The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-11-11
BY EUGENE LYONS

BY EUGENE LYONS
Boston, Nov. 4.-The courthouse in
Dedham, Mass, and all the roads
leading to it are in state of siege,
with mounted state constabulary, riot
squads and the rest of the terror
brigades patrolling the neighborhood,
as counsel for Nicola Sacco and Bar
tolomeo Vanzetti, the two working
whose conviction on a farfetched
charge of murder has reused the
proletariat of all nations, argue for
a new trial before Judge Webster
Thayer.
The hysterical precautions against
dangers which do not exist except in
the maginations of alarmist news
paper editors have transformed the
court so that it looks like a military
camp prepared for battle, rather than
a hall of justice. The presiding Judge
although he has denied the fake
stories of threats against his life,
is heavily guarded Among those
who were searched for hidden weap-
many prominent New Englanders,
among them John Goldman, chairman
Of the local Civil Liberties Union,
Mrs. Elizabeth Glendower Evans and
Mrs. William James, the widow of
the great psychologist and philoso-
pher.
1t is in such an atmosphere that
the appeal for a new trial was made
/ by attorneys Fred H. Moore and ].
j. McAnarney, on the ground that
the evidence introduced against their
clients did not warrant the verdict
| They berated the court for its re-
fusal to grant separate trials for the
two defendants, the evidence against
them being of a different nature.
Mr.. McAnarney asserted that the
Jury was undoubtedly influenced by
the halo of terror thrown around the
| prisoners. Mr.. Moore analysed in
detail the testimony against the men,
showing how flimsy and untenable
it is.
"Do you wonder" he declared,
why the whole world stands aghast
at the verdict, when a jury accepts
the unsubstantial declarations of
| such witnesses as Splaine, Dobear,
Mrs. Andrews, and brushes aside
scores of reliable witness on the
other side?"
| Mary Eva Splane was one of the
| prosecutions star witnesses against
Sacco, whom she claimed to identify.
| She had only gotten a glimpse of a
speeding automobile from her van
| tage point in an upper story window:
the car was covered over; yet she
| testified to such detail as the mus
cularity of his arm In a prelimin-
airy examination soon after the
| che bod Iool,,,oI
could not make a positive identifi-
cation. What happened in the in
terval? Perhaps the answer may
befound in the circumstance that
| during the preliminary hearing Miss
Splaine was out of work, but be-
fore the final trial she was given a
lob by the same firm which later
"sacked'at least three workers for
having given testimony favorable to
the defense.
Dolbearis the man who tries to
identify Vanzetti. The only token
bywhich he claims to remember him.
is that he had seen a car with a
"tough-looking bunch" in it. Other
identification witnesses had de-
scribed the bandits as "well-dressed"
and "respectable-lo Mr.. Nc
Anarney openly charged that Dol
bear was a periurer.
Mrs. Andrews is the woman who
tainted in the witness box when
questions bearing upon her charac-
ter were put to her. Her "identifi-
cation" was refuted by her own
friends and neighbors, who came in
to court and testified that she had
stated to them that she could not
make an Identification, but that the
police were Fostering her.
A dramatic incident of the hear
ing was when counsel for defense
fatty refused to come to the
Judges bench for a low-toned con-
ference such as he is in the habit of
holding.
IF your honor pleases," Mr..
Moore declared, "there is no reason
why every phase of these proceed
ings should not go on in open court.
The two men in the cage are not lay
figures. They are men of excep-
tional intelligence and should listen
to all the questions bearing upon
their fate"
Judge Webster Thayer was visibly
disturbed, and made no further calls
AOI DCilCu o6oSloHS lIdL Qdy.
In a statement to the Boston press
the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Commit
tee condemned the newspapers for
their malicious fabrications" attrib-
uting imaginary plots and threats to
sympathizers of the two convicted
labor organizers. One of the vel
lowest pages in American journalism
IS being written today The news of
the legitimate and outspoken pro-
tests against the unfair verdict is
either suppressed or hidden in a
corner. while lies and rumors in
tended to embarrass the defense are
featured in big headlines. The eli
max Of these libels was reached with
the story of "three-day reign Of
terror" planned by the friends of
Sacco and Vanzetti. On the morn
ing when the hearing began, the
Boston Globe carried a sensational
lie about Italians from New York,
i