Evening star., 1922-09-29
HERR|N MASSACRE
IS NOT REGRETTED
=,
ITO He'll With the Scabs'
Tendency Is Unchanged
Citizens Declare.
Special Dispa tch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
HERRIN. ILL.,, September 29.-Her-
rim is unrepentant. Herrin believes
that the special grand jury sitting
over at Marion, the county seat of
Bloody williamson has made a
great. mistake" in indicting seventy
four Williamson county men under
more than two hundred true bills. and
Herrin business men announced today
that they are determined to fight to
the last ditch against the conviction
of the men charged with the sicken-
ing massacre at the Lester strip mine
last June.
Any idea the country may have
gained that the return of the indict-
ments meant a change of heart on the
part OF Herrin is all wrong. The
briefest visit here will prove that.
While some of the hot sentiment,
which said, ITO hell with the scabs."
as men lay dying by the roadside. has
cooled, its tendency has not changed.
Sympathy With Union Miners.
The bellboy and the barber, who
have monopolies in their respective
lines at the principal hotel: the soda
water boy at the corner drug store;
the justice of the peace, often en-
countered in the same store: the bank
official and the leading merchant-an
will tell you that the grand jury was
''hand-picked" and fixed" and that it
has accused lot of innocent men. The
sentiment in Herrin today is with its
union miners and against the coal
companies and against non-union
men. Herrin even took seriously the
Il t-sly
after the settlement. when the miners
refused to work because they no
longer could park their automobiles
in the accustomed place because of
barricades built during the strike pc
riod.
Herrin took no part in any of the in
vestigations following the murders. on
the ground that the tragedy was no
more its affair than the affair OF other
towns near the Lester mine. And now
1t insists. every man. woman and child
in the place. that the Herrin men in
dicted are merely being Prosecuted.
1t was no ordinary sentiment that led
eighty-eight business men. representing
virtually the entire wealth of Herrin, to
sign bonds agsresating s4l0.O00 for the
release of forty-four of .hc indicted men,
Wants All to Go Free.
John Herrin. bank president, for
whose great-great-gra grandfather the
I'VE gave those bonds. We will he
criticized for thar. We knew that when
We did it. But there are men indicted
here who are rot guilty, and We would
rather see half dozen guilty men go
free than have one innocent man pun
ished."
If anything. the action of the grand
jury has intensified the feeling Of those
who, following the massacre. blamed
the mine owners for trying to work the
mines rather than the men who marched
there and shot the non-union miners
down. 1t has heightened the loyalty of
union town to the unions. There is
no one in Herrin openly to justify the
massacre. and all will agree that per-
sons guilty of murder should be pun
ished But in this case they say that
many innocent persons have been
grouped with a handful VINO should be
punished and it is better to let the hand
full so than to 'persecute'' the many.
J. V. Walker. jr.. head of a string
of department stores in Herrin and
half a dozen other Illinois towns.
illustrated the general sentiment to-
day when he said:
Urges United Stand.
There are lots of things in this
besides right and wrong. You know
that. There are various interests
which would like to see a lot of con-
victions here. Well. answer me this:
Who's going to fight for Herrin If
Herrin doesn't fight for herself? You
her people every man who is indicted
over there in Marion, guilty or in
nocent, would hang as sure as the
sun rises in the morning.
William A. Sneed, district president
of the miners union. who a few
days before the massacre received
telegram from John l. Lewis stating
that the members of the shovelmen's
union working at the strip mine
should be regarded 'in the same light
as any other common strikebreaker,"
said today:
1.-The grand jury has indicted in
nocent men. The union always has
stood opposed to violence Of any
sort"
States Attorney Delos Duty of
Marion. who helped to place the cases
before the grand jury. is almost alone
in his view when he says:
Thinks Every Man Guilty.
II think. every last one of them is
guilty. and mean to prosecute every
last one of them to the limit And
1 will say further that we probably
haven't got more than one-third or
one-fourth of those.who are guilty.
In a mob of more than $500 men it
is impossible to lay hands on all who
are guilty.
LAS to what the folks say in Her
rin-this county is my home. Do you
think 1 would try to indict any one
did not believe to be guilty7"
The grand jury which indicted the
miners also is composed Of William
son county men, but Herrin says that
In addition to being hand-picked,
these men were overawed by States
Attorney General Brundage and the
Illinois Chamber Of Commerce,
Where or how the men are to be
tried has not been definitely deter
mined as yet. Chnage Of venue will
be stubbornly fought by the indicted
their home folk"
The general opinion in Herrin is
that it will be many a long day be-
fore any one Swings" for that Lester
mine affair.
Copyright 1922
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