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Against this growing lynch terror, the workers of the whole world, Negro and white, must carry on a wide relentless struggle. It is absolutely essential for all workers to realize that the sharpening of the lynch terror is an integral factor in the general campaign of capitalist reaction against the toilers as a whole, aimed particularly to strike at the growing unity of Negro and white workers.

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[[caption]] Mooney — Then and Now. As he was at the time he entered prison in 1916. As he is today. [[/caption]]

Letter From A Son To His Mother

Tom Mooney, the veteran Labour leader in America, who was framed up and thrown into prison 16 years ago because he attempted to organize the workers for better conditions recently sent the following letter to his 84 years old mother, Mrs. Mooney, who is touring the United States, pleading the cause of her son's innocence.

While on her way to a meeting in Chicago, mother Mooney who is risking her very life on behalf of her son, whose frame up like that of the Scottsboro boys is one of the greatest outrages of American class "justice", became suddenly blind.

The example of Tom Mooney's mother and her fighting spirit must fill with pride and serve as an added stimulus to all the working class mothers and working women in capitalist countries and the colonies in their participation in the big international campaign of the International Labour Defense to save the Scottsboro boys, for the freedom of Tom Mooney and Billings in America, of Walton, Diamond and Gomas in South Africa, and all other victims of the Imperialist terror.— Ed.:

***

California State Prison, San Quentin, Calif.,

"Mrs. Mary Mooney, c/o. Coliseum, Chicago, Ill. March 15, 1932. 

My Dear Mother:

"Words fail to express my thanks to you, dear mother, for the great sacrifices you are making on my behalf of the cause of Labor, which I symbolize. On top of the terrible strain of the sixtxeen years' struggle we have gone through together, you risked your life in crossing the continent to inspire the militant 

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workers, friends and sympathizers in their fight for my unconditional pardon. History records no greater devotion. You are a symbol of the millions of militant self-sacrificing and toiling mothers. You are like the beautiful old mother in Gorky's novel, "Mother", who, when her son had fallen in the struggle, seized the banner from his death-stiffened fingers, and unflinchingly carried it aloft in the procession of the heroic workers struggling bravely against the Czarist despotism in old Russia. 

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[[caption]] Mother Mooney at 84. [[/caption]]

"It gives me the greatest pride and joy that your motherly affections are not limited to your own flesh and blood, but you are demanding the liberation and support for the embattled miners in Harlan, Ky., and the Scottsboro victims of race and class prejudice and all political prisoners.

"The word 'spot-light' has been thrown upon you. And how you have gladdened my heart by the grace, dignity and poise you displayed therein. You have advanced our cause immeasurably. 

"My profound gratitude and deep appreciation goes out to the millions of militant workers, friends and sympathizers who have welcomed you so warmly, and rallied behind you to demand that the reactionary powers, who have kept me entombed for sixteen years because of my loyalty and devotion to Labor, relinquish their strangle-hold upon me and grant me an unconditional pardon. It is an inspiration to me to see how the toiling millions in this country, even at the end of my sixteen years' imprisonment, are not relaxing their effort on my behalf. The masses are stirring and their insistent demands for my unconditional pardon grow louder and louder and cannot continue to go unheeded forever. Though your body is feeble and your voice has lost its resonance, yet the strength of your spirit and your deathless determination is sufficiently eloquent to inspire all of those who come to see you and to hear you. 

"I confess, dear Mother, that I miss your regular visits to San Quentin. You know how you have always inspired me with your faith and devotion. However, the vision of your radiant face is impressed indelibly upon my memory. It is before me now and makes me more than ever determined to continue the struggle begun more than sixteen years ago. 

"In expressing my thanks and appreciation to you for all your splendid sacrifices and struggles, I ask you to thank in my name all of those who are lightening your task by their militant support. 

"As I have become the symbol of the oppressed and down-trodden workers, you have become the symbol of the courageous working class mothers who, unheralded and unsung, give their all to the cause of a better world for the toiling masses. 

"With greatest admiration for you, I am
Your Loving Son,  Tom Mooney — 31921."

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