The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1934-03-23
Tulsa, Oklahoma.

There is a cats head painted on
the plate glass window at 400 East
Second Street in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
and over it in large red and yellow
letters the legend wildcat" This
is the headquarters of Wildcat
Williams, East Texas College man,
correspondence school lawyer, gun
man and chemist.
From what l had heard of Wild |
cat, the crude painting of the cats
head fascinated me. 1t was sup
posed to represent the aggressive
ness and ferocity of the man be-
hind the plate glass window; ac-
tually the cat looked like mine
when frightened by the appearance
of a pint-sized dog-though it
hurts me to say that of the Spivak
cat.
found Wildcat Williams at a
rough wooden table piled high with
American Federation of Labor leaf
lets. The room was painted a deep
green and it's walls and ceiling
were pretty thoroughly perforated
with bullet holes. And in the story
of Wildcats activities is the story
of what happened and is happen
ing to labor in Oklahoma.
Wildcat is his real name. He
was christened Marlin but his
mother, since the boy is one-fourth
Cherokee Indian, insisted on Wild
cat for a middle name. AS the boy
grew up he dropped the Marlin and
tried to live up to the middle nano.
He is still trying. He is thirty
three, young, and healthy-so far.
Seventy percent of Tulsa's life
depends upon oil. The life of the
whole state depends upon the Pc
troleum industry. During the boom
days quite few years ago the oil
workers were well organized but
under American Federation of La
Dor leadership the union gradually
disintegrated. By the time the de-
preston came along there were
fewer than 1000 union members in
every branch of the states oil in
dustry.
The usual cutting of wages and
speed-up was inaugurated by the
companies. Workers did not pro-
test because they were demoralized
and fearful of being fired, for be-
tween 35 and go percent of oil
workers were dropped from the
payrolls during recent years. Since
there are normally about 100000
oil workers of which some 10000
are in the white collar class in the
Oklahoma industry, the effects
were naturally far-reaching. Fam
lilies disorganized, homes broken
charity, as in Tulsa proper increas-
ing 500 per cent-it was the old
story all over again. Four cents
J a day per person was all that il
could afford to give in this the
} "wealthiest city per capita in the
world" as it is fond of advertising
; itself.
, The oil workers were too beaten
zoo oppressed to do anything ex.
cept murmur under their breath
They were terrified to try organi-
, rational protest because most oil
workers live in company-owneC
houses without paying rent and i
, they became too loud in their pro,
tests they would be put on the
road.
It was the middle class which
made the first move, those fairly
: well-to-do workers in the higher
branches of the industry and the
small business man. They saw
their homes going, sometimes as
many as fifty day, for non-pay-
ment of taxes. They called meet
, ings to protest and once marched
on the sheriff's office with blood
. in their eyes.
1t was not so long ago wher
Oklahoma was a wild and untram.
meled territory, the happy hunt
ing grounds of bad men. A gooC
many now respectable citizens car
trace their ancestry back to the
men who, only the other day, mar
rowly avoided dancing gaily in mic
air. Guns and shootings were g
part of the territory's routine and
In the memory of many a middle.
aged man, the gun was the law
In their desperation they reverted
to early traditions. They talked OF
defending their own and one an
others homes by the gun if the
sheriff kept auctioning them off.
The sheriff and the judges knew
they were not the types who just
confined themselves to talk, and
dates to auction off homes were
set so far back on the calendars
that many Of them were forgotten.
This action by the respectable
middle class stimulated the unem-
ployed who also had pretty an