The Washington herald., 1919-01-09
BERGER GUILTY
OF DISLOYALTY,
JURY DECLARES
Socialist Representative.
elect Faces Penitentiary
and Big Fine.
CASE TO BE APPEALED
Four Co-defendants Are
Also Convicted; All Re-
leased on Bail. =

Chicago, Jan. S.-Victor l. Berger,
Socialist Representative elect from
Milwaukee. and four co-defendants,
were found guilty today by a jury in
the Federal court OF violation of the
espionage act. through conspiracy to
obstruct the governments war pro-
gram. Those found guilty with Ber-
ger were Rev. Irwin st. John Tucker,
W. F. Kruse. ]. Louis Engdahl and
Adolph Germer. The jury was out
six hours.
The conviction subjects the men to
a penalty of from one to ten years in
prison on each count in the indict-
ment. There are twenty-six counts.
Fines of from 81 900 to 5000 on each
count also may be imposed.
Attorneys for the Socialists made
the motion for new. trial, which
Judge K. M. Landis said he would
hear January 20. Sentence probably
will be delayed until after this hear
ing.
Released on Ball.
The FIVE convicted men We're releas-
ed on bonds furnished at the time
of their Indictment
Berger, upon whom has fallen the
brpnt of the prosecutions attacks,
was for a moment overwhelmed with
surprise and jumped from his chair
as the verdict was read His at
torneys restrained him and pushed
him back, where he sat trembling
with excitement. while an individual
poll of the jury was taken, each
juror answering that the finding of
guilty was his verdict Berger then
made the following brief statement:
Il have done no wrong. I have
been living up to those principles for
thirty-seven years-those principles
which the jury has seen fit' to con-
denim. cannot account for the YER
dict"
Judge Lands read his instructions
to the jury at II o'clock. They con-
sisted of an explanation of the es-
pionage act. He told the Jurors what
constituted a conspiracy under this
law,
You must bear in mind. gentle
men. that when this act was passed
the country was at war" he said.
TO prosecute the war successfully
the government had need for the full
power OF its army and navy"
Declared Party on Trial
Throughout the trial, which lasted
three weeks, the Socialist attorneys
insisted the Socialist party was on
trial and not the five defendants.
Seymour StedmAn, chief OF counsel
for the accused men, hammered this
point to a conclusion in his final ad-
dress to the jury, declaring the ver-
dict must be made upon the question
as TO whether a political party of
1000. 900 voters had the right to free
speech and free thought.
The prosecution piled up individ-
ual charges of interference with
war work against each individual
defendant. Editorials written by
Berger in his newspaper, the Mil
waukee Leader, and under his own
signature. were produced in court.
On the stand he made many admis-
sions, including a statement that the
Germans were right in sinking the
Lusitania.
Had "Underground Railway"
And so it was with Germer and
the other defendants. Germer was
shown to have been active in per-
fecting an underground railway" to
Mexico for conscientious objectors.
In this he was aided by ]. Louis
Engdahl. Rev Mr.. Tucker made no
evasion of his pacifist views.
The trial followed a big legal
skirmish, in which figured search
warrants, raids, denying the use of
mails to publications, pleas of for
mer jeopardy and final fight by the
accused men to take the case from
Judge Lands.