Already a veteran wobbly organizer by 1910, Frank Little’s base of Fresno, California saw concerted action in fighting for free speech and organizing the ‘unskilled’ farm laborers of the San Joaquin valley. His rebel’s personality alive in this letter.

‘The California Fruit Belt’ by Frank H. Little from Solidarity. Vol. 1 No. 37. August 27, 1910.

Conditions Described by an I.W.W. Agitator on the Ground.

Fresno, Calif., Aug. 17. Just a few lines to let you know what is doing in the San Joaquin valley of California. This is a great fruit country–peaches, prunes, grapes and other kinds.

The weather is bot, wages low and the slaves are compelled to work long hours. Cost of living is high. So the workers do not live, but just exist. In fact the Mexican jackass of the Mojave desert, that lives on cactus and sage brush, is better off than the slaves of this country.

There are various reasons given for these conditions. Some say it is the “lungers” (consumptives) who come from the East. Others say it is the Japs. But the old German who said it was the “Yap, the Yap,” told the truth. It is the yap, and not the Jap.

A few of the boys here in Fresno sent for a charter last November and organized Local 66, I.W.W., and started to organize the workers of the valley.

The chief of the capitalist “slugging committee,” Chief of Police Shaw, told the secretary that if the I.W.W. attempted to organize the workers of this valley they (the police) would run them out of town. He said that the big corporation we are fighting is the government, and we had to obey its dictations.

Myself and a few other hoboes came down from the Northwest. We held a few meetings on the streets and were making good headway when Lord Shaw, the chief slugger, with a bunch of his thugs, drove us from the streets. And as we hadn’t enough men to carry on a fight at that time, we were forced to step down for the time being.

Then, again, we are up against the nationality prejudice. We have nearly every nationality on earth here. It looked for a while like we would organize all of the German Russians. But they are controlled by the church, and of course the church is against the I.W.W., and told them not to join it.

The Japanese are organized by themselves and have forced their wages up 50c to 75c per day increase. So they are the highest paid labor in the fruit belt.

The “free born American” scissorbill wants better conditions, but appears to lack the nerve to fight for them. He is afraid to join the I.W.W. because his boss don’t like it.

So it looks to me that instead of the Socialist Party wanting to bar the Japs, they should deport the “yaps” (the free born Americans).

But in spite of all the obstacles, Local 66 is forging ahead. And if we had the streets so we could get to the workers we would build up a good fighting organization. And we must prepare to take the streets, but will have to have outside aid. There should be at least 500 men ready to go to jail the day the fight starts.

So all rebels who can do so, prepare to come to Fresno county, Cal., and help us whip the capitalist thugs,

F.H. LITTLE, Member Local 66, I.W.W.

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/1909-1910/v01n37-aug-27-1910-Solidarity-San-Diego.pdf