Los Angeles herald., 1907-07-15
Outlines Plan of Defense

Outlines Plan of Defense
In defense of the man Immediately
concerned and of the officers of the
Western Federation of Miners who are
charged with participation in the plans
| for murder as means to the desired
/ end, evidence has been introduced to
/ show that another and counter con-
spiracy existed among employers of
| labor in the west, looking to the ami
hilation of the Western Federation of
Miners in particular because the fedora
tion represented the cause of organ
| lied labor.
4 Evidence has been introduced to show
| that, in furtherance of the conspiracy
j among actual employers and capitalists
| eighteen innocent men were killed, the
constitution of the United States was
i violated and the conspiracy eliminated
4 in the state of Idaho becoming party
to an attempt to compass the death of
the leaders of the Western Federation
of Miners.
Orchard Confesses
The state of Idaho has produced
Harry Orchard, who swears that he is
the actual murderer of the eighteen
men whose death is not disputed. He
swearS that he was employed by Will
liam D. Haywood, Charles H. Meyer,
the president, and others of the Western
L Federation to murder for a price. The
Il Western Federation OF Miners has pro-
Il duced witness to contradict the testi-
mony of the self-confessed murderer,
4 and other witnesses to show that If he
i murdered, he murdered because he was
i employed by detectives in the employ of
| the owners of mines and wealthy citi-
| zens of Colorado to commit crimes that
might be laid to the door of the western
! federation
The state of Idaho, through it's rep
| resentative counsel, will answer to the
I jury within the next two weeks that
Orchards story is true and that there
did exist widespread conspiracy to
| terrorize, what is called by the de-
fandants in this case 'capitalistic class"
| What Federation viii Argue
The Western Federation of Miners,
through its attorneys, will argue that
| Orchard is a perjurer for reward-the
| reward being immunity from punish
ment for the murder of former Cover
nor Steunenberg and that conspiracy
now exists on the part of the mine own
ers and employers of labor to discredit
the Western Federation of Miners even
though Haywood, Meyer and Pettibone
should hang in pursuance of their
plans.
The rebuttal for the state so far is
being directed against the witness pro-
duced by the defense to discredit Or
| Chard.
Testimony Conflicts
At the end of the first day of re-
buttal a warrant was issued for DIR. /.
L. McGee, who swore that he saw Or
chard in north Idaho at a time when
| Orchard swore he was in Denver. Nc
Gee is a prominent man living in the
northern part of the state. Counsel
for the defense as soon as they heard
of the warrant having been issued sent
/ oil TnCa i,, ,;.I.
urged him to come to Boise at once
| MCGEE was arrested in Spokane to-
night. He waived extradition and is
expected to arrive in Boise some time
tomorrow. A deputy sheriff of Spo-
| kane will accompany him. The defense
claims to have discovered new evidence
to show that Orchards maternal grand
father was a maniac on the subject of
crime and that he formerly lived IN
| Canada, and there are other intimations
of possible delay. Judge Fremont
| Wood however, has intimated to coun-
sci that the case must be concluded. He
points out that by limiting the scope
| of examinations of witnesses on both
sides the hearing might have been
much shortened but that he was desir-
Gus of giving every opportunity to
| counsel to develop their case.
Case Must End
Now, however, the situation is diff
ferent, and further delay would be an
injustice to the state, while the con-
tinued confinement of the jury would
imperil the case.
The most novel feature of the case
is the confession of the witness, Will
liam Dewey, who yesterday swore that
he participated in the riots in the Occur
d'Alenes when the two men were killed.
Among the men now in Boise as wit
nesses for the defense is William Davis.
- 49,
of Shoshone county as leader in the
same riot He has been in the state of
Idaho for thirty days and no effort has
been made to act on the indictment. 1t
is pointed out that the Bunker Hill and
Sullivan affair occurred eight years
ago, and that it might be extremely
hard to make charge of murder lie.
The county went to great expense at
the time of the outbreak to prosecute
those concerned. One man was con-
victed but was afterward pardoned.
Some ten or a dozen indictments were
found and it is said that names OF more