The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-30
GUARDSMEN HAVE PLENTY OF TIME ID
 PREPARE DEFENSE
Wilkinson Cites Case of Moon- sinners Indicted Friday Who Will Go to Trial
 Tomorrow

Charges that members of Company M who are to be placed on trial this week in Marion county for the murder of Win Baird, miner, are being "railroaded" were branded last night as propaganda" and "a gross reflec- tion on our courts and their officers in a statement issued by Special As- sistant Attorney General Horace c, Wilkinson. The statement follows:
 This propaganda in behalf of the accused soldiers to the effect that they are being railroaded is a gross reflec- tion on our courts and their officers. The friends of these defendants, who are so reckless in making charges. should state the facts. They should tell the public that these soldiers have been taken out of jail to the office of their attorneys for consultation, a courtesy that is very rarely extended a prisoner. They should state that they have been given more than d week to prepare for trial and that they have the assistance of ten or more of the ablcst lawyers that prac- tice in Alabama. The state did not resist their change of venue applica- ton. but was willing to have them tried in a county that had no strikes, mo labor trouble, no military or coal operators. They should tell that some of their parents are fairly well to do, are substantial merchants, farmers and engaged in other lines of business not paupers by. any means
 DEFENSE FUND
 They should tell of the efforts that are being made to raise a gigantic fund to be used in their defense and nf ho hot otf l.. effort. They, in all fairness, ought to mention the space of time that was given Baird when they begin to talk of railroading.
 The men who, it is claimed, as> Sassinated a number of officers en- gagged in the enforcement of the pro- hibition law in Colbert county have all been apprehended and indicted since this investigation began, and their trails are set for Monday They were only indicted last Friday Yet we hear no yelping about railroadins any one. It remained for the friends of these men to raise that cry for .he first time in many years in this state
 These soldiers should at least be as game as the moonshiners. If three days was sufficient for the moonhiners to pre- pare for trial, certainly the state has been most lenient with these men. Their cry of being railroaded is being looked upon more and more with suspicion An innocent man has nothing to fear from speedy trial and the great body of the public knows it. A criminal pros ecution is not one-sided. The state has some rights as we'll as the defendant If the state is to wait until defendant gets ready to come to trial at his con- venience, Gabriel would probably find these cases the docket when he blew the last trumpet.
 EXTRAORDINARY CASE
 If these soldiers are guilty as charged, 1t is the most extraordinary case that has ever been tried in the courts of this country. Never before have the organ ized militia been chargd with furnish ing mob to execute one they were sworn to protect.
 "The welfare of the state, the good name of the national guard, and the best interest of any innocent defendant demands that there be no delay in the trial of these cases. The guilty are not entitled to any delay and as usual thing do not want justice. They want delay and an acquital
 Prompt trials will do more than any thing else to break up this wave of law lessness that is costing the taxpayers of this state so much. There is little won- der that taxes have to be raised to pro duce revenue to sustain courts, and clerks and sheriffs, when cases are ai- lowed to drag and courts fail to func- tion expeditiously. Every man charged with an offense is entitled to a reason- able time to prepare his defense and no more. These men have been given more than a reasonable time.. The state and the court have been generous in the amount of time allowed them. This idle talk of railroading anyone can not stand Il 1rvA hn f1 ctu