Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-10-20
CLEARFIELD Pa, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1877

v vania are the l27th and l2sth section
d of the Act of March 81, 1860, whic
s merely fix the punishment for the con
} mon law crimes, and the Act of Jun
O. II, 1872, of which we will speak her,
20 after The essence Of the crime ofc
y spiracy is in the combination or aere,
\ ment to act together, and the crime
9 complete when such an agreement
D. made, whether ANYTHING is done 4
j. pursuance Of theli conspiracy or moi
o The combination or agreement to &C
+ together need not be in writing, no
Y made by any formal spoken words.
s parties by common consent act Ia
q gether in carrying out an unlawful pur
+ pose, the law implies or presumes al
s agreementto 40 act Such combina
!, ton or agreement need not be, ant
D generally cannot be, proven by th,
Q direct testimony ofa witness who hear,
; the agreement made, Its existenc,
. can generally DC shown only by fact
, and circumstances from which tie iur,
0 are irresistibly led TO infer that sucl
, an agreement must have been made
: If n large number ofpersons ars showr
, TO have acted in concert at different
times and in different places for th,
accomplishment of the same object
, the inference is irresistible that they
have agreed to act together to ac
complish the object in view.-
! But whenever the Commonwealth
attempts to prove that any particu
, lar individual is a party to a con
} spiracy by circumstantial evidence
that is, by his acts, declarations and
surroundings, she is held to the rules
governing circnmstantial evidence in
other cases. All of the facts relied up
on must be full and satisfactorily
proven for if the facts themselves are
in doubt, the inference to be drawn
from them of the prisoners guilt must
also remain in doubt These facts
must also be consistent, not only with
the theory of the defendants guilt, but
with one another. They must also be
Of conclusive character, so as to alb
solutely exclude every other rea-
sonable hypothesis than that Of the
defendants guilt; for if all the facts
proven in the case are susceptible of be-
ing fairly explained upon the theory
OF the defendants innocence, they can
not be said TO prove his guilt. Whom
over an unlawful combination or agree
ment is once made all persons who,
knowing Of the same, afterwards come
in and take part in carrying out the
common purpose, become guilty of the
conspiracy, although they were not
original parties to the agreement. /
will now read the Act OF January II,
1872, and explain the change il has
made in the law, as laid down by Chief
Justice Agnew: at shall be lawful
for any laborer or laborers, working
man or workingmen, acting either as
individuals or as the member of any
club, society or association to refuse to
work or labor for any person or per-
sons whenever in his, her or their
opinion, the wages paid are insufficient,
or the treatment Of such laborer or
laborers, workingman or workingmen,
joulncyman or journcymen, by his,
her or their employer is brutal or
offensive or the continued labor
by such laborcrs, workingman or
workingmen, journcyman or journey
men, would be contrary to the rules,
regulations, or bylaws of any club,
society, or organization to which
he, she, or they might belong, without
subjecting any person or persons so
refusing TO work or labor to prosecu-
tion orindictmcnt for conspiracy under
the criminal laws ofthc Commonwealth;
provided, that this Act shall not be
held TO apply to the member or mem
bers Of any club, society or organiza-
ton, the constitution, bylaws, rules
and regulations of which are not in
strict conformity to the Constitution
of the State of Pennsylvania and to
the Constitution of the United States
provided, that nothing herein contained
shall prevent the prosecution and pun
ishmcnt, under existing laws, of any
person or persons who shall in any
way hinder persons who desire TO labor
for their employers from so doing, or
other persons from being employed as
laborers.p You will observe the pur-
pose and scope of this Act. 1t author
izcs laborers, acting either as individ-
uals or as members OF any association
to refuse TO labor whenever the wages
are not satisfactory, when their treat
mcnt is brutal or offensive, or when
further labor would be contrary to the |
rules, regulations or bylaws OF their
association, without being liable to in
dictment for conspiracy. All this
laborers had right to do prior TO the
passage of the Act If they acted simply
as individuals but if they associated
together and acted in concert, their
conduct was criminal This Act sim
ply destroys the criminality of con
ccrtod action on the part of laborcrs in
refusing to work for any Of the three
reasons given in the Act itself. By |
the first proviso the Act is made not |
toapply to the members ofanyorganza-
tion whose constitution, bylaws and |
rules are not in strict conformity TO
the Constitution of the United States
and Of this Commonwealth. In order
to prevent any misunderstanding as to
the meaning of the Legislature the
second proviso continues the liability |
TO prosecution and punishment under
existing laws of any person or persons
who shall in any way hinder persons
who desire to labor for their employers
from so doing, or other persons from
being employed as laborers." IL fol-
lows, therefore, that an agreement or
combination among laboring mon to
quit work for the purpose Of incrcas-
ing the prices Of their labor, or i'm
proving their treatment, is not un-
lawful Thus far the law authorizes
them to act in concert but il they go |
one step further, and attempt in any
way to hinder or prevent persons who
are willing to labor from so doing, their
acts become unlawful aud their com
bination criminal iili
A question has been raised M to the
meaning and legal construction of the
phrase "in any way" found in the last
proviso Of this Act. On behalf Of the
defendants Il is contcndcd that il means
in any uhld,tfm way that persons so
refusing to work may combine, confed-
crate and agree together TO hinder and
prevent others from working for their
former employers by arguments, per-
suasion and appeal, or by any other
means not in themselves unlawful,
without being liable to an indictment
for conspiracy. whether this is tho
proper construction Of the clause cam