The Topeka state journal., 1911-07-08
He CALLS 1T INFAMOUS.
Gompers Denounces Method of the
Mcnamara Arrests.

Washington, July S.@'Infamous'
and third degree methods" were
terms used by Presid ent Gompers of
the American Federation of Labor in
denouncing the arrest of the men
charged with dynamiting the Los An
geles Times building at q hearing to-
day before the senate special commit
tee for the investigation of police
methods of ferreting crime.
Mr.. Gompers complained against
the manner of arrests of John J. Nc
Namara at Indianapolis and J. B. Nc
Namara at Detroit.
1.-The right of the meanest man of
our citizenship must be respected, "
said Mr.. Gompers. II need not argue
that to the United States senators, for
it is grounded into our system of gov
ernment."
He said the Indianapolis arrest was
apparently staged" ore newspaper
having the story of the arrest set up
and the edition held up until the ar
rest could be pulled off"
He claimed Mcnamara was taken
before a court, which, instead of in
curing whether he was a fugitive
from Justice merely investigated the
personal identity of the prisoner The
witness said Mcnamara was denied
counsel and removed to California
over so many railroads that he could
not be released on habeas corpus.
Impeachment of Justice Daniel T.
Wright of the supreme court of the
District of Columbia was suggested to
the committee by Mr.. Gompers. Mr.
Gompers' complaint was against JUS
tice Wright's course in the Bucks
Stove and Range company contempt
proceedings against the Federation Of
Labor. Mr.. Gompers tod the commit
tee that he knew the senate would not
begin impeachment proceedings and
that he did not mean for the commit
tee of the senate to take the initia-
tive.
'I do know if we had ths recall in
the District of Columbia - added Mr..
Gompers, that Judge Wright would
have been recalled before this"
"I do not think the recall is as good
as Impeachment generally suggested
Senator Borah.
There is not man in the United
States except a workiEgnan against
whom such outrages would be COM
mitted," declared Mr.. Gompers. Com
pairing the Mcnamara arrest proce-
dure with the divorce proceedings OF
the rich, he cited particularly the case
of Millionaire Mellon of Pittsburg, in
which proceeding a two days hearing
was given a proposed witness in New
York before he was extradited tc
Pennsylvania.
/ The Colorado Kidnapping.
Referring to the kidnapping OF
Haywood, Meyer and Pettibone, from
Colorado into Idaho, Mr.. Gompers
said
What we should have done ther
was to have pursued the kidnapers.''
Senator Borah OF Idaho, who was 9
special prosecuting attorney at the
trial of the labor men in Idaho de-
clared that in that case the law was
as least technically followed out and
that whatever moral offenses were
committed in removing the men were
IN order to bring to trial men against
whom there was a pTima facie case
Senator BOrah added that in the Nc
Namara case the question in his mind
was whether the court had jurisdic-
ton and whether it had been seen
before the men were brought before
it.
Il would like to have the name OF
the judge that we may call him be-
fore US" added Senator Borah. The
impeachment suggestion came at the
close OF a review of the contempt pro-
l lceedings waged in the local courts by