Il processo muto di Sacramento, Cal. The Silent Trial of Sacramento, Cal. Brooklyn: Ed. a cura del Libreria del Lavoratori Industriali del Mondo, [1919].

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Title

Il processo muto di Sacramento, Cal. The Silent Trial of Sacramento, Cal. Brooklyn: Ed. a cura del Libreria del Lavoratori Industriali del Mondo, [1919].

Description

This "silent" trial was part of a "frame-up," as author Jacopo Tori says. Before the "famous bombing" of July 1916, the Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco had collected a million dollars to fight organized labor in California. General strikes took place in San Francisco and environs. A bomb exploded under the house of the governor of California in Sacramento. But it neither killed nor even injured anyone, according to Tori.

The trial for the accused in the bombing involved 43 I.W.W. activists who were condemned to prison sentences of one to ten years and responded with an unrepentant silence (and refusing counsel) in the face of a judge whose bias was obvious from the beginning. Maurice Bresler is apparently the name of the artist who did the cover portrait of one of the jailed men.

Three of those who received sentences of ten years were Tori himself, Petro De Bernardi and Vincenzo Santilli, obviously all Italians, as the preface signed "G.C." - Giuseppe Cannata - explains in presenting "these unforgettable pages of teaching us about conscience and dignity of the working class."

Before the sentences, on the day on which the grand jury rendered the indictments, the Wobblies had staged a prison revolt, protesting they deserved better treatment. writes Tori:

"Some suggested they sing: 'Allright, fellows, let's have a song.' And one voice after the other sang 'Hold the Fort, for we are coming.' Almost every day the chorus sang the proletarian songs. Some of the preferred ones were 'Workers of the World, Awaken'; 'Rebel Girl'; 'The White Slave' and 'Scissorbill' - all by Joe Hill - as well as 'Dump the Boss off Your Back,' 'We are Coming Home Farmer John,' and others. Whenever the mood arose, it was time for 'Rang-tang! Rang-tang! Zin-tang! Zin-zuh-bah! Who in hell you think we are! . . Wobblies-wobblies-rah!-rah!-rah! Rough-tough-we never take a bluff - Of free speech, we never get enough.  Who! - We Wobblies!!!"

Creator

Jacopo Tori
Giuseppe Cannata (preface)

Publisher

Ed. a cura del Libreria del Lavoratori Industriali del Mondo

Date

[1919]

Format

18.5 x 13cm; 23 p.

Language

Italian

Citation

Jacopo Tori and Giuseppe Cannata (preface), “Il processo muto di Sacramento, Cal. The Silent Trial of Sacramento, Cal. Brooklyn: Ed. a cura del Libreria del Lavoratori Industriali del Mondo, [1919].,” Italian-Language American Imprints: The Periconi Collection, accessed March 28, 2024, https://italianamericanimprints.omeka.net/items/show/350.

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