7/25/2006:
On this day, July 25, 1913, Jack Law and Jack Allen arrived in Minot, ND and set up headquarters across from the local Salvation Army. As organizers for the International Workers of the World, better known as the Wobblies, they had been invited into the community by J.M. Near of the Iconoclast; Minot’s socialist newspaper. Near had been pushing for a group of local contractors to unionize.
Law and Allen immediately set about organizing what they referred to as the “wage slaves”, urging the construction workers to go on strike and demand double pay. They used demonstrations, public speeches and hymns rewritten into political songs to attract attention. To the patriotic cadences of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, they sang “Solidarity forever, for the Union makes us strong.”
Pro-business supporters in the community feared being forced to pay wages that would close them down. The Salvation Army opposed the violent and disruptive methods employed by the Wobblies. The general public viewed the Wobblies as anarchists, capable of violence. It was only a matter of time before confrontation would break out.
On August 10, the Minot city police arrested Jack Law and others who had gathered to hear him speak. Unbeknownst to the crowd, the city had quietly passed a ban on public speaking and blocking the street. As the police and fifty special officers hauled more and more of the crowd off to jail, other IWW workers continued to mount the soap box until they too were hauled off to jail. The Local Socialist did not totally support IWW methods or views, but the Wobblies’ Constitutional rights of free speech should be protected regardless. They too, joined the demonstrations. They too were hauled off to jail.
The city jail was small so the Socialists were kept inside the jail building. They sang socialist songs prompting the police to turn up the heat until both sides relented. The IWW workers were held in a hastily constructed bullpen outside the jail. They too sang late into the night. The fire department was called to hose them down but that failed to quell the singing, so the police brought in large rocks and sledge hammers. The IWW workers were told to reduce the rock in exchange for food and water. Most resisted.
News of the arrests spread quickly and IWW reinforcements from Michigan, Minnesota and Montana poured daily off the trains. Public demonstrations continued as did the arrests. Eventually, the stockyard along the Great Northern had to be converted into a temporary jail to house the overflow. After two weeks, the cities resources had been stretched to the breaking point. In the end, the free speech demonstrations ended with a compromise. The prisoners would be released if they ended the street meetings. The Local Socialist, as a result of this incidence, split into left and right wings which marked an end to its political power in Minot.
Written by Christina Campbell
Sources:
Timbrook, Mark, Prepare to Meet Your God: A History of Minot, (Minot, ND: Ward County Historical Society, privately printed; 2006)
http://www.minotlibrary.org/minot_history_through_slides1900-1920.htm