ional rights. Editor H. W. Watts, of the Northwest
Worker, a union and socialist paper published in Everett, forcibly
expressed his opinion of the suppression of free speech and was
thereupon thrown into jail. Fearing a serious outbreak, Michel secured
permission to address the people surrounding the jail. The crowd, upon
receiving assurances from Michel that the men would be well treated and
could be seen in the morning, quietly dispersed and returned to their
homes.
The free speech prisoners were charged with vagrancy on the police
blotter, but no formal charge was ever made, nor were they brought to
trial. Next morning, Thompson and his wife, who had return tickets on
the Interurban, were deported by rail, together with Herbert Mahler,
secretary of the Seattle I. W. W. Mrs. Mahler, Mrs. Frennette and the
balance of the prisoners were taken to the City Dock and deported by
boat. At the instigation of McRae, and without a court order, the sum of
$13. was seized from the personal funds of James Orr and turned over to
the purser of the boat to pay the fares of the deportees to Seattle.
Protests against this legalized robbery were of no avail; the amount of
the fares was never repaid. Mayor Merrill of Everett, replying to a
letter from Mahler, promised that this money would be refunded to Orr.
His word proved to be as good as that of the Everett shingle mill
owners. Prominent members of the Commercial Club lent civic dignity to
the deportation by their profane threats to use physical force in the
event that any of the deported prisoners dared to return.
Upon their arrival in Seattle the deported men conferred with other
members of the union, telling of the beating some of them had received
while in jail, and as a result there was organized a free speech
committee composed of Sam Dixon, Dan Emmett and A. E. Soper. Telegrams
were then sent to General Headquarters, to Solidarity and to various
branches of the organization, notifying them of what had happened. At a
street meeting that night, Mrs. Frennette, Mrs. Mahler and James P.
Thompson, gave the workers the facts and collected over $50.00 for the
committee to use in its work. In Everett the Labor Council passed a
resolution stating that the unions there were back of the battle for
free speech and condemning McRae and the authorities for their illegal
actions. The Free Speech Fight was on!
Remick, in the meantime, had returned to Everett and found that all the
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