THE IDAHO INFAMY.

NZ Truth, Issue 133, 17 August 1907, Page 7

THE IDAHO INFAMY.

HAYWOOD PROVED INNOCENT.

Fury; of the Plutish Press.

Prebafcle Packed Jury for Moyer and Pettibon§i

Indignant Irishmen Demand a Fair Trial.

Greatly to the astonishment, indignation, and disappointment of the capitalistic press of Australasia, Haywood, who, with two other officers of the Western Miners' Federation of the United States, was put on trial upon a charge of having murdered the Governor of Idaho, has been found to be innocent. It appears that the jury, who certainly had no bias m favor of the prisoners, gave the most careful attention to the case, and deliberated for no less >& time than twenty-one hours. At the first taking of the "ballot," we are told; it was found that there were eight members of the jury convinced of "the innocence of the accused man, while four of them were of the opinion, says the cablegrams, that the accused was guilty of "some degree of murder." On talking the evidence over with the other .jurymen, however, the four came to the same .conclusion as -the eight, and the jury came to the. unanimous decision that the man was innocent. G. W. Smalley, the New York correspondent of the London Tory "Times," was • VERY MUCH SURPRISED, so he says, at the verdict, and he says that the newspaper correspondents of Denver, Colorado, were also surprised. 'Furthermore, he says that the utmost that, the friends of the accused expected was a disagreement of the jury-' This may be quite true, for none of the members of the jury appear to have had any sympathy with . trade unionism. They were' all mainly of the agricultural class, and were all drawn from ono small county, the inhabitants of which had read nothing for nearly a year but lying newspaper articles on the alleged "trade m murder" carried on by the accused persons. This is the description of the jury that was given b£ one. of the counsel fbr the defence :— "The Haywood jury consists of nine farmers, one real estate agent, one building contractor, and one foreman of fence construction on a railroad. There is no man on the jury who works for. wages or who has ever belonged to a labor organisation/excepting Burns, who was a member of the Carpenters' Union fourteen years ago, or who has ever been a student of trades unionism OR THE LABOR QUESTION. In the two hundred odd jurors draw.ii, not more than three trade unionists were placed m the panel, and these were excused for conscientious objections to capital punishment and fixed opinions. The jurors drawn have been mainly farmers, interspersed with a large number of bankers and business men." In spite of the fact that the jury was thus constituted, and that the State of Idaho, backed by the Smelter Trust, spared no expense to bring about a conviction, the jury acquitted the accused man Havwood, whereat the newspapers of America are obviously ferociously indignant, and their indignation )3 ( shared by the newspapers of Australia. The "Sydney Morning Herald," which evidently hoped that) the man Haywood ' WOULD BE SLAUGHTERED, just as the innocent Anarchists of Chicago were slaughtered some years ago, says that the verdict is "amazing," and suggests that the jury may have been bribed, or influenced by "sentimentality." Yet this is what the Public Prosecutor of the State of Idaho said of the Haywood jury. which he no doubt hoped would "railroad" Haywood to the gallows. This was said by James H. Hawley, leading counsel for the State of Idaho :— "We are thoroughly satisfied with the jury. We have twleve fair-mind-ed men, who will •do even justice between the . Sta^e and the defendant. They are all' good citizens of Ada County. and, I believe, without the slightest prejudice, and we are willing to await their verdict m confidence after the evidence is all m." Speaking of the great demonstration m the streets of New York, that took place some months ago, m favor of giving the accused A FAIR TRIAL, the New York correspondent of the Tory "Times" denounces the men who took part therein at "ignorant foreigners," who will think that they have won a victory over the laws of the .United States. The "Sydney Morning .Herald. accepts this statement as absolutely true. This is' what may be expected from the "Herald," who, although it is perpetually howling, for immigrants', .when it finds that some of the immigrant Englishmen are not snivelling slaves, denounces them as "foreign agitators." The men who took part m the New York demonstration were the flower of the working class of New York. A certain Dr. Brann denounced them as "a horde," upon which a number of Irishmen who had taken part m the demonstration issued a fine and dignified protest, from which we take the following excerpts :— "At a recent meeting of the Irish Socialist Federation of New York (a body composed exclusively of Socialists of IRISH BIRTH AND PARENTAGE) the late uncalled for attack by Dr. Brann upon the demonstration m favor of a fair trial for the imprisoned leaders of the Western Federation of Miners was taken up for discussion. As this statement of this reverend gentleman that there were who took part therein as "ignorant^ regarded by the members present as a reflection upon the public spirit of our countrymen, placing them before the American public as being indifferent or hostile to a demand for justice, the following statement^ was prepared for publication m criticism of his position and, in vindication of the character . OF THOSE IRISH who marched m the "horde," as Dr. j 1 Braßß elegantly terms the flower of \

the organised workers of New York. .... Are we to hear gentlemen like the Rev. Dr. Brann hurl insult and abuse at a gathering of 60 000 working men and women, and . set himself to sneer at men and women because of theii alleged foreign, birth and to echo every appeal to the basest passion of the lowest element of know-no th ing-ism ? As Irish men and women we repudiate with j scorn his attempt to represent our j race as hostile to the labor move- ! nrent, or as quiescent m the j FACE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. I . . . Let all the Dr. Branns take notice that the working class is on its march, that its march is not the carefully-organised bluster of a few • politicians and their hirelings, but the spontaneous manifestations of a class, conscious that it holds the future of society m its hands.,; and resolved to tolerate no further outrages from the beneficiaries of a system, they know to be hurrying headlong to its downfall. In that onward march of the working class the sons and daughters of THE EMERALD ISLE are taking and will take the part worthy of the traditions of a race that never faltered -'in the face of danger, that for. over 700 years has never surrendered m its struggle against injustice. "Fellow countrymen/ m our land we have Jong seen the packed juries give our best and bravest to the j hangman's, rope. Shall we stand idly by while the same atrocious crimes of power are -feeing consummated here ? Elizabeth G. Flyma, .;;.:. ' ' Thos. O' Shau ghnessy, ■ T^ji John Mulry, ;W : Rat! L. Quinlan, : '" James Connolly, Committee Irish Socialist Federation. John Lyng, secretary." The talk about mon being "foreigners" is, indeed, entirely hostile to the SPIRIT OF, CHRISTIANITY, and is only utilised as an appeal to the instincts of the most degraded, narrow-minded, and ignorant sections of the community. Neither Americans nor Australians can consistently say anything against "foreigners," for, as regards Englishmen, Daniel De Foe long ,ago proved, m the "True-born Englishman, " that the Englishman is simply the outcome of a remarkable hotch-potch of racial commingling m which the Low German tribe of the Engles or Angles (the original English) has been entirely lost. As for the Americans, they are of a more extraordinary j mixture than even the English, and, as shown by the lynchings that so frequently take place m America, the corruption of American municipalities, and the impunity with which murders -can be committed by men like millionaire Thaw, the civilisation of the United States is inferior to that of most of the countries of Europe. The word "foreigner" is, m any case, a harsh and offensive word to apply to any man, no matter what country he comes from. In Italy a euphemism is used : the Italian calls the native of another country •not a foreigner, but . a "forester." In some other countries he is called a stranger. It was thought that the charge against Mover and Pettibone would have been abandoned after the ' ACQUITTAL OF HAY WOOD, but the Governor of Idaho says that this shall not be done, and that their trial is to be proceeded with rigorously. This probably means that a more determined attempt will be made to secure a packed jury. A further cablegram sa.ys tha^t three "notorious" anarchists sent to the President of the United States a telegram . rejoicing m the acquittal of' Hay wood, and that the President published it "without comment." It 'is certainly about time that he ceased to comment on the Idaho cases, for his comments have already been outrages upon fair play' that have excited ' the utmost indignation of many citizens of the United States. It was Roosevelt who termed the just acquitted Haywood and the other two accused men murderers. It was also he who, later, called them "undesirable citizens." It is not from any lack of effort on . the part of the President of the United States that Haywood has not^ been, found guilty. As for anarchists rejoicing at the acquittal of an innocent man, it is rather to their credit that they have done this : only ghouls and vampires wish to see innocent men done to death. Probably one of the alleged "notorious anarchists" is the Englishman, Macqueen, whose diabolical treatment by certain of the authorities of the United States has been described by H. G. Wells m his recent book on America.