A Plain Statement of Facts
Chicago: General Defense Committee, n.d. [probably 1918]. Broadside. Single page. 29 x 22 cm. 3 horizontal creases. Modest split on left side of center fold. Uneven browning. "To the Union Men of America: At the present time, in a Federal Court at Chicago 112 members of the Industrial Workers of the World are on trial for the alleged violations of a dozen or more federal laws .. Will you help us and thereby help yourselves and thereby the workers? SEND ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO WM. HAYWOOD, TREASURER, GENERAL DEFENSE COMMITTEE, 1001 WEST MADISON STREET, CHICAGO, ILL. 101 of the arrested Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) defendants were tried under the federal Espionage Act and convicted in federal court in Chicago in 1918. Sentences varied individually between 1 and 20 years in federal prison. Haywood got 20 years. Haywood and and a 8 other defendants skipped bail while their cases were on appeal in 1921 and went to live in the USSR where Haywood married and remained until his death in 1928. The IWW was severely crippled by all of the government trials and persecution and the continuing competition from the larger and less radical American Federation of Labor. The flight of Haywood and other leaders to the USSR probably didn't help. This IWW broadside appeal for funds seems to be quite uncommon. Good. Item #96189
Price: $850.00