Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-11-25
All Free-Lovers Who Think in
Wrong Channel; Written
by One Who Knows.
(By C. NJ. FLETCHER.)


Just what sort of being Ia the
average I. w. w? What is the mental
and moral and physical fibre of
these men who dynamite homes, burn
Gins. try to hurl our soldier boys into
death by wrecking troop trains COM
pose the stealthy menace which
haunts the sleep Of the entire state?
About four years ago condition
very similar to that which prevailed
In California. Admittedly had con-
Gitons In the hop fields about San
jose. where Cinnamon, Syrlans, Japs.
vast and motley crew Of derelicts
were herded together with women
and girls whom the stringent times
forced into this work, gave the cham
pioning I. w. W.'s the tinge OF vIr-
tue. They demanded better pay AMI
better sanitary conditions; and these
were granted. Then as usual, they
demanded altogether unreasonable
concessions. Public favor which Rad
been largely with them, switched. The
county judge. the sheriff. deputies.
ana the county, attorney went to tho
fields to look the situation over ami
try to adjust matters, for thousands
were affected and the entire crop was
In danger. To meeting held In the
open near the hop fields. the I. w. w.
came to heckle-ands to kill. They
got" the Judge. county attorney and
revolver In the hands of darkey
(the only darkey ever knowingly in
volved in the order\ and a leading
malcontent named Ford being en-
ployed. That set California afire--
this Tulsa flare-up is SO far as a
spring zephyr to cyclone. San Diego
made up OF wealthy climate and
pleasure seekers. cast aside its Rarb
Of culture overnight and took to clubs
like gorillas. They rounded up big
bunch of the agitators whose mouth
ings had been good-naturedly taller
ated. and made them run as bitter a
gauntlet as ever a red Indian formed.
between line Of men armed with
slaves and blacksnakes, ammonia
guns, thorned whips. The leader, a
close associate of Emma Goldman.
whose name momentariy Is lost, was
stripped. whipped. subjected to GER
tain seventies which transcend those
inflicted on the local product the
other night. and compelled to walk
2S mites naked as a babe. before he
received aid The world wondered at
the silk stockings quick bark back to
the primitive, much criticism was In
dulged in by eastern press. but. on the
whole. California said bully for you"
Tn the "Junglc."
was working on Los Angeles pa
per and persuaded the editor TO let
ne have a whirl at the situation bv
going con the road" and mingling
With them as bo. ] made the make
up with an ease and celebrity which
was bewildering. Mebbe so, been there
before. The Sacramento valley is the
hobo's paradise, and thither ] went.
The seasonal worker is necessary to
gather the fruit and nut crops, so the
workaphobiast creeps in, cuckoo
wise. and is safe. At the edge OF
every town of any size, in the fall of
the year, are "the jungles," where
lay my abode for some four weeks.
The wanderlust had on numerous oc-
caslons led me to become a member
OF the ancient and honorable fratern-
ity of bos, I spoke the language.
could give the high sign, and believe
me. you better have both before yon
butt in on council about Jungle
fire. The theoretical tramp and the
purely. induisitive gent and the So
Geological worker are spotted before
they sIuat; and there is something
uncanny in the certainty and quick
ness with which the ordinary Sher-
lock Holmes is put In the right file.
NV province was to simply see and
record what manner of men the |. W.
W. were--no "turn-in" work or de-
tective business They were soon 10
cated-were in every camp along two
hundred miles. In every camp and
making converts. The analogy be-
tween that case and the situation here
seems TO me perfect. And the results
are most apt to be identical Those
men had been whipped. treated Sc.
verely. liberated And every man or
them was as \ snake 10 strike, heart
- full Of hate bitter as gall for ven
geance. Right then .thot rs I think
cf the affair the other night htre.
what in the name of reason pos
sessed those San Diego people to tdd
fue! to a flame already flarlng. CIV.
men an argument with the display OF
SCARED backs AMI lacerated taces and
turn them loose to make converts
among an element which Is always
potential menace" If there Is one In
variable characteristic possessed by
the |. w. w. II Is that of being an hc-
complished jaw-smith. He can't quail
ify without this, for his creed de-
mands that he do no labor-save un-
der conditions which are absolutely
impossible-and he has to talk his
way to meals, tobacco and the stuff
that makes the Jingle, which he invar-
iablv could do in that valley His mouth
is always full Of such phrases as "the
bleeding heart of labor" the pluto
cratic sl,unks," "strutting In silks ana
satins while labor wears rags etc.
But as Emerson puts 1t 'hs words
arc vascular: cut them and they
bleed" He puts ip much time In the
close perusal of pamphlets, When you
recall that Jack London, Upton SIN
clair. not to speak of Marx and Toll
stoi and Kuropatkin. have given the
aid Of their vivid imagery and fine
powers of depletion in the making OF
literature so extreme as to verge upon
the anarchistic, and realize that every
l. w. w. propogandist pores over,
memories widely the passages whicn
fit his views his superior equipment
compared to the sordinary laborer IS
apparent. The ability to crate In the
vernacular Of the common man Is a
nassport to ease where the occasional
worker and the semi-tramp congre,,,
gate. The jungle stiffs love to loli
hack and hear some spouter who can
flay the man who has something
more than they have, who pictures
the dream they all have. state OF So
cietv where work is taboo and luxury
hangs on trees
The propogandists were popular IN
the camps. They were always liberal
,vbep II came to chipping in to make