The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1917-01-05
SHERIFF HODGE ON
HOW 1T COULD HAVE
BEEN PREVENTED

terview with Robert I. Hodge, three
times sheriff of King County, and for
years a deputy sheriff, owner of the
famous bloodhounds which trailed
many desperate criminals, and man
reputed to be both fearless peace Of
ficer, and a progressive thinker on
public questions:
Gould the |. w. W. trouble at Ev-
erett, resulting in six killings at an
Everett dock Sunday, November 5.
have been prevented"
He replied readily:
at certainly could and should have
been prevented. If the peace officers
of Everett had treated the trouble
fairly in the first place, the entire
cause of the dock shooting would have
been eradicated. The trouble in Ev-
erett resulted from the illegal acts of
peace officers. Members of the |. w.
w. were beaten with clubs and run
out of town. They could have been
handled in much more intelligent
from breaking, if the authorities
had sought to maintain peace without
favoring either the |. w. W. or the
mill owners"
mo man hired by one party to
controversy can maintain peace and
ORDER" said Hodge. at is no more
reasonable to deputize the employers
of a mill or mine in time of strike,
than it would be to deputize the strik-
ers. The work of maintaining order
should be handled by experienced
peace officers, who must have no par
tisan leanings in the trouble they are
called upon to handle. Then, if they
do their duty, they will command the
respect of the people they are to deal
with. Who would expect the law to be
respected when it is represented only
by paid workers on one side of con
troversy?
During the longshoremen's strike
in Seattle, the waterfront employers
asked me to make deputy sheriffs of
their armed guards. | refused to do
so. In fact | refused to take any part
in seeking to maintain peace so long
as the affair was properly in the
hands of the city authorities. When it
was finally represented to me that the
city authorities were unable to cope
with the situation, | agreed to step in
and maintain order. | sent regular
deputies OF the scene. They did not
even call on the dock owners. They
did not call on the strikers. They
went on the scene simply as law Of
ficers, sworn to enforce order. They
had the respect of the strikers and of
the strike-breakers. The strike was
settled within few days, but during
those few daye there was no more
disorder
cat one time some while ago the
owners of a sawmill outside the city
phoned to me that big gang of l.
w. WIS were going to forcibly take
the workers out of the mill. | went
out there myself and talked to the
crowd. They were pretty mad. The
mill was using a lot of Japanese la
Dor, and the white men wanted work.
Also they wanted the white men who
were at work to go on strike if the
Japanese were not fired. l told that
crowd that they had a lawful right
to use peaceful efforts to persuade the
workers to strike, but that they had
no lawful right to trespass on the
mill property, or to forcibly keep any
man from working who wanted to
work, or to use language which would
provoke an assault. l told them that
/ | didn't want any trouble, that |
4 thought they were too sensible to
make trouble, but that if they insisted
/ on illegal action | would have to put
! every man who broke that law into
! jail. | think l am able to make the
/ average man believe that when l say
something l mean it. Those fellows
decided | was right, and they didn't
make any trouble
Nov, it may be that in my heart
I have no deep sympathy for employ
ers who pay low wages and demand
long hours. But no employer can say
that as peace officer l have ever re
fused to protect his property | have
refused to do it in his way, but l
refused to deputize guards that were
hired by property owners, but | have
maintained order with men | selected
my self 1t is the only sensible way
A striker hates company guard. He
respects an honest peace officer who
proceeds in an honest manner to en-
force the law.