The chronicle=news., 1912-11-27
LAWRENCE STRIKE LEADERS
AND FRIENDS DANCE AND
SING WHEN LIBERIA TED

renee by Governor Foss and an ln-
dustr!al crisis was nj hand.
Ettor. assuming command OF the
workers Gauge. announced that the
strikers demanded wage increase Of
fifteen per cent. abolition OF the pre-
MUM system and double pay for
overtime. Numerous conferences
were held with state bodies and mill
owners and strike committed was
organixed. headed by EttOr and CONF
posed OF representatives OF each M
tionality Involved in the conflict.
including the Italians. who were
most numerous, Poles. Syrians. Lith-
uanians. Hebrews. Americans and
Others.
During the progress OF the trouble
Ettor frequently addressed the mass
as In churches. halls and ON the
Lawrence Common. In keeping up
the enthusiasm thus. he was aided by
Arturo Giovannitti. who went TO
Lawrence from Brooklyn. william d.
Haywood. the leader Of the Industrial
Workers Of the World. and many
O,hcrs prominent In the work OF the
organization. For many days tho sit
uaiion In Lawrence wns tense. with
Outbreaks Of violence constantly aKi'
tatin. the public mind. On January
found by the police In houses and
shops In the Italian quarter. Suspic-
ION against the strikers was uirec,u..
n, once. and six persons. Italians ana
syrians. were arrested. Ettor was
Informed by Colonel r. Leroy Sweet
ser OF his grave responsibility In the
matter. Ettor Immediately told the
STRIKERS that none OF their people had
lanythinE to do with the dynamite
and charged that the mill owners
had planted II to prejudice the cnusc
o. the rtrikcrs. Subsequent invcsti-
CATION resulted In the conviction OF
a Lawrence school commissioner for
planting the dynamite. Later busi-
ness men and william n. Wood.
president o! the American Woolcn
company were indicted for conspir-
aoy to pant dynamite in Lawrence.
l'rrIal Of these cases Ia pending. This
development served to intensity the
bitterness Of the conflict and Law
lr.ncc was ut fever heat.
| Conferences to settle the strike had
failed. and on the morning OF Janu-
larry ~ nm organized street parade
and demonstration by the strikers
Occurred. Il was preceded by riot
ing before sunriSs in which the street
ears were pcitcd with chunks OF Ice
and other missiles and persons for
cIbly prevented from going to work
in the mills. After the parade Ettor
land Giovnnnitu addressed the strik-
ers In Lawrence Common. where they
are alleged to have urged the strik-
crs to acts OF violence. That even
ing the streets ncnr the mills were
jammcd with the idle millworkcrs.
Soldiers and police were ordered to
clear the streets. The spirit OF the
hour wns n dangerous one. The pco-
pie sullcnly responded to the orders
OF the police and hisscd them. Many
blocks OF Ice were thrown at the Of
ficcrs OF the law. Policcmen's clubs
in retaliation. were welded over the
backs Of recaicitrant strikers. when
suddenly shooting began and Anna
l-opizzo fell ifeless in the street.
lOtutI IuVtb bOtIoweu tuS "V~s u"S 49,
tha, midnight Ettor and Giovanniti
were arrested. charged with being
accessories before the fact to the l-o-
pixzo murder. Later Caruso was ar
rested, charged with Salvatore Scui-
to, as one Of the principals 10 the
crime AZ an actual participant in the
fatal riot.
The arrest OF Ettor and Giovan-
nitti famed to fury the flame OF
feeling among the agitated foreign
crs and conditions were even more
dangerous. Threats were made Of a
general strike. organizations through
out the country and In other lands
protesting against the action OF the
authorities. E,tor and Giovannitu
pleaded not guilty on January 81.
but were held to the grand jury
without bail and locked up In the
Lawrence Jail until February ?.
when. after a hearing. they were
held to the grand jury and later In
dicted. The strike continued under
the leadership now OF w. ID. Hay
wood until March IA. when the cause
of the workers was victorious and the
strike was officially declared of. The
workers gained increases In pay
ranging from seven to fifteen per
cent and concessions in working con-
ditions. ~~jH
| Indictment OF the strike leaders
and Caruso brought about an organ
lied worldwide effort to raise de-
tense fund and workers from many
countries responded. Threats OF
general world strike in protest
against the action again were made.
and Since the beginning of the trial
Lawrence has been flooded with cir
Iculars denouncing the agents of the
courts and the conditions OF tho case