, 1907-05-06
haywood IS Seeking
B|LLO PARTICULARS

a year ago to the attorney general, in
which he says that "our duty is (if it
should ever happen that we had any
power In the matter) to see that exact
justice is done the men,"
The Presidents Letter.
my Dear Mr.. Henry When you,
in company with Messrs. Coaley and
Brown, called upon me this morning
l read you the letter l had written to
the attorney general of March rs, 1906.
At your request l gladly send you the
following extract from that letter:
"'Our duty is Qf it should ever hap
pen that we had any power in the
matter) to see that exact justice is
done these men. There must be no
conformation Of lawlessness on our part,
If the lawlessness takes the form
of an effort to avenge the wrongs com
mitted by the lawlessness of Others
only Question Involved.
"The sole question as regards Hay
wood and Meyer must be the question
whether or not they can be shown to
be guilty of this particular act, and
their legal rights must be as carefully
safeguarded as those of and other men.
1T is alleged that they were extradit-
ed from Colorado in a manner that
amounted to a betrayal of their legal
rights. l should like to have the dis
trict attorney Of Colorado, and if nec-
essary the district attorney of Idaho,
give me such information as they can
on this point.
Must Be Fair Trial.
II should like to get from the district
attorney of Idaho any information that
he can obtain as to whether or not
there has been the slightest disposition
shown by the authorities in Idaho to
act toward these men in an unfair or
improper manner, or to deny them
their legal rights.
intempe.ance Of Socialists.
ION the other hand, I should like to
know whether there is any symptom
of a miscarriage of justice in their ia
vor. The Incorporate violence with
which the socialists or labor papers
like that Of Debs, and l am sorry to
say some labor organs, have insisted.
without any knowledge of the facts,
upon treating these men as martyrs to
the cause Of labor, has unQuestionably
resulted in tremendous pressure being
brought to bear upon the authorities
of Idaho to discharge or acquit them
whether guilty or innocent.
Unions Entitled to Cooperate.
$50 far as the unions are anxious only
to see that exact justice is done these
men; that they are given their full le-
gal rights and not condemned unless
proved guilty Of this specific act, they
are entitled to the cordial cooperation
of all Just and fair-minded citizens.
Debs' Reasonable Tongue.
so far IS by any action, or by muir
derous and reasonable language such
as that quoted above from Debs (and
others) they lend to bring pressure to
bear upon the state authorities and the
courts, to obstruct the course Of JUS
tice, and to render it difficult to convict
the men if guilty, they are equally
without stint to be condemned; and
anything that the federal authorities
can do, in either event, to further the
cause of justice is to be DONE"
Will Act for Justice.
I'm response to your question, it is,
l trust, needless for me to say that If
at any time you or any one else car
submit to me any evidence showing
that there has been a miscarriage OF
Justice for or against Messrs. Meyer
or Haywood, which you believe it is in
nv power to remedy, l will at once
bring such evidence to the attention Of
the attorney general to have him give
It the fullest consideration and to take
thereon such action, If any, as it may
be in the power of the federal authori-
ties to take.
Sincerely yours,
THEODORE ROOSEVELT"
"Mr. John S. Henry, New York"
Delegate Makes Charge.
In the discussion that followed a mo
ton to accept the committees report
a delegate charged that the president
had eyaded the issue. This called forth
a response from Delegate Coakley.
Burden Upon the Defense.
The latter said that the committee
considered the interview and chat 1t
was not up to the president to prove
that there had been a miscarriage Oh
Justice, but to those defending Meyer
and Haywood"
Letter Sent to Idaho.
After several delegates had been
heard 1t was decided to forward a copy
of the letter to counsel for the indicted
Idaho labor leaders, and let them sub
nit to President Roosevelt any EVIL
dence they might have that there a
been a miscarriage Of justice In the