THE TRUTH TOLD

NZ Truth, Issue 111, 3 August 1907, Page 8

THE TRUTH TOLD

CONCERNING COLORADO CRIMES. The Inferna m Idaho. Coloael Carrol p. Wright's Revelations,

' r IWMfjtfufcisß Press of Australasia lias published a great deal about the alleged crimes of the officers of the Western Federation of Miners, on .trial for the murder of the Governor of the State of Idaho, but it lias said nothing about the story they tell m their defence, or about .the monstrous methods alleged to have been used, by the American PinIkerton detectives to extort a "con-, Session" from Orchard. "Reynold's Newspaper," the well-known English {Radical journal, does not play the same game as the Australasian- plutish Press, and; therefore, it gives the following impartial account of the -affair m Idaho :— Nothing m the world's history provides a parallel to the melodramatic conflict between Capital and Labor, which has entered upon its' momentous stage with ttie commencement of the (trial at Boise. Idaho, of Wm. 'B. Hay wood, secretary and: treasurer of the Western Federation of Miners, , together with two fellow-offi-cials. Mover and Pettibone,. for alleged complicity m the -murder of ex-Governor : Steunenb/erg. ' The story of the ' conflict, ■, which -extends overy many years, ' palpitates with blood-curdling incidents.; ' ' - , WHOLESALE BUTCHERY; secret murders innumerable.-; outrages unspeakably vil.e, -anid '. iiHiuman devices to blacken, their _■-. opponents' characters, are th 6 charges' levelled by either side .jagaiiist- the .other. The mine-owners., /declare that Hey wood has been the arch-litend ' m • a campaign of bloodshed *ihd . intimidation waged with the object, of "putting the fear of God" m the hearts of non-unionists, and thus holding up an all-powerful position for his society. •> „--•• ' Hay wood's supporters, passionately deny that he sanctioned; or had knowledge of the many crimes attributed to . him and his associates, and : allege, on the. other hand, that most of the murders and outrages were instigated by the capitalists and committed by their own hired assassins for the purpose of vilifying the Union. The trial may settle some of these" disputed points, though the defendants' friends openly assert that the State officials asc ABUSING THEIR 'AUTHORITY, and taking steps to render an impartial hearing impossible. Also, they protest forcibly— and apparently with justification— against the .conduct 1 of Mr Roosevelt. During the President's controversy with Mr Harriman, head -of the Union Pacific system- of railroads, , a letter was published m which, above Mr Roose.velt's signature, appeared an intimation that he believed Mr Harriman to be a liar, and comcluded by classing him with Haywood and \ Moyer as "an undesirable citizen." j The Labor' world is greatly incensed at the President of the United States using, as they consider, his high office to influence the course of justice against Haywood before the trial had taken place. More than £25,000 has been col-

: lecte'd 1 by. (Labor, organisations throughout the United States .. towards the prisoners' defence,' countless mass meetings and .parades having been held throughout the country as a protest on behalf of the accused men. Some aspects of this extraordinary case, which have not received publicity >m the Capitalist press, appear below. LAWLESS CAPITALISTS.- - The history of the conflict centres! m the Coeur d'Alene copper mines of Idaho. . Colorado is a. section of' the United States rich m mineral resources. Vast fortunes have been made by speculators m these re-' ; sources. The wealth of the Statehas contributed alike to swell the' fortunes of patriots at home and aliens abroad. ' The practical miner has, therefore, been attracted to Colorado, for, without him the mines could not be worked, nor private fortunes accumulated. Thousands of miners settled m the State j and made it their home. They performed the work which only, the rugged workers of their class could do. Their labor has made the State famous the world over. As their, number increased and the industry of mining extended,, they found asso- | ciation for mutual interest desirable; | and necessary. Their employers did I the same— they combined for the protection of their interests. To .conserve their class interests, always endangered from the encroachments of the employing class, the workers organised the Western Federation of miners. Alter a long career, through many years, during which the organisation grew rapidly, if-' toot up and earnestly advocated the enactment of an eight-hour law m Colorado. The propaganda was carried into every camp, and m due course of time the general public ' came to its support. Eventually the people of,- the State elected a Legislature that put the. overwhelming sentiment m favor of ' ' " AN EIGHT-HOUR LAW into effect, an 'unquestioned majority of the, voters declaring for it at the polls. The mine-owners immediately refused to obey the law, becoming at once the lawless class, and from that day to the present all the lawlessness m Colorado is held by the workers to be traceable to the acts . of' the capitalist class, backed by public officials who have been recreant to the interests of the people and of the. State. The miners repeatedZy went on strike to enforce i.t.he ; law, a law enacted by | Sovereign people of a Sovereign State, .... -and flagrantly violated by the combined employers. The mincpwners, the workers further assert, then hired lawless ruffians to involve the miners sad. their' organisations m trouble and create public disturbances. The class of men who m America will do anything for money, from murder to burning a city or wrecking trains, were employed to become members of the organisation. It is alleged that these scoundrels,

besides spying within the Western Federation of Miners' local Unions, also made it their business to «o whatever they were bidden by their lawless employers m creating violent outbreaks, which were made to appear* as the work of ' the miners . themselves,. Men were killed, builclj ings were burned, trains were wrecks' ed, communities were sacked— all m ; the dastardly attempt and conspiracy •to involve representative miners m i the coils of the laws of a State \ whose laws they had defied. NATIONAL TROOPS ORDERED OUT. This sort of warfare continued until, under the pretext .of maintaining order, those who were responsible for the disorder succeeded m getting the State and National troops ordered out to cope with the situation they had themselves created. "Bull pens" were built and main- ;• tamed m loathsome condition, into which miners arrested on trumpedup charges were thrown. Homes of working-men we're entered, and (the contents ruthlessly destroyed or thrown into the streets. Negro soldiers were used to arrest and maltreat working men, their wives, mothers, and daughters. Miners were driven, at the bayonet's point, from their .homes, and left without . food or shelter m desert places. Men were chained' to telegraph poles and reviled and shamefully abused by the mob, at the head of which was Bulkeley Wells. The report of Carrol D. Wright on the Colorado outrages found that this man, Bulkeley Wells, was one of the leaders of the mob that committed horrible outrages that will for ever damn the mine-owners and big business interests of Colorado, their hired minions and every public official m sympathy with them, however : "exalted" the position they may hold. APPALLING OUTRAGES. ; Carrol D. Wright's report is filled with detailed accounts of the most terrible outrages perpetrated by the mine-owners and their : murderous minions upon perfectly innocent men, women, and children, for no other reason than that they were m sympathy with the miners. On page 200 of the report is recited the revolting story familiar to all who follow the progress of Labor events, of the seizing of five miners, of Telluride, by "thugs" m the employ of the mine-owners, and the forcing of them into a horrid cesspool /to shovel its content's into an excavation. This outrageous indignity of (he alleged "authorities" upon wholly unoffending men,* quite sufficient to provoke murder, was expected to serve as a lesson _to miners to submit without protest to the iron rule, as well as to the exploitation of their masters ! One Union miner, named Harry Make, who refused to work m the cesspool, was handcuffed, and, at the command of the mine-owners, was then chained to a telegraph-pole on a public street. The official report states that he was thus pilloried from 11.20 a.m. to 12. 45 p.m. To come to more recent events, it is now about, 16 months SINCE THE. MURDER of Governor Frank Steunenberg. He was killed by the explosion of a bomb as he was entering liis home at .Caldwell. The bomb had been placed beneath^ his front is such a way that the. opening ol the gate exploded it. The victim's body was literally blown to pieces. In the search for the murderer, suspicion was soon directed towards a former convict named Orchard. Orchard was arrested, and, so it is said by the prosecution, confessed the crime, implicating m the murder Charles Moyer, William Haywood, and George Pettibone, the president, secretary, and a member, "respectively, of the Western. Federation of Miners. These men were practically kidnapped m Denver, Colorado, and taken to Idaho, where they have siuce been imprisoned. The friends of the accused men assert that the arrest was accomplished by grossly iflcgal means. The action of . the authorities, it is asserted, greatly prejudiced public opinion, and was but part of the general plot instigated by the wealthy mine-owners to railroad the men to the gallows. To understand the situation, ft is necessary to review briefly some of the earlier phases of the case,

AUTHORITIES BREAK THE LAW

It is generally conceded that neither Mover, Haywood, nor Pettabone was m the State of Idaho when the murder was committed. .The authorities 'both of 'Idaho a<nd Colorado, it. is said, were perfectly well aware of this fact. 'As the law. stands, the men were not legally fugitives from justice, and could not be extradited. The authorities m Idaho, -whore public feeling ran very high,. were determined to bring tha men into the State, and, it is asserted,, disregarded the law m order to do so. The legal proceedings, by which the law was evaded, was as follows : Tine prosecuting attorney of Canon County, Idaho, first made affidavit .that the al-log-c'd murderers were m Idaho at the time of the murder. The counsel for the defe'iidants insist that m doing- so he was clearly committing perjury, and was .well aware of the fact. These affidavits were then signed by Governor Goodiiiijr, who, the miners allege, was guilty of the same crime against the law. On reaching Colorado the re.qjUisi'tion papers were presented to Governor McDonald on February 15, 1906, who promptly honored them. Friends of the accused bitterly assail Goviernor McDonald for this action, since it is asserted he mus-t have known that the men were not fugitives from justice.

A STORM OF PROTEST . followed till© removal of-, the men from Colorado. The friends of the accused throughout the country ■ctuickly raised considerable sums of money, the best legal .advice obtainable was secured, and proceedings were at once begun to obtain their release. The first suit was brought m the Supreme Oourt of Idaho, but was unsuccessful. From the State Supreme Court the matter was carried to the United States District Court, with the same result. An appeal was taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, which affirmed the decision of the lower Court.

Still, another claim of conspiracy is m-a-cle against the Government by the counsel for the defence. It is said that, a man named "Steve" Adams, who was ( >nftned with Orchard, was also m League with the Government. Adams is said to have mads confession of his guilt, and obtained his release. Immediately he went over to the defence and repudiated the alleged confession, and staged that it was all

written out, and that he had been forced to sign it at

THE POINT OF THE PISTOL. Adams was charged with the murder of a "claim jumper" m Snoshone County some years 'before. This, the defence believes, was done m the hope that he would be convicted, and that he might be induced to testify a-gai-nst Moyer and Haywood on the promise of obtaining his own liberty.

One of the claims of the defence will be that of lack of sufficient motive to account for the alleged murder. Governor Steunenberg was known to have few enemies, nor were these supposed to have feelings of particular bitterness. He had -been elected Governor of Idaho on the populist ticket m 1807. His majority, as a matter of fact, was largely due to the support of a great number of miners, whose representatives are now on trial for his murder. The attitude of the miners underwent a change, however, during the famous strike m 1899 m the Coeur d'Alene mines. Excitement ran high, and Governor Steunenberg was appealed to- At the time the militia was serving m the Philippines and was therefore not available. In this crisis, President. -McKinley ordered a considerable

FORCE OF FEDERAL TROOPS to the soe-ne. Tho troops resorted to the most drastic measures.

But the strike was forgotten by all except those directly interested, Other conflicts arose between the mine owners and miners. Other acts of violence had been committed, and order again restored. Governor Steunenberg had returned to private life, and his connection with the strike had apparently been forgotten, when the country was shocked by the news of the assassination.

It is not denied by the defence that Orchard killed Governor- Steunenberg. It is 'denied , however, that he was theagent o-f the -Western Federation of Miners, hired by its officials. Tlvo defence even doubts that Orchard ever made such a statement, for no one aside from the State authorities . has sos-n the confession.' lt it helievod that Orchard had a p&rso-nal motive m killj ing Stcunembcrg. 'At the time- of the. Coeur d'Alen-c trouble Orchard was work-ing m- that district. He was one of the strikers driven out by the troops. He had at the time a sixth interest m the Hercules Mine, which he had to dispose of for some £150. Shortly before the assassination of Steunenbcrg, Orchard visited his old haunts .m the Cover d'Alenc district, wh-ero he met 'bis former associates who were interested with him m the Hercules mine. The property had hteen developed, and was valued at £1,500, 000. Orchard's former companions were wealthy, while he was poor. -Ho blamed Stcu'nenb-ere for his condition, and In this 'frame of mind he went to Caldwell, determined to wreak vengeance on the man he held responsible. TORTURED TO CONFESS. Suspicion has been cast on the genuineness of Orchard's confession. The miners certainly do not place much faith m the word of the notorious Pinberton detective, James McParlan, who extorted it from Orchard by methods little less barbarous than those of the Inciuisition. McParlan introduced himself to Orchard as a former miner and sympathiser with deeds of violence m Labor's cause. Finding that wo information could be got out. of the prisoner, he had Orchard put into a ■ solitary cell, and forbade the prison guards to utter onn word to him or m his presence. In due course the prisoner grew nervous, then sleepless, and finally his healtn broke. Then. McParlan, who had learned' all about Orchard's antecedents, walked into his cell, with the remark). "I wonder what your old mother at will say when she reads ot the fix you are m ?" Orchard sprang, from his chair. "'Wihat do you know about my mother ?" lie demanded.

His • curiosity was not satisfied at oaice, 'but a day or two later the detective' returned and had a long conversation with the prisoner about his childhood's frame, his relatives, and former associates. The upshot was that Orchard agreed

TO MAKE A CONFESSION, and did make a conifession*, - which it took McParlan three days to write down. Th<e confession is the principal piece of evidence against Haywood. Orchard is 'said to have become so weakened m -body and mi-ntl as, to renCor him unfit to give evidence m court. Whether the prosecution has confirmatory -evidence remains to foe seen. The laws of Idaho do npt allow an accused person to be convicted on the unsupported evidence of an accomplice. , It is asserted that Orchard, m his sworn statement to the detective, represents himsalf as the hired assassin of the Western Federation of Miners. He claims to have been the perpetrator of no less than 26 dastardly crimes, resulting m the death of scores of persons. In all these crimes he acted, he declares, under the direction of the "inner circle" of the Western Federation of Miners, consisting of Haywood, Moyer, Pettibone," and Simpkins, the two last-named being minor officers m the Federation. Simpkins has disappeareid. So much for the account given m "Reynold's Newspaper," which is probably indebted for its information to the New York "Daily People." The New York "Worker" publishes the following' account of what the counsel for the t accused, men think of the jury :—

In an interview with Messrs. Darrow and Richardson, counsel for the defence, after the empanelling :of the jury to-day, the following statement was made 'by them :—

•■The jurors appear to be men of honest .purposes, determined to give the defendants a fair trial, but it is uniformly made up of a class to which none of the defendants has ever belonged, and which has no natural kinship to labor organisations. In addition to this, they are drawn from a small county, almost wholly agricultural, and each member for a year and a half has read little about the case except what has been contained m the Boise daily papers, and this has been uniformly hostile to the defendants. Nearly all pf them admitted that they had formed opinions and impressions from what they read, and, necesarily, these must have been against thie defendants."

Durffing the week the cable announced that the jury had acquitted- Haywood on a charge of being concerned m the murder of Governor Steunenr berg. This' verdict has been considered as a complete exoneration of the inner circle pf the Western Miners' Federation. It is now expected that the charges against Moyer and Pettti))oiis will be"a]jan'doned 4