The Washington times., 1912-11-27
THE ACQUlTTAL OF ETTOR AND
CIOVANNITTl.

When Ettor and Ciovanntt were acquitted BY
the jury at Salem, Mass, yesterday, their atorne,
was reported to have said There is justice in hi:
State. The law still has regard for the rights Of men
innocent Of any crime. 1t is another great victor,
for organized labor"
To the first and the second Of those statements this
paper can, Of course offer no objections They are,
indeed, merely the assertions Of self.evdent facts.
They are very distinctly true Of Massachusetts, and
they are true Of every State in the Union. But we
do not see how the acquittal Of men found innocent
Of the charge Of murder can be in any sense q
victory" for organized labor.
Had there not been a prima facie case against
Ettor and Giovanntti they would not have been
charged with the crime on which they were tried.
Had there been no evidence to 60 to the jury it is
inconceivable that jury would have been sworn
in to weigh the facts. But the accused men were
tried and acquitted under the Jurisprudence Of a
State in which legal processes have been established
beyond any doubt As to their mpariality we cannot
see how that acquittal can have any bearing upon
organized labor.
Organized labor was not on trial in the Salem
case for instigating the alleged murder Of Anna
Lapizzo during the Lawrence strike. II was not
asserted that organized labor, as such either sug.
gests or condones murder as q means Of securing
economic justice. The case Of Etor Giovannitti and
Caruso was never cited by any responsible authority
typical in any Of its presumed aspects Of trades
union activities From the strictly judicial point Of
view the termination Of the trial meant only that
three men accused OF q grave crime were adjudged
as being innocent.
But, il the verdict in the Salem case under those
circumstances, can have bearing upon the stand.
ing Of organized labor, it has a very emphatic uea.
ing the charges made often during the trial by
the friends Of the accused men, that Conspiracy
of capital existed in Massachusetts to punish then,
for q crime Of which they were innocent.
When Pettibone, and Meyer, and Haywood were
trial in Boise ldaho for the murder Of Governor
Stunenburg it said by their friends also, tina,
they were to be the victims Of judicial murder. "
And the jury acquitted each one Of them
When the McNamara brothers were on trial in
Los Angeles the same kind Of conspiracy" was
alleged against the prosecution. And the Mcnamara
brothers were found guilty on their own, specific
admissions.
When Ettor and Giovannitti we're arrested in con.
nection with the death Of Anna Lapizzo their friends
at once concluded that the heel Of Capital in Massa
chusetts was on the neck Of Labor-or words to
that eifect-and that Labor-disguised as Ettor and
Giovannni-was to be "crushed." And Ettor and
Giovanntti we're acquitted and discharged.
In all three Of the cases noted the trial.
were impartial and the justice Of the verdicts has
not been questioned and the history Of those cases
is Of sufficient importance to prove that no "con
spracy of capital" will be permitted to use the
courts for the oppression of the agents Of organized
labor.