Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-04-07

THE CENTRALIA CRIMES
Seven Of the 1. w. w. leaders who were
charged with firing into parade Of returned
soldiers on "Armistice day." more than year
ago. were convicted of second degree muroer
and sentenced to prison terms OF not less 'ns'l'
Is years each, by Judge Wilson at Montesano'
Washington, the other day. Ihey were coll-
victed of the murder of Warren y. Grimm. oeV-
eral other men were killed at the same time ana
some Of those who escaped on this charge may
have to stand trial on another charge. Inc eVl-
dence produced in this case makes 1t pretty
certain that the firing into the parade OF the
returned soldiers was deliberately planned at
the I. w. w. hail. There is abundant evidence
that the shots came not only from the hali' Dut
from hotel on the other side OF the street anu
from nearby hill which commanded the street'
Men were in all three places armed with hign
power rifles It was not disputed that the l. w.
w. leaders discussed the probability OF an at
tack being made on their hall on the occasion OF
the parade and the technical provisions OF the
law of self defense They admit that they ex-
pected an attack and that they had heard tnreats
of such attack They sought to show that sucn
attack had been made before they commenced
shooting. One man who was in the parade, a
local doctor. testified that rush was made by
the paraders toward the l. w. w. hall before the
shooting commenced, but this testimony was
contradicted by large number of other VIII
nesses who positively stated that it was after
shots had been fired The discrepancy IS not
hard to explain on the theory that the DOCTOR
did not hear the first shots. The fact that there
was no intent to rush the I. W. W. hall on the
mart of the paraders is clearly established by the
facts outside of their testimony, because the
head of the procession had passed the hall BE-
fore several of the leaders were shot down. 1hat
proves two points pretty conclusively. One was
that the parade leaders did not expect to molest
the I. w. w. hall, and the other is that the
armed I. w. w. inmates were not repelng rush
for them and so acting in self defense when they
shot. IF this had been so they would have shot
men in front of their hall. The men that were
killed were mostly at the head Of the procession
that had gone some ways past the hall. Inc
verdict and sentence seems to us to be just ana
IN accord with the evidence presented to the
jury.
It is noticeable fact that all the defendants
who have gloried in calling themselves rebels to
the laws of the land, and professed the utmost
scorn and contempt for the laws under which
they live and the instrumentalities Of the law,
have hugged that law with the utmost devotion
when they found their lives and liberty in dan
ger. They have employed the shrewdest lawyers
to defend them. They have invoked every pro-
lection the law gives them They have demand
ed and obtained a change of venue to place
remote from the scene Of their crimes. They
have successfully delayed their trial for many
months after the crime was committed, sc
that the horror and resentment of the public
over their crimes would have time to COOL They
have clung with desperation to every particle
of protection the law throws around men in peri
of their life and liberty. For men so scornfu
of our laws and so filled with hatred towarc
them and their administration, they have sure
" hugged close to the object of their avoweo
hatred. But that is way peculiar to all law
less men. Once in danger they fly to the law
for their protection. Even now that they arr
convicted and sentenced they are seeking new
trial and the protection of higher courts through
the process of appeal. But meantime they arr
in the grasp of broken laws. They are not likely
to get clear of it. They may count themselve
lucky that they escaped the "direct action" the.
have always advocated in place of law. One o
their number did not Shortly after the shoot
ing one of their number was caught by believer
in direct action, and in an hour his lifeless bod
was swinging from bridge at the end of