralia + + + +But Centralia was destined to be the scene of the most dramatic portion of +the struggle between the entrenched interests and the union loggers. Here +the long persecuted industrialists made a stand for their lives and fought +to defend their own, thus giving the glib-tongued lawyers of the +prosecution the opportunity of accusing them of "wantonly murdering +unoffending paraders" on Armistice Day. + +Centralia in appearance is a creditable small American city--the kind of +city smug people show their friends with pride from the rose-scented +tranquility of a super-six in passage. The streets are wide and clean, the +buildings comfortable, the lawns and shade trees attractive. Centralia is +somewhat of a coquette but she is as sinister and cowardly as she is +pretty. There is a shudder lurking in every corner and a nameless fear +sucks the sweetness out of every breeze. Song birds warble at the +outskirts of the town but one is always haunted by the cries of the human +beings who have been tortured and killed within her confines. + +A red-faced business man motors leisurely down the wet street. He shouts a +laughing greeting to a well dressed group at the curb who respond in kind. +But the roughly dressed lumberworkers drop their glances in passing one +another. The Fear is always upon them. As these lines are written several +hundred discontented shingle-weavers are threatened with deportation if +they dare to strike. They will not strike, for they know too well the +consequences. The man-hunt of a few months ago is not forgotten and the +terror of it grips their hearts whenever they think of opposing the will +of the Moloch that dominates their every move. + +Around Centralia are wooded hills; men have been beaten beneath them and +lynched from their limbs. The beautiful Chehalis River flows near by; +Wesley Everest was left dangling from one of its bridges. But Centralia is +provokingly pretty for all that. It is small wonder that the lumber trust +and its henchmen wish to keep it all for themselves. + +Well tended roads lead in every direction, bordered with clearings of +worked out camps and studded with occasional tree stumps of great age and +truly prodigious size. At intervals are busy saw mills with thousands of +feet of odorous lumber piled up in orderly rows. In all directions +stretches the pillared immensity of the forests. The vistas through the +trees seen enchanted rather than real--unbelievable green and of form and +depth that remind one of painted settings for a Maeterlinck fable rather +than matter-of-fact timber land. + + + + +The High Priests of Labor Hatred + + + +Practically all of this land is controlled by the trusts; much of it by +the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, of which F.B. Hubbard is the head. +The strike of 1917 almost ruined this worthy gentleman. He has always been +a strong advocate of the open shop, but during the last few years he has +permitted his rabid labor-hatred to reach the point of fanaticism. This +Hubbard figures prominently in Centralia's business, social and mob +circles. He is one of the moving spirits in the Centralia conspiracy. The +Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, besides large tracts of land, owns +saw-mills, coal mines and a railway. The Centralia newspapers are its +mouthpieces while the Chamber of Commerce and the Elks' Club are its +general headquarters. The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is its local +citadel of power. In charge of this bank is a sinister character, one +Uhlman, a German of the old school and a typical Prussian junker. At one +time he was an officer in the German army but at present is a "100% +American"--an easy metamorphosis for a Prussian in these days. His native +born "brother-at-arms" is George Dysart whose son led the posses in the +man-hunt that followed the shooting. In Centralia this bank and its Hun +dictator dominates the financial, political and social activities of the +community. Business men, lawyers, editors, doctors and local authorities +all kow-tow to the institution and its Prussian president. And woe be to +any who dare do otherwise! The power of the "interests" is a vengeful +power and will have no other power before it. Even the mighty arm of the +law becomes palsied in its presence. + +[Illustration: Lumberworkers Union Hall, Raided in 1918 + +The first of the two halls to be wrecked by Centralia's terrorists. This +picture was not permitted to be introduced as evidence of the conspiracy +to raid the new hall. Judge Wilson didn't want the jury to know anything +about this event.] + +The Farmers' & Merchants' Bank is the local instrumentality of the +invisible government that holds the nation in its clutch. Kaiser Uhlman +has more influence than the city mayor and more power than the police +force. The law has always been a little thing to him and his clique. The +inscription on the shield of this bank is said to read "To hell with the +Constitution; this is Lewis County." As events will show, this inspiring +maxim has been faithfully adhered to. One of the mandates of this +delectable nest of highbinders is that no headquarters of the Union of the +lumber workers shall ever be permitted within the sacred precincts of the +city of Centralia. + + + + +The Loved and Hated Union Hall + + + +Now the loggers, being denied the luxury of home and family life, have but +three places they can call "home." The bunkhouse in the camp, the cheap +rooming house in town and the Union Hall. This latter is by far the best +loved of all. It is here the men can gather around a crackling wood fire, +smoke their pipes and warm their souls with the glow of comradeship. Here +they can, between jobs or after work, discuss the vicissitudes of their +daily lives, read their books and magazines and sing their songs of +solidarity, or merely listen to the "tinned" humor or harmony of the +much-prized Victrola. Also they here attend to affairs of their +Union--line up members, hold business and educational meetings and a +weekly "open forum." Once in awhile a rough and wholesome "smoker" is +given. The features of this great event are planned for weeks in advance +and sometimes talked about for months afterwards. + +[Illustration: The Scene of the Armistice Day Tragedy + +This is what was left of the Union hall the loggers tried to defend on +November 11th. Three of the raiders, Grimm, McElfresh and Cassagranda, +were killed in the immediate vicinity of the doorway. Several others were +wounded while attempting to rush the doors.] + +These halls are at all times open to the public and inducements are made +to get workers to come in and read a thoughtful treatise on Industrial +questions. The latch-string is always out for people who care to listen to +a lecture on economics or similar subjects. Inside the hall there is +usually a long reading-table littered with books, magazines or papers. In +a rack or case at the wall are to be found copies of the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Butte Daily Bulletin," "The New Solidarity," "The Industrial +Worker," "The Liberator," "The New Republic" and "The Nation." Always +there is a shelf of thumb-worn books on history, science, economics and +socialism. On the walls are lithographs or engravings of noted champions +of the cause of Labor, a few photographs of local interest and the monthly +Bulletins and Statements of the Union. Invariably there is a blackboard +with jobs, wages and hours written in chalk for the benefit of men seeking +employment. There are always a number of chairs in the room and a roll top +desk for the secretary. Sometimes at the end of the hall is a plank +rostrum--a modest altar to the Goddess of Free Speech and open discussion. +This is what the loved and hated I.W.W. Halls are like--the halls that +have been raided and destroyed by the hundreds during the last three +years. + +Remember, too, that in each of these raids the union men were not the +aggressors and that there was never any attempt at reprisal. In spite of +the fact that the lumber workers were within their legal right to keep +open their halls and to defend them from felonious attack, it had never +happened until November 11, that active resistance was offered the +marauders. This fact alone speaks volumes for the long-suffering patience +of the logger and for his desire to settle his problems by peaceable means +wherever possible. But the Centralia raid was the straw that broke the +camel's back. The lumber trust went a little too far on this occasion and +it got the surprise of its life. Four of its misguided dupes paid for +their lawlessness with their lives, and a number of others were wounded. +There has not since been a raid on a union hall in the Northwestern +District. + +It is well that workingmen and women throughout the country should +understand the truth about the Armistice Day tragedy in Centralia and the +circumstances that led up to it. But in order to know why the hall was +raided it is necessary first to understand why this, and all similar +halls, are hated by the oligarchies of the woods. + +The issue contested is whether the loggers have the right to organize +themselves into a union, or whether they must remain chattels--mere hewers +of wood and helpless in the face of the rapacity of their industrial +overlords--or whether they have the right to keep open their halls and +peacefully to conduct the affairs of their union. The lumber workers +contend that they are entitled by law to do these things and the employers +assert that, law or no law, they shall not do so. In other words, it is a +question of whether labor organization shall retain its foothold in the +lumber industry or be "driven from the woods." + + + + +Pioneers of Unionism + + + +It is hard for workers in most of the other industries--especially in the +East--to understand the problems, struggles and aspirations of the husky +and unconquerable lumber workers of the Northwest. The reason is that the +average union man takes his union for granted. He goes to his union +meetings, discusses the affairs of his craft, industry or class, and he +carries his card--all as a matter of course. It seldom enters his mind +that the privileges and benefits that surround him and the protection he +enjoys are the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the nameless +thousands of pioneers that cleared the way. But these unknown heroes of +the great struggle of the classes did precede him with their loyal hearts +and strong hands; otherwise workers now organized would have to start the +long hard battle at the beginning and count their gains a step at a time, +just as did the early champions of industrial organization, or as the +loggers of the West Coast are now doing. + +The working class owes all honor and respect to the first men who planted +the standard of labor solidarity on the hostile frontier of unorganized +industry. They were the men who made possible all things that came after +and all things that are still to come. They were the trail blazers. It is +easier to follow them than to have gone before them--or with them. They +established the outposts of unionism in the wilderness of Industrial +autocracy. Their voices were the first to proclaim the burning message of +Labor's power, of Labor's mission and of Labor's ultimate emancipation. +Their breasts were the first to receive the blows of the enemy; their +unprotected bodies were shielding the countless thousands to follow. They +were the forerunners of the solidarity of Toil. They fought in a good and +great cause; for without solidarity, Labor would have attained nothing +yesterday, gained nothing today nor dare to hope for anything tomorrow. + +[Illustration: Seminary Hall + +The Union hall looks out on this hill, with Tower avenue and an alley +between. It is claimed that loggers, among others Loren Roberts, Bert +Bland and the missing Ole Hanson, fired at the attacking mob from this +position.] + + + + +The Block House and the Union Hall + + + +In the Northwest today the rebel lumberjack is a pioneer. Just as our +fathers had to face the enmity of the Indians, so are these men called +upon to face the fury of the predatory interests that have usurped the +richest timber resources of the richest nation in the world. Just outside +Centralia stands a weatherbeaten landmark. It is an old, brown dilapidated +block house of early days. In many ways it reminds one of the battered and +wrecked union halls to be found in the heart of the city. + +The evolution of industry has replaced the block house with the union hall +as the embattled center of assault and defense. The weapons are no longer +the rifle and the tomahawk but the boycott and the strike. The frontier is +no longer territorial but industrial. The new struggle is as portentous as +the old. The stakes are larger and the warfare even more bitter. + +The painted and be-feathered scalp-hunter of the Sioux or Iroquois were +not more heartless in maiming, mutilating and killing their victims than +the "respectable" profit-hunters of today--the type of men who conceived +the raid on the Union Hall in Centralia on Armistice Day--and who +fiendishly tortured and hanged Wesley Everest for the crime of defending +himself from their inhuman rage. It seems incredible that such deeds could +be possible in the twentieth century. It is incredible to those who have +not followed in the bloody trail of the lumber trust and who are not +familiar with its ruthlessness, its greed and its lust for power. + +As might be expected the I.W.W. Halls in Washington were hated by the +lumber barons with a deep and undying hatred. Union halls were a standing +challenge to their hitherto undisputed right to the complete domination of +the forests. Like the blockhouses of early days, these humble meeting +places were the outposts of a new and better order planted in the +stronghold of the old. And they were hated accordingly. The thieves who +had invaded the resources of the nation had long ago seized the woods and +still held them in a grip of steel. They were not going to tolerate the +encroachments of the One Big Union of the lumber workers. Events will +prove that they did not hesitate at anything to achieve their purposes. + + + + +The First Centralia Hall + + + +In the year 1918 a union hall stood on one of the side streets in +Centralia. It was similar to the halls that have just been described. This +was not, however, the hall in which the Armistice Day tragedy took place. +You must always remember that there were two halls raided in Centralia; +one in 1918 and another in 1919. The loggers did not defend the first hall +and many of them were manhandled by the mob that wrecked it. The loggers +did defend the second and were given as reward a hanging, a speedy, fair +and impartial conviction and sentences of from 25 to 40 years. No member +of the mob has ever been punished or even taken to task for this misdeed. +Their names are known to everybody. They kiss their wives and babies at +night and go to church on Sundays. People tip their hats to them on the +street. Yet they are a greater menace to the institutions of this country +than all the "reds" in the land. In a world where Mammon is king the king +can do no wrong. But the question of "right" or "wrong" did not concern +the lumber interests when they raided the Union hall in 1918. "Yes, we +raided the hall, what are you going to do about it," is the position they +take in the matter. + +During the 1917 strike the two lumber trust papers in Centralia, the "Hub" +and the "Chronicle" were bitter in their denunciation of the strikers. +Repeatedly they urged that most drastic and violent measures be taken by +the authorities and "citizens" to break the strike, smash the union and +punish the strikers. The war-frenzy was at its height and these miserable +sheets went about their work like Czarist papers inciting a pogrom. The +lumber workers were accused of "disloyalty," "treason," +"anarchy"--anything that would tend to make their cause unpopular. The +Abolitionists were spoken about in identical terms before the civil war. +As soon as the right atmosphere for their crime had been created the +employers struck and struck hard. + +It was in April, 1918. Like many other cities in the land Centralia was +conducting a Red Cross drive. Among the features of this event were a +bazaar and a parade. + +The profits of the lumber trust were soaring to dizzy heights at this time +and their patriotism was proportionately exalted. + +There was the usual brand of hypocritical and fervid speechmaking. The +flag was waved, the Government was lauded and the Constitution praised. +Then, after the war-like proclivities of the stay-at-home heroes had been +sufficiently worked upon; flag, Government and Constitution were forgotten +long enough for the gang to go down the street and raid the "wobbly" hall. + +Dominating the festivities was the figure of F.B. Hubbard, at that time +President of the Employers' Association of the State of Washington. This +is neither Hubbard's first nor last appearance as a terrorist and +mob-leader--usually behind the scenes, however, or putting in a last +minute appearance. + +[Illustration: Avalon Hotel, Centralia + +From this point Elsie Hornbeck claimed she identified Eugene Barnett in +the open window with a rifle. Afterwards she admitted that her +identification was based only on a photograph shown her by the +prosecution. This young lady nearly fainted on the witness stand while +trying to patch her absurd story together.] + + + + +The 1918 Raid + + + +It had been rumored about town that the Union Hall was to be wrecked on +this day but the loggers at the hall were of the opinion that the business +men, having driven their Secretary out of town a short time previously, +would not dare to perpetrate another atrocity so soon afterwards. In this +they were sadly mistaken. + +Down the street marched the parade, at first presenting no unusual +appearance. The Chief of Police, the Mayor and the Governor of the State +were given places of honor at the head of the procession. Company G of the +National Guard and a gang of broad-cloth hoodlums disguised as "Elks" made +up the main body of the marchers. But the crafty and unscrupulous Hubbard +had laid his plans in advance with characteristic cunning. The parade, +like a scorpion, carried its sting in the rear. + +Along the main avenue went the guardsmen and the gentlemen of the Elks +Club. So far nothing extraordinary had happened. Then the procession +swerved to a side street. This must be the right thing for the line of +march had been arranged by the Chamber of Commerce itself. A couple of +blocks more and the parade had reached the intersection of First Street +and Tower Avenue. What happened then the Mayor and Chief of Police +probably could not have stopped even had the Governor himself ordered them +to do so. From somewhere in the line of march a voice cried out, "Let's +raid the I.W.W. Hall!" And the crowd at the tail end of the procession +broke ranks and leaped to their work with a will. + +In a short time the intervening block that separated them from the Union +Hall was covered. The building was stormed with clubs and stones. Every +window was shattered and every door was smashed, the very sides of the +building were torn off by the mob in its blind fury. Inside the rioters +tore down the partitions and broke up chairs and pictures. The union men +were surrounded, beaten and driven to the street where they were forced to +watch furniture, records, typewriter and literature demolished and burned +before their eyes. An American flag hanging in the hall, was torn down and +destroyed. A Victrola and a desk were carried to the street with +considerable care. The former was auctioned off on the spot for the +benefit of the Red Cross. James Churchill, owner of a glove factory, won +the machine. He still boasts of its possession. The desk was appropriated +by F.B. Hubbard himself. This was turned over to an expressman and carted +to the Chamber of Commerce. A small boy picked up the typewriter case and +started to take it to a nearby hotel office. One of the terrorists +detected the act and gave warning. The mob seized the lad, took him to a +nearby light pole and threatened to lynch him if he did not tell them +where books and papers were secreted which somebody said had been carried +away by him. The boy denied having done this, but the hoodlums went into +the hotel, ransacked and overturned everything. Not finding what they +wanted, they left a notice that the proprietor would have to take the sign +down from his building in just twenty-four hours. Then the mob surged +around the unfortunate men who had been found in the Union hall. With +cuffs and blows these were dragged to waiting trucks where they were +lifted by the ears to the body of the machine and knocked prostrate one at +a time. Sometimes a man would be dropped to the ground just after he had +been lifted from his feet. Here he would lay with ear drums bursting and +writhing from the kicks and blows that had been freely given. Like all +similar mobs this one carried ropes, which were placed about the necks of +the loggers. "Here's and I.W.W." yelled someone. "What shall we do with +him?" A cry was given to "lynch him!" Some were taken to the city jail and +the rest were dumped unceremoniously on the other side of the county line. + +Since that time the wrecked hall has remained tenantless and unrepaired. +Grey and gaunt like a house in battle-scarred Belgium, it stands a mute +testimony of the labor-hating ferocity of the lumber trust. Repeated +efforts have since been made to destroy the remains with fire. The defense +had tried without avail to introduce a photograph of the ruin as evidence +to prove that the second hall was raided in a similar manner on Armistice +Day, 1919. Judge Wilson refused to permit the jury to see either the +photographs or the hall. But in case of another trial...? + +Evidently the lumber trust thought it better to have all traces of its +previous crime obliterated. + +The raid of 1918 did not weaken the lumber workers' Union in Centralia. On +the contrary it served to strengthen it. But not until more than a year +had passed were the loggers able to establish a new headquarters. This +hall was located next door to the Roderick Hotel on Tower Avenue, between +Second and Third Streets. Hardly was this hall opened when threats were +circulated by the Chamber of Commerce that it, like the previous one, was +marked for destruction. The business element was lined up solid in +denunciation of and opposition to the Union Hall and all that it stood +for. But other anti-labor matters took up their attention and it was some +time before the second raid was actually accomplished. + +There was one rift in the lute of lumber trust solidarity in Centralia. +Business and professional men had long been groveling in sycophantic +servility at the feet of "the clique." There was only one notable +exception. + + + + +A Lawyer--and a Man + + + +A young lawyer had settled in the city a few years previous to the +Armistice Day tragedy. Together with his parents and four brothers he had +left his home in Minnesota to seek fame and fortune in the woods of +Washington. He had worked his way through McAlester College and the Law +School of the University of Minnesota. He was young, ambitious, red-headed +and husky, a loving husband and the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. +Nature had endowed him with a dangerous combination of gifts,--a brilliant +mind and a kind heart. His name was just plain Smith--Elmer Smith--and he +came from the old rugged American stock. + +Smith started to practice law in Centralia, but unlike his brother +attorneys, he held to the assumption that all men are equal under the +law--even the hated I.W.W. In a short time his brilliant mind and kind +heart had won him as much hatred from the lumber barons as love from the +down-trodden,--which is saying a good deal. The "interests" studied the +young lawyer carefully for awhile and soon decided that he could be +neither bullied or bought. So they determined to either break his spirit +or to break his neck. Smith is at present in prison charged with murder. +This is how it happened: + +Smith established his office in the First Guarantee Bank Building which +was quite the proper thing to do. Then he began to handle law suits for +wage-earners, which was altogether the reverse. Caste rules in Centralia, +and Elmer Smith was violating its most sacred mandataries by giving the +"working trash" the benefit of his talents instead of people really worth +while. + +Warren O. Grimm, who was afterwards shot while trying to break into the +Union Hall with the mob, once cautioned Smith of the folly and danger of +such a course. "You'll get along all right," said he, "if you will come in +with us." Then he continued: + +"How would you feel if one of your clients would come up to you in public, +slap you on the back and say 'Hello, Elmer?'" + +"Very proud," answered the young lawyer. + +[Illustration: Elmer Smith + +Attorney at law. Old American stock--born on a homestead in North Dakota. +By championing the cause of the "under-dog" in Centralia Smith brought +down on himself the wrath of the lumber trust. He defended many union men +in the courts, and at one time sought to prosecute the kidnappers of Tom +Lassiter. Smith is the man Warren O. Grimm told would get along all right, +"if you come in with us." He bucked the lumber trust instead and landed in +prison on a trumped-up murder charge. Smith was found "not guilty" by the +jury, but immediately re-arrested on practically the same charge. He is +not related to Britt Smith.] + +[Illustration: Wesley Everest + +Logger. American (old Washington pioneer stock). Joined the Industrial +Workers of the World in 1917. A returned soldier. Earnest, sincere, quiet, +he was the "Jimmy Higgins" of the Centralia branch of the Lumberworkers +Union. Everest was mistaken for Britt Smith, the Union secretary, whom the +mob had started out to lynch. He was pursued by a gang of terrorists and +unmercifully manhandled. Later--at night--he was taken from the city jail +and hanged to a bridge. In the automobile, on the way to the lynching, he +was unsexed by a human fiend--a well known Centralia business man--who +used a razor on his helpless victim. Even the lynchers were forced to +admit that Everest was the most "dead game" man they had ever seen.] + +Some months previous Smith had taken a case for an I.W.W. logger. He won +it. Other cases in which workers needed legal advice came to him. He took +them. A young girl was working at the Centralia "Chronicle." She was +receiving a weekly wage of three dollars which is in defiance of the +minimum wage law of the state for women. Smith won the case. Also he +collected hundreds of dollars in back wages for workers whom the companies +had sought to defraud. Workers in the clutches of loan sharks were +extricated by means of the bankruptcy laws, hitherto only used by their +masters. An automobile firm was making a practice of replacing Ford +engines with old ones when a machine was brought in for repairs. One of +the victims brought his case to Smith. and a lawsuit followed. This was an +unheard-of proceeding, for heretofore such little business tricks had been +kept out of court by common understanding. + +A worker, formerly employed by a subsidiary of the Eastern Lumber & +Railway Company, had been deprived of his wages on a technicality of the +law by the corporation attorneys. This man had a large family and hard +circumstances were forced upon them by this misfortune. One of his little +girls died from what the doctor called malnutrition--plain starvation. +Smith filed suit and openly stated that the lawyers of the corporation +were responsible for the death of the child. The indignation of the +business and professional element blazed to white heat. A suit for libel +and disbarment proceedings were started against him. Nothing could be done +in this direction as Smith had not only justice but the law on his side. +His enemies were waiting with great impatience for a more favorable +opportunity to strike him down. Open threats were beginning to be heard +against him. + +A Union lecturer came to town. The meeting was well attended. A vigilance +committee of provocateurs and business men was in the audience. At the +close of the lecture those gentlemen started to pass the signal for +action. Elmer Smith sauntered down the aisle, shook hands with the speaker +and told him he would walk to the train with him. + +The following morning the door to Smith's office was ornamented with a +cardboard sign. It read: "Are you an American? You had better say so. +Citizens' Committee." This was lettered in lead pencil. Across the bottom +were scrawled these words: "No more I.W.W. meetings for you." + +In 1918 an event occurred which served further to tighten the noose about +the stubborn neck of the young lawyer. On this occasion the terrorists of +the city perpetrated another shameful crime against the working class--and +the law. + + + + +Blind Tom--A Blemish on America + + + +Tom Lassiter made his living by selling newspapers at a little stand on a +street corner. Tom is blind, a good soul and well liked by the loggers. +But Tom has vision enough to see that there is something wrong with the +hideous capitalist system we live under; and so he kept papers on sale +that would help enlighten the workers. Among these were the "Seattle Union +Record," "The Industrial Worker" and "Solidarity." To put it plainly, Tom +was a thorn in the side of the local respectability because of his modest +efforts to make people thing. And his doom had also been sealed. + +Early in June the newsstand was broken into and all his clothing, +literature and little personal belongings were taken to a vacant lot and +burned. A warning sign was left on a short pole stuck in the ashes. The +message, "You leave town in 24 hours, U.S. Soldiers, Sailors and Marines," +was left on the table in his room. + +With true Wobbly determination, Lassiter secured a new stock of papers and +immediately re-opened his little stand. About this time a Centralia +business man, J.H. Roberts by name, was heard to say "This man (Lassiter) +is within his legal rights and if we can't do anything by law we'll take +the law into our own hands." This is precisely what happened. + +On the afternoon of June 30th, Blind Tom was crossing Tower Avenue with +hesitating steps when, without warning, two business men seized his +groping arms and yelled in his ear, "We'll get you out of town this time!" +Lassiter called for help. The good Samaritan came along in the form of a +brute-faced creature known as W.R. Patton, a rich property owner of the +city. This Christian gentleman sneaked up behind the blind man and lunged +him forcibly into a waiting Oakland automobile. The machine is owned by +Cornelius McIntyre who is said to have been one of the kidnapping party. + +"Shut up or I'll smash your mouth so you can't yell," said one of his +assailants as Lassiter was forced, still screaming for help, into the car. +Turning to the driver one of the party said, "Step on her and let's get +out of here." About this time Constable Luther Patton appeared on the +scene. W.R. Patton walked over to where the constable stood and shouted to +the bystanders, "We'll arrest the first person that objects, interferes or +gets too loud." + +"A good smash on the jaw would do more good," suggested the kind-hearted +official. + +"Well, we got that one pretty slick and now there are two more we have to +get," stated W.R. Patton, a short time afterwards. + +Blind Tom was dropped helpless in a ditch just over the county line. He +was picked up by a passing car and eventually made his way to Olympia, +capital of the state. In about a week he was back in Centralia. But before +he could again resume his paper selling he was arrested on a charge of +"criminal syndicalism." He is now awaiting conviction at Chehalis. + +Before his arrest, however, Lassiter engaged Elmer Smith as his attorney. +Smith appealed to County Attorney Herman Allen for protection for his +client. After a half-hearted effort to locate the kidnappers--who were +known to everybody--this official gave up the task saying he was "Too busy +to bother with the affair, and, besides, the offense was only 'third +degree assault' which is punishable with a fine of but one dollar and +costs." The young lawyer did not waste any more time with the County +authorities. Instead he secured sworn statements of the facts in the case +and submitted them to the Governor. These were duly acknowledged and +placed on file in Olympia. But up to date no action has been taken by the +executive to prosecute the criminals who committed the crime. + +"Handle these I.W.W. cases if you want to," said a local attorney to Elmer +Smith, counsel for one of the banks, "but sooner or later they're all +going to be hanged or deported anyway." + +[Illustration: Where Barnett's Rifle Was Supposed to Have Been Found + +Eugene Barnett was said to have left his rifle under this sign-board as he +fled from the scene of the shooting. It would have been much easier to +hide a gun in the tall brush in the foreground. In reality Barnett did not +have a rifle on November 11th and was never within a mile of this place. +Prosecutor Cunningham said he had "been looking all over for that rifle" +when it was turned over to him by a stool pigeon. Strangely enough +Cunningham knew the number of the gun before he placed hands on it.] + +Smith was feathering a nest for himself--feathering it with steel and +stone and a possible coil of hempen rope. The shadow of the prison bars +was falling blacker on his red head with every passing moment. His +fearless championing of the cause of the "under dog" had won him the +implacable hatred of his own class. To them his acts of kindness and +humanity were nothing less than treason. Smith had been ungrateful to the +clique that had offered him every inducement to "come in with us". A +lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a working man with his brains. +Elmer Smith would be punished all right; it would just be a matter of +time. + +The indifference of the County and State authorities regarding the +kidnapping of blind Tom gave the terrorists renewed confidence in the +efficacy and "legality" of their methods. Also it gave them a hint as to +the form their future depredations were to take. And so, with the implied +approval of everyone worth considering, they went about their plotting +with still greater determination and a soothing sense of security. + + + + +The Conspiracy Develops + + + +The cessation of hostilities in Europe deprived the gangsters of the cloak +of "patriotism" as a cover for their crimes. But this cloak was too +convenient to be discarded so easily. "Let the man in uniform do it" was +an axiom that had been proved both profitable and safe. Then came the +organization of the local post of the American Legion and the now famous +Citizen's Protective League--of which more afterwards. + +With the signing of the Armistice, and the consequent almost imperceptible +lifting of the White Terror that dominated the country, the organization +of the loggers began daily to gather strength. The Chamber of Commerce +began to growl menacingly, the Employers' Association to threaten and the +lumber trust papers to incite open violence. And the American Legion began +to function as a "cats paw" for the men behind the scenes. + +Why should the beautiful city of Centralia tolerate the hated Union hall +any longer? Other halls had been raided, men had been tarred and feathered +and deported--no one had ever been punished! Why should the good citizens +of Centralia endure a lumberworkers headquarters and their despised union +itself right in the midst of their peaceful community? Why indeed! The +matter appeared simple enough from any angle. So then and there the +conspiracy was hatched that resulted in the tragedy on Armistice Day. But +the forces at work to bring about this unhappy conclusion were far from +local. Let us see what these were like before the actual details of the +conspiracy are recounted. + +There were three distinct phases of this campaign to "rid the woods of the +agitators." These three phases dovetail together perfectly. Each one is a +perfect part of a shrewdly calculated and mercilessly executed conspiracy +to commit constructive murder and unlawful entry. The diabolical plan +itself was designed to brush aside the laws of the land, trample the +Constitution underfoot and bring about an unparalleled orgy of unbridled +labor hatred and labor repression that would settle the question of +unionism for a long time. + + + + +The Conspiracy--And a Snag + + + +First of all comes the propaganda stage with the full force of the +editorial virulence of the trust-controlled newspapers directed against +labor in favor of "law and order," i.e., the lumber interests. All the +machinery of newspaper publicity was used to vilify the lumber worker and +to discredit his Union. Nothing was left unsaid that would tend to produce +intolerance and hatred or to incite mob violence. This is not only true of +Centralia, but of all the cities and towns located in the lumber district. +Centralia happened to be the place where the tree of anti-labor propaganda +first bore its ghastly fruit. Space does not permit us to quote the +countless horrible things the I.W.W. was supposed to stand for and to be +constantly planning to do. Statements from the lips of General Wood and +young Roosevelt to the effect that citizens should not argue with +Bolshevists but meet them "head on" were very conspicuously displayed on +all occasions. Any addle-headed mediocrity, in or out of uniform, who had +anything particularly atrocious to say against the labor movement in +general or the "radicals" in particular, was afforded every opportunity to +do so. The papers were vying with one another in devising effectual, if +somewhat informal, means of dealing with the "red menace." + +Supported by, and partly the result of this barrage of lies, +misrepresentation and incitation, came the period of attempted repression +by "law". This was probably the easiest thing of all because the grip of +Big Business upon the law-making and law-enforcing machinery of the nation +is incredible. At all events a state's "criminal syndicalism law" had been +conveniently passed and was being applied vigorously against union men, +A.F. of L. and I.W.W. alike, but chiefly against the Lumber Workers' +Industrial Union, No. 500, of the Industrial Workers of the World, the +basic lumber industry being the largest in the Northwest and the growing +power of the organized lumberjack being therefore more to be feared. + +[Illustration: His Uncle Planned It + +Dale Hubbard, killed in self-defense by Wesley Everest, Armistice Day, +1919. F. Hubbard, a lumber baron and uncle of the dead man, is held to +have been the instigator of the plot in which his nephew was shot. Hubbard +was martyrized by the lumber trust's determination "to let the men in +uniform do it."] + +No doubt the lumber interests had great hope that the execution of these +made-to-order laws would clear up the atmosphere so far as the lumber +situation was concerned. But they were doomed to a cruel and surprising +disappointment. + +A number of arrests were made in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and +even Nevada. Fifty or sixty men all told were arrested and their trials +rushed as test cases. During this period from April 25th to October 28th, +1919, the lumber trust saw with chagrin and dismay each of the state cases +in turn either won outright by the defendants or else dismissed in the +realization that it would be impossible to win them. By October 28th +George F. Vanderveer, chief attorney for the defense, declared there were +not a single member of the I.W.W. in custody in Washington, Idaho or +Montana under this charge. In Seattle, Washington, an injunction was +obtained restraining the mayor from closing down the new Union hall in +that city under the new law. Thus it appeared that the nefarious plan of +the employers and their subservient lawmaking adjuncts, to outlaw the +lumber workers Union and to penalize the activities of its members, was to +be doomed to an ignominious failure. + + + + +Renewed Efforts--Legal and Otherwise + + + +Furious at the realization of their own impotency the "interests" launched +forth upon a new campaign. This truly machiavellian scheme was devised to +make it impossible for accused men to secure legal defense of any kind. +All labor cases were to be tried simultaneously, thus making it impossible +for the defendants to secure adequate counsel. George F. Russell, +Secretary-Manager of the Washington Employers' Association, addressed +meetings over the state urging all Washington Prosecuting Attorneys to +organize that this end might be achieved. It is reported that Governor +Hart, of Washington, looked upon the scheme with favor when it was brought +to his personal attention by Mr. Russell. + +However, the fact remains that the lumber trust was losing and that it +would have to devise even more drastic measures if it were to hope to +escape the prospect of a very humiliating defeat. And, all the while the +organization of the lumber workers continued to grow. + +In Washington the situation was becoming more tense, momentarily. Many +towns in the heart of the lumber district had passed absurd criminal +syndicalism ordinances. These prohibited membership in the I.W.W.; made it +unlawful to rent premises to the organization or to circulate its +literature. The Employers' Association had boasted that it was due to its +efforts that these ordinances had been passed. But still they were faced +with the provocative and unforgettable fact, that the I.W.W. was no more +dead than the cat with the proverbial nine lives. Where halls had been +closed or raided the lumber workers were transacting their union affairs +right on the job or in the bunkhouses, just as though nothing had +happened. What was more deplorable a few Union halls were still open and +doing business at the same old stand. Centralia was one of these; drastic +measures must be applied at once or loggers in other localities might be +encouraged to open halls also. As events prove these measures were +taken--and they were drastic. + + + + +The Employers Show Their Fangs + + + +That the Employers' Association was assiduously preparing its members for +action suitable for the situation is evidenced by the following quotations +from the official bulletin addressed privately "to Members of the +Employers' Association of Washington". Note them carefully; they are +published as "suggestions to members" over the written signature of George +F. Russell Secretary-Manager: + +June 25th, 1918.--"Provide a penalty for idleness ... Common labor now +works a few days and then loafs to spend the money earned ... Active +prosecution of the I.W.W. and other radicals." + +April 30th, 1919.--"Keep business out of the control of radicals and +I.W.W.... Overcome agitation ... Closer co-operation between employers and +employees ... Suppress the agitators ... Hang the Bolshevists." + +May 31st, 1919.--"If the agitators were taken care of we would have very +little trouble ... Propaganda to counteract radicals and overcome +agitation ... Put the I.W.W. in jail." + +June 30th, 1919.--"Make some of the Seattle papers print the truth ... Get +rid of the I.W.W.'s." + +July 2nd, 1919.--"Educate along the line of the three R's and the golden +rule, economy and self denial ... Import Japanese labor ... Import Chinese +labor." + +July 31st, 1919.--"Deport about ten Russians in this community." + +August 31st, 1919.--"Personal contact between employer and employee, +stringent treatment of the I.W.W." + +October 15th, 1919. "There are many I.W.W.s--mostly in the +logging camps...." + +October 31st, 1919.--(A little over a week before the Centralia raid.) +"Run your business or quit ... Business men and tax payers of Vancouver, +Washington, have organized the Loyal Citizen's Protective League; opposed +to Bolsheviki and the Soviet form of government and in favor of the open +shop ... Jail the radicals and deport them ... Since the armistice these +radicals have started in again. ONLY TWO COMMUNITIES IN WASHINGTON ALLOW +I.W.W. HEADQUARTERS." (!!!) + +[Illustration: Arthur McElfresh + +A Centralia druggist. His wife warned him not to march to the union +headquarters because "she knew he'd get hurt." McElfresh is the man said +to have been shot inside the hall when the mob burst through the door.] + +December 31st, 1919. "Get rid of all the I.W.W. and all other un-American +organizations ... Deport the radicals or use the rope as at Centralia. +Until we get rid of the I.W.W. and radicals we don't expect to do much in +this country ... Keep cleaning up on the I.W.W.... Don't let it die down +... Keep up public sentiment..." + +These few choice significant morsels of one hundred percent (on the +dollar) Americanism are quoted almost at random from the private bulletins +of the officials of the Iron Heel in the state of Washington. Here you can +read their sentiments in their own words; you can see how dupes and +hirelings were coached to perpetrate the crime of Centralia, and as many +other similar crimes as they could get away with. Needless to say these +illuminating lines were not intended for the perusal of the working class. +But now that we have obtained them and placed them before your eyes you +can draw your own conclusion. There are many, many more records germane to +this case that we would like to place before you, but the Oligarchy has +closed its steel jaws upon them and they are at present inaccessible. Men +are still afraid to tell the truth in Centralia. Some day the workers may +learn the whole truth about the inside workings of the Centralia +conspiracy. Be that as it may the business interests of the Northwest +lumber country stand bloody handed and doubly damned, black with guilt and +foul with crime; convicted before the bar of public opinion, by their own +statements and their own acts. + + + + +Failure and Desperation + + + +Let us see for a moment how the conspiracy of the lumber barons operated +to achieve the unlawful ends for which it was designed. Let us see how +they were driven by their own failure at intrigue to adopt methods so +brutal that they would have disgraced the head-hunter; how they tried to +gain with murder-lust what they had failed to gain lawfully and with +public approval. + +The campaign of lies and slander inaugurated by their private newspapers +failed to convince the workers of the undesirability of labor +organization. In spite of the armies of editors and news-whelps assembled +to its aid, it served only to lash to a murderous frenzy the low instincts +of the anti-labor elements in the community. The campaign of legal +repression, admittedly instituted by the Employers' Association, failed +also in spite of the fact that all the machinery of the state from +dog-catcher down to Governor was at its beck and call on all occasions and +for all purposes. + +Having made a mess of things with these methods the lumber barons threw +all scruples to the winds--if they ever had any--threw aside all +pretension of living within the law. They started out, mad-dog like, to +rent, wreck and destroy the last vestige of labor organization from the +woods of the Northwest, and furthermore, to hunt down union men and +martyrize them with the club, the gun, the rope and the courthouse. + +It was to cover up their own crimes that the heartless beasts of Big +Business beat the tom-toms of the press in order to lash the "patriotism" +of their dupes and hirelings into hysteria. It was to hide their own +infamy that the loathsome war dance was started that developed perceptibly +from uncomprehending belligerency into the lawless tumult of mobs, raids +and lynching! And it will be an everlasting blot upon the fair name of +America that they were permitted to do so. + +The Centralia tragedy was the culmination of a long series of unpunished +atrocities against labor. What is expected of men who have been treated as +these men were treated and who were denied redress or protection under the +law? Every worker in the Northwest knows about the wrongs lumberworkers +have endured--they are matters of common knowledge. It was common +knowledge in Centralia and adjoining towns that the I.W.W. hall was to be +raided on Armistice Day. Yet eight loggers have been sentenced from +twenty-five to forty years in prison for the crime of defending themselves +from the mob that set out to murder them! But let us see how the +conspiracy was operating in Centralia to make the Armistice Day tragedy +inevitable. + + + + +The Maelstrom--And Four Men + + + +Centralia was fast becoming the vortex of the conspiracy that was rushing +to its inevitable conclusion. Event followed event in rapid succession, +straws indicating the main current of the flood tide of labor-hatred. The +Commercial Club was seething with intrigue like the court of old France +under Catherine de Medici; only this time it was Industrial Unionism +instead of Huguenots who were being Marked for a new night of St. +Bartholomew. The heresy to be uprooted was belief in industrial instead of +religious freedom; but the stake and the gibbet were awaiting the New Idea +just as they had the old. + +The actions of the lumber interests were now but thinly veiled and their +evil purpose all too manifest. The connection between the Employers' +Association of the state and its local representatives in Centralia had +become unmistakably evident. And behind these loomed the gigantic +silhouette of the Employers' Association of the nation--the colossal +"invisible government"--more powerful at times than the Government itself. +More and more stood out the naked brutal fact that the purpose of all this +plotting was to drive the union loggers from the city and to destroy their +hall. The names of the men actively interested in this movement came to +light in spite of strenuous efforts to keep them obscured. Four of these +stand out prominently in the light of the tragedy that followed: George F. +Russell, F.B. Hubbard, William Scales and last, but not least, Warren O. +Grimm. + +[Illustration: Warren O. Grimm + +Warren O. Grimm, killed at the beginning of the rush on the I.W.W. hall. +At another raid on an I.W.W. hall in 1918 Grimm was said by witnesses to +have been leading the mob, "holding two American flags and dancing like a +whirling dervish." His life-long friend, Frank Van Gilder, testified: "I +stood less than two feet from Grimm when he was shot. He doubled up, put +his hands to his stomach and said to me: 'My God, I'm shot.'" "What did you +do then?" "I turned and left him."] + +The first named, George F. Russell, is a hired Manager for the Washington +Employers' Association, whose membership employs between 75,000 and 80,000 +workers in the state. Russell is known to be a reactionary of the most +pronounced type. He is an avowed union smasher and a staunch upholder of +the open shop principle, which is widely advertised as the "American plan" +in Washington. Incidentally he is an advocate of the scheme to import +Chinese and Japanese cooley labor as a solution of the "high wage and +arrogant unionism" problem. + +F. B. Hubbard, is a small-bore Russell, differing from his chief only in +that his labor hatred is more fanatical and less discreet. Hubbard was +hard hit by the strike in 1917 which fact has evidently won him the +significant title of "a vicious little anti-labor reptile." He is the man +who helped to raid the 1918 Union Hall in Centralia and who appropriated +for himself the stolen desk of the Union Secretary. His nephew Dale +Hubbard was shot while trying to lynch Wesley Everest. + +William Scales is a Centralia business man and a virulent sycophant. He is +a parochial replica of the two persons mentioned above. Scales was in the +Quartermaster's Department down on the border during the trouble with +Mexico. Because he was making too much money out of Uncle Sam's groceries, +he was relieved of his duties quite suddenly and discharged from the +service. He was fortunate in making France instead of Fort Leavenworth, +however, and upon his return, became an ardent proselyte of Russell and +Hubbard and their worthy cause. Also he continued in the grocery business. + +[Illustration: Hizzoner, The Jedge + +In his black robe, like a bird of prey, he perched above the courtroom and +ruled always adversely to the cause of labor. Appointed to try men accused +of killing other men whom he had previously eulogized Judge John M. Wilson +did not disappoint those who appointed him. In open court Vanderveer told +him. In open court Vanderveer told this man: "There was a time when I +thought your rulings were due to ignorance of the law. That will no longer +explain them."] + +Warren O. Grimm came from a good family and was a small town aristocrat. +His brother is city attorney at Centralia. Grimm was a lawyer, a college +athlete and a social lion. He had been with the American forces in Siberia +and his chief bid for distinction was a noisy dislike for the Worker's +& Peasants' Republic of Russia, and the I.W.W. which he termed the +"American Bolsheviki". During the 1918 raid on the Centralia hall Grimm is +said to have been dancing around "like a whirling dervish" and waving the +American flag while the work of destruction was going on. Afterwards he +became prominent in the American Legion and was the chief "cat's paw" for +the lumber interests who were capitalizing the uniform to gain their own +unholy ends. Personally he was a clean-cut modern young man. + + + + +Shadows Cast Before + + + +On June 26th, the following notice appeared conspicuously on the first +page of the Centralia Hub: + + + + +Meeting of Business Men Called for Friday Evening + + + +"Business men and property owners of Centralia are urged to attend a +meeting tomorrow in the Chamber of Commerce rooms to meet the officers of +the Employers' Association of the state to discuss ways and means of +bettering the conditions which now confront the business and property +interests of the state. George F. Russell, Secretary-Manager, says in his +note to business men: 'We need your advice and your co-operation in +support of the movement for the defense of property and property rights. +It is the most important question before the public today.'" + +At this meeting Mr. Russell dwelt on the statement that the "radicals" +were better organized than the property interests. Also he pointed out the +need of a special organization to protect "rights of property" from the +encroachments of all "foes of the government". The Non-Partisan League, +the Triple Alliance and the A.F. of L. were duly condemned. The speaker +then launched out into a long tirade against the Industrial Workers of the +World which was characterized as the most dangerous organization in +America and the one most necessary for "good citizens" to crush. Needless +to state the address was chock full of 100% Americanism. It amply made up +in forcefulness anything it lacked in logic. + +So the "Citizens' Protective League" of Centralia was born. From the first +it was a law unto itself--murder lust wearing the smirk of +respectability--Judge Lynch dressed in a business suit. The advent of this +infamous league marks the final ascendancy of terrorism over the +Constitution in the city of Centralia. The only things still needed were a +secret committee, a coil of rope and an opportunity. + +F.B. Hubbard was the man selected to pull off the "rough stuff" and at the +same time keep the odium of crime from smirching the fair names of the +conspirators. He was told to "perfect his own organization". Hubbard was +eminently fitted for his position by reason of his intense labor-hatred +and his aptitude for intrigue. + +The following day the Centralia Daily Chronicle carried the following +significant news item: + +BUSINESS MEN OF COUNTY ORGANIZE + +Representatives From Many Communities Attend Meeting in +Chamber of Commerce, Presided Over Secretary of Employers' Association. + +"The labor situation was thoroughly discussed this afternoon at a meeting +held in the local Chamber of Commerce which was attended by representative +business men from various parts of Lewis County. + +"George F. Russell, Secretary of the Employers' Association, of +Washington, presided at the meeting. + +"A temporary organization was effected with F. B. Hubbard, President of +the Eastern Railway & Lumber Company, as chairman. He was empowered to +perfect his own organization. A similar meeting will be held in Chehalis +in connection with the noon luncheon of the Citizens' Club on that day." + +[Illustration: "Special Prosecutor" + +C.D. Cunningham, attorney for F.B. Hubbard and various lumber interests, +took charge of the prosecution immediately. He was the father of much of +the "third degree" methods used on witnesses. Vanderveer offered to prove +at the trial that Cunningham was at the jail when Wesley Everest was +dragged out, brutally mutilated and then lynched.] + +The city of Centralia became alive with gossip and speculation about this +new move on the part of the employers. Everybody knew that the whole thing +centered around the detested hall of the Union loggers. Curiosity seekers +began to come In from all parts of the county to have a peep at this hall +before it was wrecked. Business men were known to drive their friends from +the new to the old hall in order to show what the former would look like +in a short time. People in Centralia generally knew for a certainty that +the present hall would go the way of its predecessor. It was just a +question now as to the time and circumstances of the event. + +Warren O. Grimm had done his bit to work up sentiment against the union +loggers and their hall. Only a month previously--on Labor Day, 1919,--he +had delivered a "labor" speech that was received with great enthusiasm by +a local clique of business men. Posing as an authority on Bolshevism on +account of his Siberian service Grimm had elaborated on the dangers of +this pernicious doctrine. With a great deal of dramatic emphasis he had +urged his audience to beware of the sinister influence of "the American +Bolsheviki--the Industrial Workers of the World." + +A few days before the hall was raided Elmer Smith called at Grimm's office +on legal business. Grimm asked him, by the way, what he thought of his +Labor Day speech. Smith replied that he thought it was "rotten" and that +he couldn't agree with Grimm's anti-labor conception of Americanism. Smith +pointed to the deportation of Tom Lassiter as an example of the +"Americanism" he considered disgraceful. He said also that he thought free +speech was one of the fundamental rights of all citizens. + +"I can't agree with you," replied Grimm. "That's the proper way to treat +such a fellow." + + + + +The New Black Hundred + + + +On October 19th the Centralia Hub published an item headed "Employers +Called to Discuss Handling of 'Wobbly' Problem." This article urges all +employers to attend, states that the meeting will be held in the Elk's +Club and mentioned the wrecking of the Union Hall in 1918. On the +following day, October 20th, three weeks before the shooting, this meeting +was held at the hall of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks--the +now famous Elks' Club of Centralia. The avowed purpose of this meeting was +to "deal with the I.W.W. problem." The chairman was William Scales, at +that time Commander of the Centralia Post of the American Legion. The +I.W.W. Hall was the chief topic of discussion. F.B. Hubbard opened up by +saying that the I.W.W. was a menace and should be driven out of town. +Chief of Police Hughes, however, cautioned them against such a course. He +is reported to have said that "the I.W.W. is doing nothing wrong in +Centralia--is not violating any law--and you have no right to drive them +out of town in this manner." The Chief of Police then proceeded to tell +the audience that he had taken up the matter of legally evicting the +industrialists with City Attorney C.E. Grimm, a brother of Warren O. +Grimm, who is said to have told them, "Gentlemen, there is no law by which +you can drive the I.W.W. out of town." City Commissioner Saunders and +County Attorney Allen had spoken to the same effect. The latter, Allen, +had gone over the literature of the organization with regard to violence +and destruction and had voluntarily dismissed a "criminal syndicalist" +case without trial for want of evidence. + +[Illustration: Lewis County's Legal Prostitute + +Herman Allen, prosecuting attorney of Lewis County. He stood at the corner +during the raid and received papers stolen from the hall. There is no +record of his having protested against any illegal action. He turned over +his office to the special Prosecutors and acted as their tool throughout. +During the entire trial he never appeared as an active participant.] + +Hubbard was furious at this turn of affairs and shouted to Chief of Police +Hughes: "It's a damned outrage that these men should be permitted to +remain in town! Law or no law, if I were Chief of Police they wouldn't +stay here twenty-four hours." + +"I'm not in favor of raiding the hall myself," said Scales. "But I'm +certain that if anybody else wants to raid the I.W.W. Hall there is no +jury in the land will ever convict them." + +After considerable discussion the meeting started to elect a committee to +deal with the situation. First of all an effort was made to get a +workingman elected as a member to help camouflage its very evident +character and make people believe that "honest labor" was also desirous of +ridding the town of the hated I.W.W. Hall. A switchman named Henry, a +member of the Railway Brotherhood, was nominated. When he indignantly +declined, Hubbard, red in the face with rage, called him a "damned skunk." + + + + +The Inner Circle + + + +Scales then proceeded to tell the audience in general and the city +officials in particular that he would himself appoint a committee "whose +inner workings were secret," and see if he could not get around the matter +that way. The officers of the League were then elected. The President was +County Coroner David Livingstone, who afterwards helped to lynch Wesley +Everest. Dr. Livingstone made his money from union miners. William Scales +was vice president and Hubbard was treasurer. The secret committee was +then appointed by Hubbard. As its name implies it was an underground +affair, similar to the Black Hundreds of Old Russia. No record of any of +its proceedings has ever come to light, but according to best available +knowledge, Warren O. Grimm, Arthur McElfresh, B.S. Cromier and one or two +others who figured prominently in the raid, were members. At all events on +November 6th, five days before the shooting, Grimm was elected Commander +of the Centralia Post of the American Legion, taking the place of Scales, +who resigned in his favor. Scales evidently was of the opinion that a +Siberian veteran and athlete was better fitted to lead the "shock troops" +than a mere counter-jumper like himself. There is no doubt but the secret +committee had its members well placed in positions of strategic importance +for the coming event. + +The following day the Tacoma News Tribune carried a significant editorial +on the subject of the new organization: + +"At Centralia a committee of citizens has been formed that takes the mind +back to the old days of vigilance committees of the West, which did so +much to force law-abiding citizenship upon certain lawless elements. It is +called the Centralia Protective Association, and its object is to combat +I.W.W. activities in that city and the surrounding country. It invites to +membership all citizens who favor the enforcement of law and order ... It +is high time for the people who do believe in the lawful and orderly +conduct of affairs to take the upper hand ... Every city and town might, +with profit, follow Centralia's example." + +The reference to "law and orderly conduct of affairs" has taken a somewhat +ironical twist, now that Centralia has shown the world what she considers +such processes to be. + +No less significant was an editorial appearing on the same Date in the +Centralia Hub: + +"If the city is left open to this menace, we will soon find ourselves at +the mercy of an organized band of outlaws bent on destruction. What are we +going to do about it?" And, referring to the organization of the "secret +committee," the editorial stated: "It was decided that the inner workings +of the organization were to be kept secret, to more effectively combat a +body using similar tactics." The editorial reeks with lies; but it was +necessary that the mob spirit should be kept at white heat at all times. +Newspaper incitation has never been punished by law, yet it is directly +responsible for more murders, lynching and raids than any other one force +in America. + +[Illustration: The Stool Pigeon + +Tom Morgan, who turned state's evidence. There is an historical precedent +for Morgan. Judas acted similarly, but Judas later had the manhood to go +out and hang himself. Morgan left for "parts unknown."] + + + + +The Plot Leaks Out + + + +By degrees the story of the infamous secret committee and its diabolical +plan leaked out, adding positive confirmation to the many already credited +rumors in circulation. Some of the newspapers quite openly hinted that the +I.W.W. Hall was to be the object of the brewing storm. Chief of Police +Hughes told a member of the Lewis County Trades Council, William T. +Merriman by name, that the business men were organizing to raid the hall +and drive its members out of town. Merriman, in turn carried the statement +to many of his friends and brother unionists. Soon the prospective raid +was the subject of open discussion,--over the breakfast toast, on the +street corners, in the camps and mills--every place. + +So common was the knowledge in fact that many of the craft organizations +in Centralia began to discuss openly what they should do about it. They +realized that the matter was one which concerned labor and many members +wanted to protest and were urging their unions to try to do something. At +the Lewis County Trades Council the subject was brought up for discussion +by its president, L. F. Dickson. No way of helping the loggers was found, +however, if they would so stubbornly try to keep open their headquarters +in the face of such opposition. Harry Smith, a brother of Elmer Smith, the +attorney, was a delegate at this meeting and reported to his brother the +discussion that took place. + +Secretary Britt Smith and the loggers at the Union hall were not by any +means ignorant of the conspiracy being hatched against them. Day by day +they had followed the development of the plot with breathless interest and +not a little anxiety. They knew from bitter experience how union men were +handled when they were trapped in their halls. But they would not +entertain the idea of abandoning their principles and seeking personal +safety. Every logging camp for miles around knew of the danger also. The +loggers there had gone through the hell of the organization period and had +felt the wrath of the lumber barons. Some of them felt that the statement +of Secretary of Labor Wilson as to the attitude of the Industrial Workers +of the World towards "overthrowing the government," and "violence and +destruction" would discourage the terrorists from attempting such a +flagrant and brutal injustice as the one contemplated. + +[Illustration: "Oily" Abel + +Suave and slimy as a snake; without any of the kindlier traits of nature, +W.H. Abel, sounded the gamut of rottenness in his efforts to convict the +accused men without the semblance of a fair trial. Abel is notorious +throughout Washington as the hireling of the lumber interests. In 1917 he +prosecuted "without fee" all laboring men on strike and is attorney for +the Cosmopolis "penitentiary" so called on account of the brutality with +which it treats employes. Located in one of the small towns of the state +Abel has made a fortune prosecuting labor cases for the special +interests.] + +Regarding the deportation of I.W.W.'s for belonging to an organization +which advocates such things, Secretary of Labor Wilson had stated a short +time previously: "An exhaustive study into the by-laws and practices of +the I.W.W. has thus far failed to disclose anything that brings it within +the class of organizations referred to." + +Other of the loggers were buoyed up with the many victories won in the +courts on "criminal syndicalism" charges and felt that the raid would be +too "raw" a thing for the lumber interests even to consider. All were +secure in the knowledge and assurance that they were violating no law in +keeping open their hall. And they wanted that hall kept open. + +Of course the question of what was to be done was discussed at their +business meetings. When news reached them on November 4th of the +contemplated "parade" they decided to publish a leaflet telling the +Citizens of Centralia about the justice and legality of their position, +the aims of their organization and the real reason for the intense hatred +which the lumber trust harbored against them. Such leaflet was drawn up by +Secretary Britt Smith and approved by the membership. It was an honest, +outspoken appeal for public sympathy and support. This leaflet--word for +word as it was printed and circulated in Centralia--is reprinted below: + + + + +To the Citizens of Centralia We Must Appeal + + + +[Illustration: The Chief Fink + +Frank P. Christensen, who was the "fixer" for the prosecution. As +Assistant Attorney General he used his office to intimidate witnesses and +in the effort to cover up actions of the mob. He is reported to have been +responsible for the recovery and burial of Everest's body, saying: "We've +got to bring in that body and bury it. If the wobs ever find out what was +done and get it they'll raise hell and make capital of it."] + +"To the law abiding citizens of Centralia and to the working class in +general: We beg of you to read and carefully consider the following: + +"The profiteering class of Centralia have of late been waving the flag of +our country in an endeavor to incite the lawless element of our city to +raid our hall and club us out of town. For this purpose they have inspired +editorials in the Hub, falsely and viciously attacking the I.W.W., hoping +to gain public approval for such revolting criminality. These profiteers +are holding numerous secret meetings to that end, and covertly inviting +returned service men to do their bidding. In this work they are ably +assisted by the bankrupt lumber barons of southwest Washington who led the +mob that looted and burned the I.W.W. hall a year ago. + +"These criminal thugs call us a band of outlaws bent on destruction. This +they do in an attempt to hide their own dastardly work in burning our hall +and destroying our property. They say we are a menace; and we are a menace +to all mobocrats and pilfering thieves. Never did the I.W.W. burn public +or private halls, kidnap their fellow citizens, destroy their property, +club their fellows out of town, bootleg or act in any ways as +law-breakers. These patriotic profiteers throughout the country have +falsely and with out any foundation whatever charged the I.W.W. with every +crime on the statute books. For these alleged crimes thousands of us have +been jailed in foul and filthy cells throughout this country, often +without charge, for months and in some cases, years, and when released +re-arrested and again thrust in jail to await a trial that is never +called. The only convictions of the I.W.W. were those under the espionage +law, where we were forced to trial before jurors, all of whom were at +political and industrial enmity toward us, and in courts hostile to the +working class. This same class of handpicked courts and juries also +convicted many labor leaders, socialists, non-partisans, pacifists, guilty +of no crime save that of loyalty to the working class. + +"By such courts Jesus the Carpenter was slaughtered upon the charge that +'he stirreth up the people.' Only last month 25 I.W.W. were indicted in +Seattle as strike leaders, belonging to an unlawful organization, +attempting to overthrow the government and other vile things under the +syndicalist law passed by the last legislature. To exterminate the +'wobbly' both the court and jury have the lie to every charge. The court +held them a lawful organization and their literature was not disloyal nor +inciting to violence, though the government had combed the country from +Chicago to Seattle for witnesses, and used every pamphlet taken from their +hall in government raids. + +"In Spokane 13 members were indicted in the Superior Court for wearing the +I.W.W. button and displaying their emblem. The jury unanimously acquitted +them and the court held it no crime. + +"In test cases last month both in the Seattle and Everett Superior Courts, +the presiding judge declared the police had no authority in law to close +their halls and the padlocks were ordered off and the halls opened. + +"Many I.W.W. in and around Centralia went to France and fought and bled +for the democracy they never secured. They came home to be threatened with +mob violence by the law and order outfit that pilfered every nickel +possible from their mothers and fathers while they were fighting in the +trenches in the thickest of the fray. + +"Our only crime is solidarity, loyalty to the working class and justice to +the oppressed." + + + + +"Let the Men in Uniform Do It" + + + +On November 6th, the Centralia Post of the American Legion met with a +committee from the Chamber of Commerce to arrange for a parade-another +"patriotic" parade. The first anniversary of the signing of the armistice +was now but a few days distant and Centralia felt it incumbent upon +herself to celebrate. Of course the matter was brought up rather +circumspectly, but knowing smiles greeted the suggestion. One business man +made a motion that the brave boys wear their uniforms. This was agreed +upon. + +The line of march was also discussed. As the union hall was a little off +the customary parade route, Scales suggested that their course lead past +the hall "in order to show them how strong we are." It was intimated that +a command "eyes right" would be given as the legionaries and business men +passed the union headquarters. This was merely a poor excuse of the secret +committeemen to get the parade where they needed it. But many innocent men +were lured into a "lynching bee" without knowing that they were being led +to death by a hidden gang of broad-cloth conspirators who were plotting at +murder. Lieutenant Cormier, who afterwards blew the whistle that was the +signal for the raid, endorsed the proposal of Scales as did Grimm and +McElfresh--all three of them secret committeemen. + +Practically no other subject but the "parade" was discussed at this +meeting. The success of the project was now assured for it had placed into +the hands of the men who alone could arrange to "have the men in uniform +do it." The men in uniform had done it once before and people knew what to +expect. + +The day following this meeting the Centralia Hub published an announcement +of the coming event stating that the legionaires had "voted to wear +uniforms." The line of march was published for the first time. Any doubts +about the real purpose of the parade vanished when people read that the +precession was to march from the City Park to Third street and Tower +avenue and return. The union hall was on Tower between Second and Third +streets, practically at the end of the line of march and plainly the +objective of the demonstrators. + +[Illustration: Bridge from which Everest Was Hanged + +From this bridge, over the Chehalis river, Wesley Everest was left +dangling by a mob of business men. Automobile parties visited this spot at +different times during the night and played their headlights on the corpse +in order better to enjoy the spectacle.] + + + + +"Decent Labor"--Hands Off! + + + +A short time after the shooting a virulent leaflet was issued by the +Mayor's office stating that the "plot to kill had been laid two or three +weeks before the tragedy," and that "the attack (of the loggers) was +without justification or excuse." Both statements are bare faced lies. The +meeting was held the 6th and the line of march made public of the 7th. The +loggers could not possibly have planned a week and a half previously to +shoot into a parade they knew nothing about and whose line of march had +not yet been disclosed. It was proved in court that the union men armed +themselves at the very last moment, after everything else had failed and +they had been left helpless to face the alternative of being driven out of +town or being lynched. + +About this time eyewitnesses declare coils of rope were being purchased in +a local hardware store. This rope is all cut up into little pieces now and +most of it is dirty and stained. But many of Centralia's best families +prize their souvenir highly. They say it brings good luck to a family. + +A few days after the meeting just described William Dunning, vice +president of the Lewis County Trades and Labor Assembly, met Warren Grimm +on the street. Having fresh in his mind a recent talk about the raid in +the Labor Council meetings, and being well aware of Grimm's standing and +influence, Dunning broached the subject. + +"We've been discussing the threatened raid on the I.W.W. hall," he said. + +"Who are you, an I.W.W.?" asked Grimm. + +Dunning replied stating that he was vice president of the Labor Assembly +and proceeded to tell Grimm the feeling of his organization on the +subject. + +"Decent labor ought to keep its hands off," was Grimm's laconic reply. + +The Sunday before the raid a public meeting was held in the union hall. +About a hundred and fifty persons were in the audience, mostly working men +and women of Centralia. A number of loggers were present, dressed in the +invariable mackinaw, stagged overalls and caulked shoes. John Foss, an +I.W.W. ship builder from Seattle, was the speaker. Secretary Britt Smith +was chairman. Walking up and down the isle, selling the union's pamphlets +and papers was a muscular and sun-burned young man with a rough, honest +face and a pair of clear hazel eyes in which a smile was always twinkling. +He wore a khaki army coat above stagged overalls of a slightly darker +shade,--Wesley Everest, the ex-soldier who was shortly to be mutilated and +lynched by the mob. + + + + +"I Hope to Jesus Nothing Happens" + + + +The atmosphere of the meeting was already tainted with the Terror. Nerves +were on edge. Every time any newcomer would enter the door the audience +would look over their shoulders with apprehensive glances. At the +conclusion of the meeting the loggers gathered around the secretary and +asked him the latest news about the contemplated raid. For reply Britt +Smith handed them copies of the leaflet "We Must Appeal" and told of the +efforts that had been made and were being made to secure legal protection +and to let the public know the real facts in the case. + +"If they raid the hall again as they did in 1918 the boys won't stand for +it," said a logger. + +"If the law won't protect us we've got a right to protect ourselves," +ventured another. + +"I hope to Jesus nothing happens," replied the secretary. + +Wesley Everest laid down his few unsold papers, rolled a brown paper +cigarette and smiled enigmatically over the empty seats in the general +direction of the new One Big Union label on the front window. His closest +friends say he was never afraid of anything in all his life. + +None of these men knew that loggers from nearby camps, having heard of the +purchase of the coils of rope, were watching the hall night and day to see +that "nothing happens." + +The next day, after talking things over with Britt Smith, Mrs. McAllister, +wife of the proprietor of the Roderick hotel from whom the loggers rented +the hall, went to see Chief of Police Hughes. This is how she told of the +interview: + +"I got worried and I went to the Chief. I says to him 'Are you going to +protect my property?' Hughes says, 'We'll do the best we can for you, but +as far as the wobblies are concerned they wouldn't last fifteen minutes if +the business men start after them. The business men don't want any +wobblies in this town.'" + +The day before the tragedy Elmer Smith dropped in at the Union hall to +warn his clients that nothing could now stop the raid. "Defend it if you +choose to do so," he told them. "The law gives you that right." + +It was on the strength of this remark, overheard by the stool-pigeon, +Morgan, and afterwards reported to the prosecution, that Elmer Smith was +hailed to prison charged with murder in the first degree. His enemies had +been certain all along that his incomprehensible delusion about the law +being the same for the poor man as the rich would bring its own +punishment. It did; there can no longer be any doubt on the subject. + +[Illustration: Carting Away Wesley Everest's Body for Burial + +After the mutilated body had been cut down in laid in the river for two +days. Then it was taken back to the city jail where it remained for two +days more--as an object lesson--in plain view of the comrades of the +murdered boy. Everest was taken from this building to be lynched. During +the first week after the tragedy this jail witnessed scenes of torture and +horror that equaled the worst days of the Spanish inquisition.] + + + + +The Scorpion's Sting + + + +November 11th was a raw, gray day; the cold sunlight barely penetrating +the mist that hung over the city and the distant tree-clad hills. The +"parade" assembled at the City Park. Lieutenant Cormier was marshal. +Warren Grimm was commander of the Centralia division. In a very short time +he had the various bodies arranged to his satisfaction. At the head of the +procession was the "two-fisted" Centralia bunch. This was followed by one +from Chehalis, the county seat, and where the parade would logically have +been held had its purpose been an honest one. Then came a few sailors and +marines and a large body of well dressed gentlemen from the Elks. The +school children who were to have marched did not appear. At the very end +were a couple of dozen boy scouts and an automobile carrying pretty girls +dressed in Red Cross uniforms. Evidently this parade, unlike the one of +1918, did not, like a scorpion, carry its sting in the rear. But wait +until you read how cleverly this part of it had been arranged! + +The marchers were unduly silent and those who knew nothing of the lawless +plan of the secret committee felt somehow that something must be wrong. +City Postmaster McCleary and a wicked-faced old man named Thompson were +seen carrying coils of rope. Thompson is a veteran of the Civil War and a +minister of God. On the witness stand he afterwards swore he picked up the +rope from the street and was carrying it "as a joke." It turned out that +the "joke" was on Wesley Everest. + +"Be ready for the command 'eyes right' or 'eyes left' when we pass the +'reviewing stand'," Grimm told the platoon commanders just as the parade +started. + +The procession covered most of the line of march without incident. When +the union hall was reached there was some craning of necks but no outburst +of any kind. A few of the out-of-town paraders looked at the place +curiously and several business men were seen pointing the hall out to +their friends. There were some dark glances and a few long noses but no +demonstration. + +"When do we reach the reviewing stand?" asked a parader, named Joe Smith, +of a man marching beside him. + +"Hell, there ain't any reviewing stand," was the reply. "We're going to +give the wobbly hall 'eyes right' on the way back." + +The head of the columns reached Third avenue and halted. A command of +'about face' was given and the procession again started to march past the +union hall going in the opposite direction. The loggers inside felt +greatly relieved as they saw the crowd once more headed for the city. But +the Centralia and Chehalis contingents, that had headed the parade, was +now in the rear--just where the "scorpion sting" of the 1918 parade had +been located! The danger was not yet over. + + + + +"Let's go! At 'em, boys!" + + + +The Chehalis division had marched past the hall and the Centralia division +was just in front of it when a sharp command was given. The latter stopped +squarely in front of the hall but the former continued to march. +Lieutenant Cormier of the secret committee was riding between the two +contingents on a bay horse. Suddenly he placed his fingers to his mouth +and gave a shrill whistle. Immediately there was a hoarse cry of "Let's +go-o-o! At 'em, boys!" About sixty feet separated the two contingents at +this time, the Chehalis men still continuing the march. Cromier spurred +his horse and overtook them. "Aren't you boys in on this?" he shouted. + +At the words "Let's go," the paraders from both ends and the middle of the +Centralia contingent broke ranks and started on the run for the union +headquarters. A crowd of soldiers surged against the door. There was a +crashing of glass and a splintering of wood as the door gave way. A few of +the marauders had actually forced their way into the hall. Then there was +a shot, three more shots ... and a small volley. From Seminary hill and +the Avalon hotel rifles began to crack. + +[Illustration: Elks Club, Centralia + +It was here that the Centralia conspiracy was hatched and the notorious +"secret committee" appointed to do the dirty work.] + +The mob stopped suddenly, astounded at the unexpected opposition. Out of +hundreds of halls that had been raided during the past two years this was +the first time the union men had attempted to defend themselves. It had +evidently been planned to stampede the entire contingent into the attack +by having the secret committeemen take the lead from both ends and the +middle. But before this could happen the crowd, frightened at the shots +started to scurry for cover. Two men were seen carrying the limp figure of +a soldier from the door of the hall. When the volley started they dropped +it and ran. The soldier was a handsome young man, named Arthur McElfresh. +He was left lying in front of the hall with his feet on the curb and his +head in the gutter. The whole thing had been a matter of seconds. + + + + +"I Had No Business Being There" + + + +Several men had been wounded. A pool of blood was widening in front of the +doorway. A big man in officer's uniform was seen to stagger away bent +almost double and holding his hands over his abdomen. "My God, I'm shot!" +he had cried to the soldier beside him. This was Warren O. Grimm; the +other was his friend, Frank Van Gilder. Grimm walked unassisted to the +rear of a nearby soft drink place from whence he was taken to a hospital. +He died a short time afterwards. Van Gilder swore on the witness stand +that Grimm and himself were standing at the head of the columns of +"unoffending paraders" when his friend was shot. He stated that Grimm had +been his life-long friend but admitted that when his "life-long friend" +received his mortal wound that he (Van Gilder), instead of acting like a +hero in no man's land, had deserted him in precipitate haste. Too many eye +witnesses had seen Grimm stagger wounded from the doorway of the hall to +suit the prosecution. Van Gilder knew at which place Grimm had been shot +but it was necessary that he be placed at a convenient distance from the +hall. It is reported on good authority that Grimm, just before he died in +the hospital, confessed to a person at his bedside: "It served me right, I +had no business being there." + +A workingman, John Patterson, had come down town on Armistice Day with his +three small children to watch the parade. He was standing thirty-five feet +from the door of the hall when the raid started. On the witness stand +Patterson told of being pushed out of the way by the rush before the +shooting began. He saw a couple of soldiers shot and saw Grimm stagger +away from the doorway wounded in the abdomen. The testimony of Dr. +Bickford at the corner's inquest under oath was as follows: + +"I spoke up and said I would lead if enough would follow, but before I +could take the lead there were many ahead of me. Someone next to me put +his foot against the door and forced it open, after which a shower of +bullets poured through the opening about us." Dr. Bickford is an A.E.F. +man and one of the very few legionaires who dared to tell the truth about +the shooting. The Centralia business element has since tried repeatedly to +ruin him. + +In trying to present the plea of self defense to the court, Defense +attorney Vanderveer stated: + +"There was a rush, men reached the hall under the command of Grimm, and +yet counsel asks to have shown a specific overt act of Grimm before we can +present the plea of self-defense. Would he have had the men wait with +their lives at stake? The fact is that Grimm was there and in defending +themselves these men shot. Grimm was killed because he was there. They +could not wait. Your honor, self defense isn't much good after a man is +dead." + +The prosecution sought to make a point of the fact that the loggers had +fired into a street in which there were innocent bystanders as well as +paraders. But the fact remains that the only men hit by bullets were those +who were in the forefront of the mob. + + + + +Through the Hall Window + + + +How the raid looked from the inside of the hall can best be described from +the viewpoint of one of the occupants, Bert Faulkner, a union logger and +ex-service man. Faulkner described how he had dropped in at the hall on +Armistice Day and stood watching the parade from the window. In words all +the more startling for their sheer artlessness he told of the events which +followed: First the grimacing faces of the business men, then as the +soldiers returned, a muffled order, the smashing of the window, with the +splinters of glass falling against the curtain, the crashing open of the +door ... and the shots that "made his ears ring," and made him run for +shelter to the rear of the hall, with the shoulder of his overcoat torn +with a bullet. Then how he found himself on the back stairs covered with +rifles and commanded to come down with his hands in the air. Finally how +he was frisked to the city jail in an automobile with a business man +standing over him armed with a piece of gas pipe. + +Eugene Barnett gave a graphic description of the raid as he saw it from +the office of the adjoining Roderick hotel. Barnett said he saw the line +go past the hotel. The business men were ahead of the soldiers and as this +detachment passed the hotel returning the soldiers still were going north. +The business men were looking at the hall and pointing it out to the +soldiers. Some of them had their thumbs to their noses and others were +saying various things. + +[Illustration: City Park, Centralia + +At this place the parade assembled that started out to raid the Union hall +and lynch its secretary.] + +"When the soldiers turned and came past I saw a man on horseback ride +past. He was giving orders which were repeated along the line by another. +As the rider passed the hotel he gave a command and the second man said: +'Bunch up, men!' + +"When this order came the men all rushed for the hall. I heard glass +break. I heard a door slam. There was another sound and then shooting +came. It started from inside the hall. + +"As I saw these soldiers rush the hall I jumped up and threw off my coat. +I thought there would be a fight and I was going to mix in. Then came the +shooting, and I knew I had no business there." + +Later Barnett went home and remained there until his arrest the next day. + +In the union hall, besides Bert Faulkner, were Wesley Everest, Roy Becker, +Britt Smith, Mike Sheehan, James McInerney and the "stool pigeon," these, +with the exception of Faulkner and Everest, remained in the hall until the +authorities came to place them under arrest. They had after the first +furious rush of their assailants, taken refuge in a big and long disused +ice box in the rear of the hall. Britt Smith was unarmed, his revolver +being found afterwards, fully loaded, in his roll-top desk. After their +arrest the loggers were taken to the city jail which was to be the scene +of an inquisition unparalleled in the history of the United States. After +this, as an additional punishment, they were compelled to face the farce +of a "fair trial" in a capitalistic court. + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +But Destiny had decided to spare one man the bitter irony of judicial +murder. Wesley Everest still had a pocket full of cartridges and a +forty-four automatic that could speak for itself. + +This soldier-lumberjack had done most of the shooting in the hall. He held +off the mob until the very last moment, and, instead of seeking refuge in +the refrigerator after the "paraders" had been dispersed, he ran out of +the back door, reloading his pistol as he went. It is believed by many +that Arthur McElfresh was killed inside the hall by a bullet fired by +Everest. + +In the yard at the rear of the hall the mob had already reorganized for an +attack from that direction. Before anyone knew what had happened Everest +had broken through their ranks and scaled the fence. "Don't follow me and +I won't shoot," he called to the crowd and displaying the still smoking +blue steel pistol in his hand. + +"There goes the secretary!" yelled someone, as the logger started at top +speed down the alley. The mob surged in pursuit, collapsing the board +fence before them with sheer force of numbers. There was a rope in the +crowd and the union secretary was the man they wanted. The chase that +followed probably saved the life, not only of Britt Smith, but the +remaining loggers in the hall as well. + +Running pell-mell down the alley the mob gave a shout of exaltation as +Everest slowed his pace and turned to face them. They stopped cold, +however, as a number of quick shots rang out and bullets whistled and +zipped around them. Everest turned in his tracks and was off again like a +flash, reloading his pistol as he ran. The mob again resumed the pursuit. +The logger ran through an open gateway, paused to turn and again fire at +his pursuers; then he ran between two frame dwellings to the open street. +When the mob again caught the trail they were evidently under the +impression that the logger's ammunition was exhausted. At all events they +took up the chase with redoubled energy. Some men in the mob had rifles +and now and then a pot-shot would be taken at the fleeing figure. The +marksmanship of both sides seems to have been poor for no one appears to +have been injured. + + + + +Dale Hubbard + + + +This kind of running fight was kept up until Everest reached the river. +Having kept off his pursuers thus far the boy started boldly for the +comparative security of the opposite shore, splashing the water violently +as he waded out into the stream. The mob was getting closer all the time. +Suddenly Everest seemed to change his mind and began to retrace his steps +to the shore. Here he stood dripping wet in the tangled grasses to await +the arrival of the mob bent on his destruction. Everest had lost his hat +and his wet hair stuck to his forehead. His gun was now so hot he could +hardly hold it and the last of his ammunition was in the magazine. Eye +witnesses declare his face still wore a quizzical, half bantering smile +when the mob overtook him. With the pistol held loosely in his rough hand +Everest stood at bay, ready to make a last stand for his life. Seeing him +thus, and no doubt thinking his last bullet had been expended, the mob +made a rush for its quarry. + +"Stand back!" he shouted. "If there are 'bulls' in the crowd, I'll submit +to arrest; otherwise lay off of me." + +[Illustration: Blind Tom Lassiter + +Tom Lassiter is the blind news dealer who Was kidnapped and deported out +of town in June, 1919, by a gang of business men. His stand was raided and +the contents burned in the street. He had been selling The Seattle Union +Record, The Industrial Worker and Solidarity. County attorney Allen said +he couldn't help to apprehend the criminals and would only charge them +with third degree assault if they were found. The fine would be one dollar +and costs! Lassiter is now in jail in Chehalis charged with "criminal +syndicalism."] + +No attention was paid to his words. Everest shot from the hip four +times,--then his gun stalled. A group of soldiers started to run in his +direction. Everest was tugging at the gun with both hands. Raising it +suddenly he took careful aim and fired. All the soldiers but one wavered +and stopped. Everest fired twice, both bullets taking effect. Two more +shots were fired almost point blank before the logger dropped his +assailant at his feet. Then he tossed away the empty gun and the mob +surged upon him. + +The legionaire who had been shot was Dale Hubbard, a nephew of F.B. +Hubbard, the lumber baron. He was a strong, brave and misguided young +man--worthy of a nobler death. + + + + +"Let's Finish the Job!" + + + +Everest attempted a fight with his fists but was overpowered and severely +beaten. A number of men clamoured for immediate lynching, but saner +council prevailed for the time and he was dragged through the streets +towards the city jail. When the mob was half a block from this place the +"hot heads" made another attempt to cheat the state executioner. A wave of +fury seemed here to sweep the crowd. Men fought with one another for a +chance to strike, kick or spit in the face of their victim. It was an orgy +of hatred and blood-lust. Everest's arms were pinioned, blows, kicks and +curses rained upon him from every side. One business man clawed strips of +bleeding flesh from his face. A woman slapped his battered cheek with a +well groomed hand. A soldier tried to lunge a hunting rifle at the +helpless logger; the crowd was too thick. He bumped them aside with the +butt of the gun to get room. Then he crashed the muzzle with full force +into Everest's mouth. Teeth were broken and blood flowed profusely. + +A rope appeared from somewhere. "Let's finish the job!" cried a voice. The +rope was placed about the neck of the logger. "You haven't got guts enough +to lynch a man in the daytime," was all he said. + +At this juncture a woman brushed through the crowd and took the rope from +Everest's neck. Looking into the distorted faces of the mob she cried +indignantly, "You are curs and cowards to treat a man like that!" + +There may be human beings in Centralia after all. + +Wesley Everest was taken to the city jail and thrown without ceremony upon +the cement floor of the "bull pen." In the surrounding cells were his +comrades who had been arrested in the union hall. Here he lay in a wet +heap, twitching with agony. A tiny bright stream of blood gathered at his +side and trailed slowly along the floor. Only an occasional quivering moan +escaped his torn lips as the hours slowly passed by. + + + + +"Here Is Your Man" + + + +Later, at night, when it was quite dark, the lights of the jail were +suddenly snapped off. At the same instant the entire city was plunged in +darkness. A clamour of voices was heard beyond the walls. There was a +hoarse shout as the panel of the outer door was smashed in. "Don't shoot, +men," said the policemen on guard, "Here is your man." It was night now, +and the business men had no further reason for not lynching the supposed +secretary. Everest heard their approaching foot steps in the dark. He +arose drunkenly to meet them. "Tell the boys I died for my class," he +whispered brokenly to the union men in the cells. These were the last +words he uttered in the jail. There were sounds of a short struggle and of +many blows. Then a door slammed and, in a short time the lights were +switched on. The darkened city was again illuminated at the same moment. +Outside three luxurious automobiles were purring them selves out of sight +in the darkness. + +The only man who had protested the lynching at the last moment was William +Scales. "Don't kill him, men," he is said to have begged of the mob. But +it was too late. "If you don't go through with this you're an I.W.W. too," +they told him. Scales could not calm the evil passions he had helped to +arouse. + +But how did it happen that the lights were turned out at such an opportune +time? Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove with the +lynch mob? + +Defense Attorney Vanderveer offered to prove to the court that such was +the case. He offered to prove this was a part of the greater conspiracy +against the union loggers and their hall,--offered to prove it point by +point from the very beginning. Incidentally Vanderveer offered to prove +that Earl Craft, electrician in charge of the city lighting plant, had +left the station at seven o'clock on Armistice day after securely locking +the door; and that while Craft was away the lights of the city were turned +off and Wesley Everest taken out and lynched. Furthermore, he offered to +prove that when Craft returned, the lights were again turned on and the +city electrician, his assistant and the Mayor of Centralia were in the +building with the door again locked. + +These offers were received by his honor with impassive judicial dignity, +but the faces of the lumber trust attorneys were wreathed with smiles at +the audacity of the suggestion. The corporation lawyers very politely +registered their objections which the judge as politely sustained. + + + + +The Night of Horrors + + + +After Everest had been taken away the jail became a nightmare--as full of +horrors as a madman's dream. The mob howled around the walls until late in +the night. Inside, a lumber trust lawyer and his official assistants were +administering the "third degree" to the arrested loggers, to make them +"confess." One at a time the men were taken to the torture chamber, and so +terrible was the ordeal of this American Inquisition that some were almost +broken--body and soul. Loren Roberts had the light in his brain snuffed +out. Today he is a shuffling wreck. He is not interested in things any +more. He is always looking around with horror-wide eyes, talking of +"voices" and "wires" that no one but himself knows anything about. There +is no telling what they did to the boy, but he signed the "confession." +Its most incriminating statement must have contained too much truth for +the prosecution. It was never used in court. + +When interviewed by Frank Walklin of the Seattle Union Record the loggers +told the story in their own way: + +"I have heard tales of cruelty," said James McInerney, "but I believe what +we boys went through on those nights can never be equaled. I thought it +was my last night on earth and had reconciled myself to an early death of +some kind, perhaps hanging. I was taken out once by the mob, and a rope +was placed around my neck and thrown over a cross-bar or something. + +"I waited for them to pull the rope. But they didn't. I heard voices in +the mob say, 'That's not him,' and then I was put back into the jail." + +John Hill Lamb, another defendant, related how several times a gun was +poked through his cell window by some one who was aching to get a pot shot +at him. Being ever watchful he hid under his bunk and close to the wall +where the would-be murderer could not see him. + +Britt Smith and Roy Becker told with bated breath about Everest as he lay +half-dead in the corridor, in plain sight of the prisoners in the cells on +both sides. The lights went out and Everest, unconscious and dying, was +taken out. The men inside could hear the shouts of the mob diminishing as +Everest was hurried to the Chehalis River bridge. + +[Illustration: Bert Bland + +Logger. American. (Brother of O.C. Bland.) One of the men who fired from +Seminary Hill. Bland has worked all his life in the woods. He joined the +Industrial Workers of the World during the great strike of 1917. Bert +Bland took to the hills after the shooting and was captured a week later +during the man hunt.] + +None of the prisoners was permitted to sleep that night; the fear of death +was kept upon them constantly, the voices outside the cell windows telling +of more lynchings to come. "Every time I heard a footstep or the clanking +of keys," said Britt Smith, "I thought the mob was coming after more of +us. I didn't sleep, couldn't sleep; all I could do was strain my ears for +the mob I felt sure was coming." Ray Becker, listening at Britt's side, +said: "Yes, that was one hell of a night." And the strain of that night +seems to linger in their faces; probably it always will remain--the +expression of a memory that can never be blotted out. + +When asked if they felt safer when the soldiers arrived to guard the +Centralia jail, there was a long pause, and finally the answer was "Yes." +"But you must remember," offered one, "that they took 'em out at Tulsa +from a supposedly guarded jail; and we couldn't know from where we were +what was going on outside." + +"For ten days we had no blankets," said Mike Sheehan. "It was cold +weather, and we had to sleep uncovered on concrete floors. In those ten +days I had no more than three hours sleep." + +"The mob and those who came after the mob wouldn't let us sleep. They +would come outside our windows and hurl curses at us, and tell each of us +it would be our turn next. They brought in Wesley Everest and laid him on +the corridor floor; he was bleeding from his ears and mouth and nose, was +curled in a heap and groaning. And men outside and inside kept up the din. +I tried to sleep; I was nearly mad; my temples kept pounding like +sledge-hammers. I don't know how a man can go through all that and +live--but we did." + +All through the night the prisoners could hear the voices of the mob under +their cell windows. "Well, we fixed that guy Everest all right," some one +would say. "Now we'll get Roberts." Then the lights would snap off, there +would be a shuffling, curses, a groan and the clanking of a steel door. +All the while they were being urged to "come clean" with a statement that +would clear the lumber trust of the crime and throw the blame onto its +victims. McInerney's neck was scraped raw by the rope of the mob but he +repeatedly told them to "go to hell!" Morgan, the stool-pigeon, escaped +the torture by immediate acquiescence. Someone has since paid his fare To +parts unknown. His "statement" didn't damage the defense. + +[Illustration: Ray Becker + +Logger, American born. Twenty-five years of age. Studied four years for +the ministry before going to work in the woods. His father and brother are +both preachers. Becker joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 +and has always been a strong believer in the cause of the solidarity of +Labor. He has the zeal of a prophet and the courage of a lion. Defended +himself inside the hall with an Ivor Johnson, 38, until his ammunition was +exhausted. He surrendered to the authorities--not the mob.] + + + + +The Human Fiend + + + +But with the young logger who had been taken out into the night things +were different. Wesley Everest was thrown, half unconscious, into the +bottom of an automobile. The hands of the men who had dragged him there +were sticky and red. Their pant legs were sodden from rubbing against the +crumpled figure at their feet. Through the dark streets sped the three +machines. The smooth asphalt became a rough road as the suburbs were +reached. Then came a stretch of open country, with the Chehalis river +bridge only a short distance ahead. The cars lurched over the uneven road +with increasing speed, their headlights playing on each other or on the +darkened highway. + +Wesley Everest stirred uneasily. Raising himself slowly on one elbow he +swung weakly with his free arm, striking one of his tormentors full in the +face. The other occupants immediately seized him and bound his hands and +feet with rope. It must have been the glancing blow from the fist of the +logger that gave one of the gentlemen his fiendish inspiration. Reaching +in his pocket he produced a razor. For a moment he fumbled over the now +limp figure in the bottom of the car. His companions looked on with stolid +acquiescence. Suddenly there was a piercing scream of pain. The figure +gave a convulsive shudder of agony. After a moment Wesley Everest said in +a weak voice: "For Christ's sake, men; shoot me--don't let me suffer like +this." + +On the way back to Centralia, after the parade rope had done Its deadly +work, the gentlemen of the razor alighted from the car in front of a +certain little building. He asked leave to wash his hands. They were as +red as a butcher's. Great clots of blood were adhering to his sleeves. +"That's about the nastiest job I ever had to do," was his casual remark as +he washed himself in the cool clear water of the Washington hills. The +name of this man is known to nearly everybody in Centralia. He is still at +large. + +The headlight of the foremost car was now playing on the slender steel +framework of the Chehalis river bridge. This machine crossed over and +stopped, the second one reached the middle of the bridge and stopped while +the third came to a halt when it had barely touched the plankwork on the +near side. The well-dressed occupants of the first and last cars alighted +and proceeded at once to patrol both approaches to the bridge. + + + + +Lynching--An American Institution + + + +Wesley Everest was dragged out of the middle machine. A rope was attached +to a girder with the other end tied in a noose around his neck. His almost +lifeless body was hauled to the side of the bridge. The headlights of two +of the machines threw a white light over the horrible scene. Just as the +lynchers let go of their victim the fingers of the half dead logger clung +convulsively to the planking of the bridge. A business man stamped on them +with a curse until the grip was broken. There was a swishing sound; then a +sudden crunching jerk and the rope tied to the girder began to writhe and +twist like a live thing. This lasted but a short time. The lynchers peered +over the railing into the darkness. Then they slowly pulled up the dead +body, attached a longer rope and repeated the performance. This did not +seem to suit them either, so they again dragged the corpse through the +railings and tied a still longer rope around the horribly broken neck of +the dead logger. The business men were evidently enjoying their work, and +besides, the more rope the more souvenirs for their friends, who would +prize them highly. + +This time the knot was tied by a young sailor. He knew how to tie a good +knot and was proud of the fact. He boasted of the stunt afterwards to a +man he thought as beastly as himself. In all probability he never dreamed +he was talking for publication. But he was. + +The rope had now been lengthened to about fifteen feet. The broken and +gory body was kicked through the railing for the last time. The knot on +the girder did not move any more. Then the lynchers returned to their +luxurious cars and procured their rifles. A headlight flashed the dangling +figure into ghastly relief. It was riddled with volley after volley. The +man who fired the first shot boasted of the deed afterwards to a brother +lodge member. He didn't know he was talking for publication either. + +On the following morning the corpse was cut down by an unknown hand. It +drifted away with the current. A few hours later Frank Christianson, a +tool of the lumber trust from the Attorney General's office, arrived in +Centralia. "We've got to get that body," this worthy official declared, +"or the wobs will find it and raise hell over its condition." + +The corpse was located after a search. It was not buried, however, but +carted back to the city jail, there to be used as a terrible object lesson +for the benefit of the incarcerated union men. The unrecognizable form was +placed in a cell between two of the loggers who had loved the lynched boy +as a comrade and a friend. Something must be done to make the union men +admit that they, and not the lumber interests, had conspired to commit +murder. This was the final act of ruthlessness. It was fruitful in +results. One "confession," one Judas and one shattered mind were the +result of their last deed of fiendish terrorism. + +[Illustration: The Burial of the Mob's Victim + +No undertaker would handle Everest's body. The autopsy was performed by a +man from Portland, who hung the body up by the heels and played a hose on +it. The men lowering the plank casket into the grave are Union loggers who +had been caught in the police drag net and taken from jail for this +purpose.] + +No undertaker could be found to bury Everest's body, so after two days it +was dropped into a hole in the ground by four union loggers who had been +arrested on suspicion and were released from jail for this purpose. The +"burial" is supposed to have taken place in the new cemetery; the body +being carried thither in an auto truck. The union loggers who really dug +the grave declare, however, that the interment took place at a desolate +spot "somewhere along a railroad track." Another body was seen, covered +with ashes in a cart, being taken away for burial on the morning of the +twelfth. There are persistent rumors that more than one man was lynched on +the eve of Armistice day. A guard of heavily armed soldiers had charge of +the funeral. The grave has since been obliterated. Rumor has it that the +body has since been removed to Camp Lewis. No one seems to know why or +when. + + + + +"As Comical as a Corner" + + + +An informal inquest was held in the city jail. A man from Portland +performed the autopsy, that is, he hung the body up by the heels and +played a water hose on it. Everest was reported by the corner's jury to +have met his death at the hands of parties unknown. It was here that Dr. +Bickford let slip the statement about the hall being raided before the +shooting started. This was the first inkling of truth to reach the public. +Coroner Livingstone, in a jocular mood, reported the inquest to a meeting +of gentlemen at the Elks' Club. In explaining the death of the union +logger, Dr. Livingstone stated that Wesley Everest had broken out of jail, +gone to the Chehalis river bridge and jumped off with a rope around his +neck. Finding the rope too short he climbed back and fastened on a longer +one; jumped off again, broke his neck and then shot himself full of holes. +Livingstone's audience, appreciative of his tact and levity, laughed long +and hearty. Business men still chuckle over the joke in Centralia. "As +funny as a funeral" is no longer the stock saying in this humorous little +town; "as comical as a coroner" is now the approved form. + + + + +The Man-Hunt + + + +Acting on the theory that "a strong offensive is the best defense," the +terrorists took immediate steps to conceal all traces of their crime and +to shift the blame onto the shoulders of their victims. The capitalist +press did yeoman service in this cause by deluging the nation with a +veritable avalanche of lies. + +For days the district around Centralia and the city itself were at the +mercy of a mob. The homes of all workers suspected of being sympathetic to +Labor were spied upon or surrounded and entered without warrant. Doors +were battered down at times, and women and children abused and insulted. +Heavily armed posses were sent out in all directions in search of "reds." +All roads were patrolled by armed business men in automobiles. A strict +mail and wire censorship was established. It was the open season for +"wobblies" and intimidation was the order of the day. The White Terror was +supreme. + +An Associated Press reporter was compelled to leave town hastily without +bag or baggage because he inadvertently published Dr. Bickford's +indiscreet remark about the starting of the trouble. Men and women did not +dare to think, much less think aloud. Some of them in the district are +still that way. + +To Eugene Barnett's little home came a posse armed to the teeth. They +asked for Barnett and were told by his young wife that he had gone up the +hill with his rifle. Placing a bayonet to her breast they demanded +entrance. The brave little woman refused to admit them until they had +shown a warrant. Barnett surrendered when he had made sure he was to be +arrested and not mobbed. + +O.C. Bland, Bert Bland, John Lamb and Loren Roberts were also apprehended +in due time. Two loggers, John Doe Davis and Ole Hanson, who were said to +have also fired on the mob, have not yet been arrested. A vigorous search +is still being made for them in all parts of the country. It is believed +by many that one of these men was lynched like Everest on the night of +November 11th. + +[Illustration: Court House at Montesano--And a Little "Atmosphere" + +The trial was held on the third floor of the building as you look at the +picture. The soldiers were sent for over the head of the judge by one of +the lumber trust attorneys of the prosecution. Their only purpose was to +create the proper "atmosphere" for an unjust conviction.] + + + + +Hypocrisy and Terror + + + +The reign of terror was extended to cover the entire West coast. Over a +thousand men and women were arrested in the state of Washington alone. +Union halls were closed and kept that way. Labor papers were suppressed +and many men have been given sentences of from one to fourteen years for +having in their possession copies of periodicals which contained little +else but the truth about the Centralia tragedy. The Seattle Union Record +was temporarily closed down and its stock confiscated for daring to hint +that there were two sides to the story. During all this time the +capitalist press was given full rein to spread its infamous poison. The +general public, denied the true version of the affair, was shuddering over +its morning coffee at the thought of I.W.W. desperadoes shooting down +unoffending paraders from ambush. But the lumber interests were chortling +with glee and winking a suggestive eye at their high priced lawyers who +were making ready for the prosecution. Jurymen were shortly to be drawn +and things were "sitting pretty," as they say in poker. + +Adding a characteristic touch to the rotten hypocrisy of the situation +came a letter from Supreme Court Judge McIntosh to George Dysart, whose +son was in command of a posse during the manhunt. This remarkable document +is as follows: + + Kenneth Mackintosh, Judge + The Supreme Court, State of Washington + Olympia. + + George Dysart, Esq., + Centralia, Wash. + My Dear Dysart: + + November 13, 1919. + + I want to express to you my appreciation of the high character of + citizenship displayed by the people of Centralia in their agonizing + calamity. We are all shocked by the manifestation of barbarity on the + part of the outlaws, and are depressed by the loss of lives of brave + men, but at the same time are proud of the calm control and loyalty to + American ideals demonstrated by the returned soldiers and citizens. I am + proud to be an inhabitant of a state which contains a city with the + record which has been made for Centralia by its law-abiding citizens. + + Sincerely, + (Signed) Kenneth MacKintosh. + + + + +"Patriotic" Union Smashing + + + +Not to be outdone by this brazen example of judicial perversion, Attorney +General Thompson, after a secret conference of prosecuting attorneys, +issued a circular of advice to county prosecutors. In this document the +suggestion was made that officers and members of the Industrial Workers of +the World in Washington be arrested by the wholesale under the "criminal +syndicalism" law and brought to trial simultaneously so that they might +not be able to secure legal defense. The astounding recommendation was +also made that, owing to the fact that juries had been "reluctant to +convict," prosecutors and the Bar Association should co-operate in +examining jury panels so that "none but courageous and patriotic +Americans" secure places on the juries. + +This effectual if somewhat arbitrary plan was put into operation at once. +Since the tragedy at Centralia dozens of union workers have been convicted +by "courageous and patriotic" juries and sentenced to serve from one to +fourteen years in the state penitentiary. Hundreds more are awaiting +trial. The verdict at Montesano is now known to everyone. Truly the lives +of the four Legion boys which were sacrificed by the lumber interests in +furtherance of their own murderous designs, were well expended. The +investment was a profitable one and the results are no doubt highly +gratifying. + +But just the same the despicable plot of the Attorney General is an +obvious effort to defeat the purpose of the courts and obtain unjust +convictions by means of what is termed "jury fixing." There may be honor +among thieves but there is plainly none among the public servants they +have working for them! + +[Illustration: Mike Sheenan + +Born in Ireland. 64 years old. Has been a union man for over fifty years, +having joined his grandfather's union when he was only eight. Has been +through many strikes and has been repeatedly black-hated, beaten and even +exiled. He was a stoker in the Navy during the Spanish War. Mike Sheehan +was arrested in the Union hall, went through the horrible experience in +the city jail and was found "not guilty" by the jury. Like Elmer Smith, he +was re-arrested on another similar charge and thrown back in jail.] + +The only sane note sounded during these dark days, outside of the +startling statement of Dr. Bickford, came from Montana. Edward Bassett, +commander of the Butte Post of the American Legion and an over-seas +veteran, issued a statement to the labor press that was truly remarkable: + +"The I.W.W. in Centralia, Wash., who fired upon the men that were +attempting to raid the I.W.W. headquarters, were fully justified in their +act. + +"Mob rule in this country must be stopped, and when mobs attack the home +of a millionaire, of a laborer, or of the I.W.W., it is not only the right +but the duty of the occupants to resist with every means in their power. +If the officers of the law can not stop these raids, perhaps the +resistance of the raided may have that effect. + +"Whether the I.W.W. is a meritorious organization or not, whether it is +unpopular or otherwise, should have absolutely nothing to do with the +case. The reports of the evidence at the coroner's jury show that the +attack was made before the firing started. If that is true, I commend the +boys inside for the action that they took. + +"The fact that there were some American Legion men among the paraders who +everlastingly disgraced themselves by taking part in the raid, does not +affect my judgment in the least. Any one who becomes a party to a mob bent +upon unlawful violence, cannot expect the truly patriotic men of the +American Legion to condone his act." + + + + +Vanderveer's Opening Speech + + + +Defense Attorney George Vanderveer hurried across the continent from +Chicago to take up the legal battle for the eleven men who had been +arrested and charged with the murder of Warren O. Grimm. The lumber +interests had already selected six of their most trustworthy tools as +prosecutors. It is not the purpose of the present writer to give a +detailed story of this "trial"--possibly one of the greatest travesties on +justice ever staged. This incident was a very important part of the +Centralia conspiracy but a hasty sketch, such as might be portrayed in +these pages, would be an inadequate presentation at best. It might be +well, therefore, to permit Mr. Vanderveer to tell of the case as he told +it to the jury in his opening and closing arguments. Details of the trial +itself can be found in other booklets by more capable authors. +Vanderveer's opening address appears in part below: + +May it please the court and gentlemen of the jury:--As you have already +sensed from our examination of you and from a question which I propounded +to counsel at the close of his statement yesterday, the big question in +this case is, who was the aggressor, who started the battle? Was it on the +one side a deliberately planned murderous attack upon innocent marchers, +or was it on the other side a deliberately planned wicked attack upon the +I.W.W., which they merely resisted? That, I say, is the issue. I asked +counsel what his position would be in order that you might know it, and +that he said was his position, that he would stand and fall and be judged +by it, and I say to you now that is our position, and we will stand or +fall and be judged by that issue. + +In order that you may properly understand this situation, and the things +that led up to it, the motives underlying it, the manner in which it was +planned and executed, I want to go just a little way back of the +occurrence on November 11th, and state to you in rough outline the +situation that existed in Centralia, the objects that were involved in +this case, the things each are trying to accomplish and the way each went +about it. There has been some effort on the part of the state to make it +appear it is not an I.W.W. trial. I felt throughout that the I.W.W. issue +must come into this case, and now that they have made their opening +statement, I say unreservedly it is here in this case, not because we want +to drag it in here, but because it can't be left out. To conceal from you +gentlemen that it is an I.W.W. issue would be merely to conceal the truth +from you and we, on our part, don't want to do that now or at any time +hereafter. + +The I.W.W. is at the bottom of this. Not as an aggressor, however. It is a +labor organization, organized in Chicago in 1905, and it is because of the +philosophy for which it stands and because of certain tactics which it +evolves that this thing arose. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +Logger. Born in County Claire, Ireland. Joined the Industrial Workers of +the World in 1916. Was wounded on the steamer "Verona" when the lumber +trust tried to exterminate the union lumberworkers with bullets at +Everett, Washington. McInerney was one of those trapped in the hall. He +surrendered to officers of the law. While in the city jail his neck was +worn raw with a hangman's rope in an effort to make him "confess" that the +loggers and not the mob had started the trouble. McInerney told them to +"go to hell." He is Irish and an I.W.W. and proud of being both.] + + + + +A Labor Movement on Trial + + + +The I.W.W. is the representative in this country of the labor movement of +the rest of the world It is the representative in the United States of the +idea that capitalism is wrong: that no man has a right, moral or +otherwise, to exploit his fellow men, the idea that our industrial efforts +should be conducted not for the profits of any individual but should be +conducted for social service, for social welfare. So the I.W.W. says +first, that the wage system is wrong and that it means to abolish that +wage system. It says that it intends to do this, not by political action, +not by balloting, but by organization on the industrial or economical +field, precisely as employers, precisely as capital is organized on the +basis of the industry, not on the basis of the tool. The I.W.W. says +industrial evolution has progressed to that point there the tool no longer +enforces craftsmanship. In the place of a half dozen or dozen who were +employed, each a skilled artisan, employed to do the work, you have a +machine process to do that work and it resulted in the organization of the +industry on an industrial basis. You have the oil industry, controlled by +the Standard Oil; you have the lumber industry, controlled by the +Lumbermen's Association of the South and West, and you have the steel and +copper industry, all organized on an industrial basis resulting in a +fusing, or corporation, or trust of a lot of former owners. Now the I.W.W. +say if they are to compete with our employers, we must compete with our +employers as an organization, and as they are organized so we must protect +our organization, as they protect themselves. And so they propose to +organize into industrial unions; the steel workers and the coal miners, +and the transportation workers each into its own industrial unit. + +This plan of organization is extremely distasteful to the employers +because it is efficient; because it means a new order, a new system in the +labor world in this country. The meaning of this can be gathered, in some +measure, from the recent experiences in the steel strike of this country, +where they acted as an industrial unit; from the recent experiences in the +coal mining industry, where they acted as an industrial unit. Instead of +having two or three dozen other crafts, each working separately, they +acted as an industrial unit. When the strike occurred it paralyzed +industry and forced concessions to the demands of the workers. That is the +first thing the I.W.W. stands for and in some measure and in part explains +the attitude capital has taken all over the country towards it. + +In the next place it says that labor should organize on the basis of some +fundamental principle; and labor should organize for something more than a +mere bartering and dickering for fifty cents a day or for some shorter +time, something of that sort. It says that the system is fundamentally +wrong and must be fundamentally changed before you can look for some +improvement. Its philosophy is based upon government statistics which show +that in a few years in this country our important industries have crept +into more than two-thirds of our entire wealth. Seventy-five per cent of +the workers in the basic industry are unable to send their children to +school. Seventy-one per cent of the heads of the families in our basic +industries are unable to provide a decent living for their families +without the assistance of the other members. Twenty-nine per cent of our +laborers are able to live up to the myth that he is the head of the +family. The results of these evils are manifold. Our people are not being +raised in decent vicinities. They are not being raised and educated. Their +health is not being cared for; their morals are not being cared for. I +will show you that in certain of our industries where the wages are low +and the hours are long, that the children of the working people die at the +rate of 300 to 350 per thousand inhabitants under the age of one year +because of their undernourishment, lack of proper housing and lack of +proper medical attention and because the mothers of these children before +they are born and when the children are being carried in the mother's womb +that they are compelled to go into the industries and work and work and +work, and before the child can receive proper nourishment the mother is +compelled to go back into the industry and work again. The I.W.W.'s say +there must be a fundamental change and that fundamental change must be in +the line of reorganization of industry, for public service, so that the +purpose shall be that we will work to live and not merely live to work. +Work for service rather than work for profit. + +[Illustration: James McInerney + +(After he had undergone the "Third degree".) + +McInerney had a rope around his neck nearly all night before this picture +was taken. One end of the rope had been pulled taut over a beam by his +tormentors. McInerney had told them to "go to hell." "It's no use trying +to get anything out of a man like that," was the final decision of the +inquisitors.] + + + + +To Kill an Ideal... + + + +Some time in September, counsel told you, the I.W.W., holding these +beliefs, opened a hall in Centralia. Back of that hall was a living room, +where Britt Smith lived, kept his clothes and belongings and made his +home. From then on the I.W.W. conducted a regular propaganda meeting every +Saturday night. These propaganda meetings were given over to a discussion +of these industrial problems and beliefs. From that district there were +dispatched into nearby lumber camps and wherever there were working people +to whom to carry this message--there were dispatched organizers who went +out, made the talks in the camps briefly and sought to organize them into +this union, at least to teach them the philosophy of this labor movement. + +Because that propaganda is fatal to those who live by other people's work, +who live by the profits they wring from labor, it excited intense +opposition on the part of employers and business people of Centralia and +about the time this hall was opened we will show you that people from +Seattle, where they maintain their headquarters for these labor fights, +came into Centralia and held meetings. I don't know what they call this +new thing they were seeking to organize--it is in fact a branch of the +Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association of the United States, a national +organization whose sole purpose is to fight and crush and beat labor. It +was in no sense a local movement because it started in Seattle and it was +organized by people from Seattle, and the purpose was to organize in +Centralia an organization of business men to combat this new labor +philosophy. Whether in the mouths of the I.W.W., or Nonpartisan League, or +the Socialists, it did not make any difference; to brand anybody as a +traitor, un-American, who sought to tell the truth about our industrial +conditions. + + + + +The Two Raids + + + +In the fall of 1918, the I.W.W. had a hall two blocks and a half from this +hall, at the corner of First and B streets. There was a Red Cross parade, +and that hall was wrecked, just as was this hall. These profiteering +gentlemen never overlook an opportunity to capitalize on a patriotic +event, and so they capitalized the Red Cross parade that day just as they +capitalized the Armistice Day parade on November 11, and in exactly the +same way as on November 11. + +And that day, when the tail-end of the parade of the Red Cross passed the +main avenue, it broke off and went a block out of its way and attacked the +I.W.W. hall, a good two-story building. And they broke it into splinters. +The furniture, records, the literature that belongs to these boys, +everything was taken out into the street and burned. + +[Illustration: O. C. Bland + +Logger. American. Resident of Centralia for a number of years. Has worked +in woods and mills practically all his life. Has a wife and seven +children. Bland was in the Arnold hotel at the time of the raid. He was +armed but had cut his hand on broken glass before he had a chance to +shoot. Since his arrest and conviction his family has undergone severe +hardships. The defense is making an effort to raise enough funds to keep +the helpless wives and children of the convicted men in the comforts of +life.] + +Now, what was contemplated on Armistice Day? The I.W.W. did as you would +do; it judged from experience. + + + + +Patience No Longer a Virtue + + + +When the paraders smashed the door in, the I.W.W.'s, as every lover of +free speech and every respecter of his person--they had appealed to the +citizens, they had appealed to the officers, and some of their members had +been tarred and feathered, beaten up and hung--they said in thought: +"Patience has ceased to be a virtue." And if the law will not protect us, +and the people won't protect us, we will protect ourselves. And they did. + +And in deciding this case, I want each of you, members of the jury, to ask +yourself what would you have done? + +There had been discussions of this character in the I.W.W. hall, and so +have there been discussions everywhere. There had never been a plot laid +to murder anybody, nor to shoot anybody in any parade. I want you to ask +yourself: "Why would anybody want to shoot anybody in a parade," and to +particularly ask yourself why anyone would want to shoot upon soldiers? + +He who was a soldier himself, Wesley Everest, the man who did most of the +shooting, and the man whom they beat until he was unconscious and whom +they grabbed from the street and put a rope around his neck, the man whom +they nearly shot to pieces, and the man whom they hung, once dropping him +ten feet, and when what didn't kill him lengthened the rope to 15 feet and +dropped him again--why would one soldier want to kill another soldier, or +soldiers, who had never done him nor his fellows any harm? + +I exonerate the American Legion as an organization of the responsibility +of this. For I say they didn't know about it. The day will come when they +will realize that they have been mere catspaws in the hands of the +Centralia commercial interests. That is the story. I don't know what the +verdict will be today, but the verdict ten years hence will be the verdict +in the Lovejoy case; that these men were within their rights and that they +fought for a cause, that these men fought for liberty. They fought for +these things for which we stand and for which all true lovers of liberty +stand, and those who smashed them up are the real enemies of our country. + +This is a big case, counsel says, the biggest case that has ever been +tried in this country, but the biggest thing about these big things is +from beginning to end it has been a struggle on the one side for ideals +and on the other side to suppress those ideals. This thing was started +with Hubbard at its head. It is being started today with Hubbard at its +head in this courtroom, and I don't believe you will fall for it. + + + + +Vanderveer's Closing Argument + + + +There are only two real issues in this case. One is the question: Who was +the aggressor in the Armistice Day affray? The other is: Was Eugene +Barnett in the Avalon hotel window when that affray occurred? + +We have proven by unimpeachable witnesses that there was a raid on the +I.W.W. hall in Centralia on November 11--a raid, in which the business +interests of the city used members of the American Legion as catspaws. We +have shown that Warren O. Grimm, for the killing of whom these defendants +are on trial, actually took park in that raid, and was in the very doorway +of the hall when the attack was made, despite the attempts of the +prosecution to place Grimm 100 feet away when he was shot. + +We have proven a complete alibi for Eugene Barnett through unshaken and +undisputable witnesses. He was not in the Avalon hotel during the riot; he +was in the Roderick hotel lobby; he had no gun and he took no part in the +shooting. + +In my opening statement, I said I would stand or fall on the issue of: Who +was the aggressor on Armistice Day? I have stood by that promise, and +stand by it now. + +Mr. Abel, specially hired prosecutor in this trial, made the same promise. +So did Herman Allen, the official Lewis county prosecutor, who has been so +ingloriously shoved aside by Mr. Abel and his colleague, Mr. Cunningham, +ever since the beginning here. But a few days ago, when the defense was +piling up evidence showing that there was a raid on the I.W.W. hall by the +paraders, Mr. Abel backed down. + + + + +Why Were the Shots Fired? + + + +I was careful in the beginning to put him on record on that point; all +along I knew that he and Mr. Allen would back down on the issue of who was +the aggressor; they could not uphold their contention that the Armistice +Day paraders were fired upon in cold blood while engaged in lawful and +peaceful action. + +What possible motive could these boys have had for firing upon innocent +marching soldiers? It is true that the marchers were fired upon; that +shots were fired by some of these defendants; but why were the shots +fired? + +[Illustration: John Lamb + +Logger. American. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. Lamb +was in the Arnold Hotel with O.C. Bland during the raid on the hall. +Neither of them did any shooting. John Lamb has lived for years in +Centralia. He is married and has five children who are left dependent +since the conviction.] + +There is only one reason why--they were defending their own legal property +against unlawful invasion and attack; they were defending the dwelling +place of Britt Smith, their secretary. + +And they had full right to defend their lives and that property and that +home against violence or destruction; they had a right to use force, if +necessary, to effect that defense. The law gives them that right; and it +accrues to them also from all of the wells of elementary justice. + +The law says that when a man or group of men have reason to fear attack +from superior numbers, they may provide whatever protection they may deem +necessary to repel such an attack. And it says also that if a man who is +in bad company when such an attack is made happens to be killed by the +defenders, those defenders are not to be considered guilty of that man's +death. + +So they had the troops come, to blow bugles and drill in the streets where +the jury could see; their power, however wielded, was great enough to +cause Governor Hart to send the soldiers here without consulting the trial +judge or the sheriff, whose function it was to preserve law and order +here--and you know, I am sure, that law and order were adequately +preserved here before the troops came. + + + + +"Fearful of the Truth" + + + +They tried the moth-eaten device of arresting our witnesses for alleged +perjury, hoping to discredit those witnesses thus in your eyes because +they knew they couldn't discredit them in any regular nor legitimate way. + +Fearful of the truth, the guilty ones at Centralia deliberately framed up +evidence to save themselves from blame--to throw the responsibility for +the Armistice Day horror onto other men. But they bungled the frame-up +badly. No bolder nor cruder fabrication has ever been attempted than the +ridiculous effort to fasten the killing of Warren Grimm upon Eugene +Barnett. + +[Illustration: Court Room in which the Farcical "Trial" Took Place + +This garish room in the court house at Montesano was the scene of the +attempted "judicial murder" that followed the lynching. The judge always +entered his chambers through the door under the word "Transgression": the +jury always left through the door over which "Instruction" appears. In +this room the lumber trust attorneys attempted to build a gallows of +perjured testimony on which to break the necks of innocent men.] + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +These conspirators were clumsy enough in their planning to drive the +I.W.W. out of town; their intent was to stampede the marching soldiers +into raiding the I.W.W. hall. But how much more clumsy was the frame-up +afterward--the elaborate fixing of many witnesses to make it appear that +Grimm was shot at Tower avenue and Second street when he actually was shot +in front of the hall; and to make it appear that Ben Casagranda and Earl +Watts were shot around the corner on Second street, when they were +actually shot on Tower avenue, close to the front of the hall. + +Then, you will remember, I compelled Elsie Hornbeck to admit that she had +been shown photographs of Barnett by the prosecution. She would not have +told this fact, had I not trapped her into admitting it; that was obvious +to everybody in this courtroom that day. + +You have heard the gentlemen of the prosecution assert that this is a +murder trial, and not a labor trial. But they have been careful to ask all +our witnesses whether they were I.W.W. members, whether they belonged to +any labor union, and whether they were sympathetic towards workers on +trial for their lives. And when the answer to any of these questions was +yes, they tried to brand the witness as one not worthy of belief. Their +policy and thus browbeating working people who were called as witnesses is +in keeping with the tactics of the mob during the days when it held +Centralia in its grasp. + +You know, even if the detailed story has been barred from the record, of +the part F.R. Hubbard, lumber baron, played in this horror at Centralia. +You have heard from various witnesses that the lumber mill owned by +Hubbard's corporation, the Eastern Railway and Lumber Company, is a +notorious non-union concern. And you have heard it said that W.A. Abel, +the special prosecutor here, has been an ardent and active labor-baiter +for years. + +Hubbard wanted to drive the I.W.W. out of Centralia. Why did he want to +drive them out? He said they were a menace. And it is true that they were +a menace, and are a menace--to those who exploit the workers who produce +the wealth for the few to enjoy. + + + + +Why Were Ropes Carried? + + + +Was there a raid on the hall before the shooting? Dr. Frank Bickford, a +reputable physician, appeared here and repeated under oath what he had +sworn to at the coroner's inquest--that when the parade stopped, he +offered to lead a raid on the hall if enough would follow,--but that +others pushed ahead of him, forced open the door, and then the shots came +from inside. + +And why did the Rev. H.W. Thompson have a rope? Thompson believes in +hanging men by the neck until they are dead. When the state Employers' +Association and others wanted the hanging law in Washington revived not +long ago, the Reverend Thompson lectured in many cities and towns in +behalf of that law. And he has since lectured widely against the I.W.W. +Did he carry a rope in the parade because he owned a cow and a calf? Or +what? + +Why did the prosecution need so many attorneys here, if it had the facts +straight? Why were scores of American Legion members imported here to sit +at the trial at a wage of $4 per day and expenses? + +They have told you this was a murder trial, and not a labor trial. But +vastly more than the lives of ten men are the stakes in the big gamble +here; for the right of workers to organize for the bettering of their own +condition is on trial; the right of free assemblage is on trial; democracy +and Americanism are on trial. + +In our opening statement, we promised to prove various facts; and we have +proven them, in the main; if there are any contentions about which the +evidence remains vague, this circumstance exists only because His Honor +has seen fit to rule out certain testimony which is vital to the case, and +we believed, and still believe, was entirely material and properly +admissible. + +But is there any doubt in your minds that there was a conspiracy to raid +the I.W.W. hall, and to run the Industrial Workers of the World out of +town? Even if the court will not allow you to read the handbill issued by +the I.W.W., asking protection from the citizens of Centralia have you any +doubt that the I.W.W. had reason to fear an attack from Warren Grimm and +his fellow marchers? And have you any doubt that there was a raid on the +hall? + +When I came into this case I knew that we were up against tremendous odds. +Terror was loose in Centralia; prejudice and hatred against the I.W.W. was +being systematically and sweepingly spread in Grays Harbor county and +throughout the whole Northwest; and intimidation or influence of some sort +was being employed against every possible witness and talesman. + +[Illustration: George Vanderveer + +This man single handed opposed six high priced lumber trust prosecutors in +the famous trial at Montesano. Vanderveer is a man of wide experience and +deep social vision. He was at one time prosecuting attorney for King +County, Washington. The lumber trust has made countless threats to "get +him." "A lawyer with a heart is as dangerous as a workingman with +brains."] + +Not only were unlimited money and other resources of the Lewis County +commercial interests banded against us, but practically all the attorneys +up and down the Pacific coast had pledged themselves not to defend any +I.W.W., no matter how great nor how small the charge he faced. Our +investigators were arrested without warrant; solicitors for our defense +fund met with the same fate. + +And when the trial date approached, the judge before whom this case is +being heard admitted that a fair trial could not be had here, because of +the surging prejudice existent in this community. Then, five days later, +the court announced that the law would not permit a second change of +venue, and that the trial must go ahead in Montesano. + +In the face of these things, and in the face of all the atmosphere of +violence and bloodthirstiness which the prosecution has sought to throw +around these defendants, I am placing our case in your hands; I am +intrusting to you gentlemen to decide upon the fate of ten human +beings--whether they shall live or die or be shut away from their fellows +for months or years. + +But I am asking you much more than that--I am asking you to decide the +fate of organized labor in the Northwest; whether its fundamental rights +are to survive or be trampled underfoot. + + + + +The Lumber Trust Wins the Jury + + + +On Saturday evening, March 13th, the jury brought in its final verdict of +guilty. In the face of the very evident ability of the lumber interests, +to satisfy its vengeance at will, any other verdict would have been +suicidal--for the jury. + +The prosecution was out for blood and nothing less than blood. Day by day +they had built the structure of gallows right there in the courtroom. They +built a scaffolding on which to hang ten loggers--built it of lies and +threats and perjury. Dozens of witnesses from the Chamber of Commerce and +the American Legion took the stand to braid a hangman's rope of untruthful +testimony. Some of these were members of the mob; on their white hands the +blood of Wesley Everest was hardly dry. And they were not satisfied with +sending their victims to prison for terms of from 25 to 40 years, they +wanted the pleasure of seeing their necks broken. But they failed. Two +verdicts were returned; his honor refused to accept the first; no +intelligent man can accept the second. + +Here is the way the two verdicts compare with each other: Elmer Smith and +Mike Sheehan were declared not guilty and Loren Roberts insane, in both +the first and second verdicts. Britt Smith, O.C. Bland, James McInerney, +Bert Bland and Ray Becker were found guilty of murder in the second degree +in both instances, but Eugene Barnett and John Lamb were at first declared +guilty of manslaughter, or murder "in the third degree" in the jury's +first findings, and guilty of second degree murder in the second. + +The significant point is that the state made its strongest argument +against the four men whom the jury practically exonerated of the charge of +conspiring to murder. More significant is the fact that the whole verdict +completely upsets the charge of conspiracy to murder under which the men +were tried. The difference between first and second degree murder is that +the former, first degree, implies premeditation while the other, second +degree, means murder that is not premeditated. Now, how in the world can +men be found guilty of conspiring to murder without previous +premeditation? The verdict, brutal and stupid as it is, shows the weakness +and falsity of the state's charge more eloquently than anything the +defense has ever said about it. + + + + +But Labor Says, "Not Guilty!" + + + +But another jury had been watching the trial. Their verdict came as a +surprise to those who had read the newspaper version of the case. No +sooner had the twelve bewildered and frightened men in the jury box paid +tribute to the power of the Lumber Trust with a ludicrous and tragic +verdict than the six workingmen of the Labor Jury returned their verdict +also. Those six men represented as many labor organizations in the Pacific +Northwest with a combined membership of many thousands of wage earners. + +The last echoes of the prolonged legal battle had hardly died away when +these six men sojourned to Tacoma to ballot, deliberate and to reach their +decision about the disputed facts of the case. At the very moment when the +trust-controlled newspapers, frantic with disappointment, were again +raising the blood-cry of their pack, the frank and positive statement of +these six workers came like a thunderclap out of a clear sky,--"Not +Guilty!" + +The Labor Jury had studied the development of the case with earnest +attention from the beginning. Day by day they had watched with increasing +astonishment the efforts of the defense to present, and of the prosecution +and the judge to exclude, from the consideration of the trial jury, the +things everybody knew to be true about the tragedy at Centralia. Day by +day the sordid drama had been unfolded before their eyes. Day by day the +conviction had grown upon them that the loggers on trial for their lives +were being railroaded to the gallows by the legal hirelings of the Lumber +Trust. The Labor Jury was composed of men with experience in the labor +movement. They had eyes to see through a maze of red tape and legal +mummery to the simple truth that was being hidden or obscured. The Lumber +Trust did not fool these men and it could not intimidate them. They had +the courage to give the truth to the world just as they saw it. They were +convinced in their hearts and minds that the loggers on trial were +innocent. And they would have been just as honest and just as fearless had +their convictions been otherwise. + +It cannot be said that the Labor Jury was biased in favor of the +defendants or of the I.W.W. If anything, they were predisposed to believe +the defendants guilty and their union an outlaw organization. It must be +remembered that all the labor jury knew of the case was what it had read +in the capitalist newspapers prior to their arrival at the scene of the +trial. These men were not radicals but representative working men--members +of conservative unions--who had been instructed by their organizations to +observe impartially the progress of the trial and to report back to their +unions the result of their observations. Read their report: + + + + +Labor's Verdict + + + +Labor Temple, Tacoma, March 15, 1920, 1:40 p.m. + +The Labor Jury met in the rooms of the Labor Temple and organized, +electing P. K. Mohr as foreman. + +Present: J.A. Craft, W.J. Beard, Otto Newman, Theodore Mayer, E.W. Thrall +and P.K. Mohr. + +1. On motion a secret ballot of guilty or not guilty was taken, the count +resulting in a unanimous "Not Guilty!" + +2. Shall we give our report to the press? Verdict, "Yes." + +[Illustration: Labor's Silent Jury + +W.J. Beard, Central Labor Council, Tacoma: Paul K. Mohr, Central Labor +Council, Seattle: Theodore Meyer, Central Labor Council, Everett: E.W. +Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia: John A. Craft, Metal +Trades Council, Seattle.] + +3. Was there a conspiracy to raid the I.W.W. hall on the part of the +business interests of Centralia? Verdict, "Yes." + +There was evidence offered by the defense to show that the business +interests held a meeting at the Elk's Club on October 20, 1919, at which +ways and means to deal with the I.W.W. situation were discussed. F.B. +Hubbard, Chief of Police Hughes and William Scales, commander of the +American Legion at Centralia, were present. Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +quoted as having said, "There is no law that would let you run the I.W.W. +out of town." Chief of Police Hughes said, "You cannot run the I.W.W. out +of town; they have violated no law." F.G. Hubbard said, "It's a damn +shame; if I was chief I would have them out of town in 24 hours." William +Scales, presiding at the meeting, said that although he was not in favor +of a raid, there was no American jury that would convict them if they did, +or words to that effect. He then announced that he would appoint a secret +committee to deal with the I.W.W. situation. + +4. Was the I.W.W. hall unlawfully raided? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence +introduced convinces us that an attack was made before a shot was fired. + +5. Had the defendants a right to defend their hall. Verdict, "yes." On a +former occasion the I.W.W. hall was raided, furniture destroyed and +stolen, ropes placed around their necks and they were otherwise abused and +driven out of town by citizens, armed with pick handles. + +6. Was Warren O. Grimm a party to the conspiracy of raiding the I.W.W. +hall? Verdict, "Yes." The evidence introduced convinces us that Warren O. +Grimm participated in the raid of the I.W.W. hall. + +7. To our minds the most convincing evidence that Grimm was in front of +and raiding the I.W.W. hall with others, is the evidence of State Witness +Van Gilder who testified that he stood at the side of Grimm at the +intersection of Second street and Tower avenue, when, according to his +testimony, Grimm was shot. This testimony was refuted by five witnesses +who testified that they saw Grimm coming wounded from the direction of the +I.W.W. hall. It is not credible that Van Gilder, who was a personal and +intimate friend of Grimm, would leave him when he was mortally wounded, to +walk half a block alone and unaided. + +8. Did the defendants get a fair and impartial trial? Verdict, "No." The +most damaging evidence of a conspiracy by the business men of Centralia, +of a raid on the I.W.W. hall, was ruled out by the court and not permitted +to go to the jury. This was one of the principal issues that the defense +sought to establish. + +Also the calling of the federal troops by Prosecuting Attorney Allen was +for no other reason than to create atmosphere. On interviewing the judge, +sheriff and prosecuting attorney, the judge and the sheriff informed us +that in their opinion the troops were not needed and that they were +brought there without their consent or knowledge. In the interview Mr. +Allen promised to furnish the substance of the evidence which in his +opinion necessitated the presence of the troops the next morning, but on +the following day he declined the information. He, however, did say that +he did not fear the I.W.W., but was afraid of violence by the American +Legion. This confession came after he was shown by us the fallacy of the +I.W.W. coming armed to interfere with the verdict. Also the presence of +the American Legion in large numbers in court. + +Theodore Meyer, Everett Central Labor Council; John O. Craft, Seattle +Metal Trades Council; E.W. Thrall, Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, +Centralia; W.J. Beard, Tacoma Central Labor Council; Otto Newman, Portland +Central Labor Council; P.K. Mohr, Seattle Central Labor Council. + +The above report speaks for itself. It was received with great enthusiasm +by the organizations of each of the jurymen when the verdict was +submitted. On March 17th, the Seattle Central Labor Council voted +unanimously to send the verdict to all of the Central Labor Assemblies of +the United States and Canada. + +Not only are the loggers vindicated in defending their property and lives +from the felonious assault of the Armistice Day mob, but the conspiracy of +the business interests to raid the hall and the raid itself were +established. The participation of Warren O. Grimm is also accepted as +proved beyond doubt. Doubly significant is the statement about the "fair +and impartial trial" that is supposed to be guaranteed all men under our +constitution. + +Nothing could more effectively stamp the seal of infamy upon the whole +sickening rape of justice than the manly outspoken statements of these six +labor jurors. Perhaps the personalities of these men might prove of +interest: + +E. W. Thrall, of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Centralia, is an old +time and trusted member of his union. As will be noticed, he comes from +Centralia, the scene of the tragedy. + +Otto Newman, of the Central Labor Council, Portland, Oregon, has ably +represented his union in the C.L.C. for some time. + +W.J. Beard is organizer for the Central Labor Council in Tacoma, +Washington. He is an old member of the Western Federation of Miners and +remembers the terrible times during the strikes at Tulluride. + +John O. Craft is president of Local 40, International Union of Steam +Operating Engineers, of which union he has been a member for the last ten +years. Mr. Craft has been actively connected with unions affiliated with +the A.F. of L. since 1898. + +Theodore Meyer was sent by the Longshoremen of Everett, Washington. Since +1903 he has been a member of the A.F. of L.; prior to that time being a +member of the National Sailors and Firemen's Union of Great Britain and +Ireland, and of the Sailors' Union of Australia. + +P. K. Mohr represents the Central Labor Council of Seattle and is one of +the oldest active members in the Seattle unions. Mr. Mohr became a charter +member of the first Bakers' Union in 1889 and was its first presiding +officer. He was elected delegate to the old Western Central Labor Council +in 1890. At one time Mr. Mohr was president of the Seattle Labor Council. +At the present time he is president of the Bakers' Union. + +Such are the men who have studied the travesty on justice in the great +labor trial at Montesano. "Not Guilty" is their verdict. Does it mean +anything to you? + + + + +Wesley Everest + + + +Torn and defiant as a wind-lashed reed, +Wounded, he faced you as he stood at bay; +You dared not lynch him in the light of day, +But on your dungeon stones you let him bleed; +Night came ... and you black vigilants of Greed,... +Like human wolves, seized hand upon your prey, +Tortured and killed ... and, silent, slunk away +Without one qualm of horror at the deed. + +Once ... long ago ... do you remember how +You hailed Him king for soldiers to deride-- +You placed a scroll above His bleeding brow +And spat upon Him, scourged Him, crucified...? +A rebel unto Caesar--then as now-- +Alone, thorn-crowned, a spear wound in His side! + +--R.C. in "N.Y. Call." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTRALIA CONSPIRACY*** + + +******* This file should be named 10725.txt or 10725.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/2/10725 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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