JURY DEADLOCK,

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 171, 7 April 1923, Page 6

JURY DEADLOCK,

A REMARKABLE TRIAL COMMUNISM'IN AMERICA (Reo. April 6, 7.25 p.m.) New York, April 5 A telegram from St. Joseph, Michigan, states: One of the most unusual trials ever held in the United States ended hopelessly in a deadlock of the jury, six against six, when the State of Michigan attempted to secure the. -onviction of William Foster for violation of the State law making criminal anarchy a felony punishable by ten years’ imprisonment „ Foster was one of thirty-two alleged members of the Communist party in America. He was arrested more than a year ago during a secret conclave at which, so prosecuting counsel averred, plans were formulated under the direction of the Russian Soviet for a proletariat revolution in America. Foster’s trial lasted for two months. There was much sensational evidence purporting to show the machinations of Communists in America, and the Soviet’s furtherance of insidious propaganda. The defence, which .did not. deny Communist principles, declared that no violence had been advocated; it also reclared that the law was a violation of the constitutional right of free speech. The jury was discharged and the Judge ordered Rutlienberf, another of the'arrested men, to be tried on April IG.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.