The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-10-25
Letters From our Readers


''Frame-Up."
Comrade C. K. Miller, in letter
to The DAILY WORKER published
Oct. IA complains that in my article
'Frame-Ups in the American Glass
Struggle" in a recent issue of the
magazine, l did not include the Cen
tralia case.
Comrade Miller says:
Surely the raiding of the I.W.W.
hall and the farcical trial at which the
wobblies were charged with having
caused the death of some of their
murderous attackers, was a most
fragrant class frame-up."
1t seems that Comrade Miller does
not have clear idea of what the
American "frame-up" is. 1t is dis
tinguished by the fact that workers
are PLACED ON TRIAL FOR OF
FENSES AGAINST EXISTING
LAWS WHICH THEY DID NOT
COMMIT AND WHICH HAVE LIT
TIE OR NO CLASS SIGNIFI-
CANOE,
By this method the class issues are
blurred and the task Of arousing the
working class and organizing defense
and protest made immensely difficult.
Not a 'Frame-Up.'
The Centralia case does not fall
into The category of frame-ups. 1t
can be called a "frame-up" only if
we use this term to include ALL
measures taken by the capitalists and
their government to suppress the
working class.
So far as the CLASS angle of the
case is concerned the question of
whether Gene Bennett and the other
members of the I.W.W. still in Walla
Walla (Wash.) prison actually killed
any of their attackers, does not en-
ter into it. This is a legal question
and in court it may be denied that
they were responsible for the deaths.
But no enc has ever denied and
nc one will deny THAT THE ARMED
STRUGGLE BETWEEN THE I.W.W.
AND THUGS OF THE LUMBER
TRUST ACTUALLY TOOK PLACE.
An Important Distinction.
The Centralia fighters were tried
and imprisoned fer their part in this
struggle. They were not accused of
tombing and killing innocent persons
as were Mooney and Billings, they
We're not tried for the murder of a
paymaster as We're Sacco and Van
zettl, they were not accused of MUIR
derIng a governor as was Bill Hay
wood, they were not accused of bomb
ing and killing persons attending a
meeting as were the Haymarket mar
tyrs.
The Centralia defendants were sent
to prison and Wesley Everest was
tortured to death becarte they fought
m open struggle against the class
enemies of the workers and in de-
Tense of the I.W.W. hall.
The issue here was clearly one of
class struggle and no accusations that
these workers had committed ordinary
criminal offenses, or used terrorist
methods with which the working class
has little sympathy, were made.
| believe l have made clear that
the reason the Centralia case was not
included among "frame-up" cases was
that it was not a frame-up in the
sense in which the term is used cor
lectly.
A Little History.
In justice to myself | believe it
should be SID that if the Centralia
case could have been used to illustrate
the points | wished to make that
would be one Of the last to overlook it.
! was in Centralia 4S hours after
the battle and wrote the first pamph-
let on the case entitled "The Truth
About Centralia." The pamphlet was
published in the plant of "The Butte
Daily Bulletin" of which was editor
at the time and was ready for distri
bution less than week after the
struggle.
Inc bulletin was the only daily pa
yer which carried the correct story
OF the struggle the day after it oc-
cured and was the only daily paper
IN the United States which defended
without reservations the right of the
Centralia lumber workers to shoot,
ant Kill if necessary, lumber trust
and American legion thugs who in
vaded their hall.
70 look upon the Centralia case as
"trame-up" is to run the danger of
missing the class significance of one
OF the outstanding struggles in Amer
lean labor history.
--BfII DITNNE