United labor bulletin., 1914-12-19

ing that district which did not include
the recognition of the union. Doyle
quoted the governor as saying:
IF you don't permit the mines of
Routt county to open somebody will be
sorry for it."
Jailed by General Chase.
The witness told lengthy story of
his experiences in the strike zone when
he had been summoned, as he said.
through false pretenses on General
Chase's part. to appear before the mill
tary commission and then, when he
would not give to Major Boughton the
information sought and refused to make
admissions desired by the general. had
been thrown into Jail and held incocm-
munieado. He freely criticised Chase and
Bonghton for. their arbitrary assump
tion OF authority. He said he later had
been released on demand of commit
tee OF miners which was about to holo
consolation meeting in Denver
At this juncture Doyle explained to
the commission that he had been cau-
toned by his counsel to avoid wording
his fnswers in such way that they
might be misinterpreted or used against
him IN the trial OF a conspiracy charge
now pending and instigated he alleged,
by the operators.
'-But ! am not the least bit afraid to
tell AL ! know. and will do so.- said
DOYLE But / would like to have the
commission understand that ] believe
the colorado operators are powerful
enoueh 80 send any man to the penften-
t;ary if they 30 desire. whether that
man j. guilty of crime or not
Doylr then furnished the commission
with figures OF benefits paid. ln the
whole state. be said. the total had fire.
auenl iv riu to SO 900 a week. while the
benefits for Las Auimas. Huerfano and
Fremont counties had run between s2l,-
0O0 nnd S24000 a week
On November 20 Doyle stated. the
unipu had on IT. benefit rolls 1.9l9
name The benefits amounted to =
a week for the men. - a week TO the
wives ot miners and 81 cents a week
for zach child.
Chase Relied on Meyer Decision.
Adj Gen John Chase. who refused to
testiiy before the congressional investi-
gating committee when here, appeared
al command OF Chairman Walsh He told
the commission that he had frequently
found i necessary to hold men IN jail
for IS DAYS without turning them over
to the civil authorities or preferring
formal charge against them. He said
! formi.y with the Mover decision
The general testified that in the con.
Nersation with Prof. James H. brewster
/ in Trinidad he had told the professor
that II he talked on the street as he was
then talking to him il would be neces-
sarv To place him in jail. Chase said
that he later retracted the statement
Il regarded the military district OF
Colorado a. cotempenneous with the
state. he said. -and l claimed the right
I to place anyone under arrest when
thought it necessary where military oc-
cupation had taken place
The general said that he had not
[ turned '-Mother- Jones over to the civil
authorities because he did not feel that
/ they were competent TO deal with the
case
Wanted to Suppress Story.
Mai +. H. Boughton OF the Colorado
National Guard told the commission he
had attempted TO suppress the story OF
/ the Ludlow disaster from the newspa-
pers until General Chase could make an
investigation and report his findings.
Boughton, who produced a telegram
from himself to General Chase at Lud-
low. dated April %. said that he had en-
countered Capt. Philip :. Van Gse IN
Denver two days after the tent colony
was destroyed and that Van Cise had
threatened to make public the story OF
some of the atrocities attributed TO the
militia Boughton declared that he pre-
4 vailed upon Van Cise not to make the
story public and telegraphcd Chase i'm
mcdiately.
Bo,yhton then directed Chase. his SUI
pcrior officer. TO appoint committee
Of militia Officers to investigate the
Ludlow tragedy. This committee con-
sisted of Boughton. Van Cise and Danks.
Calls Soldiers "Brutes."
i Constitutional rights We're abolished
by the Colorado militia when it Went
into the strike zone. declared Prof
James H. Brewster of the University of
Colorado and member of the committee
appointed by the State Federation OF
Labor to investigate conduct of the mi
litia. in his testimony before the COM
mission.
The entire conduct of the state troops
was a course of outrage and brutality,
Professor Brewster asserted. Not only
had Aijutant General Chase wiped out
constitutional rights but the miners had
been robbed by the state troops, the
ranks of the militia had been swellea
by the enlistment of scoundrels and the
right to search had been exercised by
the state troops while the courts We're
open.
Professor Brewster declared that
Lieut.. X. +. Linderfelt, in charge of the
machine gun at the Ludlow massacre of
II women and children, was a brute
unfit to associate with anybody" and
that because of his brutality congress
~ional committee had asked that he be
suspended on January 30. 1914.
Had he been suspended theu." he de-
clarcd. Ludlow would never have hap
pcned.'
Jeff Farr Admits His Rule.
Admitting that he co-opcrated with
the coal companies and ran Huerfanc