AMERICAN CRIME.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 15 June 1907, Page 4

AMERICAN CRIME.

THE IDAHO MURDER TRIAL, Tliu cable columns of this paper have in the last few days contained some re tcroncca t" ,i most sematio>ia! murder trial now preceding at Boise, Idaho, U.S.A. The trial concerns the dentil of an cx-CioveiTci of Idaho, but it hi>s a wider significance than a mere murder ease. It is cue phase of a gigantic battle between organised capital ami organised labor ill the Western Stales of America. In a long and interesting article! the Sew York Outlook gives the whole history of the struggle, and from that article we make the following extracts:— j "Frank Siteciiberg, a respected citi- • zeii and lornier (lovernor or Idaho, was .assassinated December 30th, l!)i)j. Almost at the threshold of ]jis door lie was literally blown to pieces by a bomb placed with such devilish ingenuity that a Russian Anarchist might well shudder at tlii! thought of employing such an agent of destruction.

'After more than twelve months' incarceration in an Idaho prison, the alleged murderers are about to be brought to trial. 'I he eyes of the entire country lire centred en Idaho. It is no ordinary murder trial. Important issues, Home of the country, are involved. In a degree, the. rights arid liberties of American citizens are at stake, for the Supreme Court, of the United States has in this case, according to the dissenting opinion of one of its own members, vii" tually legalised the crime of kidnapping, when committed by State olliieals. ''Shall death on the gallows end the career of the leaders of the worst criminal conspiracy that call be conceived, or shall the lives of innocent men be sacrificed in the furtherance of a counterconspiracy ? Is the outcome of the trial to be the dramatic climax of series of murders planned in wholesome fashion by men of power and influence in the world of labor, or will it result in disclosing a plot on the pari of men influential ill the world of finance to send to the gallows the leaders of those who have thwarted them in their plans? Those are the questions to be determined by an Idaho jury, and circumstantial evidence is not wanting to show either or both conspiracies.

ANARCHY BEtiINS. 'Tn order to make clear the situation, it is necessary to take up the story at the beginning, Frank Steuenberg ' had few known enemies. lie was elected (.'overnor of Tdaho as a Populist in 1807, largely by the votes of the miners whose accredited leaders are now on trial charged with complicity in the murder. During a strike in the Coeur d'Alene district in 180!) a mill nt AVardner was blown up by a mob of union miners. The sherifT of the county sympathised with the strikers and made no effort to bring the ringleaders to justice. (Governor Steune'nberg was appealed to. The State militia was serving in the Philippines, and President MeKinley sent Federal troops to the district. Lawlessness was put down by the most drastic measures. Ifen were arrested and thrown into a •bull-pen' in hundreds. Others were driven from the district by the military forces. Governor Steunenberg, the pinion printer,' was held responsible by the miners. The strike was forgotten by all except those directly interested. Other industrial conflicts had arisen between the mine-owners and the miners. Other acts of violence had been committed, and order had again been restored nt the point of the bayonet. 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 his assassination. Tt was a cruel, cold-blood-ed murder. A bomb had been placed under the gate leading to his residence in a little suburb of Caldwell, and so arranged that the victim in opening the gate fired the infernal machine that blew him into cternitv.

"Marry Orchard was arrested anil charged with His- iiiine. Hi- was one of tin- few men who was lint known in the town and who could give no satisfactory account of himself. A detective named McParland wtfs called into the case. Orchard is said to have confessed to McI'arland that lie ]daced the liomli which killed Stcunenbcrg. He said he was assisted liy .1. L. Simpkins, an organiser of

the. Western Federation of Minors. Sinikins escaped from the State, and lias never been apprehended. In his confession (the details of which lmve never been fully made known) Orchard implicated Charles I!. Mover, President of the Western Federation of Miners, William D. Ilaywood, secretary of the same organisation, and Oeorge A. Pettibnne. a former member of the union who conducted a store in Denver in which it is alleged the bomb was made. " A MOTIVE FOll VENCEANCE, "That Orchard killed Stouueuberg is not denied by attorneys for the dctcnce. That much of his confession they admit. Tliey deny, however, that he was the agent of the Western Federation of Miners, hired by its officials. Indeed, tliey doubt that Orchard ever made such a statement, for im> one aside from the State authorities have seen the confession. That Orchard had a personal motive in killing Steunenberg the defence will endeavor to prove to the jury. At the time of the Cocur iFAlene troubles Orchard was working in that district, lie was one of the strikers driven ouL by the troops. lie had at the time a sixth intenst in the Hercules Aline, which he

lad to dispose of for liOll dollars. A few weeks previous to the assassination of Steuncnhi'ig, Orchard visited his 'ild haunts in the Coeur d'Alene district, lie met his former associates wdio were interested with him in the Hercules .Mine. That property has been developed, and was valued at ti.OIKMMJO dollars. Orchard's former companions were, rich, while lie was virtually a wanderer ou the face of the earth, lie blamed Steunenlierg for his condition, and in this frame of mind went to Caldwell, determined to wreak von the mail ho held responsible • midcr of Steuuenberg was the result. This is the theory of the defence."

The Outlook goes on In show that although neither Mover. Haywood nor IVUibmie was in Idaho when the murder was committed, yet they were arrested

in Denver. Colorado, upon warrant secured by perjury, and extradited to Idaho. They appealed through successive voip-ts against being thus kidnapped,' but wero finally decided against by the Supreme Court of the Cnitcd States. There seems to have been no doubt, that their nrre.-t was iUeir-il under State law. The action of the authorities hi this connection is quoted as evidence of a conspiracy on the pari of the State authorities and mine owners. But there are of her suggestions tending in the same direction. CONFESSIONS OF OimiK. ''Confined with Orchard for a time in a prison in Uoisc was a man named Sieve Adams. lie was a member of the Western Federation, and was suspected of complicity in the Independence out rag" and other mnnieis in Colorado. He was said to have inside a confession of his guilt. Adams secured his release on a writ of habeas corpus and immediately went over to I he side of the defence. Me repudialed the alleged confession, and deiclared that it was all written out and lhal. lie was compelled to sign it on paiu I of dentil, 'lie told some stnuige talcs

'about the way in which the Orchard confession was secured. Adams was rearrested, and charged with the. murder of a 'claim-jumper' in Shoshone County some years before. This the defence believed was done in the hope that lie would be convicted and that he might be induced to testify against Meyer and Haywood on the promise of securing his own liberty.

"it has been charged by the millers that Orchard was a detective employed by the Cripple Creek .Mine Owners' Association. The mine-owners deny this, and there, is no proof that he was. Those wlto know him say that lie is a desperate character, who might be hired to do murder by anyone who paid him his own price, whether miner or mine-owner, For years he has been known as the intimate friend of llavwood. At the time of his arrest he was wanted by the Colorado authorities oil a charge of blowing np the railway station at Independence and causing the death of thirteen nun-uiii in miners. He is said to have confessed to tiiat crime and to lining committed

tWeillv-six murders as (lie agent of the 'inner circle' of the Western Federation of Miners. "Kven should the prisoners be acquitted of the charge of planning the, murder of SLcuiicnberg, numerous murders committed iu Colorado within the past few years are charged against them. There is strong circumstantial evidence that a conspiracy to commit wholesale murder actually existed as charged by the prosecution iu this ease. 111 addition to being implicated in the murder of Steunenbcrg, the leaders now in gaol are accused, according to the alleged Orchard confession, of planning the murders of Lyte Gregory, a. detective mysteriously killed iu West Denver throe years ago; Arthur Collins, superintendent of a mine at Telhu ide, shot through a window in liis own home; Martin Gleason, superintendent of a mine in Cripple Creek, thrown down a shaft; Martin B. Walley, killed byi the explosion of a bomb placed 011 a vacant lot through which Chief Just ice Cliibbert. of the Supreme Court, was accustomed to walk; the blowing up of the Independence railway platform, and a list of other crimes of the most revolting nature.

A RFfGN OF TERROR. "To comprehend the extent of this conspiracy it is necessary to know something of the history of the Western Federation of Miners. That history is a record of strikes, bloodshed and lawlessness. Tt is true the lawlessness has. not always been on the side oT the miners, but they or their leaders have been responsible for ranch of it. Armed force has been advocated by its leaders since President Boycc in 185)7 urged every union to organse a rifle clnb. In si speech in a convention of the Industrial Workers of the World in Chicago in .Inly,. HKm, Haywood said that the American Federation of Labor had some ■2,000,000 members, while the Western Federation of Miners had 28.000, 'but/ he said, 'with that small membership we can strike more terror to the hearts of !the capitalist*'limn can the American Federation of Labor.' Terror they have struck, not only to the hearts of the capitalists, but to all who have in any way incurred their displeasure. A large majority of the men who compose the membership of the Western Federation dill'er but little from the men in other labor organisations. They are honest, hard-working miners, with as much respect for law and order as other citizens in the communities where they live, rt should be understood that the Western | Federation is not on trial, although some of its friends are anxious to have it appear that it is. It is the leaders who are accused of Hie crimes and atrocities which have made the organisation a byword among labor unions, '•The abolition of the wage system and class hatred are constantly preached to the membership through Hie weekly publication of the union. 'Labor produces all wealth: wealth belongs to the producer thcrolV is the motto emblazoned on the official paper and the working cards of the members. This saying may be interpreted ill different ways. How Tar if is responsible for the pilfering of ore in liiiili-g.ade. mines is problematic, but the mine owners assert that since, the Federation rule was broken in the Cripple Creek district they have saved .1000,000 dollars a year from that source alone. The truth of the statement may be questioned, however, since the mineowners recently abolished the card system enforced for two years in the hope that the old miners who were deported

might return. MAFIA METHODS. '\lt was not open lawlessness, however,, that made the miners feared by those who opposed them. The open outbreaks were infrequeut and it was only during strikes that the atmosphere was charged with the spirit which makes mob violence possible. It was the secret murders that were a common that kept the wholi community in dread. It is true that few, if any, of those murders have been brought home to men in a position of power in the union. Such meu have on a few occasions been indicted and acquitted when brought to trial. This, perhaps, need not be wondered at when it is understood that juries were afraid to return a verdict of guilt. As an illustration, a watchman caught two union miners stealing ore. They were tried and acquitted. A short time afterwards tin; watchman's house was blown up with dynamite.

"That an "inner circle' existed in the Western Federation of Miners is a. matter of common belief. That the men in the 'inner circle" arc responsible for the crimes that have been committed against those who had incurred the displeasure of the union is also believed by many. Men prominent in organised labor circles in Denver and other cities privately shake their heads and say that "it looks bad.' while they publicly de-

inunee the manner in which Mover and Haywood were taken from Colorado. Whether an "inner circle' exists, and whether Mover and Haywood are members nf it. are questions for an ldalio jury to determine when it has heard all the evidence. To the impartial observer it appears more than a coincidence thai, dozens of individuals who had troubles with the union met violent deuths. The mine-owners have reported fo many tin- | scrupulous methods to 'discredit the miners' organisation, but'it is hardly ronceivable Ihnt' they \vould wantonly murder non-union men in their employ. fi Is liardly conceivable thai they could have planned to blow up the station platform at Independence and kill th- men who were helping them to operate their mines. Haywood pretends to believe (hat they did, but few will ngree with him. The miners assort that when fJeneral Beardon. President of the Mineowners' Associaf -on, learned of ther.v.uH of the explosion he was heard to exclaim.; Wlv Cod! we did not intend to kill anybody!'

CoT TilK POST. Business Man (In applicant): 'Well. \our references are excelleul, and you appear lo be a pushing traveller. I suppose vou have never been in trouble of any kind ?' Appli-.mf: Ve., :.ir. J vas once in prison foe Ibree weeks. Business man ftaken aback): Well er—indeed, I am afraid tlmt-but wh;U were you in prison for? Applicant : For nearly killing a man who refused to give mo an order. Business man: Vou arc engaged.