The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1907-07-26
IN THE JURYS HANDS
Prosecution and Defense ESpend Every
Effort in Trial Of Secretary HAY.
wood.

uul very lew, IL any uie hCuuulHtt'
with William ID. Haywood, who's,
trial for the murder of former
Governor Frank Steunenberg vii
probably be at an end by the clost
of this week.
Indicted with Haywood en- {
charge of completely in the Steun.
enburg murder are Meyer, George
A. Pettibone and John l.. Simpkins
Slmpkins has not been apprehended
1t is not charged by the prosecution
that Meyer, Haywood and Petit
bone were in Idaho at the time OF
the killing Of Steunenberg, nor is
| it charged that they or either of
them had anything to do directly
with the crime, but the claim is
that many years ago, and soon
after the Western Federation of
Miners was organized, which was
on May u, 1893, in Butte, Mont,
there was formed within the Fed.
Grafton, ont of its foremost mem
bers and officers, an inner circle, 4"
as now denominated, the purpose
Of which was to put out Of the
way, by violent means. if neces-
sary, any and all men who should
dare to oppose the program of the
Federation IN forcing the mine
owners to come 10 terms in the
matter of shorter hours, higher
wages and safer appliances for the
personal protection Of the miners,
1t is also claimed that the or
ganization was bold and domineer-
ing in its demands aud very nm.
reasonable, and that when the mine
Operators refused to net favorably,
as requested, a strike was declared
and then reign of terror set in,
which resulted in the destruction OF
much life and property. All the
trouble in the Occur d'Alene was
laid TO the door of the men who
afterwards organized the Western
Federation of Miners. The strike
of 1899 and the blowing up of the
Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines,
and the killing of party of two
miners, was also charged up to the
ruling spirits that have made the
Western Federation, according to
the prosecutors of Haywood, an
organization to burn, plumber and
murder.
All this the prosecution has at.
tempted TO prove in the trial OF
Haywood. Orchard has furnished
all of the damaging testimony aud
so much of Orchards testimony
has been exploded as to render that
which still stands unfit for belief.
In n word, the aggressor in the
Western mining troubles seems to
have been, not the wage worker,
but the wage-payer. This opinion
is based solely upon the evidence
brought out in the Haywood trial.
All fairness demands that we take
the evidence as the basis for our
beliefs, but this evidence must be
undisputed. All testimony proved
or partially proved to be perjured
must be eliminated in reaching a
decisions as to guilt or innocence.
Following this rule, the man who
would reach an unbiased opinion
must eliminate the whole of Or
chafd's testimony. His testimony
not only has been disputed by many
witnesses. but it has been proved
untruthful by equally as large q
number. Hence, the case of the
State falls by its own support, for
it has no support other than the
tale of Harry Orchard.
The evidence is now all in. No
success was made by the prosecu.
ton in its attempts to break down
the evidence of the defense. But
in desperation an extreme measure
was resorted to: that Of charging