The end of the paternalistic era in Pontiac
As the textile strike ran on into the early spring of 1922, violence
continued to erupt sporadically. Governor Emery J. San Souci found
himself criticized by the strikers for calling out the militia and by
the mill owners for not taking more drastic action. In March, cavalry
units were called out several times to quell riots.
Political Consequences
One of the results of the calling of the militia was that the rift that
had developed between the Republican Party and the workers grew wider.
Many of the workers felt that the mill owners controlled the GOP and
were using their influence to the mill operatives’ detriment. Many at
this time began to drift to the Democratic Party, which had little
success since the Civil War.
Some labor leaders felt that neither party was giving them support and
threatened to form a workers' party. Most workers, however, were not in
sympathy and the two major political parties held. In the following
election, November 1922, Democrat William S. Flynn, was elected
governor.
Aid to Strikers
A strikers' relief fund was established and donations of food and money
came to the area to help the strikers and their families. Labor leader
Samuel Gompers, founder of the American Federation of Labor, came to
Rhode Island to support the strike. Upon the urging of the mill owners,
a number of strike organizers and strikers were arrested for violation
of antiquated picketing and strike regulations.
Robert E. Quinn, a young attorney from West Warwick, defended the
strikers free of charge. Quinn, nephew of the well-known Patrick H.
Quinn, architect of West Warwick's independence and a leading Democrat,
earned a national as well as a state wide reputation as a result. The
dynamic young champion of labor helped strikers as they appeared in
court. Thanks to Quinn, many strikers were merely fined for disorderly
conduct and released. The brilliant Quinn won the support of the unions
as he championed their cause. Quinn was later (1936) elected Governor
and also served as Associate Justice of the Superior Court in 1941 and
in 1951 was appointed Chief Judge of the United States Court of
Military Appeals.
Bloodshed and Failure
Tragedy came to the Pawtuxet Valley when two men from Crompton Village
were shot by state troopers. Soon after this episode, explosions rocked
the Crompton Mills and the state militia was sent to patrol the
village. As the strike continued, the pastors of the All Saints Church
and the Swedish Lutheran Church in Pontiac joined with the pastor of
St. Joseph's Church in Natick and other clergymen of the Catholic and
Protestant Churches in the Valley in an attempt to mediate. They met
with union officials and representatives of the mill owners, but to no
avail.
Evictions and Hunger
By mid summer, both sides were weary of the strike and were getting
desperate. Violence again surfaced on several occasions when strikers
and their families were evicted from mill houses in order to make room
for workers coming in from outside the area. Mill owners hoped that
they could use outside workers and lure some Valley workers by the
promise of better wages. They had some success and about half the
workers began to trickle back to their jobs.
The end of an Era
Finally, on September 12, 1922, the owners of the B. B. & R. Knight
Company, the Crompton Company, the Hope Company and the Interlaken
Mills all agreed to restore the wage scale that was in effect before
January 1922. William McLoughlin, in his Rhode Island, a History, says,
"Their willingness to agree was in part dictated by the end of the
recession and the upsurge of production orders. But the workers had at
last learned that they could succeed." He adds, "Employers claimed that
the unions were cutting the throats of the workers by cutting the
profits of the owners. But in truth, the day of New England's supremacy
in the textile industry was over." The conditions that had existed
during the period when the Knight family ruled the village as
benevolent despots was over. Pontiac residents looked to their own
resources to find the strength to weather the severe economic
depression that came in the 1930's.
William
S. Flynn, an Irish Democrat, benefited from the animosity against the
Republican Party that came as a result of the strike of 1922. Flynn was
one of but three Democrats elected as Governor from the time of the
Civil War.
Robert
E. Quinn, chief engineer of the “bloodless revolution” which changed
Rhode Island politics, gained prominence as a result of the strike of
1922.
From Mohr, Ralph- R.I. Governors for Three Hundred Years.