In the
West this contest assumed its most aggressive form. At Spokane,
in 1910, the jail was soon filled, and sixty prisoners went on a
hunger strike which cost several lives. In the lumber mills of
Aberdeen, South Dakota, explosions and riots occurred. In
Hoquiam, Washington, a twelve-foot stockade surmounted by barbed
wire entanglements failed to protect the mills from the assaults
of strikers. At Gray's Harbor, Washington, a citizens' committee
cut the electric light wires to darken the meeting place of the
I.W.W. and then used axe handles and wagon spokes to drive the
members out of town. At Everett, Washington, a strike in the
shingle mills led to the expulsion of the I.W.W. The leaders then
called for volunteers to invade Everett, and several hundred
members sailed from Seattle. They were met at the dock, however,
by a large committee of citizens and were informed by the sheriff
that they would not be allowed to land. After some parley, the
invaders opened fire, and in the course of the shooting that
followed the sheriff was seriously wounded, five persons were
killed, and many were injured. The boat and its small invading
army then returned to Seattle without making a landing at
Everett.
The I.W.W. found an excuse for their riotous action in the
refusal of communities to permit them to speak in the streets and
public places. This, they claimed, was an invasion of their
constitutional right of free speech. The experience of San Diego
serves as an example of their "free speech" campaigns.
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