The evening herald. (Klamath Falls, Or.) 1906-1942, 1922-11-27
COMMUNISTS To
co ON TRIAL.
Advocating Overthrow o!
u. s. Government BY
Violence Charged

sT. JOSEPH. Mich. NOV IT,
Twenty alleged leaders Of the Com.
munlgt party Of America reDrcFea-
tatlyo In this country of thg third
International and tho Russian soviet
gDycrnmont--nre scheduled 10 20 on
trial In Bcrrlcn county circuit court
today. charged with teaching and ad'
yocaling the overthrow OF the Unit
I'D states government by force and
violence.
Their arrest grew out OF a meet
lur held In n wooded gorge In the
wild sand dune country twoniy miles
routh ~ 81. Joseph, On the shores o'
Lake Michigan, last August. The
meeting. the government alleges,
was the national convention Of the
communist party Of America
Although the warrant on which
they were arrested names seventy.
slE men and women ag having horl
present at the meeting, only sixteen
were found there whom federal and
state agents. led by Sheriff George
Trdroman. swoopci down on tho
sylvan retreat IN the carly hours OF
August 22. Tho others. government
prcuts claim. fled when thcy were
warned.
4 farmer boy whose curiosity had
IgI him TO apy on the sand dune con.
Yrn'l1n told tho raiders h0 had rCon
the prisoners bury something In tnc
woods. and he led them to a spot
whore. under q carefully arranged
covering OF fallen leaves. thcy dug
up three barrels, filled with type.
writer's. duplicating machines, pap
orH. books, loitors. reports. maEus.
criris. brief cases aud pamphlets.
On the strength Of information
found among thoso papers W. u. Fos.
tor. loader OF the 1919 steel strike,
and two other men were arrested at
Chicago and cXtradl,cd to Michigan;
aad Joseph Zsak was arrested and
brought back from New York. bring
lug the total OF prisoners up to
twenty.
Because Of the expense involved
In hunting down and bringing back
the nny-slx others who the govern
mont charges attended tho conycu-
tior. no effort has bccn made 10 10.
cate them. Among the fify-six for
whom warrants have been issued are
Rose Pastor Stokes. who was par,
donod from Leayenworth pen!tcntl-
airy by the president
The case hero has attracted na-
tion-widc attcntloa because II is the
first test Of Michigans anti-syndl-
calIsm law, passed as n wartime
measure, and also the first red =
case OF prominence since the wide
spread prosecutions during Attorney
General ralmor's regime, While
this Is state case. the raid was
engineered By federal agcats, and
they have been instrumental In pre-
pairing the evidence for the trial.
RuthcnberE. Foster. Dunno and
their associates contend they are
charged only with advocating and
talking about change Of govern
ment, and not with the commission
OF any overt act Their arrest, they
say. violates the constitutional guar
antee OF free speech and free assem-
blage. and It Is indicated the de-
fonsc will be that tho Michisan stat
ute Is unconstitutional when Il seeks
to deny the right to meet and dis
cuss political reform.
The state, on the other hand,
charges that the defendants propos-
ed to change the government by In
voking sabotage and violence, and
that they were without the pale Of
the constitution, because they urged
commission OF crimes TO accomplish
their aims. Change of the form Of
government Is legal only when ac-
eomplishcd by legal means, the state
will contend, and such change, ad-
mIttedly legal in itself, can not be
brought about by Illegal means,
The states line of argument fol-
lows closely that employed by At
torney General Daugherty in his
Injunction suit against the railroad
strikers, whore Judge Wilkerson
supported the governments view
that a conspiracy existed in violation
of the law when unlawful acts We're