The Rebel (Hallettsville, Tex.), Vol. [2], No. 59, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 17, 1912 Page: 2 of 4
four pages : ill. ; page 22 x 15 in. Digitized from 35 mm. microfilm.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
v," <*
Imm
Heel onWxie
mm
(By Covington Hall.)
,k .^.oughout western -Jjouisiaaa
and eastern Texas "the ftortst and
Lnilfcr Worker* are in
lion- against the Lumber
Brotherhood of Timber
and the Southern Lumber Operat-
ors Association are - in a death
struggle, the outcome of which will
be a unionized and uplifted or a
peon i zed and degraded Sputh, de-"
toilers
, .
m..
•jV-V?" 'i
'
m
m
-
•' 'if'"
Tj
J
m
' ■ ' '.1 ' -
?$9fe
;
Others
of robt
-H—JP ■
that ever
Wi^Tir -
|U;
r.
I
±L.
'■ ■ .
j ii?' .'.
Sg
I,
I.
&'■
A
m
\y
r
I
I
ft'
t.
I .
|(i
workers organize! Get together 1
winyour fight against the most heartless g
■tclcan aere of toad or bribed a legislature.
the men in the mills, get together inthe TimberWorkers' Union.
Your cause is a common cause. Your cause is a just cause. Never
mindahe boss; he's not your "pal." The Company will never give
yon aday's work if your labor did Bei make them money in lum-
ber or in improving the land therMve stolen from the people. O -
^ ganhe. Pight for more wages, fight for less hours. Don't pay adoc-
the
the red fla
S S iMuUt fh^nfli'Jt'«I** trying to makelife worth living. Stand firmly by the splendid
SlU? conflict | manjy men at Lake Charles. Yon know Emerson, yoa know
his associate, better''men never drew the breath of life, they are in
prison because they were pleading your cause, trying to improve
pay
of
Plunderbund
'home,
j slmck, misera
k it is you cannejfc afford
hieh you toil belongs to
I L„ _ V burdensome tithes, one-i
corn, more, yes more, and land-rent
title ! The only title that is worth
and occupancy is the title, all ~*k"
peaceful righteous title. To ~J
cotton (Held, by grim necessity, a!
~ those of your family,
water yen "
RHHPt ^j^wliii!
close.
For twenty months now this
fight has gone on, but back of this, I
stretch years on ypara of robbery lftM ««m
and persecution of the w I You cannot afford to los c en.
mm
SiV
Ira.
&f New
mag-
Dminee
workers bv\ IOU oannoi aixora to lose sncn num. They must not die! One
Aii «r/>Vi v wfcu.h Emerson or Any One of the men in jail with him is worth a thousand
U fj!v JZnZfl Off lot ofNorSi ®rbys, Keiths, Whites or Galloways. These lumber operators are
VI toSfc "** **k« 4**> no matter what misery they cause. Emerson and
rn "«calSJs"^Who hav« crown Ithe k^8 il(Uail are devoting their lives to increasing the happiness
rich by despoiling «nd do « < «, you mu,tw i* to d.T.te
ing the South, end of which the P y *'th ,hMJ
"gUienusn" Who call them«lvc. L( Alt^ether no* thei trae, the hour k«, .rnved,
,aT Southern Lumber Op^ior. ^ S" ZZ ^
Association are leading and ihin- If. ' *arJnere'railr0ftdmen, ojl workers, timber irorken, join
in# lichts hands, your interests are our interests, an injury to you is an injury
ifhe massacre of the workers at t0 ™- ^ wro®8# and grievances are many. Our burden* havts been
Grabow, Louisiana, on Sunday, heRTy- Much more than m&ny of our class could survive, thousands
the 7th day of July, 1912, is not the every y«ftr 8aCcumb md lfty down their lives in the fierce struggle
only "riot" the lumber kings of f?r «*&tenee. Life is a tragedy! Liberty Is not for us, We are slaves,
the South have planned and stag-1 c^en^ ^or on1, needs.
ed, nor was their attempted assas- "e houg®the world Vpeople. We clothe the world's people. We
sination of Creel in anyway out-1 'ind teh worl<l8 people. Wte have neither houses, clothes or food suf-
side of theft- regular order of busi- feed the world's people. We have neither houses, clothes or food suf-
ness, for their hands, or rather, theL We *re t0 Wa"1*' we have been aaleeP- Awake!! arise! The
hands of their gunmen are drippin I fl&ht 18 on- The battle cry is Industrial Liberty. To heH with a gov-
hands of their gunmen are drip-1 ernment that prospers on the. virtue of womanhood that steals the
ping red with the blood of working- bablw from their playtime. ■; 4i>-
men,— the hands of their gunmen, Are we less men than the Indian t The capitalist would carry away
for Mr, A. Long is too gentle a a Oman's child for factory slavery o^ly over his dead body. Let
Christian and Mr. John H. Kirby ™ h® men! A® individuals we are weak, helpless. Organixed, unit-
too desirable a oitizen to do €(*>we are a mighty force. Organized, united, we are the constructive
murder other than by proxy. PO^er^>f all that Is good. Without us the workers, the world stops,
Veritably Dixie has been and stilf [Me wh^eta (if progress cease to revolve. Or^hnixe! organise this
is under the Iron Heel, and especM Power to our good and for our use, for the uplift and betterment of
ally is this statement true of the Ia11 the workers
I
at tour gto-
food you live on,.the
stagnant water yen drink. Compare yourself,and yoiir fot
_ landlord's position in life. Rampant in luxury the best ra -
: choicest viands, deliciotls wines, culture and educational ad-
vantages that you have never dreamed of. All of this ia for us if we
will but unite and put the machinery of production to work for us.
How ! Join the Farm Benters Union, join today. Send in your ap-
plication to the nearest local, become active. Study the object and,
purposes of the organization,-unite your forces, help each other in
evdfy way to co-perate for mutual good! \
Railroaders get into the gamei, you have too- long been diyidied
against yourselves and the rest of the working class. Never mind
your insurance and death benefits, let itKbe inscribed on your coffin
plate that you have done something for the living, something for
yourselves. \
Sixteen hours are two men's work, wages lagliehind while the
cost of living has been traveling express time. Couple up your unicfts
One big union ia better than'sixteen divisions. Extend your support
to the timber workers. We need you now. The gnashing murder-
ous fangs of the timber wolves are at our throats, thirsting for blood:
the lumber operators less than human are blind mad, they jure
screaming; screeching for a human sacrifice.
You know the story of the lumber camps of Louisiana and Tex-
as. A few miserable shacks in fetid cyprpss swamps and pine forests,
along the railroad track, a noisy sawmill, we workers in the jpiib*
White and black, employed at the bosses' whim, where the hours are
long, the pay short, a truckstore commissary, the company eaUthem,
where all are expected to spend all they earn to hold a job. Payday
once a month, bogus money between times, insurance that counts for
nothing. Are these grievances enough to aeman4 action on the part of
the timber workers, are they enough to enlist your support on be-
half of the lumber slaves T They are only a fractional part of the out-
rageous conditions the sawmill hande and timber workers are com-'
timber belt. There, for wages as
low $1.25 a day, men are FORC-
ED to labor ten to twelve hours a
day; FORCED to pay fees to sup-
port doctors in whose selection they
have no voice; FORCED to pay
premiuma for alleged accident in-
surance; FORCED to pay fees to
faintain hospitals and then have
to take up & collection among them-
selves and send to a PUBLIC
hospital any one who falls too ill
to be kept in camp; FORCED, by
a monthly or longer pay day, to
trade in the company stores, or
"rob-alls", as the workers call
them, or to siffer a discount of
from ten to twenty-five percent
Farm renters of Texas, Louisiana, look at places in which you
pelled to endure; humiliation, indignities and robberies are manifold.
Railroaderftyour assistance is needed now. Help the timber workers
organize. Your counsel and money will be the best investment you
ever made, better conditions for fyem means better conditions for
you, for everyb^y. "All for one, on? for all."
ors Association, in a desperate at-
tempt to crush it out, ordered the
closing down of over 40 mills in
Louisiana and Texas, the lockout
becoming effective in July 1911
and lasting until tlanary and Feb-
ruary 1912, during which time
thousands of workers were reduc-
ed to extreme misery, their only
meal consisting of corn-bread* and
molasses. However, this lockout
failed of its purpose and the As-
sociation, with the reopening of
the mills, began
a campaign of
- r terror that has seldom if ever been
on their time checks; FORCED to equaled even in the history of the
pay exorbitant rent for the shacks capitalist class! Thousands of work-
they live in and then be told by a ere were blacklisted and hounded
gunman who shall and shall not vi-| from place to place; the whole
sit them; FORCED, under threat timber belt was filled with an army
of discharge and the black-list, toj of detectives and gunmen of the
swear love, loyalty and obedience
to the Lumber Trust and then
FORCED to take the most infam
FOR THE TIMBER
"&ORKER8.
and
democratic
"anti-trust", and the rail-
ous anti-union oath ever conceived I road corporations acted in concert
in the aoulless brain of a corpora- with the Association/ Hardly a
tion lawyer; FORCED to suffer! day passed but President Erner-
eternal espionage and, FORCED to son received letters and messages
tsand for any and! every graft the] threatening his life and the lives
managers, superintendents, fore-1 °f all other offftjtfi ahd organizers
men and gunmen take a notion to of the Union. WjiolC towns were
put over; FORCED to listen to fenced in, even the United State*
talks by managers and gunmen as-1 Post office. Men were beaten, rob-
suring them that they had "no-l ^ and outraged in every con-
thing to complain off", and then livable manner; in no Association
FORCED to stay in their "quar-1 ...towu was any man's life or person
ters" when the speakers of the I 8a^*
Brotherhood came around; FORC- Lumber Trust practically
EI) to live under insanitary opnrl declared martial law throughout
ditioria in houses a Lumber King the Timber Belt and attempted to
would not house his hogs in and enforce it with its array of "depu-
then be told they had "nothing to! tized" thugs and gunmen. All
complain of"; FORCED to work civil rights, all pretense at legal
overtime without pay and to sub- procedure, all laws, even those the
mit to dishonest scaling of logs; ,n08t elemental and respected even
FORCED, by direct exploitation bX savages, were thrown to the
and by graft piled on top of graft, w>nds; all Constitutional guaran-
to give back to Jhe companies every fees became a joke and man-hunt-
dollar of their pay, and then come | 'ng f°r the Lumber Trust became
out in debt to the "rob-alls";
man charged with murder by the
coroners jury, three witnesses tes-
tifying that he had ahot adn killed
Decatur Hall, unionist, as Hall was
running away from the scene of
the battle. At first the Association
crowd boaster of thp "valor"
their gunmen in this 'riot," but
now they are moving heaven and
earth to make it appear a fight be-
tweent union and non-union labor,
this though they and every one
else knows that every scab employ-
ed in the plant ran when the first
shot, was fired, wihch came from
, , . - , | the office of the Galloway Immber
goveJnmento "d usndoubtodly in-
men, though John Galloway, one one think from this that the South- FUjfDS
of the owners of the Galloway ern Lumber Operators Asosciation
Lumber Company, at whose town ^illpause in its insane effort to .
the "riot" occurred was the onlv! . g ?.r 8end 10 a *elon'8 We
1 sixty-five men nottr in pirson. j The editor of the Rebel sent the
From inside information we know 5 following communication to E. A.
that it intends to spend hun4reds Green, State Secretary of the
of thousands of dollars to ban* at Socialist party.
least four men: President Emer-1 E. A. Grsen, State Secretary
son, Secretary Lehman of the De Socialist Party, Rockdale, Tex.
Ridder District Council, organizer i Dear Comrade:
Bugre of the Brotherhood and You are doubtless awure that
John Hilton, secretary of local De that splendid industrial organiza-
Iiidder Socialist party; to sendf as tion the Brotherhood of Timber
many of the others as it can to the Workers is at the moment engag-
penitentiary for long terms, and, in ed in a life and death grapple
ayn event to keep them all in close witb tbe timber trust and their
confinement under brutal treat- thugs in Eastern Texas and West-
ment until their health is ruined, e.rn Louisiana. I presume by this
so that if they escape conviction t""6 tbat ypu have learned that
they will go out into the world tbe secretaries and the rank and
broken in body and spiritt forever ®ftbe Socialist party locals in
unable to make another fight in ^0tt^ana have been intimidated,
tended for President Emerson, as
the first man to fall was standing
at his side in the wagon from
which he was speaking.
When the "riot" was over it
was found that three men had been
killed outright, two unionists and
one gunman, and about fprty
wounded, several desperately, and
that many of the unioiiMtf had
been shot with soft-nosed, copper-
caSed buletts,'—bullets that no on-
ly shatter bones but poison the
wound they make, as well, and
which the laws of nations prohibit
being used eve® against ravages.
In the union gathering were many
women and children an^l that none
of these were killed is * miracle,
for the gathering was fired upon
from several points by at least fif-
teen to twenty gunmen grmed with
pump guns loaded with biiekshot
and rifles loaded with soft-posed,
couper-cased bullets. One woman,
holding her six months old baby
m mm
FORCED in the midst of bound
~less wealth and unending labor, to
see themselves, their wives and
children underfed, ill-clothed,
half-sick, and then be told their
misery was due to the hookworm
which hud been sent by God to
punish them* for their "improvi-
dence"; FORCED to toil from the
cradle to the grave for nothing
but a commissary liying, a peon's
wage, and then be denied even the
right of PETITIONING their
lords and masters for a redress of
their grievances.
This is what the, Southern
"Lumber Workers revolted against.
It was either rise and make a fight
for liberty or stay under the iron
h&l of peonage forever. This is
what caused the birth of the
Brotherhood Of Timber Workers,
the first local union of which was
organized at Carson, La., on Dec-
the chief function of the Democrat- in ber jaP> g°t a rifle ball through
ic officials. But still the cry of the her hair which shows it was not*
workers of justice would not tbe tbe Association's gun-
down and still the Union grew men that'the women and children
and, then, astonished at the e8caped with their lives. Also, the
strength of the rebellion and mad- Pawnee of their women and chll-
dened by the resistance of its hith-1 dren proves that the Unionists did
erto submisive peons, the Lumber go to Grabow to start a "riot",
Trust, in one, last desperate effort
to make its terror terrorize, plan-
ned and carried out the Massacre
of Grabow.
As a result of this "riot", a
packed Grand Jury has indicted
President Emerson and sixty-four
other- members of the Brotherhood
and its allies, each being charged
with murder on three counts, two
of the counts charging that they
killed their own brothers, With one
count against each for shooting at
with intent to kill, and they are
now-4n the parish prison at Lake
Charles. La. f ■
m
, e , — The same grand jury—grand
. ; > ! ember 3rd, 1910, by A. L.' Emer- juries in Louisiana are always
,aad Jay Stjjith. So fftpid made jip of "our best citizens,"
>wth of tb$ organization never of useful workers-Hrdeased
Southern Lumber Operat- all the mill owners and their gun-
hH ■ 1
as is charged by the association.
At first, the venomous capitalist
press, being the only source of in-
formation, public sentiment Was
all against the workers, but as the
facts regarding the "riot" and its
causes began to come out public
feeling changed rapidly. M«el The
had never before taken sides open-
ly denounced the Association ahl
its methods; the workingmen and
working farmers, regardless Of un-
ion and party affiliations, took up
the cause of the brotherhood and
its imprisoned members; new ap-
plications began to pour to on our
secretary Smith and the massacre
at Grabow far from shattering the
brotherhood!, as the Assaciatio i
f'W
hoped, has hn* gr€kTer wiii-see what 1 eon rio for The
solidarity of labor. But let no R^bel"
shot at and ordered to leave their
communities. I believe you have
learned that the socialists are mem-
aced by signs stuck upon the tim
ber interests reesrves that read
like tkiri •$ '*">o erx %' V
JB K V M WDMKWIiKWKK
INDUSTRIAL UNIONISTS ■
« and SOCIALISTS KEEP Ml
SR OFF THIS PROPERTY UK-' SB
*' re. D tP NALW. , SR
II KIR m W « « K s V «
Now it appears to'^tfe that you
as the executive officer of this
tato, myself and all the loyal
comrade* worthy of the name
wopld, be recreant to our duty if
wei did "not take some action in
this emergency. Aa I see it these
boys down' there need some mo-
ney to defend themselves from the
gallows and therefore not as na
tional committeeman but as a red
blooded socialist. I would request
you to take $50 to $100 out of the
state funds and forwird it imme-
diately to .J^y SmitE at Alexan-
dria,r Louviniia,. the Secretary
Treasurer the Timber Wbrkers.
I know fulf well that there irtoo
warrant in the party constitution
TAT? 1 A t x> m °f TeXaS fOT takiD? aQy 8Uch
J. A. Freeland of Reese, Texas, action, but I know the spirit of
has written a most excellent pro- the rank and file and believe that
PT,n? .P^1^ o{™,pages they wil1 unanimously uphold
entitled, The Cross of Gold and your hand« if yOu use our party
the^Crown of Thorns." It appeals funds in this crisis in this manner
to farmers and landworkers alike If you should hesitate for a^nom-
handhng the economic problems of (ent I will pledge $25, Meitzen will
the day and of the future in a .pledge $25 moip and-1 amVgQre
masterly manner. It is In reality a that.other devoted comrades will
large dumber of w^srate^rtrelfts, guarantee the balance if & refer-
endum vote should- decide that
our party in Texas "should not
support our comradoa in Louisiana
in thi# crisis. *'• ,
, Fraternally youri,
'.j,;;^ckey.^
N.B.^-Thia will appear in next
Rebel, I.would suggets that yon
are accordingly. T. A.
at 50c per 100 coDies.
the cause of human liberty.
' Brothers! Comrades! Fellow
workers! will you let the Southern
Lumber Operators Association,ac-
complish its .infamous inhnmnn
purpose! Fighting against the
Southern Oligarchy awl the min-
ions of the Lumber Trust for the
lives and freedom of our fellow
workers, we appeal to our broth-
ers and comrades everywhere to
come to our eid, to help us gather
the funds necesary to defend oar
boys and oare for their helpless
families. - , v
Only a united working class can
save them, can make the Southern
Lumber Operators Association
loosen its vampire hold upon these
men whose only crime is thai they
sought to organize and uplift the
workers of the South.
REBELS OF THE SOUTH,
ARISE! Workers of the world,
unite! you have nothing but your
chains to lose! You have a world
to gain!
: ;
"THE CROSS OF GOLD." r,
> jik
of Chi-
National
%b*e en
•topped, over
F'ti '■>
com-
....
of the party to in-
matters petraining to "a
motion to recall National Cam-
paign Manager Barnes. This mo-
tion to recall Barnes was initiated
by a Socialist local in thiaaounty
wid has the almost unimoiii back-
ing Of the Texas membership, and
received the second of over 50Q0
members in the nation being 1000
more than necessary. .Suporters
of Barnes; in the heist of the con-
troversy, then raised tie question
that the motion wae not regular]
prepared. Mr. Russell apparently
went away satisfied so far as his
investigations Went here that the
motion was not fradulent.
The vote on the referendum to re-
call Barnes will now no doubt pro-
which, however, are all related.
The tunny stories are apt and point
to excellent morals. Prices: 25c per
single copy, 5 copies*for $1; 12 for
$2.25.
7T
W. J. Loe, of
on
bein.
Cmf
im
*r
Texas, is
tour in five states,
now in Nebraska. He Writes:
soon be in texas and then
The Barnes question
comes
about in this way. While national
secretary he was forced to resign
upder charges of immorality. Lat-
er on by maneuvers that might be
termed tricky he was again forced
on the membership aa campaign
ir. The rank-and-file that
underttoood thereupon arose in its
Hight "and demanded a vote on
the question whether he should be
recalled or not. If the motion
d$es not carry ii is only because
the membership of the party has
not gotten iillthe facts in the case
thanks to officials that sided with
Barnes.
Thia was the first time either
Mr. Rnssell or Mr. Rodriguez had
been this far south and they were
much interosted in all the new an#
unusual sights (to them) here.
They were especially taken with
the cotton industry, relating with
great glee that they had picked
cotton. Mr. Russell himself went
through a cotton gin here, never
having seen one in operation * but
it was not long before he under-
stood the process inside out. He
and Mr. Rodriguez also visited the
city water and light plant before
leaving on the liight train and ex-
pressed their surprise at the fact
that a small town like Hallettsville
publicly owned so efficient- and
low-priced water and lighf# sys-
tem. .. , *'
"It is indeed unusual that a
eity council of a town of 1500 pop-
ulation had the public spirit and
foresight 20 years ago, when there
waa little agitation in favor of
municipal ownership, to erect a
city owned plant," said Mr. Rus-
sell. ''Those were the days when
nearly every, board of aldermen,
in towns and cities, was dropping
such valuable public rights into
the laps of franchise grabbers."
Speaking of things political, Mr.
Russell said:^ "With the Barnes
matter once out of the way, the
Socialist party of the nation will
have the greatest opportunity of
its history. I have been on a
speaking tour from the Atlantic
to the Pacific and I find wag.:
workers a$d small farmers alive
with discontent over the oppres-
sion of trusts and monopolies.
They are ready to drop into the
^Socialist ranks by the thousands.
Of course there is some danger
that the star political fakir of
the age, 'Roosevelt, will catch
some of the discontented, but it
seems the worst of them through
the tircky and unreliable career
of that geneleman, who will see
changes his mind on politi-
cal matters and (as to third terms)
as often as a snake changes it#
skin. I attended the Bull Moose
convention in Chicago. I saw the
obvious manner in which the ap-
plause fyr Teddy was manufac-
tured (in one case) Iguidedr by
"Teddy' himself; I sized up thfc
aggregation of "freak" reformers
labor fakirs and disgruntled of-
fice holders that composed the
convention andJ^fM-*? rovseli;
'If only the newspaper .^cald tell
the truth about this bunch, Roose-
velt would not carry a single coun-
ty in the coming election.' "
<>*
P
A. E. Satterwhite, one of the Ste-
phens county militants, Writes that
* - \ ■ '4
.m
m
n n
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Hickey, T. A. The Rebel (Hallettsville, Tex.), Vol. [2], No. 59, Ed. 1 Saturday, August 17, 1912, newspaper, August 17, 1912; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth394886/m1/2/: accessed July 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UT San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.