Coxey’s Army Prisoners Sent to Prison
Striking laborers and supporters of the 'Commonweal of Labor' are marched under guard to the Seattle docks to begin their sentences.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The last batch of forty-two Coxeyites in Seattle were marched out of the courthouse at 10 o'clock this morning. They were shackled in pairs and marched four abreast, with a deputy to right and left of each four. They went down Fourth, Eighth and Main streets to the city dock, where they went onboard the steamer City of Aberdeen. They were just as happy as if they were going to a picnic instead of prison and were perfectly orderly, singing as they went Coxey’s march. Those who remained were in almost as good spirits as those who went away, having more room to move around in their large cell and having shorter terms to serve. The leader is Paddy Flynn, the Seattle voter, and by his direction his whole gang sang Coxey’s march for the entertainment of a Post-Intelligencer reporter who visited them.
“They were just as happy as if they were going to a picnic instead of prison.”
The Coxey's Army movement was a precursor to modern populist labor mobilizations. These men were being processed through the federal court system for their 'trespass' on railway property, highlighting the era's severe civic repression of those advocating for public work programs.
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