Page 32 By Gregory Reynolds The union view of the general strike of 1912 in the Porcupine Gold Camp was tinged by the political views of the W estern Federation of Miners (WFM). The American-based union believed in Socialism, even if the local Por - cupine Miners Union, which was the prime mover of the strike, was only interested in better working condi - tions and more money . Unfortunately , the mine operators could only view the demand s of the Camp’ s workers as the foot in the door of Social ism due to the promi - nent presence of the WFM. The WFM had to admit that the strike was defeated by the mines. The three strike leaders were char ged and sen - tenced to three months of hard labour in the Sudbury jail. The Sudbury mining compan ies, ac - cording the WFM, were afraid to have these frebrands anywhere near their operations and had the trio moved to the North Bay jail. What the union ignored was the sen - tences were all appealed and two of the men not only freed but received compensation from the justice sys - tem. The Ontario Provincial Police arrested the strike leader , W illiam Holowatsky and he was tried and convicte d by Po - lice Magistrate Thomas T errance on Jan. 21, 1013 of “inciting to strike.” T wo other lead ers, A. Croft and Peter Cleary , were also convicted. The decision by Judge J.J. Kehoe in the First Division Court of the Dis - trict of Sudbury squashed the convic - tions of Holowatsky and Cleary and ordered the prosecutor to pay each man $50 for his costs. The timing of the incitement became the key factor and Cleary was found to have promoted the strike after the walk out started. Holowatsky and Cleary did their in - citing before there was a dispute as the union did not make a demand of the mines before the men struck. The judge said: “It appears that there was no demand for increased wages, shorter hours of labour or anything else of any kind until the defendant called upon the men to strike. This was the very beginning of the dispute. There cannot be a dispute or a dif fer - ence unless there are two parties who dispute or dif fer with one another .” The law stated it was illegal to incite a strike during a dispute but once the appeal judge found there was no dis - pute he had to rule for the two defen - dants. According to the Internationa l Social - ist Review (ISR): “Sudbury is a mining camp, the home of the Canadia n Copper Co., whose proud boast has been that no or ganizer for the W estern Federation of Miners could remain in the camp. Apparently they (the compan y) were afraid to even have one locked up in the district jail on account of the de - moralizing ef fect it might have on the wage slaves.” Elsewhere in this booklet are views of other interested parties in the strike and they are quite at variance with each other . Here are some quotes from the ISR in a February 1913 story (the strike didn’ t offcially end until June) about a request for a wage reductio n at the Camp’ s smaller mines by the owners: The miners held “a mass meeting and resolved to demand the union scale of wages and the introduction of an eight hour work day and decided to strike. Not only did the boys af fected walk out (Nov . 15, 1912), but every miners in the Camp joined them and made the tie-up complete. “Immediately the mine owners wired for dete ctive agents and these thugs be - gan to appear with guns and clubs…… Fortunately they soon overplayed their hands and the general public refused to stomach the rowdies who were on trouble bent. “Also the Ontario (provincial) police held aloof…..So the plug-uglies aban - doned the feld and the police took to scab-herding, and are saving the mine companies a lot of money thereby and placing the burden upon the taxpayers who have no interest in the struggle between the bosses and the men. All of the forces of the government, except the mil itary , are now lined up against us. It is easy to distinguish friend and foe. The Porcupine boys, who speak in a dozen tongues, are standing together as one man. After fve weeks of strike, their ranks still remain unbroken.” The history of Joseph Rogers, the frst Superintendent of the OPP , notes: “Provincial Police travelled to T im - mins and South Porcupine to restore order among striking gold miners in 1912. Protecting private property from the clash between strikers and strike breakers proved a challenge for the of - fcers.” T wo leaders of general strike win appeal, avoid hard labour Centre: W illiam Holowatsky , strike leader , in T immins jail “The Porcupine Camp” 100 Y ears of Mining Page 30