Newspaper Page Text
14
IDAHO’S GREAT TRIAL AROUT TO REGIN
P! < wm
b|M W
Bg \4Sgf
I l?\.
f v\ V '
i
■7!y ;
CHARLES H. MOYER.
President of the Western Fed
eration of Miners, indicted for the
alleged murder of ex-Governor
Steunenberg of Idaho.
;i ” !
(The New York Times.)
No one living in the Rocky Moun
tain regions can have an unprejudiced
opinion regarding the coming Steun
enberg murder trial. This is the most
important event that has occurred in
Western America in recent years, and
when William D. Haywood, Secretary
of the Western Federation of Miners,
is arraigned in Boise, Idaho, May 9,
charged with the murder of Idaho's
Governor, he will have half the popu
lation of the entire Western country
with him and half against him. This
is the culmination of a long line of
bloodshed in the mining camps, be
ginning in the Coeur d’Alenes mines
fifteen years ago, and culminating in
the bloody mining riots in Colorado.
The prosecution will attempt to show
that all the crimes in the mining
camps which appeared at the time
to have their motive in the existing
bad feeling between the mine ewners
and the Western Federation of Min
ers were planned by the “Inner Cir
cle” of the Federation. Os this the
three officials indicted for the murder
of Gov. Steunenberg were members,
and the crimes committed were sup
posed to be carried out under their di
rections. The defense is confident of
its ability to disprove these allega
tions, as well as the charges made in
Orchard’s confession, described fur-
& ■’w l JWi
Biw ®L i
We Commenced Selling Good
Clothing Sixteen Years Ago
We improve our Manufacturing facilities with every season’s advent. We can’t
possibly see where there’s any room for improving our Clothing. We know there’s no
room to improve prices. But they have always been very reasonable.
New Spring Suits for Mens7.so, $lO, $12.50, sls, S2O, $25.
Boys’ and Children’s Suitssl.so, $2, $3, $4, $5, $6.50.
Men’s Pantssl.so, $2, $2.50, $3, $4, $5, $6.50, $7.50.
Everything that’s right in Hats and Furnishings.
Mail Orders:—'Samples of Suits or Pants will be sent to any address. But always give
size and price goods wanted.
THE GLOBE CLOTHING COMPANY
89-91 WHITEHALL ST., ATLANTA, GA.
WATSON’S WEEKLY JEFFERSONIAN.
Chiefs of the Western Federation of Miners, Accused of the
Mdtder of Former Governor Steunenberg, Soon
to Face a Jury.
ther on in this article.
At the time of the Wardner riots in
the Coeur d’Alenes, Governor Steun
enberg, in the absence of the Idaho
militia in the Philippines asked for
Federal aid, and Gen. Merriam estab
lished such stringent military rule
that Gov. Steunenberg gained the en
mity of the entire Western Federation
of Miners. Two years later Steunen
berg retired from office and returned
to his home in Caldwell. Four years
later, returning home from his office
at six o’clock on the night of Decem
ber 30, 1905, he swung open his gar
den gate, and a mine that had been
set for him exploded and tore his body
to pieces. His head was found a block
away.
Two Confessions Made.
Investigation implicated Harry Or
chard and Stephen Adams in the mur
der, and both confessed. In their con
fessions they stated that they were
the tools of the “Inner Circle” of the
Western Federation of Miners, and
implicated the officials of the Federa
tion in a long list of murders and at
tempted murders. Charles H. Moyer,
President; William D. Haywood, Sec
retary, and George A. Pettibone, Com
mitteeman, all members of the “Inner
Circle,” were “kidnapped” in Colorado
on hurried extradition proceedings
and rushed to Idaho on a special
train. Though indictments were
brought against them a year ago, their
trials have not yet taken place. Or
chard has since become greatly weak
ened mentally and Adams has retract
ed his confession, saying that it was
obtained from him by coercion and
undue influence.
All Idaho is torn between the prose
cution and defense in this trial. Al
though broken by great ranges of
mountains and divided into separate
sections by lack of through railroad
connections, Idaho is a unit and its
progressive citizens are well acquaint
ed in all parts of the State. The pop
ulation is small, but enlightened. Rich
mines and irrigated farms have pro
duced a great deal of wealth, and the
resultant culture has not weakened
the moral fibre of its citizens. The
people of Idaho are a very high class
of Americans. Among this class of
people Gov. Steunenberg was well
known and liked. His action in call
ing for aid to end the Wardner riots
was approved by them.
This is one-half the population of
Idaho. The other half is composed
of miners. These are largely Slavs,
Finns, and Scandinavians. Among
them is a scattering of American-born
miners, but only a scattering. They
are in thorough sympathy with the
Independent Workers of the World, a
semi-anarchistic organization, which
recently called unfavorable attention
to itself in Goldfield, Nev., when at
one of its meetings the American flag
was jeered. There is at the present
time a dissension in the Western Fed
eration of Miners rgarding their af
filiation with the Independent Work
ers of the world. The inclination to
break away has been growing steadily
In the event of the conviction of Moy
er, Haywood, and Pettibone, there will
probably be an entire change of spirit
in the Western Federation of Miners.
The prosecution of Moyer, Haywood
and Pettibone has been made a labor
issue throughout the United States.
For a year and more meetings have
been held, ending with a sensational
series in all the large cities a few
Weeks ago, in which the prosecution
was declared a persecution, and the
question was asked, “Shall our broth
ers be murdered?” The purpose of
these meetings was to obtain money
with which to conduct the defense
and over a quarter of a million dollars
has been raised.
There is tremendous interest in the
coming trial all through the West,
even in portions where there are no
mines or miners. It is most talked of
in labor circles. There the spirit re
garding the trial is good. All the
labor unions ask is a fair and speedy
trial. The general tendency of the
labor unions to defend any action in
the name of unionism is checked on
this occasion by the enormity of the
crimes with which the defendants are
charged. They have reserved their
judgment and are willing to stand by
the judgment of any twelve good men.
The Western Federation of Miners
is hardly so conservative, but in the
city of San Francisco, where union la
bor is in control, the leaders, while
taking part in the exciting meetings
held for the purpose of raising money
for the defense, counsel sanity. Still,
at the last mass meeting held on be
half of these prisoners in San
Francisco the American flag was torn
down and trampled upon.
The trial will cost the State of Idaho
over $200,000. The defense expects to
spend even more. It has a million dol
lars blonging to the Western Federa
tion of Miners, besides the quarter of
a million raised in public meetings.
James H. Hawley, formerly a well
known California lawyer, now of
JFr’'
/ raffß
WILLIAM D. HAYWOOD.
Secretary-treasurer of the West
ern Federation of Miners, charged
with the assassination of ex-Gov
ernor Steunenberg of Idaho.
Boise, Idaho, and Senator W. E. Borah
of Idaho, are leading counsel for the
prosecution. Clarence Darrow of Chi
cago will head the defense. His prin
cipal assistants are Ex-Gov. John T.
Morrison and John F. Nugent of Idaho,
the firm of Richardson, Patterson &
Hawkins of Denver, and lawyers from
every town in the West in which the
Western Federation of Miners has had
trouble. " - .. .
The trial will be long and hard
fought. In the first place, it will be
difficult to secure a jury in a State
where every one takes a vital interest
in the trial. The prosecution will ex
ert every possible effort to secure the
conviction of Haywood, as the hope of
fastening the long line of Colorado
murders on the officials of the West
ern Federation of Miners depends on
the validity of the confession of Harry
Orchard and its power to convict.
The defense then petitioned for
change of venue frim Caldwell to
Boise. This was granted by Judge
Wood, the defense agreeing not to
bring up the question of change of
venue again. Judge Wood then set the
trial of Haywood for May 9 in Boise.
About this trial centres the greatest
interest, as the fate of Haywood will
decide the fate of the others, since all
three of the indicted men were equally
implicated by Orchard’s confession.
**« «SjpP