John Martin, Secretary of the I.W.W.’s General Defense Committee, reports on the status of hundreds of wobblies arrested in the war-time repression.

‘The I.W.W. Political Prisoners’ by John Martin from The Toiler. No. 143. October 30, 1920.

The long and bitterly contested legal fight for the release of our fellow workers convicted on the Chicago Indictment, has reached a new stage in its development.

The summing up of the good and bad results of this fight is as follows: Starting with five points against the ninety-six, there now remain only two. The fifth count was thrown out of court by Judge Landis during the trial. Counts one and two have been quashed by the Circuit Court of Appeals. This leaves only counts three and four to be ap- pealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. On the other hand, no actual betterment of the lot of our convicted fellow workers has been secured. Their sentences were made to run concurrently; and, serving sentences on the two remaining counts, they would have to spend as much time in the penitentiary as they would had there been no killing of counts one and two.

It must be borne in mind that the two counts which were quashed were those alleging acts of violence and destruction by the defendants. After the newspapers have for the past two years been spewing their venom, accusing the I.W.W. of the most dire deeds of violence, now comes the Appeal Court of the Seventh Judicial District of the United States, and renders the accusation false! There are now no charges against our fellow workers except infractions of the war-time draft act and the espionage act. This makes the men purely political prisoners, convicted only of the violation of war-time legislation.

Many Still In Prison.

This is, however, but very mild consolation to us, who must witness the sorry spectacle of nearly a hundred of our most able fellow workers losing their health, strength and usefulness behind the grim walls of the masters’ prisons. All but thirty of them, it is true, have been released on bond–except twelve who, being sentenced to only a year and a day, have served their sentences–but there should not be these thirty yet in prison. There should not be one of them in prison, so long as there are friends and fellow workers on the outside with the energy and capacity to secure aid for them!

Our attorneys are petitioning the District Court for a rehearsing of the case. We are not especially hopeful of securing this; and, in the probable event that it is denied, we shall immediately appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States, on the two remaining counts. This may mean another year of waiting–of long, dreary waiting–for our fellow workers in prison. They should not have to suffer this! They should be free-free to regain their health, which has been shattered in the pest-houses of the master-class. They should be free to come to the support of their grief-stricken families. We have every hope of being able to secure their release on the same bond as has been previously set, during the Supreme Court appeal. Every member of the organization, every sympathizer with the struggle of the working class towards its emancipation, every believer in the rights of free speech, assemblage and organization, should aid in this crusade for the freedom of our fellow workers. Loans must be solicited, in case, property or securities, for bail. These should be turned over to the General Defense Committee who will secure the release of the imprisoned men just as fast as the money comes in.

A Record Of Suffering And Courage.

Statistics are usually considered–and, perhaps, rightly considered–dry and unsatisfactory. However, the following figures should not prove dull. For they represent untold suffering, unquenchable courage and unswerving class loyalty. Just read and think it over:

303 members of the Industrial Workers of the World were indicted by Federal Grand Juries during the war.

201 were brought to trial.

168 were convicted and sentenced to prison. 96 had their indictments quashed, or cases against them dismissed.

33 were dismissed during trial, or were found “Guilty” but were not sentenced.

8 won their appeal in the Appellate Court and were released.

6 died in county jails awaiting trial.

2 went insane in county jails awaiting trial.

The 168 sentenced received from one to twenty years each, or a grand total of more than 1250 years, or an average of seven and one-half years’ penal servitude each.

The above figures were compiled of Federal cases only. We have no space to tabulate for our readers the dozens of cases under the various state Criminal Syndicalism laws, which resulted in the sentencing of scores of our members to state penitentiaries. We have not the space to inform you in detail of the hundreds of cases of petty arrests, of imprisonment in county jails on trumped-up charges.

The Facts Must Be Made Known.

The country is at present in the throes of a nationwide industrial crisis. Unemployment is increasing; the capitalist class is becoming incapable of the function of maintaining production; among the workers is stirring a great discontent, broader and deeper than ever before. The American workers are more receptive than ever before, to appeals to their class solidarity. Now is the time to make known to them the facts about the long series of legal persecutions, undertaken at the dictation of our industrial task-masters, which the militant workers have suffered. A publicity campaign, of a broader and more energetic nature than any hitherto undertaken, must be launched.

The General Defense Committee looks with confidence to the class conscious workers of America to support its work in this hour of need. Through the long, dark years of suppression, we have always been able to depend confidently upon the response of the workers. Now we appeal to you again, knowing that the undying spirit of working-class militancy will assure us the response which will strengthen the spirit of the boys in prison, and the efforts of those working for their release.

Workers, the need is pressing! You, and you only, can aid us! Let your help be substantial and prompt!

Colonel Malone, the British Member of Parliament who recently joined the Communist Party, got up in the House of Commons last week and demanded that action be taken in behalf of Jim Larkin, the Irish labor leader, who is confined in prison at Dannemora, N.Y. Larkin was convicted of active membership in the Communist Labor Party and sentenced to serve from five to ten years.

Secretary, General Defense Committee, 1001 West Madison Street, Chicago, Ill.

The Toiler was a significant regional, later national, newspaper of the early Communist movement published weekly between 1919 and 1921. It grew out of the Socialist Party’s ‘The Ohio Socialist’, leading paper of the Party’s left wing and northern Ohio’s militant IWW base and became the national voice of the forces that would become The Communist Labor Party. The Toiler was first published in Cleveland, Ohio, its volume number continuing on from The Ohio Socialist, in the fall of 1919 as the paper of the Communist Labor Party of Ohio. The Toiler moved to New York City in early 1920 and with its union focus served as the labor paper of the CLP and the legal Workers Party of America. Editors included Elmer Allison and James P Cannon. The original English language and/or US publication of key texts of the international revolutionary movement are prominent features of the Toiler. In January 1922, The Toiler merged with The Workers Council to form The Worker, becoming the Communist Party’s main paper continuing as The Daily Worker in January, 1924.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/thetoiler/n143-oct-30-1920-Toil-nyplmf.pdf