In his capacity as Secretary of the G.D.C. Haywood, when not himself in jail, gave regular reports on the work of prisoner defense. After his September, 1917 arrest under the Espionage Act and subsequent trial, William D. Haywood was forced to relinquish his leading role as the I.W.W.’s General Secretary-Treasurer (briefly returning to the position between February and December, 1918). Instead, Haywood turned his attention to building and leading the General Defense Committee formed shortly after the 1917 raids in support the thousands of wobblies under threat of persecution and deportation during the Red Scare.

‘The General Defense’ by William D. Haywood from One Big Union Monthly. Vol. 2 No. 18. August, 1920.

It was agreed with the Attorneys for the Government, before the argument of the Chicago Appeal, that a fifty thousand dollar joint bond would be accepted as bail for all of the remaining members of the Chicago group now held in the Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas.

An effort is being made to raise this sum at the earliest possible date. Fifty-five hundred and fifty dollars has been received from Los Angeles, California; Nine Hundred Dollars from the Ladies Sewing Clubs of Hoquiam and Aberdeen, Washington; Three Hundred from Minneapolis; Two Hundred from Baltimore. Several thousand was raised at the Picnics held at Seattle and Portland. The Bail and Bond Committee of Philadelphia has Seven Thousand Dollars in hand. There are several thousand dollars on hand in this office, and as soon as the necessary amount is collected, it will be deposited in the Appellate Court.

All persons interested in the members of the I.W.W. are urged to get busy now in behalf of these men who have been so viciously persecuted–men who have suffered long years of imprisonment, men who were arrested, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary because they had opinions and because some expressed those opinions.

It must be remembered that no member of the I.W.W. was guilty of any crime. The only charge against any of them grew out of the extraordinary laws that were enacted during the war period.

Money and Liberty Bonds for the Chicago group are not all that is necessary. Bail for the Sacramento group has been fixed at $1,000.00 for each year’s sentence imposed upon the defendants. Bail will be set for the members comprising the Wichita group as soon as the transcript in their case is presented to the Appellate Court at St. Louis, Missouri.

When bond is secured for all, there will still be more money needed as there will be large expense for transportation of the men to their respective homes. There will also be a need in many instances to purchase clothes, as most of the men wore out their clothes while confined in the county jail and what little they had left were destroyed upon arrival at the penitentiary.

The only authorized General Defense Stamp now is the new day’s wage stamp–$6.00. Members can help by getting one of these stamps in their membership book. Do not neglect this–it is important.

Attorneys Mulks and Lowe have been looking after the interests of delegates and members of the Agricultural Workers Industrial Union No. 400 in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri. In these states many members have been arrested and in some cases held indefinitely; at times without any warrant or any charge having been preferred against them.

Here is an instance–Robert Barker, an eighteen year old member, was grabbed by a brutal thug who was burdened with a little temporary authority at Wichita, Kansas. Fellow Worker Barker was attending to his own business when the big, two fisted idiot with star and club arrested him without a warrant. After beating the lad severely he threw him into jail and then stole his overalls, shoes, and supplies.

Barker had been held in jail several weeks when he was released by the court and immediately re-arrested on the street as he was going to the office of our attorneys. His release was again secured through a writ of habeas corpus and a warrant has been sworn out charging the officer who first arrested him with unlawful imprisonment, assault, and battery.

George F. Vanderveer, Attorney, has several criminal syndicalism appeals pending and is also looking after the Centralia appeal.

There are twenty-one criminal syndicalism cases pending in California, also 10 cases under the same law coming up on appeal.

Now is the time for all members and friends to get their shoulder to the wheel. The reaction is coming. Let us be prepared to take advantage of it.

One Big Union Monthly was a magazine published in Chicago by the General Executive Board of the Industrial Workers of the World from 1919 until 1938, with a break from February, 1921 until September, 1926 when Industrial Pioneer was produced. OBU was a large format, magazine publication with heavy use of images, cartoons and photos. OBU carried news, analysis, poetry, and art as well as I.W.W. local and national reports.

Link to PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/one-big-union-monthly/v02n08-aug-1920_One%20Big%20Union.pdf