The Wagner post. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-current, 1912-05-31
BARROW DICkERS
AND MAY CONFESS
California Prosecutor Willing
To Waive Prison Sentence
For Jury Bride Story.

plea Of guilty and escape q penitentiary
sentence on the charge of bribing a
Juror in the Mcnamara trial. have been
under way for several weeks.
The selection OF the jury to try the
noted attorney being completed opens
the way for the taking of evidence.
After the acceptance OF h 18th jur-
or, both sides agreed to the selection
of a 18th. or supernumerary, to act In
the event CT illness of a regular juror.
This is permitted by California law.
The trial is likely on any day to be
terminated as abruptly and sensation
ally as was that of his clients. John j.
and James b. Mcnamara, dynamiters
of the Los Angeles Times plant, who
pleaded guilty last December and are
now in an Quentin prison.
Nome, >tous consequences hang on
Darrow's decision whether to continue
the legal battle or surrender. The stata.
ii is well understood by those within
it's secrets. is willing to grant immun-
fty from prison to barrow, but only
on condition hat he divulge every
thing he knows of the acts OF himself
and his clients. II Is said that he has
been ready for some time to make q
complete confession, covering his own
acts and the acts of several persons
who already nave turned against him
oAAa eiNS NAtSAA ~ hAO eS6S(
At the same time pressure is being
brought to bear to prevent his dis
closure of secrets of the Mcnamara
defense that are known to involve per-
sons whose names have been linked
only remotely with the dynamite con-
spiracy.
Confession Said to BE MASTERPIECES.
1t became known to a limited num-
Der of persons only a short time ago
that barrow was engaged in the prep
aratione of his confession. His plea
will be a moral plea in abatement. q
defense. a conformation of the tactics
which the state is prepared to prove
were used by Darrow in his vain eff
forts to clear the men who resorted to
violence n murder in behalf Of Ia
Dor. II Darrow pleads guilty. all the
logic and sophistry he is capable OF will
be thrown into the effort to fix In the
public mind the motive of his deed. 1t
win be cleyerly phrssed and to many,
perhaps. a convincing elaboration of
his theory. which. in brief. he has
stated in about these words. time and
again:
This Ia not a trial. 1t is warfare
social and class warfare. The other
fellows (the state n capillary will
use any means to convict. It's q case
of fighting the devil with fire"
1t has been persistently rumored for
several weeks that appointments ave
been made for barrow to tell his story
to District Attorney Fredericks and
that the confession might be in the
prosecutors hands any day. Each APP
pointment, ii is understood. has been
broken because barrow could not ac-
cede to the states terms.
In explanation of this dickering, 1t Is
recalled that the surrender of the Nc
Namaras proved a disappointment to
the prosecution. The McNamaras were
let off with light sentences (John r.,
h labor leader, Is years; James b.
Mcnamara, tbs actual dynamiter OF
the Times, life imprisonment). with
the understanding that the prisoners
would assist the state in return for his
leniency. To the chagrin of the au-
thorities. the McNamaras refused to
talk the their lives were shield
ed by the courts decree. In conse-
quence, there will be no purchasing OF
a pig in a poke at this time.
State Would Punish Someone.
Furthermore, the state feels that this
Is a case demanding punishment and
for punishment ii will hold out to the
last, unless barrow will deliver up
men who, in the opinion of the prose-
%cution. are even more guilty thar 1t
regards him
Kaplan and Schmidt. the fugitive
confederates OF ]. b. Mcnamara. the
men who were with him in the launch
In which he packed away the explosive
for the California Jobs" are two OF
tllC ooJCIt6 Vi tAC Stdtc y ucRCIl8IlOn0.
These men have been tracked thou
sands of miles by the country's shrewd-
est detectives.
The state believed for a long time
that the men defending the McNa-
maras deliberately put Kaplaa out OF
the way to prevent his turning traitor.
that he was SUM in Puget sound with
a stone o his neck. Schmidt is be-
lieved now to be about his old haunts
In the middle west, shielded by anarch-
Il tCtYo nnx,foInrnfnc FrAn 49, -
higher ups" whose identity has been
thinly yelled by the prosecutors of the
dynamite gang. The state wants OAR
row to give them up, toe.
Details of the collection and DISPOSE
ton of the "McNamara defense fund.-
are also a part of the price OF OAR
rows not going 70 Jail. A check for
300, 600 never before mentioned, is one
of the items to be explained. The
prosecution learned of the existence OF
this check several months ago. 1t was
sent by the custodians of the defense
fund" to One of the alleged c~onfederates
of the McNamaras in q Francisco
when the jury was being selected. II is
h belief Of the prosecution that this
check was sent via San Francisco,
there to be cashed and the proceeds de-
nvered to barrow in Los Angeles. The
governments Investigations have dis
closed the collectionof 1926. 900 for the
defense fund. while the custodians
i NAVY ! CARt-liOlluIE6 "a
only $50, 900. and of this amount there
has been no public accounting.
barrow Retains His Nerve.
Publicly barrow has maintained the
same unbroken nerve and daily almost
has reiterated his innocence and voiced
his assurance OF beating it." Knowl-
edge that q photograph had been re-
cording his conversation for weeks be-
fore the McNamara surrender, and that
its records would be used against hirn
in his trial, seemed not to shatter his
] iron nerve. He has gone ahead coll
lecting character evidence in Chicago
his home. and the scene of his many
triumphs as a lawyer and special
pleader for labor. A short time r he
issued an appeal for und for his de-
Tense Admitting that he was o
broke" he expressed the conviction
that the friends of labor should bear
the great burden of clearing him from
the bribery charge
Outside Of a limited circle there has