Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-08-13
TRIAL OF REBEL LEADERS
At BIG Stone GAP TO-DAY
William Vernon Mccoy and John
Walter Phipps to Be Brought
to Bar in u. S. Court.
HELD ON SIX INDICTMENTS
Treason and Anarchy and Open De-
fiance of Federal Authority Among
- Serious Charges Against These
Virginia Mountainccrs.

VA. Angus l2.-ln the
United States Court at Big Stone Gap
: tomorrow a chapter in IA drama will
be written which will live in the his
. tory of the present times. when many
of the events that are to-day engaging
! the attention Of the multitudeS are
forgotten. Treason and anarchy. open
defiance of the sovereignty of the
; United States and adherence TO It's
- enemies-the whole making a hlacker
chapter than that which covered the
memor of Aaron Burr with ignominy
are among the charges on which the
two men to be tried. William Vernon
-, Mccoy and John Walter Phipps. stand
indicted.
2 The plot. which is alleged to have
been Matched In the fertile brain of the
two crude mountaineers and to the
execution of which nearly 500 fearless
mountain clansnen were committed by
the most solemn oath. was astounding
because of the breadth of its scope and
the reckless defiance of all constituted
authority. The gravity of the charge
on which the men stand indicted is
immeasurably increased by the present
international situation-the men
, are charged in one of the six indict-
arments with collision with the enemies
of the United States-and by the
prominence of the people who were TO
be victims of the alleged anarchistic
conspiracy TO commit murder, seize the
property of rich landowners and divide
it among the participants in the re-
hellion against the authority Of the
- United States.
A~NARCTISTIC THEORY
PREGNANT WITH DANGER
a crude anarchistic theory it was
that these simplc-minded mountaineers
apparently were working upon. yet
.~yTpregnant with danger because of their
SIreputation for determined execution of
plans. Small wonder il was that
military guards to whom infor-
nation of the plot first came were
lstounded and had difficulty in grasp
ing it's portentous possibilities.
When Judge Henry G. Mcdowell calls
the August term of the United States
Court to order tomorrow. Phipps and
Mccoy must make answer to six in
dictments found at the June term in
Roanoke, summarized as follows:
Using armed force to resist the
States in the matter of register
ing for CONSUMPTION.
Treason and levyine war against the
United States in time of war. and adj
herring to the enemies of the United
States.
Recruiting soldiers to resist the au-
thority of the United States.
"Conspiring TO raise an army and
Ivy war against the United States and
thereby assist the imperial German
government in their war on this ma
ton.
: "~Conspiring to defeat the execution
of the laws of the United States.
Taking by force tn, property of
the United States"
When the arrests of Phipps and Nc
Coy were mad by the Department OF
Justice operatives oil May 81 last. and
the full scope of the plot with which
they are charged was made public. the
nation was stirred from border to Dor
der, even in these times when world
events are OF hourly occurrence. Here
was the condition the officials are al
legged TO have found:
Three hundred m~ountaineers. native
Americans OF pure stock, banded to-
Gether with 4 solemn oath to resis,
CONSUMPTION under the select!ve draf,
act. and a; a given signal of their
leaders TO rise above All constitute, au
nv IVY. cNtI icNtI IL IH!iIl1I BUdToS
located in~.the ..+fcinity to guard the
railroad and Industrial property. seize
their equipment. murder wealthy land.
owners and business men in the noun.
tain section-among them Governor
Stuart, OF NirEinia-divide the prop
erty Of these wealthy people amonr
themselves and set up z law of theiI
own.
Anticonscription propaganda was Al
first supposed 10 he the primary mo,
tive back OF the difficulty. but thl!
proved. upon fuller investigation. IL Il
claimed. to be erroneous. The real an
linus OF the plot is said 10 have been
socialistic idea that all men shout,
share alike in the worlds goods: tina
a few men should not own vast tract
of land or highly profitable coal mines
while others were barely able TO elk
out an EXISTENCE condition whicI
prevailed in an extreme form in tn
section in which the conspiracy oripi
mated. The opposition to the conscrin
tion laws was identical and far les
aggravated tnan was at first thought
LANDOWNERS AND SPECULATOHs
OBJECT OF HEIR WARRANT
A quotation from their declaratio
Of war makes this idea clear when
pays IL country Is OURS ana a
therein. We have only TO come 20
gether and demand il. The big land
owners, the spectators and the reve
nuers shall be nc more"
The poverty Of the mountain Poop
and their deep-seated sense OF ind,
pendence, which sometimes takes u
form OF lawlessncss, Is claimed to hay
been shrewdly PLAYED upon by McCo
who. while untutored. is a man of muc
native ability and force Of leadershi
He. II Is charged, conceived the sta
tling conspiracy and designed the d
tails Of it's execution. II is claim,
that his favorite means in enlistiI
the supplemented people In his schen
was to approach them upon the Co
scription law. and II they showed al
spirit favorable TO his scheme Won
gradually unfold 10 them the plan (
Selling the property Of the wealt!
people.