I.W.W.

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2899, 11 October 1916, Page 5

I.W.W.

STARTLING REVELATIONS IN SYDNEY GIGANTIC CONSPIRACY; OF , DESTRUCTION = THE SYDNEY FIRES By Te]e»f.ai)i-Pr«iß AsEodition-Co-jjnislit (R«c. October 10,.9.30 p.m.) j Sydney, October 10. j Startling revelations of a " giganfcitf conspiracy to cause havoc and destine tion and endanger the lives of people were disclosed at the opening of the' treason, charges against mam-' hevs of the I.W.W.—Charles Reeve, a> nafrive of England, Thomas Glynn, of. I Ireland, Peter Larkin, of Hamilton, of Victoria, Bernard Besaat, of England, Donald MTherson, o£ SS?,;. di William Teen, .of Tasmania, William Beattjr, of Engiandj Morris hagan, 0 f Russia, Donald; Grant, o£ Scotland, Thomas Moore, of New land, and John King, ot'Canada. Bb> sides the allegations of treason, tha accused "were further charged 'with conspamg to burn buildings in Sydney and elsewhere by means of phospnoraG and inflammable material, in order to intimidate and overawe -the State Government. Cass for the Crown. The Grown Prosecutor, in. outlining the case, said that the .charges TmW arisen from a. series of, city fires which* if successful, would have caused dam* age totalling at least a million. Evidence would be called to show, that attempts had been, . made to .place difßculties in the_ way of the fire brigades, when stopping these outbreaks. The accused, further, were associated witli a notorious German escapee from the internment camp. How far German influence had affected these fires it was impossible to show, but the saoticsi which were adopted were pleasing to' the'enemy. The LAY .AY. bad adopted a deliberate system of sabotage to' force the Government •to release. Thomas Barker (publisher of "Direct Action/'' the organ .of the lAY.W., who was fined £100, in default twelve months' imprisonment, for publishing, statements prejudical to recruiting). The fires commenced on June 1, ar»7 were aimed at buildings owned by the Government. It was further alleged l that the object of the I.W.W. accused was to force the Government to abandon its conscription policy. Miny ' fires occurred after Mr. Hughes's .declaration. On the very day of bis speech the Co-operative Stores -wera blazing, due to one' of the accused. Another of the accused had declared;, that he was prepared to burn down.. Sydney; that "it would cost the capitalists £10,000 for each day Barker 1 ' was imprisoned." It was believed that, the organisation started ten fires, including ' "Winn's, Simpson's, Mark"' Toy's, Stedman's, Riley Bros.', Brown's furniture warehouse, Beard and Watson's,' the Burns-Philp Wharf, Buckingham's, and Brennan's, at Newtown. The evidence would show that an Austrian participated in the draw, ing of lota to carry out the plansv This Austrian then indicated which places thej; were to attempt 'to destroy.

ALLEGED I.W.W. MI MR i

THREE MEN COMMITTED FOR TRIAL (By Telegraph-Press Assooiation-OopjiisWi Sydney, Ootober 10. At the inquest on Constable Duncan, who was shot ou September 26, the police produced.' a statement made by Frank. FxEtnz that- the Kennedy (brothers proposed the shooting of Duncan. Under threats to kill Eim, they: forced Franz to accompany them and. discharge a rifle at Duncan after they; each had fatally shot him. Franz declared he was led astray by the LW.W„' Another statement by Itoland Ken-i nedy shows that Franz proposed '.thsf shooting. Franz fired twice, and he only, at Duncan, who was sitting in. the police station. Kennedy declared that his brother Herbert refused to participate, saying he was married, and it was not worth his while. A third statement by Michael Herbert Kennedy declared that he knew nothing of the shooting till the next morning, when his brother told him. He admitted that he was spokesman for the 1.W.W., and believed their teaching. He was formerly a member of the New Zealand police, but resigned about five years ago. All three acoused were:comtoitted for. trial for murdering Duncan. ' MICHAEL KENNEDY'S HISTORY. Mounted-Constable George Joss Dtuw can, stationed at Tottenham, Netf South Wales, was murdered in the local police station at about 10 o'clock _om the night of September 26. The crime was discovered, it appears, by two local residents, who heard a number of shots, and on going to' the station founa Constable Duncan dead in tha station. Several shots had apparently been fired at him through an open window as he was working '.a typewriter in the office. Two bullets had taken effect. Constable Duncan joined tha Police Force in 1913, and was only twenty-five years of age.. Michael Herbert Kennedy is a man about forty yeaTS of age, and was 'stationed in Wellington as a constable for about eighteen months. ■ Time proved, however, that he was unsuited to the calling, and his resignation followed as a natural course. Kennedy becairib v?rr prominent at the time of the Waihi strike, and after the arrest of several officials he was president of'the, Miners' IJnion at Waihi. It is alleged that he was an out-and-out "Red', Fed.," with tendencies towards the principles of tho "1.W.W." _ He decried • the policc, and advised liis comrades never to ask their assistance, even if they were being murdered. When the free labourers came on the scene, Kennedy's tactics were extremely unpopular with them, and it so happened that Kennedy had to go to the police for protection, and he was practically escorted out cf the town by tho constables. He afterwards left for Australia-.