Bisbee daily review., 1918-12-19
START PERSONAL STORY
FEDERAL PROSECUTOR INTRO DUcEs WITNESSES TO REcITE
 STORY OF ALLEGED ANTI-WAR ACTIVITIES OF MEN BEING
 TRIED UNDER ESPIONAGE ACT
iRv Review Leased wlrel


 CHICAGO, Dec. 1S.-The gov
 ernment closed it's case today in
 the trial of Congressman-elect
 Victor L. Berger of Milwaukee
 and four other socialist leaders
 charged with conspiracy to violate
 the espionage law. After Judge
 Landis overruled a motion to take
 the case from the jury and dis
 charge the defendants, the social
 ists began their case by calling
 Adolph Germer, general secretary
 of the national socialist party, one
 of the defendants, as the first
 witness.
 Counsel for the defense asked to have certain government testimony bearing on the question of conspir- acy excluded from the record. Judge Landis reserved his decision.
 Germer did not get much further than giving his early personal history before the court adjourned.
 He said he was born in East Prus- sia, Germany, 36 years ago, and was brought to this country by his par ents in December 1888. His father was a coal miner and the family lived in Braceville, III. Germer attended the public and parochial schools and then went to work in the coal mines.
 In 1912 he was a delegate to the World Conference of Miners, held at Amsterdam. Germer said he became a socialist in 1900 by joining the social ist democratic party, which later be- came the national socialist party He said he first met Berger in 1903. He was elected general secretary of the national socialist party in 1916. He described the details of the party's organizations at length and told of John SpargO's Tesigining from the eX- ecutive committee after the St. Louis convention, in May, 1917, when the party adopted the platform and war program which caused factional splits in the organization.
 Closing its case. the government re- called Arnold Schiller, soldier, form erly a clerk in the office of the na- tional socialist party offices in Chi cago. His testimony in regard to John R. Bleishmidt, brother-in-law of Will liam F. Krause, 8 defendant who had charge of the making out of consci- entious objectors' affidavits at social ist headquarters in Chicago. The evil dence showed that Bleischmidt reg istered for the draft at his home fin Jersey City but disappeared when call ed for military duty and was classed as a deserter from the army.
 Paul W. Rothinburg, an employee of the Illinois state food department, and Max Burlow, a printer. told of alleged anti.war sentiments expressed by Adolph Germer at a meeting held in Chicago. Aug. 10, 1917, which after ward resulted in Germer's arrest.
 W. c. Hanley, formerly chief of in- vestigators for the American Protec- tive League in Chicago, told of con versation he had with Germen when he was brought to the federal building after his alleged anti-war speech on the night of August 10, 1917.
 q asked him." said Hanley, eff he intended to continue to make such speeches on the subject. He said Col. Theodore Roosevelt had expressed similar opinions in statements publish ed in the newspapers. I denied the truth of this statement. and there was considerable talk about 1t. Ger mer said this country was dragging into the war to help England"
 J. F. Harris, former editor of the Leader and at present with
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