Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-07-08
SIX SOCIALISTS
PLACED IN JAIL
FOUR WOMEN AMONG THOSE
ROUNDED UP
ATTEMPT TO SPEAK ON STREET
WITHOUT A LICENSE
Large Crowd Gathers as One Woman
Makes Dramatic Denunclation of
Law Prohibiting Public
Speeches

! Bertha Daley. The men were Joseph
| Dion and a man who spoke from a soap
box but refused to give his name at
| the station.
| About 1000 persons packed the streets
and crowded about in an effort to get
| near enough the speakers to hear what
| they had to say.
The men started the speaking. Dion
had spoken but q few minutes when
| patrolman worked his way forward
| through the crowd and made the usual
demand for a permit. Dion replied
that he had the permit guaranteed him
kby the constitution of the United
| States. 1t did not suffice, the patrol
man said, and Dion was taken away.
The other arrests quickly and quietly
followed the usual dialogue was carried
out regarding free speech and a guar
antee by the state and national consti-
| tutions.
Mrs. Johns was next on the impro-
vised platform. She was allowed to
speak about five minutes. Her voice
was strong and steady. The multitude
stood in silence and her voice carried
far down the streets.
II am here to speak tonight" she
said, land to suffer arrest If must, be-
cause I have seen the misery Of the
workers and their subnissivness UNI
der oppression. hope to arouse them
to a defense of themselves"
1--WE regret the necessity of being
placed in the attitude of breaking any
| law. We are here to protest against q
| conspiracy to break the highest law OF
the land-the constitution of the Unit
ed States. We are here to demand the
! right Of free speech. We are In about
the only city in America which denies
that right. We appeared before the
oplice commission today and asked that
we be permitted to speak on the streets
in outlying districts, where traffic could
not possibly be interfered with. We
were unceremoniously denied that right
and told we would be arrested IL we at
tempted to speak.
Denounces City jail
eff need be we will undergo this or
deal and go into that institution called
the city Jail; that hell built and main
| tanned to torture men and women. IL
Il is noisome and insanitary; II swarms
with vermin; 1t is lily ventilated and
overcrowded, but 1t is an institution
Indispensable to the system that makes
billionaires and paupers, rich criminals
who evade the law by the influence OF
their money and poor criminals who
: are imprisoned and put on the chain
, gang for the crime of being broke.
If 1 am arrested here tonight be-
cause 1 stand for law and decency, II
, will not be the first time have been
!. arrested I have never been impris.
oned even in Mexico. I was arrested
there eight times for breaking city
ordinance which prohibited anyone
from rendering aid to the injured on
the streets of the city.
"a law there, scarcely less RIDICULOUS
than some passed by our city council
made it an offense to help the wound
ed until the arrival Of the mounted po-
lice. I disregarded their law and IN
some instances saved lives of surfer
ers. was scolded by the authorities
| Nr,anrfonDpA 4 would rather De
in prison with our heroes tonight than
to be at liberty here among cowards
II At this 1uncture Patroiman Blaisdeli
stepped forward. There was murmur
from the crowd. but 1t was instantly
hushed when the patrolman said;
Have you got perm" 10 speak
here?"
"I have the permission guaranteed
EVERYONE in America-the guarantee or
the constitution"
.sThat don't go here. You are under
arrest" said the officer.
Mrs. Johns turned dramatically TO
the crowd and shouted: who will fol-
low me on this platform? Who viii
| carry the message of freedom to these
people who are so eager to hear itY"
IT will" shouted the man who was
arrested and refused to give his name.
He was allowed but a rev se Sd 10
| when he was taken down ana LED TO
| the patrol box.
i Mrs. Bacon followed:
i "Since nv call on the board or ponce
| commissioners this afternoon / nave
1 been more than ever determined to car
nv out my part in the winning Struggle
i for free speech and our rights
Signals for Arrest
The five minutes allotted by the po-
lice orders were barely up when Lieu
| tenant Murray nodded the signal 10
drag the woman from the rostrum.
In rapid succession Mrs. Walter Hol-
loway and Mrs. Bertha Daley
mounted the box, only to be pulled
4 down by a policeman and hustled out
through the crowd. -
AS each arrest was made the gain
ering of listeners cheered.
Friends and relatives OF the prison.
/ ers hung on the outskirts of the crowd
i and kissed the prisoners good-py as
thew were hurried down Main street
to where the police patrol wagon was
waiting. .r.
4 among the band that babe good-by
to the prisoners The little daughter OF
Mrs. Johns bade her mother good
night with encouraging words. Inc
two boys of Mrs. Daley were on mana
and walked with their mother to the
patrol wagon.
loaded into the patrol wagon they
brought it close up to Winston street
into the crowd. At once the gathering
surged around the wagon and stood
cheering the prisoners.
At the police station the women
were lined up before the desk ser
geant and booked on a misdemeanor
charge. Bail was on hand If 1t was
required. The bail in each instance
was fixed at 5000. The four women
and two men prisoners all refused bail.
I The women were led upstairs to the
jail quarters for women and put
through the usual searching to which
all prisoners are subjected. The men
We're put In the tank"
After the arrest of the four women
the crowd marched back down Main
1 street to the vacant lot where the So
cialists hold nightly meetings. They
went their way singing the MAR
seillaise."
SolicItude
| alrn