The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-03
FEDERAL AGENTS ID
 PLACE EVIDENCE AT
 DISPOSAL OF STATE
Williams Trial Will Probably Be One of Hardest Fought Legal Battles In the
 State of Georgia
By Associated Press

Atlanta, April 2.--Agents of the de- partment of justice whose investiga- 'tion into alleged peonage conditions are held by state officials to have pre- cipitated the killing of II negro farm hands employed by John s. Williams, Jasper county plantation owner. will place all their evidence at the states disposal during the trial of Williams at Covington, beginning next Tuesday, 1t was announced tonight.
 Williams is to go on trial charged with the murder of one of the negroes he is alleged to have carried into New ton county and had drowned in an effort to prevent possible testimony against him in federal courts. The states case was expected to rest large ly on confession attributed to Clyde Manning, negro, who for If years worked on the Williams farm and who, according to deputies, declared he killed most of the negroes at Williams orders, and later killed another negro who aided in the earlier killings V. W. Hughes, in charge of the local bu- reau, department of justice. said to- night there were peonage conditions on five other farms in Jasper county, but that no peonage had been found in Newton county. The federal grand
 
 into peonage.
 DENIES ALL CHARGES
 Williams, 54 years of age. and the father of 12 children, has made cate gorical denial of the charges of mur der and peonage, well as mistreat- ment of negro jaborers, many of whom were said to have barred their backs before the grand jury at Covington and showed scars attributed to beat ings for not working hard.
 Definite announcement of counsel in the case, made tonight indicated that one of the hardest legal battles in Georgia Is to be fought out next week, and there was a possibility that the first move by the defense might be to 1 challenge the Jurisdiction of Newton county superior court on the grounds that there is no evidence that any ne- groes were actually killed in that county. The bodies of three were found in Yellow river. which separates Newton and Jasper counties. Williams will be represented by an array of counsel, headed by Greene F. Johnson. Solicitor General A. M. Brand will have the aid of William M. How ard of Augusta. former congressman | from Georgia, Governor Dorsey an- nounced tonight Graham Wright, as- sistant state attorney general, also is | expected to attend the trldl on peHdll | of the state.
 COUNSEL FOR NEGRO
 Manning will have his interests looked after by E. Marvin Underwood, formerly general counsel of the United States railway administration during 1 the World war, who has since returned to his practice in Atlanta. The follow ing announcement was made late to- day by w. Woods White, local capi- talst:
 "A number of interested citizens from the state at large, feeling espe- cially under the peculiar facts of the case that the interests of justice de- mand that Clyde Manning have the benefit of competent counsel at his trial, and Manning, being unable te employ same have retained counsel to represent him. Such counsel will be Marvin Underwood and another local T attorney who will be associated with him and whose name will be announced later"
 One hundred veniremen have beer summoned for the trial before Judge John B. Hutcheson in superior court and both sides have subpoenaed many witnesses. Williams and Manning, who is slated to appear against him, will | be taken to Coyington at daybreah Tuesday. according to present plans under guard of deputy sheriffs. They have been held in the tower here since their arrests.