As the United States entered World War One in the spring of 1917, the class war in the country was raging. That summer the Iron Heel descended on the nation as murder, censorship, deportation, jailing, and terror against the workers’ movement without precedent was unleashed. As part of his duties as General Secretary-Treasurer of the I.W.W. William D. Haywood wrote monthly reports for the membership. Here is the report for August, 1917; the month his friend and comrade on the leadership of the I.W.W., Frank H. Little, was lynched in Butte, Montana. Haywood himself, along with hundreds of others, would be arrested the following month.

‘August News From the General Office’ by William D. Haywood from Solidarity. Vol. 8 No. 397. August 18, 1917.

August, 1917. The bloodstained hands of Capitalism have stretched forth and taken from our midst one of our bravest and best. In all probability, assassins hired by the copper companies of Butte have strangled forever the voice of Fellow Worker Frank H. Little, member of the General Executive Board of the I.W.W.

The revolting details of this foul murder have sickened with horror the entire working class of the world. That men could be found so inexpressibly cowardly and so devoid of all human attributes as to take a helpless, crippled man from his bed In the dead of night, drag him behind an automobile–as the autopsy shows they did–torture him and beat him, and then hang him like a beast, does not seem possible. It seems beyond belief, even now, but the fact that Frank Little is no longer with us, that he is in his eternal resting place on the “Flats” in Butte, amongst the many other thousands of victims of the Amalgamated and Anaconda copper companies, amongst the miners whom he loved so well and with whom he had worked so long and faithfully, proves that such cowards do exist, proves that fiends incarnate from the lowest depths of hell are abroad in the land, seeking the lives of all active workers who dare to menace the profits of their masters, the Copper Kings.

From every section of the land, from all bodies of workers have come expressions of deepest indignation and protest at this most insensate crime. The object of the “higher- ups” who sought by this bloody deed to terrorize the workers into submission and to silence with fear the voices of active members in the labor movement, has failed in its purpose.

Resolutions.

“On verification death of Little, be it resolved that we, Metal Mine Workers’ Industrial Union No. 800 of this district, demand the General Strike to be called.” Resolution adopted mass meeting; thirty-five hundred workers attended. W.H. LEWIS, Chairman.”

From Augusta, Kansas:

“The news of the cowardly murder of Frank Little by Butte gunmen was received by the members here with feelings of fierce anger and grief. PHIL EASTMAN.”

From Farrell, Pa.:

“Stigmatizing the barbarous act accomplished by men said to be civil, on valorous, militant, human justice on Frank Little, the Italian Propaganda League of Farrell always shout Forward, the Industrial Workers of the World. MASSINO.”

Many other telegrams were received from all parts of the country, showing a warring spirit of revolt, accentuated by this act of terrorism upon the part of the ruling class. The miners of Butte have sworn not to go back until their demands are entirely granted. They have also sworn to track down the murderers of Frank Little and swing them on a rope, as they swung Little,

On receipt of the news of the death of Fellow Worker Frank Little, the General Office at once communicated with his relatives as to the disposition of his body. They answered to bury Frank Little either in Chicago or Butte. Thinking that Butte would be the most appropriate place, the Secretary Treasurer wired the following message to Butte:

Jos. Kennedy, 318 S. Wyoming St., Butte, Montana.

Have Frank H. Little’s funeral under the auspices of Metal Mine Workers. Bury him down in the flat with the men that he had worked with all his life. WM. D. HAYWOOD.

In accordance with these instructions, Fellow Worker Frank H. Little was buried with the most impressive ceremony by the striking miners of Butte. It was the greatest funeral Butte has ever seen. Thus closes the last chapter in the life of a brave and valiant fighter for the Working Class, but this last chapter in the life of Fellow Worker Frank H. Little means the turning of a new page, in

Labor’s struggle for Freedom. His life and death will be an inspiration for generations to come. The things he fought for and the ideals he cherished will be attained so much sooner. Murder by the capitalist gunmen cannot stop but only accelerate the sweep of the Revolution that soon will engulf the masters and their cowardly assassins. Let our motto be from now on: WE NEVER FORGET! ORGANIZE AND AVENGE!

The strike situation all over is still good. The striking Lumber Workers are standing as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar, and will not go back until the eight-hour day is won. The reign of terrorism in the Lumber Belt of the Northwest is still being continued, and the Governor of Idaho, Moses Alexander, has descended from his high office to function as a stool-pigeon for Mr. Weyerhauser. A letter from John Bender at Pocatello, Idaho, informs us that Governor Alexander, after a conference with all the sheriffs of Idaho, and the State’s Attorney General, came down with the whole crew to the I.W.W. Hall, bought and paid for all the different kinds of literature there was in the hall, then placed under arrest Fellow Worker Louis Gatewood, secretary of the Recruiting Union there, and placed him in jail without any charge against him. They also confiscated all the literature in the hall. The only things they left were the desk, pen and ink.

This Governor Alexander is the same man that went around to all the lumber camps to try and induce the striking Lumber Workers to return to work. It is very evident that the governor knows “His Master’s Voice.” So little success did the governor have in his soap-boxing tour for the Lumber Trust that he admits the only thing that can be done is to wait “until the men are ready to go back to work.”

The latest developments in the Lumber Workers’ strike show the strike still spreading. Oregon has fallen in line, and the shortage of lumber is beginning to be felt very acutely by the Lumber Barons. Victory is certain if the Lumber Workers receive the support they are entitled to from the working class. Funds are still urgently needed. Send all funds to James Rowan, 424 Lindelle Block, Spokane, Wash., or Wm. D. Haywood, 1001 W. Madison street, Chicago.

The situation amongst the miners in Arizona and Montana is excellent from a viewpoint of Solidarity, but funds are needed in the most urgent manner. The families of the deported miners must be fed. Scores of the most active members of the Metal Mine Workers’ Industrial Union No. 800 are in jail in the Globe and Miami District. They are facing long terms of imprisonment. The copper companies and the Citizens’ Protective Loyalty leagues have raised a fund of many thousands of dollars to convict these men and unless we rally to the rescue, they will be railroaded to the penitentiary for long terms. Attorney Fred H. Moore, sent to Arizona by the General Office to help defend these men and to protect the interests of the deported miners, their wives and children, was deported from Bisbee by the same bunch of “Lawless Patriots” that drove the striking miners from that place. Governor Campbell, when appealed to, wired the Citizens’ Protective League to allow Moore to stay there to look after the interests of his clients, but despite the protests of the governor, Fred Moore was deported. Verily! Russia of the old regime has nothing on Arizona, Montana, and the Northwest states of this “free democracy.”

The situation in the deportation camp at Columbus is tense. The men are showing the world what Solidarity means, in spite of all efforts to scatter them and make them disperse, they are still there, solidly, almost to a man. Their only fears are for their wives and children. These helpless dependents must not be allowed to go hungry. We must not let them beg for charity from the men who drove their husbands and fathers away. Fellow Workers, we must raise money for them. This is most urgent. Rush at once, without delay, all funds you can possibly raise, to Grover H. Perry, 506 Boyd Park Bldg., Salt Lake City, or Wm. D. Haywood, 1001 West Madison street, Chicago.

Deportations, being the only expression of democracy allowed in the West by the masters, are in fashion. Fellow Worker McKinnon and others were deported over the state line from Nevada, and threatened with death if they returned.

The miners in Michigan and Minnesota are in revolt. Their attempts to better their conditions have been met with the most repressive measures. Halls haye been raided, meetings broken up, and men deported. many arrested and jailed. The following telegram received by the General Office shows to what lengths the thugs are going in order to break the strike and drive the men back to work:

“Was deported from Bessemer, Mich., by four masked men in an automobile and was left near the railroad, beaten up and told if I returned I would get more and worse. CHAS, PLAHN.”

All these acts are having the very reverse effect to what the masters expected. The miners upon the Mesaba Range and the Cayuna Range are being goaded into a strike that may astonish the country. The murder of Frank Little and the brutal acts of the gunmen against the striking miners on the Gogebic Range are the sparks that will set the entire iron range aflame. The following telegram shows the spirit of the miners on the iron range:

“Strike in the mines at Crosby, Minn. declared all mines shut down. Mines trying to hold peaceful meeting and the gunmen came in armed and broke it up. No one arrested yet. Dally papers state that strike will spread to Mesaba Range before long. CHAS. JACOBSON.”

The Harvest Workers in South Dakota have struck as a protest against the rule of the Commercial Clubs’s Vigilantes in that state. These “law and order” thugs have been beating up members and closing halls in that state, and the result is the workers, in order to protect themselves, have declared a strike in South Dakota. They are for the following demands: The right to open office in all towns.

The right to organize and carry union cards.

The right to deal with the farmers directly, or through the farmers’ organization, and not to be interfered with by the commercial clubs. News comes from New York that Fellow Worker John Baldazzi, the Italian organizer, has been arrested by Federal Immigration officials, and is held for deportation. Fellow Workers K. J. Kennedy, Fred Raison and Manuel Rey are also held for deportation by the immigration officials. Steps are being taken to prevent these deportations.

Fellow Workers, as the news in this bulletin shows, we are confronted with a crisis that has to be met by the entire membership. Not one member must shirk his duty every shoulder must be put to the wheel, every hand to perform the task. Funds are needed to take care of the various strikes. No member should fall to contribute to the Miners’ and the Lumber Workers Strike Funds. Every member should support our press by having at least one of the Press Fund Voluntary Assessment Stamps in his or her book. Some members have taken many- every member should have at least one.

For the defense of our innumerable prisoners of the Class War now languishing in falls, penitentiaries and stockades, money must be raised by the sale of Class War Assessment Stamps. For the sake of our members in the dungeons of Capitalism, every member should, and must, have a Class War Stamp in their book. HAVE YOU A PRESS FUND AND CLASS WAR VOLUNTARY ASSESSMENT STAMP IN YOUR BOOK? IF NOT, WHY NOT? WM. D. HAYWOOD, General Secretary Treasurer.

The most widely read of I.W.W. newspapers, Solidarity was published by the Industrial Workers of the World from 1909 until 1917. First produced in New Castle, Pennsylvania, and born during the McKees Rocks strike, Solidarity later moved to Cleveland, Ohio until 1917 then spent its last months in Chicago. With a circulation of around 12,000 and a readership many times that, Solidarity was instrumental in defining the Wobbly world-view at the height of their influence in the working class. It was edited over its life by A.M. Stirton, H.A. Goff, Ben H. Williams, Ralph Chaplin who also provided much of the paper’s color, and others. Like nearly all the left press it fell victim to federal repression in 1917.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/solidarity-iww/1917/v8-w397-aug-18-1917-solidarity.pdf