The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-11-14
WARREN K. BILLINGS.

Warren K. Billings was convicted by a professional jury of being gull ty of the bomb outrage upon the preparedness parade and has been sentenced to life imprisonment Billings is an American who has been identified with labor union ac- tivities, but it is almost admitted that he was not the man whom the authorities were after, but Mooney and others whose unionist activities had got them in bad with the Cham Der of Commerce in San Francisco. There are several extraordinary fea- turas connected with the trial ard couvlct:cn of Billings that throw aa extraordinary light upon modern Ie- gal methods when q prosecution converts itaalf into a prosecuting agency in the interest Of those who control the economic rower.
 First Of all this professional jury, hardened to act as desired returned a verdict of guilty and accompanied the same with a strong plea for mercy for the accused. This astound- ed no one more than Billings him self, Billings surely was accused ot a heinous crime. Every element within it is of an atrociously cold blooded nature. It was deliberate,
 
 ever there were absent any factors which could possibly call for merci- full sentencing of the guilty one, surely it was in the bomb outrage on this preparedness parade. As Billings said, if he was guilty he de- served to pay the full penalty. If innocent he should be acquitted.
 Only because the jury brought ill it's decision against it's own belief in the innocence of the man did they add that rider to their verdict. Such d conclusion is inevitable: it is in- controvertibly the only explanation of it.
 And with good reason. Not a single witness of the prosecution but did contradict the other. Three diff erent persons: John M'Donald, John Crowley and Estelle Smith testified to seeing Billings at three different places during the same periods Of time when the outrage was com mitted, and going in opposite direc- tions. One swOre he went north with Mooney, another swore he went south with a tall gentleman who positively was not Mooney, and still another swore that he was on the roof of a building where he re- mained, Two ladies were definite about Billings being on the roof, but Al De Caccia the so-called Billings double, swore that it was he who on the building at the time. and his testimony was fully coroborated
 Mrs. Hammerberg swore on the stand that the District Attorney Gin direct examination at that had in sisted that he had to get somebody or they would get him You told me that you had to get somebody or they would get you, ''Who said that, asked Brennan. You" and swered the lady, "Where?" "In my house. It was not in the office of the office of the Police Department? It was in my house.. Who was present when l made that state ment?" MT. Swanson and MT. Ham. merberg". M'Donald was the star witness for the Prosecution. This is what witness Logan testified: "M'Donald just said the Chief patted him on the back and said Mac. ii you stick to this story you can go back to Baltimore or Detroit on the cushions-that is where you want to go-with a nice piece of change in your pockets" Colonel Requa Of the Salvation army testified that he was getting his pay right along and would get his divvy out of the conviction: there is a seventeen thousand dollar reward for the con- viction of anyone, guilty or inno- cent: Any one,
 The prosecution suppressed deli- berately sworn testimony by eye witnesses of the bomb tragedy. Here
 
 is William H. Taylor with an affida