The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-08-03

1ad seen the error of his ways and was
Trying to atone for them by telling the
truth. Many Of the newspap ers of the
country made Orchard hero. with
standing the cruel cross examination
OF the attorneys for the defense with
unexampled bravery and fortitude. The
attitude of the press toward Orchard
during this trial was not unlike the
slckly sentimentality of that class Of
oralnless women who carry flowers to
the cells of brutes charged with crimes
against childhood and womanhood.
FAIR minded Americans have been dis
susted with the praise showered upon
orchard and they thank from the bot
tom Of their hearts the hard headed
farmers of Idaho who refused to take
the life Of a human being on the word
of such a creature.
Inc great lesson of the Idaho trial
Is to be found In the absolutely fair
and impartial trial that was accorded
the defendant. In the home of the
murdered man. in the midst of his
neighbors who loved and honored him,
with jury all of whom knew him,
some of whom had been his boyhood
companions. one of whom had been his
business associate and another one, a
man in whose house he had lived for
years, in a city and state where feel
ing against the organization of which
the defendant was an officer is most
bitter. William D. Haywood was
promptly acquitted Gould any greater
testimony to the fairness and the JUS
tice of American law be given. Ought
not this great trial be a lesson, to
those who are inclined to take into
their own hands, that law and the law
courts are a better weapon than club
or knife, or gun? Is that trial not
most singing rebuke to the leading
counsel for the defense who in his
speech to the jury said that the Con-
stitution and laws of this country were
framed that the rich might enslave the
poor and that the strong might Cypress
the weak? AS an American citizen of
great ability and great experience,
should that counsel not be ashamed of
his appeal to the socialists and other
enemies of the Constitution and laws
of our country? William D. Haywood
was freed because the Constitution and
laws of this country are so framed that
they guard and protect with jealous
care those who are charged with crime
and only permit a conviction when
guilt is established by legal evidence
sufficient to satisfy unprecedented minds
beyond all reasonable doubt. He was
not saved by the appeal Of his chief
counsel to those elements which are
opposed to law. 1t was not his appeal
for the sympathy of those who follow
the red flag that opened the prison
doors for his client, but it was the fair
sound exposition Of American law laid
down by the trial judge to honest. pa
triotic American citizens that brought
about that result.
We hope that there may be no dan
gerous misconception of what this trial
means. The defendant and his col
leagues show great good sense in not
being boastful. They have refrained
from claiming that it is victory for
Some over-enthusiastic organizations in
different parts of the country have
hurried to put themselves on record
as viewing this verdict as a victory for
organized labor. Organized labor was
not on trial. Fortunately, 1t would not
have been condemned if Haywood had
been convicted. and likewise it has not
been commended by his acquittal. The
spirit of some of the chief participa nts
in this great trial is much better than
the partisans of class interests at a
distance. The history Of the terrifying
SNCuI lSdullS up W llllS tIldl Is lIcSIl
in the minds of the American people.
1t is only fairness to say that the law
lessness Of the miners was met by the
lawlessness of the mine owners. Force
on one side was met by force on the
other. The crimes of one party were
paid back with interest by the crimes
of the other. The methods of the min
ers were met by the bull pen" and the
suspension of due process of law by
the mine owners and their tools Cit
liens of the state of Colorado We're
kidnapped and rushed across the Dor
ders of the state of Idaho. thrown into
Jail and We're charged with crime, on
the theory that it would be easier to
convict them Of those crimes in Idaho
than it would be in Colorado. Due
process of law was as little known ane
recognized in the mountains OF Color
ado and Idaho as it is by the brigands
of the Balkans. For years lawless cap