Aug. 5, 1912: Oakland Mayor and Commissioners Survive Wobbly Recall

August 5 1912, Oakland Mayor Frank Mott and commissioners William Baccus & Frederick Turner survived a recall election. The Socialist Party had filed the recall petition in response to police violence against socialists and members of the IWW.

In early 1912, the IWW had been engaged in “free speech fights” in Oakland, openly flouting local laws against “treasonable” speech. These fights were often attacked by police, resulting in arrest and injury.

On March 3rd, the police broke up an IWW rally on 9th St in downtown Oakland. IWW members decamped to their headquarters on 7th St, and about 100 returned to the streets with placards and red banners. This second gathering was also attacked; wobblies were beaten and arrested.

As they left the scene of the downtown riot, some wobblies gathered in front of Hamilton Hall on 13th St, where the Socialist Party of America was having a meeting. The Oakland branch of the SPA was associated with the party’s “left wing” and was very friendly with the IWW.

Wobblies and socialists at Hamilton Hall jeered and hissed at passing policemen. Without an official order, police raided the hall, indiscriminately beating attendees at the meeting, who were not given an opportunity to leave.

The next day, the Socialist Party began campaigning for the recall of Mayor Mott and Commissioners Baccus & Turner, declaring: “the free speech slogan will be the battlecry.” They were aided by the Central Labor Council and J. Stitt Wilson, the socialist mayor of Berkeley.

The recall was opposed by Oakland’s business and political establishments, who attempted to defeat it by whipping up patriotic fervor. Local newspapers called for anarchists to be shot, and the city began flying an American flag from City Hall, which was still under construction.

The recall was successfully turned into a referendum on the IWW rather than on free speech. The staunchly conservative Oakland Tribune celebrated the Socialist Party’s defeat by running a statement by the mayor entitled “Victory is for Law, Order, Righteousness” on its front page.