The Lamar register., 1915-05-05
The Lawson Verdici. Its Lesson-Ils
Warning

WarnlnE
The verdict returned by a jury in the
district court yesterday afternoon
which found John X. Lawson guilty of
murder in the first degree, was the
third to be returned in Colorado
against men charged with crime grow
ing out of the disorders of the recent
coal strike, and the fourth verdict of
guilty returned against members of
the United Mine Workers of Amer
lea. Two have been convicted in Las
Animas county, two in Boulder county
and two in Fremont county.
Some time ago David Robb and
Richardson were convicted of man
slaughter for the killing of William
King, a non-union coal miner, during
the attack on the Chandler mine near
Canon City. Both Robb and Richard
son were sentenced TO the state peni-
tentiary for short terms.
In Boulder county a couple of
weeks ago one unionist was found
guilty of assault to kill and one guilty
of assault growing out of the outrage
at the Hecla mine when two men
were killed.
Recently in Las Animas county
Louis Zancanelli was found guilty OF
murder in the first degree for the
killing of G. W. Belcher in Trinidad
on November 20, 1913, and penalty
was fixed at life Imprisonment.
Yesterday John r. Lawson, interna
tional board member of the United
Mine Workers for District No. Is
was found guilty of the murder OF
Deputy John Nimmo in the first de-
gree and his conviction carries with ii
life term in the state penitentiary
at hard labor.
7 The verdict in Trinidad yesterday
as in the district court last month and
in Boulder county and Fremont coun-
ty are verdicts that clearly demon
strate that citizens of Colorado de-
mand that outrages committed in the
name of labor shall cease and that
law and order must prevail if the
state of Colorado is to prosper and
hold up its head among sister states.
| The verdict yesterday records another
victory for the attorney generals Of
flee, the Representatives of which have
fairly and without prejudice conduct
ed the cases here and in other coun-
ties.
/ After all, regardless of what condi-
ton might have once shown itself,
the people judge rightly. The juries
have said up to this time that those
whom the evidence shows were re-
sponsible for the killing of persons in
labor disputes shall not go free to
wage warfare somewhere else and
that men, regardless of prominence,
shall answer for the lives of men.
This verdict emphasizes again that
human life can not be taken with
impunity in southern Colorado. This
verdict says that men whether labor
LEADERS or members of labor unions
must obey the law and that any man
who commits violence or counsels vio-
Ilence or is an accessory to violence
shall be punished under the law.
These verdicts that have been re-
turned in the strike cases so far heard
will do much to impress on labor un-
ions the fact that strikes can not be
won nor public sentiment obtained by
insurrection and violence, by lawless-
ness and outlawry. Labor unions have
done much when properly conducted
to aid the conditions of working men.
Labor unions have also been put in
i'll repute because just such agitating
leaders as the Mine Workers of Colo
RADIO thought that they could gain
recognition for the union by battle
and murder and the wholesale destruc-
ton of property.-Trinidad Chronicle
News.