The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-07-23
MOONEY CASE
AS FRAME UP
Report Of Densmore Says Dignity and
Majesty Of Law Was
Not Upheld
There.

! WASHINGTON, July 23-Charges
of alleged injustices done Thomas j.
Mooney, during his trial at San Fran
cisco on the charge of bomb throwing
at a preparedness parade are made In
the report of John B. Densmore, spe-
cial agent of the department of labor,
who secretly investigated the case for
the government.
Densmore points to several Incl
dents as indicating the trial was a
frame up" to discredit union labor.
The report was sent to the house
today by Secretary Of Labor Wilson.
"The plain TRUTH" said Densmore,
in his report, dated November 1,
1918, "is that there is nothing about
the case to produce a feeling of con.
fidence that the dignity and majesty
of the law have been upheld.
There is nowhere anything re-
sembling consistency, the effect being
that of patchwork Of incongruous
makeshifts and often Of desperate ex
pediency"
The report declares testimony OF
Frank G.. Oman, star prosecution wit
Tess, was proved perjury and that the
presiding judge at the trial and the
attorney general of the state, asked a
new trial for Mooney. Fickert, pre-
viously agreed to the new trial, Dens-
more said, then refused to agree to it.
OF this the report says:
There are excellent grounds for the
belief that the prosecuting attorneys
sudden change of attitude was
prompted by emmfssarfes from some
of the corporate interests most bit
terly opposed to union labor. Fickert's
aff orb, Il <oI nf n
clumsy attempt to whitewash Oman
and justify his own motives and con-
duct throughout"
With the report were more than
100 closely typewriter pages of con-
been obtained through the dictagraph
placed in his office by Densmore.
Two or more persons heard all the
records Of conversation offered, the
report alleged.
Placing the dictagraph in the office
was most difficult, Densmore said, as
the office was always heavily guarded.
He did not state just how this was
accomplished. /
The report indicates Densmore for
several months had dictaphone in
the office Of Charles M. Fickert, San
Francisco district attorney, obtaining
much information.
The heading of the testimony in
the case is apt to cause one to won
der at many things" the report says.
The report then enumerates the fol-
lowing objections to methods used at
the trial:
"The apparent failure of the, dis
trict attorneys office to conduct a
real investigation at the scene of the
crime; the easy adaptability of some
of the star witnesses; the irregular
methods pursued by the prosecution in
identifying various defendants: the
sorry type Of men and women brought
forward to prove essential matters O..
facts In case of gravest Importance;
the seeming inefficacy of we'll es-
tablished alibi; the sangfroid with
which the prosecution occasionally
adopted an untenable theory and then
changed to another not quite SO pre-
posterous; the refusal Of the public |
prosecutor to call witnesses who actu.
ally saw the falling of the bomb,
I'm short the general flimsiness and |
of the testimony ad.
duced together with a total absence
of any thing that looks like genuine
effort to arrive at the facts in the
case.
These things are calculated to
cause in the minds of the most blase
a decided mental rebellion
Secretary Wilson'S communication,
refusing to make public details of
Densmore's activities, was attached. It
said:
In September 1917, the case OF
J. Mooney had become not /
only a criminal case but an inter.
and labor case. Diplomatic
correspondence indicated that the
Mooney case was being used In for.
eign countries, particularly in Russia /
as a means of destroying the friendly /
relations existing between this people
and the people of Russia, and was af. !
fecting the conduct of the war. Labor !.
strikes were taking place or were
as means of influencing
the judicial and executive authorities,
thereby disturbing the industrial situa.
ton throughout the country
AT that time John B. Densmore was
the solicitor of the department OF /
labor" the secretary's letter said |
"and was engaged in running down
criminal cases connected with the
service in San Francisco.
instructed Mr.. Densmore to get any
additional information that might be
of value in securing a full under.
of the case. Two immigra.
ton inspectors assigned to him were
used for that purpose. They worked !
in cooperation with the department OF t
Justice"
Clues of alien anarchists still being
followed are expected to lead to the
Mooney case, Wilson stated, but ,
secrecy must be maintained for the |
present.
Secretary Wilson said he refused to !
direct Densmore to appear before the |
San Francisco grand jury because |
Fickert, legal adviser to the grand !
jury was REFLECTED upon by the Deus.
more report"
Densmore's connection with the
Mooney case caused no additional ex.
pense to the government, Wilson :
stated.
DOW nC AN az