I.W.W. ACTIVITIES

NZ Truth, Issue 538, 9 October 1915, Page 13

I.W.W. ACTIVITIES

POSTERS AND PROSECUTIONS

TOM BARKER BEFORE THE BEAK IN SYDNEY

Penalties of £50 and £20 with Alternatives of Imprisonment

; Nothing wu Known of Parker's Put History

Concerning the activities of the organisation known as the 1.W.W., which means "Industrial Workers of the World," but which has been called, m a facetious manner, the "I Won't Works," several questions have been asked m Parliament, and following on a certain prosecution m Sydney, concerning I.W.W. posters, the so-called official newspaper of the organisation,, known as "Direct ' Action," has been PLACED ON THE POSTAL BLACK LIST, . \ and is n^-delivered'throagh the' post m New ? ';sseatendjt.r-.lt -has f been ■ i&ufcc gested to Parliament" that -.there 1 .have' been LW.W. activities m New Zealand, and Ministerial replies to questions indicated that the Attorney-General had the matter m hand. The sp-called activities of the LW.W., m Sydney, were given publicity In the Central' Police Court ot that city recently, when an Individual named. Tom Barker," who was a prominent figure m Wellington and. Auckland during the industrial crisis of 1913, was called upon to answer four charges, the chief of which was one contravening Regulation 28 of the War Precautions Regulations, 1915, by having on or about July 22, printed and circulated a poster bearing the following:— s TO ARMS!! Capitalists, Parsons, Politicians, Landlords, Newspaper Editors, And Other Stay-at-home Patriots. TOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU IN THE TRENCHES. WORKERS, l FOLLOW YOUR MASTERS. 0.W.W., Print) ♦ * * There were three ether charges (really summons matters), being alleged breaches of the Printing Act, that : of failing to nave au Imprint. On one of these, the words were aa follows: — WORKERS, Why Dabble m Arbitration Courts and Sectional Strikes When You Have Such a Powerful Weapon as SABOTAGE. Do Yeu Know What It Means? Seek Information from the INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD. 330 Castlereagh-seroet, Sydney. *'.•'■* ' * Another ot the circulars to which objection was taken read: HOW TO MAKE YOUR JOB * EASIER. GET WISE TO LW.W. TACTICS. Don't Be &> Pacemaker 1 . ] Someone ha« to be Slowest — Let It Bo You. JOIN THE ONE BIG UNION. Dent Bo a Boss's Man By Trying To Do More Than Other Men. Faster Workers Die Young. Live a Long LJfo. <

JOIN THE INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD, THE FIGHTING UNION. • , o • And the lettering 1 on another ran as follows:— MAKE MARGARINE WAGES MEAN MARGARINE WORK. JOIN THE I.W.W. ** . * ' Barker's age was given as 28 years, an,d bis nationality, English. T A preliminary objective " was raised by the defendant's lawyer that the regulation was ultra vires, but the objection was over-ruled. The Crown Prosecutor said that Kitchener to-day was CAUSING FOR MEN, and recruiting was the agency by which we got the men. He proposed to show that defendant's action was, as alleged, a prejudice to recruiting, for at' the present moment it was the fight of the Empire, the right to exist, and the defence of the Commonwealth. Detective Adam Jordan said that about 11 ajn. on* August 3, he, with Detective Develln, saw defendant at the office of the tW.W, CasUereagh-Bt, Sydney, and informed him that they had a warrant for his arrest and then read it to him. Witness said, "I have been informed that these posters and circulars have been posted over the city, and that several of them have been pasted outside your office." He replied, "I didn't think any action would be taken m this matter, that looks like as if I wanted to get recruits." Witness went on to say that he asked Barker if he printed the circular and posters, and he said he did so, FOR THE ORGANISATION, the Industrial Workers ot the "World. Barker waa the editor ot ''Direct Action." He Baid also that since he had been warned by the police, he had not printed or sent any more of them out. Continuing, witness said the defendant spoke nearly every Sunday m the Domain, and he had heard him about two months ago. When at the Domain he saw the poster on the platform from which Barker and others addressed the people present. To the Magistrate: At tlio time ho was speaking, one of the posters was exhibited on the platform. . Witness {to accused's lawyor) : I knew he was the editor of "Direct Action," he told me so. He did not tell me he was the honorary treasurer of the Society. The poster reminds the class of people mentioned m the poster that they arc required m the trenches. I* see no objection to the poster. 1 know of no newspaper editor who has enlisted. Lawyor: Well, I know nothing against the defendant's character; he showed mo tils discharges, and said he had served flvo years In the army. He told me ho thought he ought to get credit for the poster. I don't know If ho said IT "STIMULATED RECRUITING." Sergeant Thomas Pearcc. said that a: 10.15 p.m. on July 23 last, ho saw the "To Arms" poster. It was wet, and on

the wall at the corner of Reservoir and Elizabeth street, Sydney. Ho removed it. He also on the same nighr saw a number of them, which had been posted m and around the Haymarket, and he defaced them as far as he could. On the 24th and 26th, when g-oingr on night duty, he saw many more posters of a similar kind, and he defaced them also. He further, on July 23 and July 24, saw the posters outside the office of the Industrial Workers of the World. He saw them right up to the end of that month. Every one he saw he defaced, at night time, and the nights following he did so, he found other posters of the same kind had been posted up m their place. . . For the defence it was submitted that there had been nothing shown to sup- 0 port the charge. It was only those with minds affected with the HYSTERIA OF WAR who could take exception to anything m the poster. Continuing, the lawyer said he didn't intend- to call any evidence; his client admitted he printed and published the poster with, as he had told the police officers, the object of stimulating recruiting. His client was the ordinary editor of a paper, and the proof was entirely insufficient; indeed the Crown had utterly failed to sustain the charge which had been brought. The Magistrate said to his mind the poster, which contained the words, "Workers, follow your masters, stay at home," did prejudice recruiting. The Crown Prosecutor asked for imprisonment. Detective Jordan, recalled by the magistrate, said he had heard Barker say, "I don't tell you not to so to the war, but I'm not going. The organisation I belong to does not believe m war." Continuing, Jordan said latterly, for some time past, he had not heard Barker refer to the war at all. In reply to Barker's lawyer the witness replied: When he said he was not going to the war, I did not hear him say that he was medically unfit Here Barker's discharges, showing such to be the case, were handed up to the bench. Lawyer: He was m gaol for a week, he was refused bail before a magistrate and later was admitted to bail. He has been treated WITH GREAT RIGOR m prison, has he not? — I can't say. He was 24 hours out of 26 m a cell, was ho not? (To Jordan). Magistrate! Tut, tut!. You don't seriously suggest that, it's farcical. | Lawyer: I myself have. been m gaol, I and got out again at once. *■ Magistrate: You were lucky. (Smiles were here observed all over the Court). Magistrate: Is there any previous history as regards the man Barker before the Court? The Crown Prosecutor Intimated that nothing of Barker's previous history was known. The magistrate here perused the discharges which had been handed m earlier m the case. These showed that Barker had been m the King's Royal Irish, and were marked "Very good," and he had been discharged as "medically unfit," Magistrate: Tom Barker, you are convicted. The Crown hag asked for your imprisonment, but I will not order that; you are fined £50, m default six months' imprisonment, and I order you to enter into sureties, self m £100 and one surety m a similar sum; or two sureties each m £50, to OBSERVE THE REGULATIONS of the War Precautions Act during the currency of the war m which Great Britain is at present engaged, m default six months' imprisonment. Time was allowed m which to pay the fine, on entering into sureties to the' extent of the penalty. On the charge of issuing the "sabotage" poster, Barker pleaded guilty, and the other two charges were withdrawn. Lawyer: It was contended on Barker's behalf that it was a technical offence, the omission of the imprint. The magistrate said there was only one penalty, £20. On looking through the Act .he uadecl tlmt ho had power to mitigate the penalty, but m the circumstances he did not propose to do so. He was fined £20, costs 6/-, m default three months' imprisonment with hard 'abor. The sentence to be cumulative. The other charges on the list were tut proceeded with.

An Australian exchange says that the C.S.R. Co., which refines much of its Fiji-grown sugar In New Zealand, and has been selling it m the Dominion at £20 per ton, an advance or £4 17s 6d on pre-war rates, has now advanced the price to £21. The anomaly that a country which grrows no sugar can yet get it at such a rate from the same manufacturer that wants to squeeze pounds more from Australia, where sugarcane is grown, is something that needs a terrible lot of explaining.