New-York tribune., 1921-10-27

they did not know Boda---had never
heard Of hinl--and made many other
statements that they subsequently
acknowledged were false.
Following the arrests witnesses
were found who recognized in Van
zetti one of the men who had been
in the Bridgewater hold-up. He was
indicted, tried and convicted, and is
under fifteen-year sentence in adj.
dition to the murder conviction.
Both cases have been described as
merely conflict between identified
tions and alibis. If this were true
the convictions might we'll be re-
garded as unreasonable. The iden-
tification evidence was weak, while
the alibi evidence was strong. Fifty
persons had seen the murder or the
escaping murderers. But only a
half dozen said they were sure that
Sacco and Vanzetti were in the car,
and these identifiers we're not we'll
placed to see. The other eyewit-
nesses gave the negative evidence that
they did not recognize the two men.
On the other hand, evidence that
Sacco was in Boston on the day of
the murders was most positive, while
the evidence that Vanzetti was in
Plymouth selling fish, though less
convincing was impressive.
But counting identifications as
possible stand-offs, the jury seems
to have been swayed by the circum-
stantial evidence. Not only were the
admitted facts concerning the mur-
der car of great significance, but gun
experts swore point blank that the
bullets that killed the paymaster and
his guard had peculiarities which
showed that they were discharged
from the automatic found in Sacco's
possession.
AS to the other branch of the con-
troversy - namely, that the police
were hunting down radicals and that
the court was prejudiced-this seems
to rest on shadowy foundations. The
police for three weeks do not ap-
pear to have taken any early notice
Of either Sacco or Vanzetti. As re-
marked above, they swan into the
net. The crimes were not such as
to suggest that they were COM
mitted by radicals. Sacco was a
man of good personal repete. So
far as the trial is concerned, if it
was clouded by the class war issue,
the fault, as the transcript shows,
was with the defence rather than the
prosecution. The prosecuting attor-
ney said early: "This is a plain
charge of murder and no other issue
will be tried" The trial judge in
concluding his charge to the jury,
said:
I'm the administration of our laws
there is and should be no distinction
between parties. I therefore beseech
you not to allow the fact that the de-
PENDANTS are Italians to influence you
or prejudice you in the least degree.
They are entitled to the same consid-
Grafton as though their ancestors
came over in the Maynower."
Special care was taken in the Sc
lection of the jury-no fewer than
seven hundred veniremen being ex-
amined before the jury box was
filled. One thumbs the record in
vain to discover that the defendants
were denied any privilege. They
were defended by able lawyers who
had large sums at their disposal.
1t is possible that the jury blum
dered-that there was a miscarriage
of justice such as sometimes occurs,
but no warrant appears for charging
the existence of an anti-Red con-
spiracy. So far as concerns the fate
of Saisedo, who jumped from or was
thrown from the Park Row Build
ing on May 3, 1920, a man in whom
Sacco and Vanzetti showed interest,
the news Of his tragic end did not
reach Braintree until May 4, and be-
fore this the police had set the trap
which Sacco and Vanzetti sprang.
Questioning Mr.. Untermyer
To the Editor of Tho Tr;hvno