Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-12
Selected by Tavenner

"They coerced and intimidated their
employees in many instances.
I'VE find no such example of fraud
| within the books, and must seek the
letter and spirit of the law in free
government, as a scale in which 10
! weigh such conduct"
| This is the courts summing up OF a
| review of the evidence which br1Stles
with amazing instances of corruption
and intimidation perpetrated by the
company in close cooperation with
| Sheriff JEFF Farr, known as the KING
of Huerfano county" This is the same
Farr who deputized strike guards
who he admitted. might have been,
for all he knew, "red-handed murder
ers."
Most amazing of all is the admission
of the attorneys for the Rockefeller
FAIR combination, in their brief quot
| ed by the supreme court, that:
1T is a matter of present, or OF only
recently past history, that the repub-
lican party of the whole state, from
the candidate for governor down, and
particularly those in HueTfano county,
ran on what they were pleased TO
| call a law and order platform. This
meant or was taken to mean that the
republicans sided against the strikers.
Indeed this was the open attitude of
the republican party in the strike dis
trict"
This is brazenly offered as justifca-
ton for the Rockefel1er-Farr methods.
Every Judge, clerk or officer of
election with the exception of a saloon
keeper was an employe of the coal
companies, the court finds. The one
exception was a saloon keeper and
partner of Sheriff Farr. Remember
that Rockefeller and his agents pro
tested that their interest in the cam
paign was prohibition.
After describing the process by
/ which economic mastery was used to
seize political control, the supreme
court says:
Thus were the public election dis
tricts and the public election machin-
cry turned over to the absolute domi-
nation and imperial control of private
coal corporations, and used by them
as absolutely and privately as were
their mines, to and for their own pri-
vate purposes"
Now for a specific instance of how
industrial absolutism accOmplishes
political absolutism. The court says:
Again, it appears that the ballots
were printed so that the first letter of
the name of each political party was
printed in unusually large type. The
coal company employees provided vot-
ers not familiar with the English
language, a card upon which was print
ed a large capital "R" corresponding
with the letter r. on the ballot in the
word Republican, land the testimony
in relation to the use of this card is
as follows:
This card could be slipped right
down the ballot until the word r on
the card CORES pended with the first
letter of the word Republican" and
a mark placed right at the top. The
card was of the same length as the
column on the ballot having the names
arranged that if the card was placed
of the candidates, and the "R" was so
lengthwise it would meet the r in the
word Republican,
Disposing of the coal company de-
Ifense, the court says:
The defense relies not upon con-
fiicting evidence, but upon the conten-
ton that the conduct of the election
was justified as an Industrial neces-
sity'
I'VE have heard much in this state
in recent years as to the denial of in
herent and constitutional rights of
citizens being justified by military
necessity but this, we believe, is the
first time in our experience when the
NIOldLIOn VI the IuHudlHeHLdl T1SHIS Oh
freemen has been attempted to be
justified by the plea of industrial
necessity
Even if we were to concede that
there may be some palliation in the
plea of military necessity, yet that a
private corporation, with its privately
armed forces, may violate the most
sd cred right of the citizenship of the
state and find lawful means in the
plea of private necessity savors too
much of anarchy to find approval by
courts of justice"
the supreme court finds in effect
that the Huerfano county judge who
tried the case, Henry Blickhan, was
himself a part Of the RocGefeIIer-Farr
Inla hI2e It says:
"A careful reading of the record
disclosed the rejection by the court of
so much palpabIy pertinent and COM
petent testimony offered by the con-
} testers, as to force the conclusion
that the trial judge was influenced by
bias and prejudice, sufficient in itself
TO justify a reversal of the judgment"
Pointing out the national import
ance OF the case, the court says:
Many state elections have been de-
termined by majority or plurality of
fewer votes than here involved. The
choice of the national electoral college
has been decided by a majority of but
one vote. 1t is sufficient to cause every
liberty loving American citizen to
shudder in contemplation of the pos
sib1lity that the private industrial nee
essity' of some industrial company or
corporation, employing large numbers
of men, may thus determine the poll
cies, or the fate of the republic. The
links in the chains of tyranny are us
ually forged, singly and silently. and
sometimes unconsciously. by those
who are destined to wear them"