The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-06-02
COMPANY BOOKS
AS WITNESSES
independent Evidence Needed by the
State to Connect Wood and At
teaux With Breen, tfY
Undertaken.
PROSECUTION rs AHEAD
Newspaper Containing Advice ny
President Wood and Account of
the Finding Of the
Dynamite.
[By John Edwin Nevin, United Press
Staff Correspondent.

[By John Edwin Nevin. United Press
| Staff Correspondent
BOSTON, June 2,-The books of
the American Woolen Company, .spe-
cially the receipts and vouchers COW
ering the account OF the famous Law
renee strike, proved mute but potent
conspiracy trial today.
] They establish for the first time in
the trial of the millionaire head of
the $50,o00,000 corporation anu his
business associate, Frederick E. At
teaux, what the state claims is the
independent evidence needed to
couple up the defendants now on trial
with the noted planting Of high explo-
sives In the strike-ridden town to dis
credit the |. w. W. leaders.
4 1t was shown from the vouchers
that the woolen company paid the
Sherman Detective Agency of Boston
$4S5.08 during May, 1912; that this
money was to cover the work of pri-
vate s1euths In Salem, Mass, and that
their work was in connection with
the trial OF John ]. Breen, the Law
renee undertaken and politician, who
was convicted at the term of court
and fined $500 for his crime.
1t became certain as result Of this
victory for the state that the defend
ants will call witnesses in their be-
fhalf. Instead Of resting when the
4 state does, the attorneys for the de-
fense will put on the stand some thir-
ty witnesses to contradict the essen
tial portions Of the states case
James Bailey, Jr one of the manag-
ers OF the woolen company's mills in
Lawrence and the individual who.
more than any other, had charge of
the fight against the strikers, admit
ted that he approved thousands of
! dollars worth of bills for detective
services on behalf of the company. He
insis. ed that he knew nothing of the
actual work done and insisted that he
approved the bills in the general
course of business
Pelletier denounced Bailey as an
unfriendly witness and declared that
he was plainly trying to refrain from
telling the truth. Pelletier developed
through Bailey that he had purchased
| 900 copies of each OF the local Law
renee newspapers of January goth and
had widely distributed them. The
prosecutor Immediately offered copies
of the newspapers as evidence, When
the defense objected, Pelletier made
an lmpassioned appeal to the court this
time in the presence OF the jury, to
admit the newspapers.
"They show" said the prosecutor,
that on the very day that the Law
renee newspapers published the ac-
count of the discovery of dynamite in
that city, dynamite planted by two of
the co-conspirators here, they also
/ contained two columns of fatherly ad-
vice from this defendant, Wood, pre-
| pared at midnight meeting at which
! the other co-defendants, Wood and
1 Atteaux, were present. Isn't it plain
to the court that this was all part of
/ the plot? These defendants knew
i that the papers on this date would be
I filled with the accounts OF the discov-
| cry of this explosive and that the
strikers would be blamed. And so 1t
I is not reasonable to believe that they
wanted this letter of advice printed
at this very time as a contrast so
that public opinion would be inflamed
and prejudice be excited against
| these strikers?
Your honor, I think this shows
absolutely the existence of this en-
tire company. l am willing to limit
this evidence simply to the head
/ lines over the article telling OF the
discovery of the dynamite and to the
Wood letter which the defense has
already introduced. ! just want to
show what happened on this day fol-
lowing the midnight meeting at the
Wood house. And the company cir
culated this paper by the direct order
of Defendant Wood"
These headlines are in themselves
incompetent" ruled the court, but I
am willing to admit these newspapers
to show that the Wood letter was
printed at this time
Pelletier accepted the ruling and
was plainly jubilant that he had sue
ceeded in getting that much before
the jury. He stated that he would