Still under the control of the oil industry and the latest version of the Klan, the forever unaccountable ruling class of Port Arthur, Texas orders the lynching of two I.W.W. activists, John Murray and James Holland, attempting to organize dockworkers in the Gulf port city.

‘Police and K.K.K. Mob Attack Labor Men’ from Voice of Labor (Chicago). 11 No. 612. August 4, 1923.

(Fed. Press Staff Correspondent.) PORT ARTHUR, Tex. Chained together like ferocious beasts of the forest, hands manacled behind their backs, stripped to the waist and a rawhide whip applied to their bare flesh-such was the fate meted out to James Holland, organizer Marine Transport Workers division of the I.W.W., and John Murray, a veteran of the world war, and member of the same organization, at Port Arthur last month by 10 men supposed to be members of the Ku Klux Klan and acting under orders of the chief of police.

Judge A. E. McDowell, sitting at Beaumont, had previously released Holland on a writ of habeas corpus, ruling that membership of the I.W.W. is no crime, as the organization is not unlawful. John Murray was also released by McDowell.

Tracked by Finks.

Holland and Murray returned to Port Arthur and began organizing the transport workers and those engaged in the oil industry. A city detective then informed the two men they were wanted at headquarters. Arriving at the police station they were ushered into the office of the chief of police. They were detained half an hour, and told to go downstairs to the street. When the two left the chief’s office. Holland was Struck a terrific blow behind the ear, which was followed by others on his head and shoulders. He raised his left arm to shield his head, when he was struck under the chin by one of the police officers with a heavy automatic revolver. Murray suffered the same treatment. At the foot of the stairs they were met by ten men. Holland says that during the interview the chief went to the window several times as if looking for someone to come down the street.

Holland and Murray were chained together by the neck. Their hands were tied behind their backs and they were forced into a waiting automobile. The party proceeded about three miles into the country and the prisoners were forced to alight, Gunny sacks were placed over their heads, their coats and shirts removed and a husky brute applied a heavy rawhide whip. Another mobbing standing near was told to “finish them.”

Manacled Together.

Again they were kicked, cuffed, and then left lying on the side of the road with the chains still locked around their necks and their hands manacled. Murray managed to work his hands loose and untied Holland. With a piece of steel he forced a link in the chain around his neck and separated the two. At a farm house warm water and bandages and a hack saw were secured. Both men made their way to a hospital in Galveston, where their wounds were treated. On Wednesday, fearing another attack, they left the hospital and are now with friends.

When seen by a Federated Press representative Holland showed his back covered with marks of the lash: on the left side was a wound now partly healed and covered with surgeon’s gauze. His neck is still red from the marks of the chain; his throat shows the thumb and finger mark of the police officer who attempted to choke him. His legs are black and blue from kicks.

An Ex-soldier.

Murray is still in a battered condition and it is claimed that he is injured internally; Murray served with honor in the U.S. navy during the world war. He was twice wound- ed and to this day is suffering from a shot from the Germans in action. Port Arthur is owned by the oil interests. According to reports from I.W.W. delegates a determined effort will be made to organise Port Arthur and all of southern Texas.

The Voice of Labor was a regional paper published in Chicago by the Workers (Communist) Party as the “The American Labor Educational Society” (with false printing and volume information to get around censorship laws of the time) and was focused on building the nascent Farmer-Labor Party while fighting for leadership with the Chicago Federation of Labor. It was produced mostly as a weekly in 1923-1924 and contains enormous detail on the activity of the Party in the city of those years.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/vol/v11n612-aug-04-1923-VOL.pdf