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| Title | Carleton Parker letter to U.S. Secretary of War Newton Baker regarding the I.W.W. and the eight hour day, July 29, 1917 |
| Author | Parker, Carleton H. (Carleton Hubbell), 1879-1918 |
| Date of Publication | 1917 |
| Notes | This letter was sent from Carleton H. Parker to U.S. Secretary of War Newton D. Baker on July 29, 1917. Parker replies to Baker's telegram from the previous day by insisting that it will be impossible to convince the Pacific Northwest lumber industry to adopt the eight hour day without pledging the federal government's commitment to stop all agitation and organization by the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.). Baker's suggestion that a pledge of protection against violence to property and person is insufficient, according to Parker, who claims that the I.W.W. continues to call strikes even when all concessions have been made, and who describes the I.W.W.'s intentions as revolutionary, both against capitalism and the federal government. Parker describes the activities of the I.W.W. as systematic terrorism and sabotage, which will continue to limit production and intimidate other workers in spite of any promise of federal protection. He informs Baker again that the lumbermen are only willing to concede an eight hour day (and thereby end the strikes in the lumber mills) if the federal government is ready to make "I.W.W. propaganda and leadership" illegal. Parker asserts that he is in agreement with their assessment of the situation, and that "the immediate responsibility and the next move are yours". |
| Contextual Notes | Carleton H. Parker (1878-1918) was a journalist and an economics professor who was particularly interested in the organized labor movement. In the summer of 1917, he was appointed to a position as a government mediator to help resolve disputes in the construction and lumber industries, originally at Camp Lewis in Pierce County, Washington, and later in other locations around the Pacific Northwest.
This letter continues an existing conversation between Carleton Parker and Newton Baker -- the contents of the telegrams exchanged between them on July 27 and 28, 1917, have been scanned and are available from the University of Washington's Digital Collections as Digital ID Number PNW01120. |
| Subjects (LCSH) | Parker, Carleton H. (Carleton Hubbell), 1879-1918--Correspondence; Baker, Newton Diehl, 1871-1937--Correspondence; Industrial Workers of the World; Eight-hour movement--Washington (State); Eight-hour movement--Oregon; Logging--Washington (State); Logging--Oregon; Lumber trade--Washington (State); Lumber trade--Oregon; Industrial relations--Washington (State); Industrial relations--Oregon |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)
United States--Oregon |
| Digital ID Number | PNW01121 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions contact: photos@u.washington.edu. |
| Digital Collection | Pacific Northwest Historical Documents Collection
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| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Brice P. Disque. Accession No. 0316-001. Box 3/16 |
| Object Type | Letter (correspondence)
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| Physical Description | 1 leaf; 28 x 22 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original text or image at 150 dpi saved in TIFF format, resized and enhanced using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm software's JPEG2000 Extension. 2011. |
| Restrictions | For information on permissions for use and reproductions please visit UW Libraries Special Collections Reproduction & Use page: http://content.lib.washington.edu/sc-use.html |
