The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-07
Ire s,srnenhera Muraer Tr,al

When h. reached the gats at tho main
entrance IN the s~teunenberg grounds
the man paused and stopped. ~ though
10 pick something from the sidewalk.
Having accomplished whatever had
impclled him 20 stop. he hurried On. dis
appearing from sight Just ~ the ex-
Governor, walking home from his Office,
entered tho street. Mr.. STEUNENBERd
Unattached his gate and pushed it open.
AZ IL swung back an intern nj machine
concealed under the sidewalk Exploded,
Instantly killing him.
The man who had preceded the Gov
ernor down the street was Harry Or
cHARD. He stopped in front of the gate
to adjust the machinery that caused the
explosion OF the Internal machine, and he
has made n confession in which he
charges this murder and many other
crimes to the Inner Circle of the Western
Federation Of Miners, the a~ll-powerful
labor organization Of the mining States.
This confession resulted in the arrest
Of President CHARLES II. MoYER and
Secretary WILLIAM d. HAYWOOD Of the
Federation. G.. A. PETTIBoNE, formerly
an active member Of its supreme gov
erning body, and STEPHEN ADAMS.
another member, on tho charge of o
spring to assassinate Mr.. STBUNENBERG.
All Of these men have been indicted with
ORCHARD, and will be put on trial at
the term Of the court beginning in
Caldwell on May II. l.. j. SIMPKINs, a
member Of the executive board Of the
Federation, is under indictment on the
same charge, but he has eluded the de-
t~ectives and is a fugitive from justice.
The assassination Of STRUNRNBERG
was the final tragedy of years of vio-
lence and bloodshed in Idaho and Colo
RADIO, for which the authorities hold the
Western Federation Of Miners respon-
sible. This union, n of the richest
and most completely organized bodies
of workingmen in the country, is charged
with crimes as terrible as those that dis
tinguished the operations of the Molly
Maguires in the Pennsylvania coal
regions a generation ago. Murders de-
creed by the Federation's Inner Circle
were carried out by its faithful members,
men like ORCHARD and ADAMS, who
stopped at no crime and did their work
with a cold blooded attention to detail
and remarkable ingenuity, All who
opposed the Federation's rule we're
sentenced to death, and many Of these
sentences were executed. STRUNRN-
BERG's assassination was ordered be-
cause he sent the State troops to the
mining districts to maintain order.
The life of Ex-Governor PEABODY of
Colorado was attempted many times,
and once hs entire family was poisoned
by arsenic in their milk. A bomb was
planted for Judge GODDARD Of the Colo
RADIO Supreme Court, who escaped il
only by accident, A plot against d. II.
MoFFAT was frustrated only by his
leaving the country for Europe, AT
Independence nineteen non-union miners
were killed by the explosion Of dynamite
under the railroad station. ORCHARD
has confessed that he sot the bombs and
exploded them, and he asserts that his
act was instigated by the officers Of the
NtSleTU TtuetdulOu Vi IhilSTS
The confession made by ORCHARD
was obtained by JAMES MCFARLAND,
the detective who exposed and broke up
the Molly Maguires. 1t has been cor
roborated by ADAMS, who, fearing that
MoYER, HAYWOOD and the other leaders
Of the Federation had deserted him,
sent for the authorities and made a full
statement of his part in numerous
crimes. The Orchard and Adams con-
fessions, according to the prosecuting
authorities, have been corroborated by
numerous reputable witnesses, who will
appear at the trial.
MoYER, HAYWOOD and PETTIBoNE
we're not in Idaho when ORCHARDS con-
fession was obtained. They had gone
to Denver. The authorities believe they
we're leaving the United States. The
warrants for them were sent burriedly
to the Governor OF Colorado, He issued
extradition papers before the arrests
were made. The three men were taken
in the evening of Saturday, February IS,
and hustled on board a special train.
They had no opportunity to retain or
consult counsel or notify their families
or friends Of their arrest. On account
of alleged Irregularities in the conduct
Of the police who arrested them they
applied to the United States courts for
writs Of habeas corpus. These being
refused they appealed to the United
States Supreme Court. That court on
April "a refused to hear their arguments
until October 0. They maintain their
innocence of any of the offences charged
against them, and declare that ORCHARD
and ADAMS had no instructions from the
Federation to commit crimes.
The continued prosperity and power
of the Western Federation Of Miners, as
now constituted, depend on the out
come of these trials. If MoYER, HAY
WOOD and PETTIBoNE are convicted the
present organization cannot survive,
and years will pass before another Of
equal influence a be formed, BY
their associates and by leaders Of or
ganiaed labor generally the indicted
officers of the Federation are regarded
ne martyrs. Their defence will be con-